20 Best Essential Tips for EDM Music Production!

20 Best Essential Tips for EDM Music Production!

EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is all about energy, emotion, and dancefloor impact. Whether you’re crafting festival anthems, future bass, or progressive house, these 20 tips will help you elevate your productions and stand out in the crowded EDM landscape.

1. Start with a Killer Drop

Reverse Engineer: Build your track around the drop. Design the most exciting section first, then work backward to create tension for it.
Layered Synths: Stack supersaws, plucks, and basslines for a massive, cinematic sound (e.g., use Serum or Sylenth1).

2. Perfect Your Kick and Bass Relationship

Sidechain Everything: Use a ghost kick to trigger sidechain compression on bass, synths, and pads. Try plugins like LFOTool or Kickstart for precise ducking.
Layer Kicks: Combine a punchy top kick with a subby tail for low-end power.

3. Write Memorable Melodies

Hook First: Focus on simple, catchy melodies that listeners can hum. Use pentatonic scales for accessibility.
Octave Jumps: Add energy by bouncing melodies between high and low octaves.

4. Use Vocal Chops Effectively

Slice and Process: Chop vocal samples into rhythmic patterns (e.g., in Ableton’s Simpler). Add pitch shifts, formant filters, and reverb.
Emotion Over Lyrics: Even nonsensical vocal chops can convey feeling (e.g., Flume, Martin Garrix).

5. Design Huge Supersaws

Unison and Detuning: Use 7–16 voices with slight detuning in synths like Serum or Spire.
High-Pass Filtering: Cut lows (<200 Hz) to leave space for the bass.

6. Master the Build-Up

Risers and Noise Sweeps: Automate pitch, filters, and volume on white noise or synth risers.
Drum Rolls: Add snare or tom fills that crescendo into the drop.

7. Create Dynamic Drops

Contrast is Key: Make drops feel explosive by stripping elements in the pre-drop (e.g., “deadmau5 pluck” effect).
Call and Response: Alternate between melodic phrases and rhythmic bass patterns.

8. Polish Your Mix Early

Balance as You Go: Avoid fixing mix issues later. Use gain staging and EQ during sound design.
Reference Tracks: Compare your mix to pro tracks like Martin Garrix’s “Animals” or Illenium’s “Good Things Fall Apart.”

9. Use OTT Compression

Multiband Squash: Apply OTT (Over The Top) compression to synths, vocals, and basses for upfront, in-your-face energy (built into Ableton or Xfer OTT).

10. Stereo Width for Impact

Mid-Side Processing: Widen highs (8+ kHz) with mid-side EQ or imager plugins (e.g., iZotope Ozone Imager).
Mono Low-End: Keep kicks and sub-bass centered (<150 Hz) for club systems.

11. Layer Snares and Claps

Snap + Body: Layer a tight snare with a clap or vinyl crack sample. Add reverb to glue them together.
Pitch Variation: Tune snares to match your track’s key.

12. Harness Sub-Bass

Sine Waves Only: Use pure sine waves for clean sub-bass (30–60 Hz). Distort lightly for harmonics.
High-Pass Everything Else: Cut sub frequencies on non-bass elements to avoid mud.

13. Automate Everything

Movement = Interest: Automate filter cutoffs, reverb decay, LFO rates, and panning to keep sounds evolving.
Drop Surprises: Introduce a new synth or FX sweep during the drop to maintain excitement.

14. Use FX Transitions

Downlifters/Uplifters: Add reverse cymbals, impacts, or whooshes between sections.
Riser Reverse: Reverse a riser sample to create tension before a breakdown.

15. Design Unique Bass Sounds

Growls and Wobbles: Use FM synthesis (Serum, FM8) or wavetable modulation for aggressive bass textures.
Post-Processing: Add distortion (CamelCrusher), bit-crushing, or vocoders.

16. Optimize Arrangement

EDM Formula: Intro (16 bars) → Buildup (8 bars) → Drop (16 bars) → Breakdown (16 bars) → Buildup → Drop → Outro.
Keep It Moving: Avoid stagnant sections—add or remove elements every 4–8 bars.

17. High-Quality Samples

Splice.com: Use professional drum kits (e.g., KSHMR, Cymatics) for crisp kicks, snares, and FX.
Layer Fills: Combine multiple percussion loops for complex rhythms.

18. Vocal Processing Tricks

Double Tracking: Record two vocal takes and pan them left/right for width.
Hyper-Pitch Effects: Use Little AlterBoy or Melodyne for robotic or harmonized vocals.

19. Master for Loudness

Limit Aggressively: Aim for -6 to -8 LUFS-I (festival tracks) or -8 to -10 LUFS-I (streaming).
True Peak Ceiling: Set limiters to -1 dBTP to prevent distortion.

20. Collaborate and Iterate

Feedback Loop: Share drafts with other producers for fresh ears.
Finish Tracks: Avoid getting stuck in “loop mode.” Commit to arrangements, even if imperfect.

Final Advice

EDM thrives on innovation and emotion. Study your idols, but don’t copy them—blend trends with your unique style. Use these tips as a foundation, then break the rules to create something unforgettable. Now go make the crowd lose it!