'The secrets of dance music production' - Book review
At the end of 2017 I took a little break from music production , for about approximately 6 months. Once I got my 'ass into gear' I went full swing into studio mode. I was so excited and determined to start producing new music. I had so many ideas and creative thought processes of how I wanted sounds, arrangement methods for certain tracks that I wanted to make. But seeing as hungry as I was to produce new material I really wanted to brush up on my music knowledge , I really wanted to take my music to 'the next level' .
In the past when ever I wanted to know a certain trick/method I would quickly hop onto Youtube and watch a quick video , but I never felt that impacted by the video, and watching a video didn't have any 'real value' , it wasn't something I could touch or feel . I might be a little old school but if its something I can feel and touch , it holds more value to me along with the fact I will grasp something more by reading about it than actually watching about it .
So I decided to search the internet for which books, on the topics of music production, would be most appealing to me and how it could help me. I searched for a few days and compiled a list of a couple books that I think best suited what I needed ( sources included book website reviews, amazon , top bestsellers lists etc..). The first of these books was ' The secrets of dance music production' by David Felton . This book was blasted everywhere online as the 'go-to' book for EDM music production , everyone was raving about it .
So here's my review on this book:
Straight off the bat I will say that this is a really great book. Every topic is well explained with the user in mind , in that being, its made simple to understand and grasp. There are a total of 8 chapters and covers just about everything from mastering, EQ, compression , sound acoustics and more . Each chapter is split well into different sections along with illustrations and walkthroughs. I really liked that in each chapter there were 'quick tip' sections and small summaries. You will also find a lot of references to dance music classics that are easy to compare to as well as tips from top music producers . The illustrations are really cool and don't just cover one specific DAW/synth/whatever, in particular . So you will find some step-by-step walkthroughs on for example, Logic or Cubase or FL and so on. But this is not a book where you start from beginning to end , its more of a guide that is split up into parts (chapters) for you to go back to and read up on again if you wish at a later date.
This book is more aimed at the beginner to intermediate level of music production . If anyone is just starting out as a music producer then I would highly recommended this book for you. I will add that it is more genre-specific and focuses more on EDM/house/Drum & Bass/2 Step music production . This isn't to say that an expert/veteran of music production couldn't learn a thing or two from this book , I particularly found the section of oscillators very helpful and there were certain things that confirmed my ways of producing which reassured me in my methods, which is always welcomed.
The only gripe I have about this book is the actual size , its wonky and badly cut. It doesn't sit on a shelf like a regular book and holding it on your lap makes it difficult to read as its really wide and will tend to bend over your legs.
This really is a great book and to anyone just starting out , this book is a great starting point onto your journey to music production. Veterans could also learn some amazing tips & tricks. I will always keep jumping back to this book when ever I need to 'clean up' on my knowledge of music production.
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