Where did you learn to compose, mix and master??

[gregorym]

I'm looking for ways to up my composition, mixing/mastering.

Masterclass, the site, is ok. I think it's more for people who already know what they are doing, hence the term masterclass. To be honest, Han's masterclass was kind of a bust. Maybe I need to watch it again, go through the exercises, etc.

Sync My Music is a neat place on the web. Jesse is a really thoughtful and smart guy. I'm thinking about joining, but I want to ask more questions first. Anyone here belong to the sync academy, etc?

How about Udemy? Any good stuff there?

Please tell me where you had the most success learning how to write, mix, etc.

Thanks

[MBantle]

I'm looking for ways to up my composition, mixing/mastering.

Masterclass, the site, is ok. I think it's more for people who already know what they are doing, hence the term masterclass. To be honest, Han's masterclass was kind of a bust. Maybe I need to watch it again, go through the exercises, etc.

Sync My Music is a neat place on the web. Jesse is a really thoughtful and smart guy. I'm thinking about joining, but I want to ask more questions first. Anyone here belong to the sync academy, etc?

How about Udemy? Any good stuff there?

Please tell me where you had the most success learning how to write, mix, etc.

Thanks

Hi Gregory,
I think when it comes to technical stuff there are lots of great opportunities out there. I completed the HOFA engineering course and I can recommend it https://hofa-college.com. When it comes to composition I guess it very much depends on the genre you want to write in. When it comes to TOP 40 tracks there are quite a number of Youtube videos recreating these tracks in a DAW (I am a Logic user and I can see a lot of them, so I suppose there are similar videos covering other DAWs). I still think at the end of the day the best learning tools are the brain and the ears. Listen to the genre you like to write in, try to understand everything about it. What are the instruments, sounds used? What are typical chord progressions, scales used in that genre? Just do constant research. I spend a lot of time on these things and I learn new things every day. Give it some time. If you really want this and willing to put in the time you will succeed!
Cheers,
Matt

[jdkotaska]

I'm looking for ways to up my composition, mixing/mastering.

How about Udemy? Any good stuff there?

Please tell me where you had the most success learning how to write, mix, etc.

Thanks

I also use Logic and I took a complete music production course in Logic Pro X on Udemy for about $12. It taught me everything I needed to know about music production and is actually the reason I'm able to create music for this site. I highly recommend it if that's the path you choose to take. I didn't mind paying for what could be obtained elsewhere for free because it came with 38 hours of well-structured, well-informed, and well-taught courses which can be done in any order you want depending on what you feel most like learning about at any give time. They have courses in many other DAWs and subjects as well. Good luck in your endeavors!

[gregorym]

Thanks Matt and Dean.

Matt, HOFA looks like a really top notch online school. Germany is it's head quarters, I think. I don't want to sound like a snub or racist, but the German's make awesome stuff. At least that's my experience with German made software, etc. I wonder if they, Germans, have under achievers.

Dean,

I'm going to start Udemy's class soon. It's cheap and I've learned from other courses at Udemy. Thanks for reminding me that they offer good educational content at a low cost.

Thanks guys!

[davidira]

I used sync academy for about 3 months. Very good videos and instruction. For just about every genre of music an 'expert' will make a song from start to finish. Very useful if you're new to this. I did just cancel my membership as I felt that I gained the knowledge needed and hadn't used the site for over a month. I am new to this - I don't claim to make great songs or be a mixing/mastering expert. I have no forwards yet so make of my comments what you will.

For specific mixing mastering questions that arise - I am always able to find the answer on youtube.

[jaywilliams]

I'm looking for ways to up my composition, mixing/mastering.
...
Please tell me where you had the most success learning how to write, mix, etc.

Thanks

I highly recommend the Music Production Specialization series on Coursera/Berklee School of Music.

I personally noticed significant and dramatic improvement in my work soon after taking the courses, and I'm sure I only absorbed a small fraction of the information being offered.

Likewise, one of my main collaborators has completed the first course in the series and has show significant progress in the last few months.

I think you can actually take the courses for free, they have a paid option if you want a Certificate, which I don't know why you would really need one of those.

Hope this helps, have fun!

Jay

[gregorym]

Thanks davidira and jaywilliams!

I've been checking all these places out. I love learning about music, music production and anything music. Thanks guys!

[cosmicdolphin]

Mixing wise - I got the book Mixing Secrets for The Small Studio by Mike Senior from Sound On Sound when it first came out.

It was the first mixing book I'd seen that didn't assume you were working in a 'proper' studio with a huge desk etc. It was more about how to get pro results from a typical Home Studio. After that I hired him to provide feedback on my own mixes which was really useful..did that for half a dozen or so songs.

Sync Academy is very good too as it's far more specific to the type of music we are trying to make - There are lots of walkthroughs , a huge amount of material to work through and you can get feedback off other members.

Youtube is really useful for learning specific tricks ..i.e. I learned how to make FutureBass mainly by watching Alex Rome's channel and I've had some of those cues placed on TV

Also the forums here have been really helpful, particularly guys like AndyG who have been really generous with their time giving feedback.

Other than that, it's just doing it over and over...my music has certainly improved by workiong on several hundred tracks in the past few years...It's a gradual thing absorning it all.

Mark

[nojanath]

I'd like to second the recommendation for Mixing Secrets for The Small Studio by Mike Senior. I learned a ton from this book and also from the free multitracks he has for download on his site.

http://cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm

I liked to download tracks in different genres and try to mix them. Mixing somebody else's song helped me focus on the mix and not get distracted by what I wrote.

JT

[gregorym]

Mixing wise - I got the book Mixing Secrets for The Small Studio by Mike Senior from Sound On Sound when it first came out.

It was the first mixing book I'd seen that didn't assume you were working in a 'proper' studio with a huge desk etc. It was more about how to get pro results from a typical Home Studio. After that I hired him to provide feedback on my own mixes which was really useful..did that for half a dozen or so songs.

Sync Academy is very good too as it's far more specific to the type of music we are trying to make - There are lots of walkthroughs , a huge amount of material to work through and you can get feedback off other members.

Youtube is really useful for learning specific tricks ..i.e. I learned how to make FutureBass mainly by watching Alex Rome's channel and I've had some of those cues placed on TV

Also the forums here have been really helpful, particularly guys like AndyG who have been really generous with their time giving feedback.

Other than that, it's just doing it over and over...my music has certainly improved by workiong on several hundred tracks in the past few years...It's a gradual thing absorning it all.

Mark

Thanks Mark,

I have Mike Senior's book, too. It started me off with mixing. I read the first section about monitors and it didn't sink in until several years later. It is the most important detail of the whole book, I think. I had distorted headphones and I was mixing for like three years thinking I knew what I was doing. ha ha ha ha ha. It cracks me up now. I realize I'm a special kind of stupid, because those three years were pretty much a waste. Now, I have pair of headphones that is closer to flat response monitors, but I believe there is no substitute for good near field monitors. What do they call it, crossfeed? Crossfeed (i think that is the term), I'm trying to talk about the fact that headphones have no crossfeed while speakers do. Anyway, thanks for your throughts, Mark. Very helpful.