When it comes to music producers, Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles – known as the godfathers of House music – brought about a near-revolution into the world of Dance music. Over the years, the music they evolved has grown and newer themes have formed and spawned new genres in music. It brought hope for many enthusiasts who always wanted to create a little Dance music for fun and more so for those professionally inclined.
Are you among the enthusiasts that who would like to be a music producer? These days, it’s incredibly easy to get into producing Dance music in your own home and it isn’t all that expensive.
It’s pretty simple!
These days, the entire Dance music evolution is packed into one incredible piece of software. All you have to do to learn how to make music like a pro is install a good piece of music production software, or DAW (digital audio workstation), on your home computer or laptop.
With the help of a good music program, getting started with making Dance music is definitely a great deal easier than jumping in at the deep end – probably a lot easier than you may have ever imagined it. You do not need to know much about music theory and you do not have to be a technical expert. All you need is a home computer and a passion for dance music to create a good dance track.
To become a professional Dance music producer you need to identify what type of music you would like to specialise in. This should be the style you are most passionate about and want to get to grips with. You could choose from drum-n-bass, synth-pop, electropop, electronica, house, trance, electro… the list goes on. With a little research, you will find a host of options you could experiment with and you can take inspiration from other artists, both new and old, as well as growing trends to hone in on your style and work out what makes a good Dance production, in terms of arrangement, mood and instrumentation.
The opportunities
As a dance music producer, you can either write your own music and market it or collaborate with other artists in remixing. You could also work as freelance music producer. Another option is to write music for media and jingles for advertising agencies.
One can expect a decent salary as a dance music producer though it is difficult to find such jobs. There are, however, many an opportunity for freelancers and there are limitless returns if you are willing to put in a bit of hard work to establish yourself as a music producer.
What it takes?
With some dedicated work and good music sense, it is possible to create some excellent sounding tracks sitting right in your house and with the help of minimal instruments. To be able to reach a stature whereby you can deliver a decent track and quality sounding mix of a professional level, you need to invest some time and some concentrated effort. As the quality of work improves, you need to start looking into the marketing aspects of your career. This can be done through researching promotional websites, playing at parties and other gatherings, press releases, etc. and may even entail hiring a marketing company to get your name out there.
First Step – Take a crash course!
There are a number of dance music tutorials are available, which will help you initially to get going. Listening to music of popular artists that interests you will also help. The top favorites include the likes of Deep Dish, Ferry Corsten, Armin van Buuren etc.
Be inspired!
DJ Jack Smooth is an example of a successful dance music producer. He was working as a DJ of a pirate station when he got addicted to house music. He got himself a set of decks and started to work. After getting into music production, by the time he was 23 years old he had put out over 250 records.
Jack Smooth’s music stands out because he makes his own music rather than remixing other peoples music. This should be an inspiration for anyone who dreams of making it big in the field of dance music production.
Ashley Mason.
As an established Dance music producer I know how hard it can be to get started and even harder to get your foot in the door. That is why I’ve created a lens on becoming a Dance music producer which tells you everything you need to know about making Dance music, from what you need to get started, the software you can use to create music down to recommended tutorials and, of course, the wages.