Below you can watch 5 exclusive videos from Point Blank Online. These are just a small sample of the 80+ tutorial videos made available to Point Blank students over the 4 week DJ/Performance with Ableton Live course. The course guides you, step-by-step, through the revolutionary software package: Ableton Live, this includes both popular software and hardware that can be used in conjunction with it; Serato, The Bridge and Novation. It is taught by Freddy Cuin, who has worked with Shy FX, BLIM, Above and Beyond and more. Subscribe to the Point Blank youtube channel to make sure you don't miss any future series' of Point Blank's youtube tutorials. There will be topics including 'how to make Minimal', 'how to make Trance', 'how to make Electro House' and 'how to make Deep & Soulful' as well as a series of celebrity masterclasses from the likes of Tommy D, Guy Chambers, Annie Mac, Paul Epworth, and Basement Jaxx.
Showing posts with label Ableton Live tutorials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ableton Live tutorials. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Tutor Interview - Danny J. Lewis
This is the first in the new series of tutor interviews coming up on the Point Blank Blog. We are proud to boast tutors with some serious credentials in the music industry and we are sure you are all keen to hear about how they realised their ambitions, reaching the top of the music production tree.
Kindly taking some time out to kick us off is Danny J. Lewis:
How long have you been working at Point Blank?
7 Years
What classes do you teach?
At the college in London I teach Sound Design and Production Skills whilst online I teach Sound Design, Ableton Mnml and Logic Mnml and Logic Deep/Soulful House
Can you tell us about how you got started in the music industry and the path that lead you to Point Blank?
After harrassing people on the club scene with my demo tapes I released my first record in 1993 and was lucky enough to be put into various studios in London by a management company to work on club tracks. I had a whole bunch of releases and remixes out with credible underground house labels and then in about 2000 I was offered an exciting job to work for a digital music company. It was whilst I was there that I met Rob who set up Pointblank and when I felt like putting something back into the business I contacted Rob with a view to teaching and passing the knowledge on.
What production project in the past has given you the most satisfaction?
It was a project that I did with legendary Studio 54 DJ Kenny Carpenter and Daz I Kue (famously now in the Bugz in the Attic collective). The track was released on Kenny Dope and Louie Vega's 'Masters at Work Recordings'. The release was out under the name 'The Ladbroke Grooverz - Seasons of Time'. I had only been producing for a couple of years and here I was with a serious heavyweight American DJ, it was intimidating but somehow I cast that aside and it all worked out fine. It was the start of a great new working relationship with Daz too.
Who is the most talented/ inspiring producer you have worked alongside?
Definately Daz I Kue, this guy taught me a lot for sure. I had spent years in many studios with engineers who didn't want to pass the knowledge on but Daz was different, always willing to share and help me develop. In some respects i'd say he fulfilled the 'mentor' role for me. We ended up working as a team and producing/remixing under the name 'Dafunkstarz'
Can you tell us a little more about your label Enzyme Black how you came about setting it up?
It's a highly personal pet project for the purely Deep/Soulful music I want to make. The releases are exclusively my productions under a selection of pseudonyms, purely to keep the admin side manageable! It's for underground releases that I put out indulgently for myself... the fact that other people like them is a bonus.
Is it hard to be profitable as a label in an age when much of the new generation of music consumers do not consider it immoral to download their music from unauthorised torrent sites and blogs?
Well, I think for some niche genres (EBR's genre Deep/Soulful is quite niche) the people who buy the music still actually respect it. This means they are more likely to purchase the tracks than steal them. I had an interesting scenario once though, one of my students at the college in London told me he had illegally downloaded my entire back catalogue and was DJing with it - in fact earning money for his DJ gigs. I told him how I felt without being heavy handed. Regarding profitability - you are more likely to be make some money when you keep things in house so I do all the press and promotional text and also most of the graphic/web design (with the exception of the label logo and the West District Allstars release artwork) I also do all of the mixing and Mastering - saving a considerable amount of money per release. I would suggest though that if you are in it for the cash you're probably not in the right place - the commercial stuff is where the money's at. Releasing underground music these days is usually a way of getting more DJ gigs - and that's where the big money is.
