I’m a highschool student researching and trying to experiment with the IDM genre, I’m having a little trouble trying to create a song that sounds like IDM. I would really appreciate if you could give me a few tips, maybe even websites that talk about it a little more too.
Thank you!!!
1 Like
Firstly, welcome!
I find that people categorise electronic music that doesn’t sound like any other electronic sub-genre as IDM.
If you listen to IDM from the 90’s this was the peak of the genre and encapsulates what it sounds like to many die hards. That said Board of Canada IDM is very different to Aphex Twin IDM is very different to Squarepusher IDM. I could go on.
Squarepusher, u-ziq, The Flashbulb and The Soft Greens all have a very common theme going on. Blending fast breakbeat drumming with jazzy basslines and chord progressions. This my go to style of IDM.
In terms of making it, glitching of some sort is pretty universal when it comes to this sub-genre of electronic music.
That’s all ive got for now. Hope that’s a start
5 Likes
I’m fast googled that topic and that’s the link
Welcome
3 Likes
Welcome to the forum.
IDM at this point is a vast genre, that really, unless you have a specific style/artist/period in mind, it may be hard to coach without first getting a bit more information, as it’s really quite open ended.
Do you have any favorite artists, albums, songs in the genre that inspire you? Even if it’s a single track where you’re like “I want to make music like this” would be helpful, as then we could help you dissect what is happening in the track and give you some pointers on how you might achieve that sound.
What tools do your have at your disposal? DAW’s, plugins, other instruments, etc. (If any).
I’m not certain about other places. You could maybe go to r/IDM and ask there as well. That being said, this is a community of people who have been around the block with this for the past few decades. We have plenty of collective knowledge and could likely help get you started on the right path.
Let us know!
Cheers, and good luck.
3 Likes
I would strongly recommend checking out our label’s catalog for inspiration. https://idmfnetlabel.bandcamp.com/
Look up a tutorial on “chopping breakbeats” that is a good place to start for drums.
5 Likes
I hate to simply say “just poke around on the forum”, but I feel like you’re kind of in the right place for exploring the genre right here. Because I’m not really sure of another website of any variety that’s been dedicated to all things IDM for… how many years now? I’ve lost count.
You could find mixtapes and labels galore, but seeing how the community reacts to the changing definitions and evolution of technology surrounding IDM, not to mention what they personally do with it all, can pretty much be explored extensively on the forums. There’s really no better place to explore and delve into the culture, and I’m not just saying that because we’re here. We’re here because of it.
3 Likes
Well said!
1 Like
First of all IDM stands for “It doesn’t matter”
Intelligent Dance Music technically isn’t a real genre anymore. I don’t think.
have you listened to our catalog? not all of it is “IDM” though… start with silent strangers I suppose.
what kind of research are you doing? writing a paper? I noticed you only posted once and never came back, are you a real person? you’re obv not a troll.
2 Likes
Hello! sorry for replying so late, but yes I do have an inspo song, it’s called Pulsewidth by Aphex Twin.
As for the tools, I have a Yamaha Modx 6 and a plugin, but I’m not very familiar with it.
1 Like
Ah, very nice. I like that song as well.
As far as song structure goes, you’re in luck, as this one is fairly simple.
I took some notes on the song structure while listening to it this morning.
(boring but important stuff first)
General structure:
- Time signature is 4/4
- Tempo is (I’m estimating) around 120 bpm
- There are no key changes, so the track is very tonally static.
- It’s just a few different patterns.
Rhythm
It’s essentially a dace beat, four on the floor, which means at it’s core it has:
- Kicks every quarter note
- 16th note hats (the basic pattern of the notes sounds like {closed, closed, open, closed, …repeat}).
- Snares on 2nd and 4th quarter notes
- This track also features Various percussions that sound like they are generally in a 16th note pattern. There are a few different patterns that come in and out as the song progresses, and a few places in the track where the basic beat deviates into something slightly different with hats and percussion.
Melody and Harmony
Firstly, this song is rooted around three different chords and a bass line. Both of these elements are a 4 bar loop. Nice and easy.
There is a lead thats nice and subdued that comes in for a few segments. throughout the song. the lead is more freeform than the bass and chords, but it is still very simple.
Now as far as sound design and sound choice goes.
- The drums all sound like an 808, pretty much all the way through, which, given the time period makes sense. So that’s easy enough.
- The chords are fairly saturated in delay and reverb. You could create a similar sound using almost any tool. Hard for me to tell what kind of synth engine it is, but wouldn’t be surprised if it was an FM synth. Here again, in the time period it would make sense.
- Same with the bass, it’s pretty simple and could likely be replicated easily with your workstation. Sounds like there is a low pass filter cutting out some of the highs and keeping things nice and deep. It also sounds like a mono synth of some kind, could be a billion things.
- The lead has a short attack on the envelope, so it doesn’t just pop in right away, but rather has a slight fade in. It also has a little decay and a medium release. There is likely a low pass filter over the top of this sound as well. The filter may be controlled by an envelope, but if so, it’s fairly subtle. This sound also has a delay and likely reverb combination going on that stretches it out.
If you want to achieve a similar sounding track I would make a 4 bar loop of a bass line and some chords that sound nice. Throw a “4 on the floor” beat over it using some 808 style sounds (it’s such a popular machine that i bet your workstation would include some 808 style samples). Then take that loop and duplicate it several times, until you have about 2-4 minutes of loop. Once it’s duplicated and much longer, play around with removing elements and then bringing them back in at various times. Try to give it a flow that makes sense. Once you have this skeleton, find a spot where a lead would shine through and where the track needs a bit more excitement and work on adding a simple lead melody.
IDK if this was helpful, but this is how I would go about breaking down this track and learning how to replicate it. I think your workstation should be powerful enough to make something like this if you know how to use it.
Just experiment and have fun, there is no pressure, we all do this because we like it and it’s fun. 
Let us know if you have more questions. Best of luck.
3 Likes
Thank you so much!! This was really helpful, I was having a lot of trouble trying to figure out and breakdown the song myself. Seriously, I can’t thank you enough omg. 
2 Likes