EDM Artist Research

Over the next four weeks we will be learning and creating EDM tracks using Ableton Live. I am pretty excited about this subject because i have been using Ableton for the past Four years and i am confident with my knowledge of the DAW. I don’t have a lot of my own work public because i am not comfortable releasing something unless it if of a professional standard. I am hoping the next four weeks will fill the gaps in my skill level that have come from being a self taught producer.

We have been asked to research an EDM artist that we idolise and analyse why we like their music and how we can emulate their stylings into our assignments. I have chosen to talk about two artists because i really like the way both of these artists make music and they are major influences when i am producing my own.

BAYNK

This artist is a young guy from New Zealand who is hard to box into one EDM genre but is somewhere around minimalist, summer, glitchy house music. Although he is early in his career i am amazed by they way he can seamlessly blend samples in his music. A majority of the EDM music i listen to has strong rhythm, beat and breathing in their tracks. When i talk about breathing i refer to the high dynamic rage throughout a track and a strong rhythm that builds and falls through every bar. A great example of breathing in a track is Daybreak by Electric Mantis.

Before every kick hits their is a small build up and release. I can draw similarities between the production of BAYNK and Electric Mantis in the way they build interest and tension in their tracks rather than having a large build up and drop like a lot of other EDM producers. One of my favourite tracks of his is Could You. It starts off with layering synths and a simple snare and kick are added. For the pre-chorus a vocal sample that has been chopped and pitched is played alongside a punchy synth. The chorus comes in with this same vocal sample and synth but is accompanied by percussion. The song also uses organic instruments like brass and strings. The use of these organic sounds is what makes a great EDM track for me. I connect with a song a lot more if classic elements and instruments are woven into the modern electronic music template.

MURA MASA

Mura Masa is another young artist, I enjoy listening to producers who are my own age because it shows me the level of production i could achieve, age is not a barrier. Mura Masa makes very quirky, minimalist music that is very syncopated and abstract. Like BAYNK, he uses a lot of organic instruments like piano and strings in his music to give his music more feeling and emotion. Another thing i have picked up with Mura Masa is he likes to use contrast frequency ranges to give clarity in his music. Most of his music only features very deep sub-bass lines contrast against high pitched vocals and percussion. One song that shows off his talent as a producer is ...Girl. I plan on taking inspiration from Mura Masa and his use of clean sounds and utilising the frequency spectrum.