What are your top 3 most memorable DJ sets?
When I was in Spiritual South I played solo at a festival in the Netherlands in front of 5000 people on stage - i felt like a superstar and it was a proper ego trip. I've played in Italy a few times, one of my favourite places in the world, and Nabilah in Naples was pretty special. Here the club was right on the sea front and previously Giles Peterson and Kevin Yost had been on the top billing.. not bad acts to follow. On a more earthy level I would say my all time favourite gig was at 'Days Like This' in Birmingham a couple of years ago - one of the best Deep/Soulful house nights in the world without a doubt. The 200 strong crowd were hanging onto every track and knew all the words.. seriously.. it was insane - the perfect club to play at for the musical purist.
Do you still DJ much these days?
Not as much as I used to as I'm a dad now and i've been settling down to some family life. Don't write me off yet though - i plan on doing a new Ableton fuelled live thing in the future.
What benefits do you think people get from coming to a place like Point Blank?
The benefit of experience, credible experience from people who truly understand the genre that they are representing. When I started out it was impossible to learn as most people (with the exception of Daz I Kue) were 'closed' - unwilling to share knowledge. These days it's crazy, so much FREE information out there but it's sifting through the rubbish that is the hard thing. There are so many free tutorials on youtube and similar that just don't deliver the credible goods.. As far as i'm concerned it's better to get the real deal.. and also of course the benefit of coming to pointblank is the personal feedback - even online.
If you could give just 1 tip to an aspiring producer what would it be? (apart from "come to Point Blank" of course!)
Watch, Read, Listen, Learn, Practice and repeat the process until you die!
Thanks Danny, fascinating stuff.
For a taster of the personalised feedback you can expect to receive from Danny himself on the online courses check out the following video:
Minimal Tech Course Feedback
See you next time.
Kindly taking some time out to kick us off is Danny J. Lewis:
How long have you been working at Point Blank?
7 Years
What classes do you teach?
At the college in London I teach Sound Design and Production Skills whilst online I teach Sound Design, Ableton Mnml and Logic Mnml and Logic Deep/Soulful House
Can you tell us about how you got started in the music industry and the path that lead you to Point Blank?
After harrassing people on the club scene with my demo tapes I released my first record in 1993 and was lucky enough to be put into various studios in London by a management company to work on club tracks. I had a whole bunch of releases and remixes out with credible underground house labels and then in about 2000 I was offered an exciting job to work for a digital music company. It was whilst I was there that I met Rob who set up Pointblank and when I felt like putting something back into the business I contacted Rob with a view to teaching and passing the knowledge on.
What production project in the past has given you the most satisfaction?
It was a project that I did with legendary Studio 54 DJ Kenny Carpenter and Daz I Kue (famously now in the Bugz in the Attic collective). The track was released on Kenny Dope and Louie Vega's 'Masters at Work Recordings'. The release was out under the name 'The Ladbroke Grooverz - Seasons of Time'. I had only been producing for a couple of years and here I was with a serious heavyweight American DJ, it was intimidating but somehow I cast that aside and it all worked out fine. It was the start of a great new working relationship with Daz too.
Who is the most talented/ inspiring producer you have worked alongside?
Definately Daz I Kue, this guy taught me a lot for sure. I had spent years in many studios with engineers who didn't want to pass the knowledge on but Daz was different, always willing to share and help me develop. In some respects i'd say he fulfilled the 'mentor' role for me. We ended up working as a team and producing/remixing under the name 'Dafunkstarz'
Can you tell us a little more about your label Enzyme Black how you came about setting it up?
It's a highly personal pet project for the purely Deep/Soulful music I want to make. The releases are exclusively my productions under a selection of pseudonyms, purely to keep the admin side manageable! It's for underground releases that I put out indulgently for myself... the fact that other people like them is a bonus.
Is it hard to be profitable as a label in an age when much of the new generation of music consumers do not consider it immoral to download their music from unauthorised torrent sites and blogs?
