Digital Music Making

Electronic music is popular in many different kinds of genres. Electronic instruments, computer software, and apps can all be used to create music digitally. You can create entire songs only using electronics but can also use electronics with acoustic sounds in recorded or live performance. Here are some helpful definitions, sites, basic equipment, and people to check out to start exploring!

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

A DAW is a program that can be used to record, edit, and produce sound. DAWs are used in acoustic recording, midi tracking, and for all kinds of media creation like podcasts and film scoring.

FREE DAWs include:

Garageband (Apple products only)

Reaper, https://www.reaper.fm/

Ableton Lite, https://www.ableton.com/en/products/live-lite/

Audacity, https://www.audacityteam.org/

More Advanced DAWs

Ableton Live, https://www.ableton.com/en/live/

Logic (Apple products only), https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/

Protools, https://www.avid.com/pro-tools

Cubase, https://new.steinberg.net/cubase/

Max/MSP*, https://cycling74.com/products/max

*This isn’t a DAW program but is software that can interact with a DAW, build and trigger sounds

Equipment

There are so many different types of equipment used in electronic music, you can even make your own! Some basic equipment includes computers, interfaces, synthesizers, midi controllers, drum machines, and launch pads. Check out some of the websites and artists below to see what they use and see what you find interesting.

Electronic Music Equipment for Beginners, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kLZRAO2P0c

Websites

Ableton Music Maker, https://learningmusic.ableton.com/

Chrome Music Lab, https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/

Sound Gym, https://www.soundgym.co/

Youtube Channel “Made in Ableton Live,” https://www.youtube.com/c/Ableton/playlists

Girls Make Beats, https://www.girlsmakebeats.org/

Electronic Artists

Doltrick, https://www.dolltrick.com/

Ikue Mori, http://www.ikuemori.com/

Pauline Oliveros, http://www.paulineoliveros.us/

Suzanne Ciani, https://www.sevwave.com/