Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

This is the last post of the tutorial, since from now I will be busy working on other projects. I hope you will find the material written here valuable and helpful for your music journey. Thank you everyone!

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

news update: June 17, 2014 :  well, it seems not, because the tutorial will be soon updated again :P

Interview with producer Oleksandr Hrytsiv

Nick: Hello, Oleksandr, and thank you for accepting this interview! Please introduce yourself in a few words.

Oleksandr: Hello, Nick! Hello to all eurodance fans! I am a producer of eurodance band Free 2 Night and a remix producer Real Thing. I live in Tarnopil in Western Ukraine.

Nick: Please tell me when and how your eurodance passion started...

Oleksandr: I loved European dance music since my childhood. My first favorite groups were ABBA, Modern Talking, Sandra etc. And here is the big paradox – I started to listen eurodance only since 1998 when it was already on the decline.

Nick: How do you create an eurodance song? Which is the basic process?

Oleksandr: I started to learn music when I was 7 years old. I played piano a lot as my mother and my aunt – they are professional pianists. I created my first early eurodance in 1999 when I really fell in love with such music. When I create music at first I play my keyboard to feel how the bass line sounds with the melody which I composed in my head. Then I start to combine kicks and basses. It is the main process because if it is not right then all the tracks will sound very cheap.

Nick: Please tell me a little bit about the gear and the sofware you use.

Oleksandr: I always use FL Studio 8 and 9 with added vsti and my own samples libraries. Also as I said I have a very good keyboard M-Audio and a several types of 3-linear high quality speakers.

Nick: Do you want to share some tips and tricks about making eurodance music?

Oleksandr: The main tricks are to have a good musical hearing, to love a good music with all of your heart and never stop learning. And there is one more important thing to know how to work in a group and with other people.

Nick: Which are your favorite 90s eurodance music acts?

Oleksandr: There are so many great eurodance acts from the 90s! I think my favorites are 2 Unlimited, Culture Beat, Dr. Alban, Snap!

Nick: Tell me a few things about your new eurodance project "Free 2 Night". Which are your future plans?

Oleksandr: I don’t want to call it “plans”, because only God knows the future of each. We have many ideas about new singles, albums, videos etc. We will do the best!

Nick: Do you think the classic eurodance genre can return on the commercial scene one day?
 
Oleksandr: I think it will return if people will really want that. It depends on only of each one of us.

Nick: Please tell a few words about our eurodance tutorial blog, do you find it useful?

Oleksandr: Yes of course! I find it very useful to all the people who wants to start to create eurodance tracks and to learn something new.

Nick: Thank you, Oleksandr! I wish you lots of good luck!

Oleksandr: Thanks for interview, Nick! The same good wishes to you and to all eurodance fans and composers!

How to make the 90s Eurodance Kick

Interesting tutorial found on Youtube

Interview with producer Mike Hoffmann

Nick: Hello, Mike, and thank you for accepting this interview! Please introduce yourself in a few words. 


Mike: I'm musican, 34 years old, living in Leipzig, Germany. I'm married since 8 years and fan of the classical eurodance-sound. And since March 2013 musican and producer for the eurodance-act "Flash Point"


Nick: Please tell me how you've started your journey into the eurodance world

Mike: If I remember rightly, this journey started with a class trip 1993. It was the first time where i heard songs like "Mr Vain", "No Limit" and "What is Love", as some mates played this music in their ghettoblaster all the week. *laugh* It was the beginning of my love to the classical techno-trance -and eurodancesound until today.


Nick: How do you make an eurodance song? How it all starts and which is your basic process?

Mike: Normally, first i write the song on keyboard. And than i melodize the song in the classical eurodance-style. Here i'm starting with the choice of sounds. First kick, hat's, snare and bassline, than arps, pads, strings, leadsound, and than all other elements. In the 2nd phase i build the arrangement. Here can also some sounds change, until everything sounds great for me. The next step is the recording of the vocals. And then i'm starting with the mixing of the song.


