When it comes to making tunes, the biggest step is always the first. With so many tools available, jargon and acronyms to make the Pentagon blush and millions of hours of tutorials and tracks being released, getting started can feel overwhelming. Even if you get as far as purchasing a DAW (that’s digital audio workstation – things like Logic, Fruity Loops or Ableton), you load it up and are confronted with what looks like something you would find of the Starship Enterprise. The truth is that developments are such that making music has never been simpler, and all you need is a simple starting point from a reliable source. Well, with our decades of experience, we believe there’s no more reliable source than pointblank Music School, so we teamed up with Australian blogger DJ Ravine to bring you the simplest entry reference we can. We called on one of our most experienced expert instructors, Saytek, to take Ravine and our viewers through the building blocks, using one of the most complete and intuitive DAWs around: Ableton Live. Note that this video consists of the very basics, and students with us at our schools like the one in London or online, can expect complete tuition into the complexities of making electronic music.
In the video, Saytek, who teaches music production and live performance and pointblank, only uses tools that are freely available to demonstrate the rudiments of making a track. He starts with the kick, which you can think of as the foundation for the kind of house track made here, using one of the aforementioned sample packs and some editing tricks to make it his own. Hi-hats and claps are added from the built-in core instruments on Ableton, as well as a bassline. From there he completes his basic loop with a synth lead, and we learn some basic elements of creating tension by dropping sections in and out of the track. To follow along or have a go yourself, all you need to do is download the free trial of Ableton Live, and download some free sounds from us to help you get started.
When he’s not instructing students on how to build tracks and live sets on Ableton and beyond, Saytek is constantly pushing boundaries within his own productions and live shows. For a taste of what he does as an artist and as an instructor, take a look at this instructor profile video. Ravine is a DJ and vlogger who’s been carving up turntables and sharing tutorials since the very early days of YouTube. making the most of the site’s original 10-minute maximum video length, his “Ten Minute Mix” series has catapulted his channel to where it now lies with 450k+ subscribers.
This is just the very tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn production back to front, then look no further than our BA (Hons) in Music Production and Sound Engineering, also available online. We have shorter courses available in London, as well as production courses at our school in LA, so you can study with us, wherever you are. For more information, contact us by calling on +44 20 7729 4884 or using our enquiry form.
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** Editors note: Things have moved on significantly since this article was published 🙂 Please head to our blog homepage for the very latest updates from pointblank.