The Secrets of Dance Music Production

As someone trying to expand on my electronic production skills, this book has been absolutely amazing. It breaks down all the components from percussion to in-depth synthesis, to music theory, etc. Regardless of the reader’s level of musician experience, the book is written in a way to easily comprehend. I have purchased various books and master classes yet this book covers so much more. I particular like how they cover different equipment and show examples on various DAWs instead of just one. The tip portions alone have sharpened my skills. Great book. Buy it.

This book gets right down to business from the very first paragraph, giving you the straightforward tips and tutorials you paid for without a bunch of mindless, anecdotal dribble that nobody wants to read. It’s got tons of images and screenshots to supplement the written content. A folder full of audio content is also available for download from a link provided in the book allowing you to work the lessons taught in the book. I’ve been producing for about 5-6 years but I’ve developed a lot of bad habits and learned a lot of incorrect ways of doing things and this book is going a long way to help me correct these things. Having a singular reference manual right there by your side that you can revisit anytime you forget how to do something is so nice. I have thousands of bookmarks saved online for different production tips and guides but I can rarely remember what any of them are for.

Exactly what I wanted and a lot more. This is a comprehensive(surprisingly so) guide to everything Ive been wanting to learn recently. Beautifully laid out and it references a lot of great modern music to listen to and check out as lesson examples. Its exactly what I wanted. No BS, no more brainstorming key words to google or youtube and hope for quality info sources. No more wondering what I should think about first. I have a guide. There is a lot out there and it gets intimidating trying to figure it all out by yourself. Im really happy I found a textbook that I can study and actually learn.

Great book, direct to the point and lots of pictures. Who has time for a novel when you want to perform? Not this guy.

The title is almost misleading. We think of 'dance music' as EDM these days, but what the author means to say is that 'dance music' is ANYTHING people dance to, and that covers pretty anything. As such, every page of this book has useful information regardless of what genre you're producing. I'm just getting started with producing commercial quality music and find this book to be accelerating my progress at a rate I didn't expect. HIGHLY recommended to anyone else just getting started or need to fill in some knowledge gaps around any topic relevant to producing.

The content in this book is great. Some stuff is basic, but not too basic. Other stuff is more advanced, but not too advanced. There's good balance in this book and the walk-throughs are interesting. The only problem I have with this book is its awkward shape. The pages are wide and heavy, which will sag if read like a regular book. Also, it doesn't help that the spine of this paperback book feels weak. The best way to read this book is flat on a table top.

This book is perfect for beginner to intermediate level. It is one of the most modern books I could find on music production, specially pertaining to electronic music. The content is easy to digest and to the point. In my opinion, the best part of the book are the quality examples and graphics. I can really tell there was a lot of work and thought put into this. Also to note, you really don't have to be producing dance music specifically to enjoy this book. I highly recommend.

Just get it if you're thinking about it. If you study the whole thing (and look up other information to fill in gaps in understanding), there's no way you won't know mostly everything you need to start making any kind of dance/hip-hop music. NOTE TO ATTACK MAGAZINE: you guys should release a new version with better binding or maybe an alternative to the long landscape- style pages that pull on the binding after a while. Mine isn't falling apart yet but only because I've been really careful, a couple pages are only half attached now,

This book will basically bring you from an amateur producer to an intermediate/advanced producer. What's important is to not read the book from the beginning to the end without applying anything as you would forget most of the stuff by the time you are done with the book. I suggest only looking into it when you need something specific. Use it as a guide or a dictionary. Overall, the book has thought me a lot, especially in the Drums and Mixing&Mastering sections.

Livre uniquement en anglais, avec des mots de la technique sonore. Je suis producteur depuis un peu plus d'un an, et pourtant, même si je commençais à me débrouiller, le livre m'as grandement éclairé ! On comprends "pourquoi" les choses que l'on fait marche, et on apprends à plus écouter la musique que entendre !! Il mets également en relief les problèmes que l'on pourrait avoir, et aide à nous corriger. Il est divisé en plusieurs parties (drums, bass, ect..), donc si on veut un conseil sur quelque chose en particulier, il est facile à trouver. Arrivé à la fin du livre, n'importe qui ayant bien suivi et bien compris, en essayant de refaire les choses soit même acquiert une expérience folle. Le livre est axé sur les utilisateurs d'Ableton et de Logic, mais je suis sur FL Studio, et j'ai très bien pu tout reproduire, dans la mesure où il faut donc connaître un peu son logiciel.(le livre n'est donc pas accès au débutant complet, dans la mesure où connaitre UN PEU son logiciel est grandement préférable.) Je recommande fortement à tout ceux qui veulent comprendre pourquoi les choses de la musiques électroniques marchent, ou non :)

First things first. This isn't an A to Z route map to making a tune. If you want that I'd suggest one of the many video based tutorials various places do. This is a repository of information and you read cover to cover or dip in and out as you feel. For most elements of EDM this really is as deep as you can go. The only bit I felt maybe needed some expansion was the theory section but it constantly references real tunes so you can hear exactly what they mean as well. The problem is theory is a deep subject and coming from piano and guitar I felt it was maybe a bit lacking but I guess it's a bottomless pit if deep dive with theory. It's fine for beginners though. What I did like was the fact it was willing to say, yeah this is how you program a kick, here's the compression settings and types but sod it, if you want to use sample and loops then do so, if it sounds good, it sounds good.

Imprescindible para quien quiera comenzar en el mundo de la produción musical como para quien tenga conocimientos avanzados, es muy completo. El libro está en inglés así que deberías de tener un nivel medio como mínimo. Completamente en color, muy bien presentado, e incluye un link para descargar audios como ejemplos.

But not for beginners!