Nick: Please tell me a little bit about the gear and the sofware you use. How important it is?

Mike: In my home-studio i'm using almost entirely software. The DAWs "Fl -Studio" and "Studio One", some vsti-versions from classical Korg-synths, the Synapse Dune and a large colletcion of sample-libarys from the 90's. I think, the gear is importent, because without the gear you can't produce music. But the best gear is just as good as the man or the women who is using that.


Nick: Could you please tell some "secrets" for the people who want to create eurodance music?

Mike: I don't know any secrets. I think, the most importent thing is to have a passion for this kind of music.


Nick: Which are your favorite 90s eurodance music acts?

Mike: I really like all the eurodancesongs with trance-elements inside. Songs from Snap, Culture Beat, Magic Affair, Jam & Spoon, General Base and also songs from Intermission, Captain Hollywood Project, Real McCoy, Pharao and 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor. But also i like almost every other eurodance-song. I think there are just a very few eurodance song that i don't like.


Nick: Tell us a few things about your eurodance project "Flash Point". Which are your future plans?

Mike: Yes. The idea to "Flash Point" was born on a eurodance-party in March 2013. We thought, we like it to hear all the old songs again and again. But also, we want to hear new songs in the same style like the old hits. But he old acts just release new versions of their old songs year by year in the current sound. So we thought, ok, when WE will make the new songs, we want to hear. *laugh* Our next step is to release a follower-song for "Follow Me" in late 2013 or early 2014.


Nick: Do you think the classic eurodance genre can return on the commercial scene one day?

Mike: No, i don't think so. I think the time of music for the masses is slowly drawing to an end. It comes up more and more subgenres, provided by specialized independent labels for listeners with an individual musictaste. Because, today it's easy for any musican to make pro music for a low price, to make cooperations with musians from all over the world, and for independent labels to provided the fans on the whole planet.
I think, maybe the classical eurodance-scene of one single country is very small, But the classical eurodance-scene worldwide is big, with hundreds of thousands or millions of fans. So i think, acts like Free 2 Night, Acting Lovers, Pulse Of The Beat or likewise Flash Point belongs to an next classical-eurodance generation, that is specialized for an individual musictaste of the  eurodance-fans worldwide. But not for the masses of millions people, provided by the big music industry, like in the 90's, where classical eurodance was a part of it.

Nick: Thank you, Mike! I wish you lots of good luck!

Mike: Thank you, Nick! The same to you!

Making eurodance riffs with arpeggiators

Another technique to build eurodance riffs is with the help of arpeggiators.

It takes a little study but once you find how it works you can make great riffs.

I recommend you using the Kirnu Cream arpeggiator: http://www.kirnuarp.com/

How to get the classic 90s Eurodance sound: Korg M1 VST

A great addition for eurodance production is the Korg M1 VST.

Here are some great synth sounds you can try:

K 01 04 Unison stab

M 01 17 Perc organ

M 02 06 Super synth

M 14 06 4voices/03

M 14 26 8voices/14

Good luck!

How to Create the Eurodance Riff - Tips and Tricks

It's time for another post dedicated to tips and tricks for creating the eurodance riff.

1. Keep in mind the V shape! 

This is an essential thing for the eurodance style. Notes go up and down, up and down and so on. This is what gives the dance movement!

There are 2 variants:

The UP V form (down-up)

The DOWN V form (up-down)

2. Use the 2 notes trick instead one (works good especially when working with 1 octave distance between notes)

3. Watch for continuity between the bars!! - when changing bars make sure your notes don't jump too much! :)

4. Modify the pitch for selected notes 

Use the following trick when making riffs:

Take some notes from the standard V shape and move them up or down - you will find great riffs!

Good luck!

