You might be asking yourself, “Why the hell would I want to read a blog about how to make electronic music that doesn’t sound like a turd?”, and if you are, then all I can say is: good question, and I’m glad you asked. Obviously if you don’t care about making electronic music that doesn’t sound like a turd, then this blog probably isn’t for you.

But if you do care about making electronic music that doesn’t sound like a turd, then this blog could be for you. Perhaps you want to make electronic music that doesn’t sound like a turd but aren’t sure where to start, or perhaps you already make electronic music that doesn’t sound like a turd but are looking for some new ideas on how to take your music in new directions without making it sound like a turd. If either of these things is true for you—or even if neither of these things is true for you—then this blog could be for you.

If this blog sounds like something that could be for you, welcome aboard!

It’s very easy these days to make electronic music that sounds like a turd. You can open up Garageband, choose one of the pre-set “EDM” loops, and play with the knobs for a bit before sharing it to Soundcloud or Facebook.

But what if you want to make electronic music that doesn’t sound like a turd? That’s where this blog comes in!

We’re going to talk about things like song structure, rhythm, timbre, EQ and effects, and how they all work together to make music that people want to listen to. We’ll also cover some of the more advanced stuff like layering, harmonic mixing, and production techniques.

You don’t need any previous experience with music or even computers — if you can read this then you can do it! All you need is some free time and a willingness to learn.

Well, it’s not really a blog. It’s more an electronic notebook, a series of notes and tips on how to make electronic music that doesn’t sound like a turd. I don’t often get asked for advice, but when I do, it’s usually about this subject.

So here I will try to gather some of the things I’ve had to say on the matter into one place, and share them with anyone who’s interested.

Some of this stuff might be very obvious to you. Some of it might be completely wrong and/or stupid. Feel free to get in touch if you think that’s the case!

I am not a professional musician, and you probably aren’t either.

If you’re reading this blog, you might be a hobbyist who is interested in making electronic music but doesn’t know where to start.

Or maybe you already know where to start: with a plugin that has presets that sound like popular songs.

This makes sense, and I am not saying it’s wrong.

But if you use those presets, your song will sound like other people’s songs. And we don’t want that! We want our song to sound unique, like our personality! Like ourselves! Like a turd that only we could have produced!

When I was a young man, I wanted to make electronic music but I had no idea how. I ended up buying a shitload of gear and teaching myself the basics. It was very hard work, but eventually it paid off.

I am now a very successful electronic musician, with my own studio and everything. But I still remember the pain of starting out with no one to turn to for help. So I have decided to make this website, to pass on what knowledge I have so that other people can learn from me, just as I learned from my elders.

I am going to talk about the basics of making electronic music: how to get started producing music on your computer; how you can use your computer and inexpensive software to write better songs; how you can use it as an instrument; share some tips for aspiring producers, and give you some helpful pointers for creating your own beats and loops.

And, in case you were wondering, yes – all the music on this site is made by me!