Making Music. 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers by Dennis DeSantis

Review

This book was extremely expiring. It is not a book that teaches you ableton live, rather it focusses on the most challenging parts of creating music: creativity, producing content and finishing it. Each of the problems is very recognizable and the proposed strategies are actionable and clear. Can recommend this to anyone involved in creative processes. Btw, It is beautifully designed as well.

Notes

  • Listen Actively analyse music you like
  • record everything,
  • don’t go in editing mode too soon
  • create samples from real world sounds
  • loop seconds of existing/sampled music / recordings to find new rhythms
  • 3 + 3 + 2 rhythm
  • sidechain compression base / kick
  • melody contour, correlation between steps and leaps, single high note on 1 or 3 beat
  • klangenfarbemelodie (split zones to instrument s)
  • strong syllable’s at 1 and 3
  • create skeleton from example song
  • add unique events / musical gesture / processing gesture