The Eurodance Riff Contest 2013

Create a cool eurodance riff in the 90s style and win prizes in value of over $1,000 ! The Eurodance Riff Contest 2013 will start on August 1, 2013, so you better get your riffs ready! More details coming soon! Let's bring the 90s back! Check out the details and make sure you share the news!

http://eurodanceriffcontest.blogspot.com/ 

Interview with producer Michal Karpac

Michal Karpac is a Slovakian eurodance producer, he is one of the young generation producers who try to keep the 90s Eurodance style alive.

Nick: Hello, Michal, and thank you for accepting this interview. Please introduce yourself in a few words.

Michal: Dance music is me, lol, I always wanted to do music, especially eurodance and now i do it

Nick: Please tell me how you've started your journey as an eurodance producer and your main produced acts.

Michal: A few years ago I started the project Floor Action and then I joined to the band Pulse Of The Beat founded by my friend Svetoslav Yankov, which I call Svetlo

Nick: How do you make an eurodance tune? Which is the base idea it all starts from?

Michal: I often let myself to get inspiration from other songs, films and from the world around me. I love production by Dieter Bohlen, he has the perfect melodies. I would like to be like him.

Nick: How long does it take to create and record an eurodance song?

Michal: When I was a beginner it lasted very long time but now I can make the one song in a few days but of course I need the inspiration.

Nick: Michal, tell me a little bit about the gear and the sofware you use. How important it is?

Michal: I use FL studio, it is the great programme which is used by many famous producers. I love to use VST z3ta +.

Nick: Could you please offer some tips for the people who want to create eurodance music?

Michal: You need mainly good melody and female vocals, but it is the long way to make normal eurodance, I would say it is just dance music in the start.

Nick: Which are your favorite 90s eurodance music acts?

Michal: The first in line E-Rotic, Blue System, Masterboy and many others.

Nick: Please tell me which are your current and future music projects.

Michal: So far I know about three: Pulse Of The Beat, Floor Action and then my little project Donatien.

Nick: Thank you, Michal and good luck!

Interview with songwriter and producer Roby Arduini

Roby Arduini is a famous Italian Eurodance songwriter and music producer. Some of the famous Eurodance acts he produced are Antares, Capella, Anticapella, and Agostini to name just a few.

Nick: Hello, Roby, and thank you very much for accepting this interview for the visitors of my blog. Could you please introduce yourself in a few words?

Roby: I am a writer,musician(keyboards)and producer.Whe I was young I've been very influenced by Genesis an Pink Floyd and I start to write  music 360°.

Nick: Please tell me how you've started your journey as an eurodance producer and some of the notable acts you've produced.

Roby: In the 80s I played in a band togheter with my friend Mauro Farina and then we started to write and produce music.See my bio..

Nick: Which was the gear used in the 90s for making eurodance music? Please name some important instruments if possible.

Roby: Analogue machine lke Jupiter8 Prophet5 and akay sampler.

Nick: How was the process of making an eurodance tune? Which was the base idea it all started from? Was it build around a chorus or an instrumental riff?

Roby: Basicly I prefer to start from an instrumental riff..

Nick: It seems in today's music compression is used quite a lot. How much was it used back in the 90s?

Roby: Not so much on the master. but a lot on every single track.

Nick: By analyzing several eurodance riffs it seems they usually follow a typical structure. Could you please explain how was a riff developed?

Roby: Catchy and groovy.

Nick: Many people ask about the famous 90s eurodance kick. Could you please explain how this was created?

Roby: It's a mix of varius kicks,such as from Linn,Tr909 and eq and compression.

Nick: Could you please offer some tips for the people who still want to create eurodance music? What makes a successful eurodance song?

Roby: Great melody and good arrangement.It's MUSIC.

Nick: The 90s eurodance is still loved today by many people. Do you think this genre can return on the commercial scene one day?

Roby: I don'k know,perhaps the bpm is too high.But the sound of pop dance is not so far.

Nick: Which are your current and future music projects?

Roby: I'm workin on my labels (Distar and Stereocity) to produce every kind of good music, from pop dance an soulful house.

Thank you, Roby, for taking your time to answer all my questions, I wish you lots of good luck!