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Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers

by Dennis DeSantis · Ableton

The most process-focused book on the creative side of production: organized literally around starting, progressing and finishing. Dennis DeSantis's book of 74 short, DAW-agnostic strategies grouped as problems of beginning, progressing and finishing a track. Ableton publishes 24 chapters free on this site; the full book is sold in print and ebook.

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Official Ableton Live 12 manual chapter on managing CPU and disk load: reading the CPU meter, per-track performance impact, disabling unused I/O, freezing and bouncing tracks, RAM mode, and diagnosing overload dropouts. This is the clearest primary-source treatment of the freeze/bounce/commit workflow.

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Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio (2nd Edition)

The standard recommendation for the mixing-and-mastering stage of the workflow, written as an ordered process (prepare, balance, process, finalize) rather than a tips collection. Mike Senior's step-by-step mixing method for home studios: monitoring setup, session preparation, balance, EQ, compression, effects, automation, mix-bus processing and mastering. The companion Cambridge-MT site offers free chapter resources and multitrack sessions for practice.

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The Producer’s Manual

Paul White's illustrated guide to recording and mixing in a project studio, covering acoustics, monitoring, microphones, EQ, compression, reverb, pitch correction and mastering. Readers learn a complete production workflow, supported by interviews with producers such as Tony Visconti and Alan Parsons.

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