How to Make Electronic Dance Music for Free

If you’re looking to get into the world of electronic dance music but don’t have the money to invest in expensive software, fret not! There are plenty of ways to make EDM for free. In this blog post, we’ll show you how.

Introduction

Making electronic dance music can be a fun and rewarding experience, but it can also be a bit overwhelming for those who are just starting out. There are a lot of different elements that go into making a great dance track, from choosing the right sounds to putting together the perfect arrangement.

Luckily, there are a number of excellent free software programs that can help you get started making your own EDM. In this article, we’ll share some of our favorite free tools for making electronic dance music.

If you’re new to making EDM, we recommend starting with a simple sequencer like Drumboxx or Fruity Loops Studio. These programs will let you create basic drum beats and melodies without getting too overwhelmed by all the different options. Once you’ve got the hang of things, you can move on to more advanced programs like Ableton Live or Logic Pro.

Whichever program you choose, remember that the most important thing is to have fun and experiment! There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to making electronic dance music, so don’t be afraid to try something new.

What You Need

In order to make electronic dance music, you will need a computer with a sound card, a music production program, and some sound files. Once you have these things, you can get started!

A Computer

In order to make EDM, you will need a computer. You can use a laptop or desktop, but a laptop is often more convenient because you can take it with you to shows and producers’ houses. A Mac is not essential, but many EDM producers prefer to use one because of the built-in audio editing software. If you’re on a budget, you can get by with a PC that has decent specs. Just make sure that your computer can run the music production software you want to use without any lag.

Music Production Software

In order to produce music electronically, you will need access to a computer and music production software. Luckily, there are a number of great options available for free.

One popular option for music production software is Audacity. Audacity is a free, open-source program that can be used on both Windows and Mac computers. It offers a variety of features, such as the ability to record live audio, edit audio files, add effects to audio, and export audio in a variety of formats.

Another popular option for music production software is Reaper. Reaper is also a free, open-source program that can be used on both Windows and Mac computers. It offers many of the same features as Audacity, such as the ability to record live audio, edit audio files, add effects to audio, and export audio in a variety of formats.

If you are looking for a more comprehensive option for music production software, you may want to consider FL Studio. FL Studio is not free; however, it does offer a free trial period. FL Studio is a Windows-only program that offers a wide range of features for music production, including the ability to record live audio, edit audio files, add effects to audio, mix multiple tracks together, and export audio in a variety of formats.

The Basics of Music Production

Music production is the process of creating songs and sounds from scratch. This can be done with various instruments, digital audio workstations, and other audio production tools. In this guide, we’ll show you how to make electronic dance music for free.

Creating a Project

Now that you understand the basic concepts of music production, it’s time to start putting them into practice. In this section, we’ll guide you through the process of creating a basic project in Logic Pro X. This will give you a solid foundation on which to build your own productions.

Before you begin, it’s worth mentioning that there are many different ways to approach making music. There is no “correct” way to do things, and the best way to learn is by experimentation. With that said, let’s jump in!

The first thing you’ll need to do is create a new project in Logic Pro X. To do this, navigate to the File menu and select New Project (or use the shortcut Cmd + N).

This will bring up the New Project dialog box. Here, you’ll need to specify a few things:

First, give your project a name and choose a location where it will be saved.

Next, select the type of project you want to create. For this tutorial, we’ll be creating a standard project, but Logic Pro X also offers templates for specific genres and projects (e.g., film scoring).

After that, choose the audio interface you want to use. If you don’t have an audio interface, you can still use Logic Pro X; just select Built-in Output from the list.

Finally, choose the sample rate and bit depth for your project. The default settings are fine for most purposes, but if you’re working with high-quality audio files, you may want to increase the bit depth to 24-bit.

Once you’ve specified all of these options, click Create. Logic Pro X will now create a new project with all of the necessary settings in place.

Adding Audio Tracks

Now that you have your project set up, it’s time to start adding some audio tracks. In this section, we’ll go over how to add both digital audio and MIDI tracks to your projects.

Adding Audio Tracks
The first type of track we’ll add is an audio track. To do this, simply click the “Add Track” button at the top of the screen and select “Audio Track” from the menu that appears.

You’ll see a new track appear in your project with the name “Audio 1”. To rename this track, simply double-click on the name and type in a new one.

Next, we need to choose what input our audio track will use. If you have a microphone connected to your computer, you can select it here. Otherwise, you can leave it set to “No Input”.

Now that our track is set up, it’s time to start recording! To do this, simply click the “Record” button at the top of the screen (it looks like a circular arrow). You can also press the spacebar on your keyboard to start and stop recording.

Once you’ve finished recording, press the stop button or hit the spacebar again to stop recording. You should now see a waveform on your track representing your recording.

Adding MIDI Tracks
MIDI tracks are similar to audio tracks, but they don’t contain any audio data themselves. Instead, they contain instructions for how other instruments should play their sounds. This makes them perfect for adding virtual instruments to your project.

To add a MIDI track, click the “Add Track” button at the top of the screen and select “MIDI Track” from the menu that appears. You should see a new track appear in your project with the name “MIDI 1”. As with audio tracks, you can double-click on this name to change it to something else if you want.

Next, we need to choose what instrument our MIDI track will use. If you have a virtual instrument plugin loaded into LMMS, you can select it here. Otherwise, you can leave it set to “No Instrument”.
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Editing Audio Tracks

Audio editing is the process of manipulating recorded sounds, such as vocal tracks, instrumental tracks, and sound effects. There are a variety of software programs that can be used for audio editing, but the most popular one is Adobe Audition.

In Audition, you can edit audio files by cutting, copying, and pasting sections of the track. You can also add effects to the track, such as reverb or echo. If you want to remove unwanted noise from the track, you can use the noise reduction tool.

Once you have edited the track to your liking, you can then export it as an MP3 file so that it can be played on any media player.

Mixing and Mastering

In music production, there are two main stages of the process – mixing and mastering. Mixing is the process of putting all of the different tracks that make up your song together, while mastering is the process of polishing and finalizing your track so that it sounds its best.

There are a lot of different techniques that you can use in order to mix and master your track, but in general, you’ll want to start by looking at the EQ (equalization) of each track. This will help you to balance out the frequencies so that everything sits well together. From there, you can start to add effects like compression and reverb in order to give your track more depth and space.

Finally, when you’re happy with how your track sounds, you’ll need to bounce it down (export it as an audio file) so that it’s ready for mastering. In the mastering stage, you’ll be using a few different processes in order to finalize your track. This includes things like adjusting the overall volume levels, adding a bit of limiting or compression in order to control the dynamic range, and adjusting the stereo field so that everything sounds wide and full.

Conclusion

In conclusion, making electronic dance music is not as complicated or expensive as you might think. With the right tools and a little bit of creativity, you can create professional sounding tracks at home for free. So get started today and see what you can create!