Electronic music makers (giveaway)

:D

I'll have a couple of bits of input for you in a couple of days - right now, time is a little tight for me, and ive had a little bit too much wine!

but check out Chemlab in the meantime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj18x7MiS1Q&list=RDEM8vL36Xqo-y4abcOO_9iXDw

I can't help, but have a bump for Front 242!

Reason is (or at least was, when I still tinkered) pretty good, but you really are missing out if you can't use VSTs.
VST is a format for plugins. Plugins can be anything from virtual instruments to various sorts of effects. You can get VSTs that will mimic any instrument you can think of, you can get VSTs that are synths, you can get VSTs that provide distortion, echo, filter, whatever you can think of. Some of the best standalone music software also operates as a VST plugin to go directly into your DAW.

If you're coming from playing guitar/bass, I recommend Ableton. If someone's coming from the electronic side, I'd recommend FL Studios, which started as a simple sequencer and grew into a full DAW. Pro Tools and Steinberg are great if you have a full studio at your disposal, but they're more expensive and have a much steeper learning curve.

FYI you should try out the plugins from Ohm - you can thank me later

VST is pretty necessary, especially if you want to experiment and make experimental like the (great) bands you mentioned. That said, a lot of that music was made back in the 80s without all those fancy plugins. So for the time being, experiment with what you've got and maybe look into what techniques those bands used.

As far as other bands to listen to, Love's Secret Domain by the band Coil kind of changed the way I thought about music. The album starts of chaotic but stick with it. There's a method to their madness. Soliloquy for Lilith by Nurse With Wound is also pretty mind-blowing.

bumpity bump. Trying to learn Ableton Live still. If anyone wants to collaborate on Ohm Studio it looks like it's dead SW but still could be fun.

VSTs are not recommended for electronic music production - They are absolutely necessary. Everything you'll do, you'll do using VST plugins and very rarely will you wander outside of their regular usage. In other words, VSTs are a necessity that you should absolutely not overlook.

VST plugins are basically whatever emulates a synthesizer or instrument, or more often than not, a collection of them. The DAW allows for the recording, editing and replaying of VSTs via a piano roll, but only if you have them - A DAW alone is not very useful without any VSTs when it comes to electronic music (although most DAWs come with pre-installed VSTs). You can find many free VSTs, some of which I can recommend if so you wish - just let me know - but as with anything, if you want complexity and quality, you'll have to pay for it.

In electronic music production you're more likely to use VSTs to create your own sounds - They do come with presets in most cases, but if you don't know much about VSTs and virtual instruments, now would be a good time for that as 80% of your time will be spent sound engineering, if you truly want to get the perfect sound for your music. Of course, it depends what exactly you're going for, but chances are you'll want to learn your way around making your own sounds with your newly acquired synthesizer VSTs.

As for a good DAW, I use FL Studio myself, and recommend it. It's a bit pricey though, so unless you have money to spend or a ship and a crew (if you know what I'm saying) it can be a bit hard to acquire for a newly starting producer/composer.

Nice thread, thank you to all contributors with the excellent info! I've been out of the music making loop for a while, but have been a long time user of FL Studio / Fruityloops. As an aside, Image-Line is a pretty great company if you decide to check it out. I purchased a license about 20 years ago when they were just starting out -- they promised lifetime free upgrades for around $20 back then and they've totally made good on that as all these years later I still have access to the vastly improved Producer Edition that now retails for $199.