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Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers

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Description

For many artists, nothing inspires more existential terror than actually making art. The fear that we’re not good enough or that we don’t know enough results in untold numbers of creative crises and potential masterpieces that never get realized. Electronic musicians used to be able to hide behind clunky, emerging technology as an excuse for inaction. But musicians today live in a golden age of tools and technology. A ninety-nine-cent smartphone app can give you the functionality of a million-dollar recording studio. A new song can be shared with the world as soon as it’s finished. Tutorials for every sound design or music production technique can be found through a Google search. All of these developments have served to level the playing field for musicians, making it possible for a bedroom producer to create music at a level that used to be possible only for major-label artists. But despite all of this, making music is still hard. Why? Making Music was written both to answer this question and to offer ways to make it easier. It presents a systematic, concrete set of patterns that you can use when making music in order to move forward. It will teach you how to make music using technology, with a specific emphasis on solving musical problems, making progress, and (most importantly) finishing what you start. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ableton AG (April 21, 2015)


Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 21, 2015


Language ‏ : ‎ English


File size ‏ : ‎ 5965 KB


Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited


Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled


Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported


Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled


X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled


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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Wednesday, Jul 9

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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Straight talk!
The book is straightforward advice from your friend who's "been there, done that". Really useful and even for the experienced, it provides confirmations for recurring moments of doubt and confusion, and for the new amlng us, grants permissions to be like everybody else, human, and take strength from doing so. I liked it! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024 by Michael A. F. Dalton

  • Some of the best advice
The format of this book is quite intriguing. He sets up situations that musicians find themselves in and gives concrete, doable and creative methods to fix those problems. I’m still a newbie and his simple approach made so much sense. In the world of video everything, it was refreshing to simply sit down and read a chapter whenever I had time. It’s not a page turner like a novel but I did read it slowly so as to absorb his principles. Not sure there are other books on this topic to compare with but I’m certainly glad I invested in it and appreciate his sharing this gem with fellow musicians and music lovers. His writing style was comfortable and inviting; like someone you would love to meet in person. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2020 by loseyateefa

  • Helpful tips
I was sceptical, but some tips are useful and there is a lot of them so you can choose what works best for you.
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2018 by Amazon Customer

  • Get out of the rut
Packed full of suggestions for creating EDM. Getting started, being original, being out of creative blocks, song structures an finishing. It’s all useful stuff. Take a look at the contents list. You never need to sit staring blankly at your DAW again.
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2023 by Gareth Garvey

  • Book is legit
I randomly picked up this book for my kindle before a long flight thinking it's probably a bit elementary but perhaps it would keep me entertained on my trip back home. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how structured, clear, and practical the information is laid out in this book. The author knows what he's talking about, and this book is chock full of useful ideas and production concepts. I also appreciate that it's straight to the point - there's little to no fluff or anecdotal nonsense from the author. I think any producer at any level would find something beneficial from this book. Highly recommend. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020 by PK1983

  • I'm already demonstrably better as a composer and have an easier time getting ...
I'm going to find the time to come back and give this a proper review, but in the meantime, 5 stars. This book is everything I thought and hoped it would be from the previews at the Ableton site... and more, much more. Never before have those vague "unanswerables" about creativity been so well answered, at least as it pertains to electronic music production. This book is definitely focused on electronic production (not EDM genres in specific) - the composition side, the neglected one. Anyone who struggles with writing music in general, electronic or not, will benefit - but parts are definitely specific to music made by computers. I'm already demonstrably better as a composer and have an easier time getting started after reading through one time, and I expect I will be re-reading and referencing back to this book over and over for a long time to come. If you've got any doubts, read the preview chapters on the official makingmusic.ableton site - though many of the best are reserved for the book itself. Proper review forthcoming. Note: This is NOT specific to Ableton users in any way - no matter your DAW, this will not exclude you. I use Maschine and found zero conflicts in that regard. Ableton is used for screenshots of the sequencer patterns, nothing more. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2015 by Some Customer

  • Great strategies for familiar creative blocks
I picked up this book having high expectations since I have digested a large amount of music production books, magazines and video tutorials. This book does a great job at addressing common roadblocks that I have encountered. Even though the author works for ableton, this book still does a fantastic job approaching the subject of digital music production while being software agnostic. With so many options for sound design and music composition in the digital realm, this book has been a breath of fresh air. I expect to read this book a few times over for inspiration and strategies when approaching music production. I feel that the subject matter will last the rest of time and will still be relevant for years to come. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2015 by Matt Higgins

  • Greate resource for creative musicians of all persuasions.
Awesome book, full of useful suggestions, many along the lines of Eno's famed suggestions, but with good prose further explaining each idea/approach. A few are tailored to "making beats" or similarly tied to modern music production, but there's much useful material here for classical music composers (e.g. me), too. I got the kindle version, as the paper version look way over priced (probably more of a "coffee-table quality" book, but this is such a practical book that I'd buy a reasonably priced "normal quality" paper in an instant, even after owning the kindle version). I'd love to be able to make notes in the margins, and find these kinds of books more useful in physical form. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2015 by C. Fraley

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