Electronic Dance Music (EDM) : brief introduction of EDM production

Abstract

This thesis provides a brief introduction of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) production and discusses the process of providing the audience with a maximized experience. The literature study for this thesis is based on books, articles, websites and a analysis of three tracks. For the last two decades EDM has developed vastly and several genres have emerged under the EDM umbrella term such as House, Techno and Dubstep. The core of most EDM tracks, is the collaboration between drums and bass, hence the backbone of a dance track is the rhythm or so-called groove. To be able to create drum patterns and rhythms it is important to understand the basic drum sounds and rhymthm techniques. To then cause the drums and bass to cooporate well, it is essential to understand various bassline composition techniques. At the same time synthesis is a crucial tool to understand for the reason it essentially produces the main sounds of EDM such as drums, bass, pads and effects. The mixing should then secure that every sound has its own space in the frequency spectrum and bring the mix into three dimensions. Furthermore, building energy in a track is substantially based on structure and arrangement such as breakdowns, buildups and drops. As a result of EDM being rather repetitive, the music has to include not only a dynamic journey which is endlessly evolving throughout the track but also a constant manipulation of the sounds to keep the interest going.