About This Course

Eddie Amador shares his best practices for writing house music in Ableton.

Looking into layering sounds and the importance of vocals, he dives into the house music fundamentals from start to finish. 

You will learn how to:

• Use Ableton Live’s stock plugins
• Layer sounds
• Why you should use sample packs
• Arrange and structure a House music track
• Use vocals to create killer hooks
• Why you don’t need fancy studio equipment
• Use tension and release

Lessons: 

1. Introduction

Eddie introduces himself and discusses how he approaches building a House music track. He explains what is important when structuring a track, why he uses samples and why he thinks vocals are essential in House music.

2. Track Deconstruction:

Eddie deconstructs one of his songs, explaining how he arranges a House music track, beginning with the intro, then building this up with layers. He shows us how he uses sample libraries and creates tension in the build up to the drop.

• Creating an intro
• Creating tension in the buildup to the drop
• The drop - developing the track 

3. Q&A  :

Eddie answers questions on House music production in Ableton Live. Questions include: how to apply compression & EQ to process vocals, how to layer sounds, build tension, whether to use external VSTs or stock plugins and how he applies automation...

• What automation does Eddie use in his build ups?
• Why does Eddie use automation in linear steps (Either turned on or off)?
• Do you ever automate the gain on utility rather than automating the track’s volume? And is there an advantage to doing this?
• Processing vocals - how do you apply FX to vocals? 
• How does Eddie create his killer vocal hooks and know what makes a killer hook?
• If you don’t have access to a vocalist, what would you recommend if you want to work with vocals?
• How do you create tension in a buildup?
• What advice can you give for layering sounds? How many strings & synths would you use?
• Where do you EQ/cut your kick drum and how does that compare to where you cut your sub bass?
• Can you go into depth explaining how you use audio delay?
• Do you have any tips on filling out your mixes (making your productions sound full)?
• Do you like to use VSTs and which ones would you recommend?
• Can Eddie build a beat from scratch and show us how he builds a track from nothing?