EDM

History and character

“EDM” (electronic dance music) broadly means the whole family of electronic dance music; in the narrow sense, and this is the meaning used here, it refers to the commercial festival and chart dance music that exploded in the United States between 2010 and 2015. The acronym has a long history (Richard James Burgess used it on a Landscape record sleeve in 1980), but in the late 2000s the American industry adopted it to rebrand US rave culture and set it apart from the scene of the 1990s; in the United Kingdom people mostly keep saying “dance music”.

The boom: in 2011 Spin wrote about a “new rave generation” led by David Guetta, deadmau5 and Skrillex; in December 2011 Swedish House Mafia became the first electronic act to sell out Madison Square Garden; Billboard launched its Dance/Electronic Songs chart in January 2013; from 2012 SFX Entertainment, run by Robert Sillerman, and Live Nation invested in the sector, and festivals (Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Ultra in Miami, Tomorrowland in Belgium) became shows of lights, lasers and pyrotechnics. The roots are European: early-2000s trance and progressive, electro house (Benny Benassi, “Satisfaction”, 2002), Dutch house, Guetta's dance pop from 2009, Tiësto at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and Daft Punk's show at Coachella 2006, cited by Spin as a turning point. Emblematic artists: Avicii (“Levels”, 2011; “Wake Me Up”, 2013), Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Tiësto, Afrojack, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki, Zedd, Alesso, Nicky Romero, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, and Skrillex on the bass side.

From 2015 people talk of a “bubble” (SFX lost value, went bankrupt and was reborn as LiveStyle in 2016); the American pop EDM market declined from 2016 and stabilized toward the end of the decade, while many artists (Porter Robinson, deadmau5) distanced themselves from the “all sounds the same” sound. The format remains, though: build and drop, four-on-the-floor kick at 128, supersaws and “stadium” leads, pop vocals. In the 2020s it returns as future rave, slap house, main-stage melodic techno, and a trance/Eurodance revival. This entry covers big room, electro house, moombahton, future rave, Eurodance and hands up / 2000s dance as subgenres.

Scales and keys

Festival and chart EDM is predominantly minor (Aeolian), with many pop songs in major. Examples in F minor and A minor. Roman numerals: in minor, relative to the natural minor (in A minor: Am = i, F = VI, G = VII, C = III).

Natural minor (Aeolian)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. W H W W H W W.
• On A: A B C D E F G.
• Characteristic notes: b3 (C), b6 (F), b7 (G).
• Chords: i Am, ii° B°, III C, iv Dm, v Em, VI F, VII G. Sevenths: Am7, Bm7b5, Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7.
• Use: the i–VI–III–VII progression (Am–F–C–G) and its rotations are the “engine” of much progressive EDM and dance pop; leads on 5–b6–5, 1–b7–b6.
• Listening example: the progressive sound of Swedish House Mafia and Avicii.
• Common mistakes: always the same progression with the same voicing throughout the track.

Major (Ionian)

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. On C: C D E F G A B.
• Chords: I C, ii Dm, iii Em, IV F, V G, vi Am, vii° B°.
• Use: pop EDM songs (I–V–vi–IV), “euphoric” choruses.

Harmonic minor

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7. On A: A B C D E F G#. Chords: i Am, ii° B°, III+ C+, iv Dm, V E, VI F, vii° G#°.
• Use: major V (E) at the end of the build; “epic” leads with the leading tone.

Dorian

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. On A: A B C D E F# G. Characteristic note: major 6 (F#). Chords: i Am, ii Bm, III C, IV D, v Em, #vi° F#°, VII G.
• Use: major IV (D) as a bright color in the choruses.

Mixolydian (major “festival” leads)

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7. On G: G A B C D E F. Characteristic note b7 (F).
• Chords: I G, ii Am, iii° B°, IV C, v Dm, vi Em, bVII F.
• Use: I–bVII–IV (G–F–C) in “anthem” drops and in the more rock-flavored electro house.

Minor and major pentatonic

• Minor: 1 b3 4 5 b7 (on A: A C D E G). Major: 1 2 3 5 6 (on C: C D E G A).
• Use: big room drop leads (often 2–4 notes), vocal hooks.

How to choose

• Progressive and anthem: Aeolian with i–VI–III–VII.
• Pop EDM: major with I–V–vi–IV.
• Build: harmonic minor V.
• Big room drop: minor pentatonic with very few notes.

Harmony

• 4-chord loop (one bar each or two) for the whole track, changing voicing, register and instrumentation.
• Harmonic rhythm: 1 chord per bar at 128 (1.9 s); in big room drops a pedal or 1 chord every 2 bars.
• Harmonic breakdown: piano or pad with the full progression and the vocal; the build brings tension with the riser and the dominant.
• Voicings: wide supersaws over 2–3 octaves, piano with open chords; in the drops the root is in the bass, the lead doubles the melody at the octave.
• Borrowed chords: harmonic minor V, Dorian IV, Mixolydian bVII, minor iv in major.
• Modulations: a whole-step key change up in the last chorus of the pop versions.
• Density: maximum in progressive drops (supersaw + pad + lead + vocal), minimum in big room drops (percussive lead + kick).

