The deconstruction has become one of our most beloved instructive tools over the years, and this year has seen some of the best we’ve ever done (in our humble opinion). For those unfamiliar with the term, a deconstruction is when one of our fantastic instructors (and very often it’s our lead course developer Ski Oakenfull) takes a well-known track and breaks it down to its core elements, and recreates them one-by-one to show how the original artist made the track (more or less). Read on for our personal favourites from the year, and don’t forget there is much more of this type of content contained within our courses, particularly our new online BA (Hons) in Music Production and Sound Engineering.
808 State – Pacific 707 at SARM Music Village, London
This video deconstruction was actually made in 2016, but given that we released just a month ago it is up for contention. Just as well, as the track contains at least two sounds that have become legendary since the era it was made, and the composition is fascinating in its own right.
DJ Shadow – Mutual Slump at Sonar +D, Barcelona
Here, Ski deconstructs DJ Shadow’s track, ‘Mutual Slump’, at Sonar +D in Barcelona. The deconstruction breaks down Shadow’s incredible utilisation of samples to create this track’s unique structure and texture.
Jemiroquai – Automaton at IMS College, Malta
Our deconstruction of Jemiroquai’s 2017 hit single, ‘Automaton’ from earlier this year was an obvious choice. In the video, Ski highlights the track’s innovative, genre spanning sound design and details how producers can get a distinctly analog sound from an all-digital setup.
If you’d like to learn more about any of the techniques shown above, pointblank offer courses for those at any level. Our BA (Hons) Music Production & Sound Engineering Degree in London is one of the most comprehensive courses out there, with modules covering mixing, sound design, production and much more. We also offer an online alternative, in the form of our new online BA (Hons) Music Production & Sound Engineering Degree. We are currently offering a huge 25% off online courses and 30% of all LA courses before Dec 31st, so make sure you enrol soon! For more information, contact our course advisors on +44 20 7729 4884. If you are a resident of the USA, you can reach us on 323 282 7660.
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