Electronic Music

I first got interested in electronic music in 1979 when the first UK synth bands got played on Radio 1.

For me, these were Human League, Gary Numan, OMD and Ultravox. I became fascinated by the synthesiser and knew I had to somehow, someday get one.

Luckily I’d developed a keen interest in electronics and I’d already started soldering small projects together. There had been a few synthesiser projects in electronic magazines but these were beyond my ability and price range.

At just about the perfect time, the Clef Microsynth appeared in a magazine I regularly bought. This looked perfect. The project was spread over just 2 editions and the whole synthesiser was built on one PCB. The circuitry had been stripped down to the basics but it was still pretty versatile.

Check out my article on the Clef B30 Microsynth here for more information on this fascinating synthesiser project.

As soon as I saw it I knew I had to build it. It was still going to cost more than I had but I wasn’t going to let that little detail stop me. I saved up enough to get the PCB first and then as I got more money I bought the components until I could finish it. I played with this little synthesiser for hours and hours until I knew how a synthesiser worked inside out!

Sequential Circuits Pro 1

Around this time Depeche Mode had become one of my favourite bands and then when Vince Clarke left, Yazoo became a new favourite. I played the “Upstairs at Eric’s” album to death and knew I had to get a Sequential Circuits Pro 1.

This was the first proper synthesiser I bought. However, it wasn’t to be the last!

OSCar

The monosynth became my go-to instrument for everything and as soon as I saw the OSCar I went out and got one of those too.

Both the Pro 1 and the Oscar were fantastic synthesisers and even now I still frequently use the VST versions of them. I’m still amazed at how good the software versions of them are.

If you are in any doubt as to hardware synths and VST version read my article. I think I can give you a good opinion as I owned both synths and VSTs for many years.

Electronic music at home

In those days producing electronic music cost an arm and a leg.

I built a small home studio with a Fostex M80 8 track reel to reel tape recorded and a Studio-master 16 track mixing desk. I also got one of the first sound samplers. This was the Greengate DS:3 which was based around the Apple 2 computer. I’d easily spent over ten thousand pounds. It’s pretty scary looking back.

The good news is that today, you can produce electronic music without having to spend any money. If you have access to a laptop, you can use free software that will do far more than my whole home studio could.

If you decide to use apps and software that you have to pay for, you will be able to do things that would be considered impossible only a few years ago.

Ableton Live

Ableton Live is a DAW. This stands for Digital Audio Workstation.

It is a complete music production system which when installed on a computer turns that machine into a fully functioning studio. You may remember the Fairlight CMI (Computer Music Instrument). It certainly got a lot of TV coverage because of its pioneering sound sampling capabilities. It cost around twenty grand when it came out and if you had one you’d definitely made it.

I’m not kidding when I tell you that Ableton Live on a laptop make the Fairlight look like a toy!

I’ve used Ableton Live for a fair few years now and I’ll confess I still think it’s amazing every time I turn it on. If you are an Ableton user or are considering becoming one check out my articles.

Using Ableton Live for recording vocals.

Loading projects into older versions of Ableton Live.

The best Ableton Live MIDI controllers and the best Ableton Live keyboard controllers.

How to use a USB microphone and a sound interface at the same time.

If you want to try it you can buy a very reasonably priced intro version of Ableton Live.

Recording vocals

This is one of the hardest things to get right in a home or project studio.

Like it or not the vocals on a recording go a long way in how the listener determines how good a song or recording is. The first step is to get the recording environment right.

I record most of my vocals in the car. Check out my article to see why, and also why it is surprisingly good. You then need to consider things like the proximity effect or microphones and decide whether or not you need a pop filter for recording vocals.

Also, have a read of my headphones for vocals guide. I used to use anything that was lying around until I discovered these OneOdio headphones.

You need to use compression on vocals

Once you’ve got your vocals recorded you need to consider compression.

I’d go as far as saying compression is almost an essential effect for recorded vocals. Check out my article on how to get the right settings for vocal compression. Also consider the type of compressor you are using as this can make a huge difference to the sound, as does using parallel compression on vocals.

Once you’ve sorted out the compression the next most important part is the EQ. There are various types of EQ but there is one particular EQ that I use not only on vocals but on almost everything else. Even complete mixes as it’s really that good.

If you are new to recording be sure to have a read through my introduction to audio effects for a good basic understanding.

Creative effects

Probably the most important creative effect used on vocals is reverb.

There are various reverbs and you can read my guide as to their suitability for vocals. There are many ways you can improve the reverb sound on vocals and one of the best ways I’ve found is to use ducking reverb. This is an excellent way in which you can incorporate reverb onto a vocal without it overpowering or swamping the sound as this is all too easy to do with a vocal. Also if you are unfamiliar with convolution reverb read my guide and find out why you’re missing out on this increasingly common effect. It can sound awesome on vocals.

Once you got your reverberation right you might find the chorus suits your vocal track. I used to use chorus all the while on vocals. I made do with a Boss CE3 stereo chorus pedal which gave a surprisingly good sound for the time. There is one chorus plug-in that I’ve found especially good for vocals. Check out my guide to using chorus on vocals for a full explanation, but just to give you something to think about, it can add chorus without that typical swirly sound that can often give it away. Using this chorus plug-in adds an effect that makes the vocals shine without it sounding like a chorus effect.

Mixing a complete track

Once you’ve got a complete track recorded there are so many more things that you can do to it to make it sound better.

Years ago you were pretty limited in a home or project studio but today the world is your oyster. The quality of the tools you can get can give a professional studio a run for its money.

I covered quite a few areas of compression in the vocals section but there is another type of compression that is more specifically for finalising tracks and that’s a glue compressor. A glue compressor can add some nice subtitles to a track or a combination of them as it can “Glue” them together. You’ll also find side chain compression can help with a mix. Especially getting similar sounds to sit together without one hiding the other. Another useful technique is that of EQ matching. This is where you can “sample” the EQ of a commercial track and imprint that EQ on your final mix.

Recording equipment

Modern recording equipment can record sounds in a quality that would have been considered impossible years ago.

Strangely enough, though now we can record sounds in pristine condition without any side effects, the side effects are the things that many are missing. There are many plug-ins designed to add the imperfections or analogue recorded.

You can check out some of these in my guide to audio distortion.

There are reconstructions of old value compressors and things that will add tape saturation and all types of audio distortion if that’s what you want. I must admit to being a recent convert to adding some colouration to the sometimes sterile digital sound.

Hopefully, you’ll find my articles not only interesting but also helpful in electronic music and recording technology.