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

• Four on the floor at 126–130 (standard 128): kick on every quarter note, clap/snare on 2 and 4, open hat on the offbeat.
• Straight grid (swing 0–5), heavily quantized; offbeat accents come from the offbeat bass and the open hat.
• Build: snare going from quarter notes to eighth notes to sixteenth notes (and sometimes 1/32), pitch riser, high-pass filter; the last quarter note is often empty.
• Drop: kick + bass + lead; in breakdowns the kick is absent.
• The “bounce” comes from the interlocking of kick / offbeat bass / open hat.

Drums

Convention: 16 sixteenth notes; quarter notes on 1, 5, 9, 13; offbeats (open hat) on 3, 7, 11, 15.

Role of the kick

• Sixteenths 1, 5, 9, 13: huge, long kick (250–400 ms in big room, 200–300 ms in progressive), body at 50–60 Hz, click at 3–5 kHz; often tuned to the tonic.
• In breakdowns the kick disappears; in the build it returns in quarter notes, then eighth notes and sixteenth notes.

Snare and clap

• Sixteenths 5 and 13: layered claps (2–4 samples) + snare; medium-large reverb (hall/plate 1–2 s) in progressive drops.

Hi-hats, ride and percussion

• Open hat on the offbeat (3, 7, 11, 15); closed hats in sixteenth notes; ride in the drops; shakers and tambourines; crash every 8 or 16 bars; tribal toms in big room drops.

Dynamics and groove

• Uniform velocities (EDM is “machine”); the groove comes from the offbeat bass, open hat and sidechain.

Interaction with bass and vocals

• Offbeat bass (sixteenths 3, 7, 11, 15) or sixteenth-note bass with sidechain; the vocal leans on 2 and 4.

How it changes by section

• Intro: kick + percussion (for the DJ), 16–32 bars.
• Breakdown: no kick; pads, piano, vocal.
• Build: snare roll 1/4 → 1/8 → 1/16 → 1/32, riser, high-pass, “pitch up”; last bar or last quarter note empty.
• Drop: kick, clap, open hat, bass, lead.
• Outro: kick + percussion for mixing out.

Fills and transitions

• Snare rolls with rising pitch, tribal toms in sixteenth notes, reverse crash, white-noise riser and downlifter, impact with sub on the first beat of the drop.

Choosing sounds

• “Festival” kicks (layers of sub, body and click), wide claps, bright open hats; all tuned.

Typical mistakes

• Kick not tuned with the bass; claps that are too narrow; builds that are too long or without the “empty space” before the drop; too many crashes.

Bass

• Offbeat bass progressive/electro style: a short note on every offbeat (3, 7, 11, 15), often a filtered saw or a “pluck bass”.
• Sub under the kick: with very strong sidechain or cut where the kick is.
• “Rolling” bass in sixteenth notes (with sidechain on every quarter note) in progressive.
• Notes: roots of the progression; alternating octaves; few notes.
• Range: 40–200 Hz; the kick occupies 50–60 Hz, the bass often starts at 60–80 Hz.
• Examples: Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Hardwell.

Harmonic instruments

• Supersaw: very wide chords and leads (unison 7–9 voices, wide detune).
• Piano: breakdowns and intro (full chords, arpeggios).
• Pads and strings: atmosphere in the breakdowns.
• Plucks: arpeggios and short chords in progressive drops.
• Acoustic guitars: folk/pop EDM (Avicii “Wake Me Up”).
• Range: 200 Hz–10 kHz; enormous in stereo.

Melody and vocals

• Vocals: pop topline (strong chorus, often female or a male tenor); high register to cut through the mix.
• Drop lead: simple, repetitive melody (2–8 notes), often an instrumental “answer” to the sung chorus; in big room a percussive 1–2 note riff.
• Backing vocals: stadium “oh-oh”s, doubles, harmonies in thirds.
• Effects: long hall reverb in breakdowns, dotted-quarter delay, automatic high-pass filter on the build, pitched vocal chops.

Instruments

• Drum machine and samples (kick, clap, open hat, crash, toms), sub and synth bass, supersaws, pads, piano, plucks, strings, acoustic guitars, pop vocal, backing vocals, FX (risers, impacts, sweeps).

