If you don't produce house music, don't be put off by the title of this excellent book. It's packed with easy-to-digest information that will be of use to any electronic music producer, and although much is obviously geared towards how certain styles of house are created, most of the technical tips and tricks herein apply to any style of dance music.
Written by DJMag and Future Music contributor Marc Adamo, it achieves the perfect balance between accessibility and precise detail by offsetting all the technical jargon with more colloquial descriptions and informal dialogue. Once you know how to get about your DAW, you'll find this the perfect introduction to the technique side of things, and its written in a generic way that means users of Logic, Cubase, Reason and Ableton will all be able to use its tips and tricks (although cleverly it switches between them regularly when it comes to screen shots and the excellent step-by-step walkthroughs). Every page is clearly set out and full to the brim with great bits of advice, and the book itself is structured very well – first set out into different sections for the different elements of a track (bass, drums, vocals etc.), then giving separate guides on how to achieve different house music sub-genre sounds, and finally the holistic bits – mixing down, arranging, mastering, remixing and so on. As well as all the great technical info, there's lots of vital practical advice on offer, and the overall effect is like having your own personal tuition course.
Whether it’s step-by-step guides to how to achieve different sounds, in-depth guides to recording vocals or nifty little tricks with plugins and sequencing, this book represents incredible value for money – especially when you consider that it also comes with a free 500MB CD of samples from the acclaimed Sample Magic vaults. This book provides invaluable tuition, with enough teachings in it to keep you learning for weeks, and no doubt something to keep referencing for years to come. Obviously it’s geared at the house market, but most of it is relevant whatever style you’re producing.
