Building Block Rockin' Beats: Basics of Electronic Music [Something Interesting #44]

Alex Bemish
Apr 17
2 min read

I've been sitting on this subject for a while as a possible Miscellany but a video from Tracklib (see below for more) led me down a rabbit-hole about sampling and synthesizers. So I figure this might be better off as a video-heavy Something Interesting post, especially since I've been a fan of electronic music since I was a kid (my second CD after the Fifth Dimension was Ultimate Dance Party 1997) but never bothered to dig much further than history of groups and musicians rather than the technical aspects. It's those techniques, though, that make this music possible and I'd like this to be a resource to get you started in finding out more on what goes on in the studios and on the decks.

Picture by Caught In Joy (Unsplash)

As a start, I'll present this video by Underdog Electronic Music School about the "10 rules" of techno...

The Videos

Tracklib

The first video about iconic electronic music samples is the one that inspired this post. For a series of advertisements, they do a great job showing how samples get broken down and most of their videos are focused on specific songs or albums. The two here are broader in scope (electronic music and hip-hop classics) but they can be addictive once you realize how samples actually get used within a track.

Captain Pikant

This YouTuber does an excellent job of covering how synthesizers work without being dull. I especially like his history takes on the 303, the 808, and the 909 (all posted here):

Underdog Electronic Music School

This is the Ten Rules of Techno guy (Oscar), who presents the building blocks of techno music in a relaxed (if not always visually exciting) manner. Good to check out if you want to understand how rhythm drives most everything in this music.

Bonus video from Trash Theory

I've posted some of Trash Theory's videos in other posts - most notably in the Power Pop post last year - but he did a really good overview of how electronic music came into existence that'll help provide additional context.

Other Resources

The books of Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton

If you're up for reading books written 20-ish years ago, both How To DJ Right and Last Night a DJ Saved My Life are well worth it. The first one's a how-to book rooted in the 1990s/early 2000s British club scene (think Ministry of Sound), while the latter is a historical overview of 20th century club culture. Devoured them during college but was too timid to try my hand at club DJing, yet still fantastic reads.

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music

God, I remember obsessively going through this site when it was Flash-based around 2003. Ishkur always had an exhaustive selection of samples and soundbites even if he could be really opinionated about what he thought was good versus what was crap. It was all good fun even if it hasn't always aged well.