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• OP-Xa V — Supersaw and chords: Wide unison and detune, open filter, 300 ms release; two layers (chords + octave above).
• Jup-8 V — Lead and pad: Wide leads with two saws and chorus; warm pads in the breakdowns.
• Prophet-5 V — Plucks and offbeat bass: Pluck with a fast filter envelope; offbeat bass with 150 ms decay.
• Piano V — Breakdown: Piano with hall reverb.
• Mini V — Bass and sub: Filtered saw for the offbeat bass, sine for the sub.
• Augmented Strings — Strings: Cinematic breakdowns.
• Augmented Voices — Choirs: Vocal pads and choirs for the climaxes.

Song structure

Eight-bar phrases; at 128 BPM, 32 bars last 60 seconds. Club version 4:30–6:00, radio edit 3:00–3:30.

• What comes in/out: in the intro a new element every 8 bars; in the drop variations every 8; between drop 1 and drop 2 the lead changes or a layer is added.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

• Huge kick, pumping bass, wide and bright supersaws, clear vocal; very high loudness; big contrast between breakdown (space, reverb) and drop (density).
• References: Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Martin Garrix, Hardwell.

Kick

• EQ: high-pass 25–30 Hz, +2/+3 dB at 50–60 Hz, −3/−4 dB at 250–400 Hz, +2 dB at 3–5 kHz.
• Compression: often none; clipper 2–3 dB (Kclip, Fruity Soft Clipper) for level and density.
• Saturation: light, for the click. Space: none. Mono.

Snare and clap

• EQ: high-pass 150–200 Hz, +2 dB at 200–250 Hz, −2 dB at 500 Hz, +3 dB at 2–4 kHz, +2 dB shelf at 10 kHz.
• Compression 4:1, attack 10 ms, release 100 ms; clipper.
• Reverb: hall/plate 1.2–2 s, pre-delay 10–20 ms, filtered return; width 120% for the layered claps.

Hi-hats and percussion

• Open hat: high-pass 500 Hz, +1 dB at 10 kHz, light sidechain from the kick; closed hats 20% to the sides; percussion at 30–60%.

Bass and sub

• Mono sub, low-pass 100 Hz; offbeat bass high-passed at 40–60 Hz, light saturation, mono below 150 Hz.
• Strong sidechain from the kick (6–12 dB, release 100–200 ms) for the “pumping”.

Supersaws, pads, piano, leads

• Supersaw: high-pass 150–250 Hz, −2 dB at 2–4 kHz (room for the vocal), de-esser 7–9 kHz, width 140–160%, sidechain 6–10 dB.
• Lead: high-pass 200 Hz, presence at 2–3 kHz, hall reverb 2–3 s and dotted-quarter delay.
• Piano: high-pass 80 Hz in the breakdowns, hall reverb 2.5 s.
• Pad: high-pass 250 Hz, width 150%.

Lead vocal

• EQ: high-pass 100 Hz, −2 dB at 300 Hz, +2/+3 dB at 3–5 kHz, air +2 dB at 12 kHz.
• Serial compression: FET 4:1 (4–6 dB) + opto (2–3 dB); de-esser 6–8 kHz; light saturation.
• Space: plate 1.5 s with 40 ms pre-delay; hall 3 s in breakdowns; dotted-quarter delay at −20 dB; throw at the end of the phrase.
• Automation: high-pass filter in the build, volume phrase by phrase.

Backing vocals

• −6/−9 dB, panning 70–100%, high-pass 200 Hz, longer reverb.

FX

• Risers with filtered white noise and reverb, downlifters, impacts with sub (watch the level relative to the kick).

Buses and groups

• Drum bus with glue (2:1, 1–2 dB) and clipper; Music bus with global sidechain; Vocal bus; FX bus.

Sidechain

• Kick → bass, supersaws, pads, open hat (to different degrees); in FL Studio: Fruity Limiter in COMP mode with sidechain from the kick, or Fruity Peak Controller or LFOTool/Kickstart.

Master

• Chain: light EQ → glue compressor (1–2 dB) → saturation/tape → clipper → limiter.
• Indicative targets (common practice): club/festival −6/−4 LUFS integrated, short-term in the drops −5/−4; streaming −8/−7 (platforms normalize, Spotify around −14 LUFS); true peak −1 dBTP for streaming, −0.3 for club files.
• Dynamics: the drop should be at least 3–4 dB louder than the breakdown on the short-term meter.

Common mistakes

• Kick and bass in conflict (insufficient sidechain or untuned kick); supersaws that cover the vocal; a master that pumps because the limiter is pushed too hard; drops that are quieter than the build.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Avicii — Levels (2011); Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin — Don't You Worry Child (2012); Martin Garrix — Animals (2013).

Reference listening

• Benny Benassi — Satisfaction (2002)
• Avicii — Levels (2011)
• David Guetta feat. Sia — Titanium (2011)
• Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin — Don't You Worry Child (2012)
• Avicii — Wake Me Up (2013)
• Martin Garrix — Animals (2013)
• David Guetta & MORTEN feat. Aloe Blacc — Never Be Alone (2019)