Well, I think for some niche genres (EBR's genre Deep/Soulful is quite niche) the people who buy the music still actually respect it. This means they are more likely to purchase the tracks than steal them. I had an interesting scenario once though, one of my students at the college in London told me he had illegally downloaded my entire back catalogue and was DJing with it - in fact earning money for his DJ gigs. I told him how I felt without being heavy handed. Regarding profitability - you are more likely to be make some money when you keep things in house so I do all the press and promotional text and also most of the graphic/web design (with the exception of the label logo and the West District Allstars release artwork) I also do all of the mixing and Mastering - saving a considerable amount of money per release. I would suggest though that if you are in it for the cash you're probably not in the right place - the commercial stuff is where the money's at. Releasing underground music these days is usually a way of getting more DJ gigs - and that's where the big money is.
What are your top 3 most memorable DJ sets?
When I was in Spiritual South I played solo at a festival in the Netherlands in front of 5000 people on stage - i felt like a superstar and it was a proper ego trip. I've played in Italy a few times, one of my favourite places in the world, and Nabilah in Naples was pretty special. Here the club was right on the sea front and previously Giles Peterson and Kevin Yost had been on the top billing.. not bad acts to follow. On a more earthy level I would say my all time favourite gig was at 'Days Like This' in Birmingham a couple of years ago - one of the best Deep/Soulful house nights in the world without a doubt. The 200 strong crowd were hanging onto every track and knew all the words.. seriously.. it was insane - the perfect club to play at for the musical purist.
Do you still DJ much these days?
Not as much as I used to as I'm a dad now and i've been settling down to some family life. Don't write me off yet though - i plan on doing a new Ableton fuelled live thing in the future.
What benefits do you think people get from coming to a place like Point Blank?
The benefit of experience, credible experience from people who truly understand the genre that they are representing. When I started out it was impossible to learn as most people (with the exception of Daz I Kue) were 'closed' - unwilling to share knowledge. These days it's crazy, so much FREE information out there but it's sifting through the rubbish that is the hard thing. There are so many free tutorials on youtube and similar that just don't deliver the credible goods.. As far as i'm concerned it's better to get the real deal.. and also of course the benefit of coming to pointblank is the personal feedback - even online.
If you could give just 1 tip to an aspiring producer what would it be? (apart from "come to Point Blank" of course!)
Watch, Read, Listen, Learn, Practice and repeat the process until you die!
Thanks Danny, fascinating stuff.
For a taster of the personalised feedback you can expect to receive from Danny himself on the online courses check out the following video:
Minimal Tech Course Feedback
See you next time.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Ableton Courses - A New Way of Making Music
If you are into music technology and already making music at home using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) then I am sure this scenario will be familiar. You sit down to start making some music but faced with a blank timeline, inspiration deserts you and you are left feeling creatively uninspired. Music software packages such as Cubase, Logic or Sonar have all evolved along similar lines and operate in a similar way. Unfortunately they offer only one approach to the music making process which doesn’t necessarily encourage experimentation and spontaneity.
The good news is that Ableton Live has been designed to offer a genuine alternative way to work and is growing in popularity amongst those of us who are bored of working in the traditional way. Interestingly Live takes a similar approach to the old hardware sequencers that were popular with live electronic acts such as Orbital and Underworld. These sequencers used looped sections of a track (see Ableton Courses info for more detail) which would be triggered by the acts on stage and manipulated via FX and EQ to provide the audience with a live, spontaneous remix of tracks they already know and love.
Ableton Live has two modes or “views” in which to compose your music. The arrangement view will be familiar to anyone who has used some of the traditional sequencer packages mentioned above. But where Live really comes into its own is the Session View. The Session is used to organize and trigger sets of sounds, called clips. Think of it as a kind of musical sketch pad where you can experiment with audio loops, samples and MIDI sequences before arranging them into a track.
Another unique feature in Live is its ability to manipulate audio as if it was elastic. Live's Time Warp feature can be used to either correct or adjust the timing of any piece of audio from a sample to an entire track. This means that tempo becomes completely fluid and you can fit any audio sample to the tempo that you are working at. “Warp Markers” allow you to push and pull individual beats to correct (or destroy) the timing and create unique effects. You can choose from several Warp Modes depending upon materials you work with.
Ableton Live also features an array of built–in instruments and effects:
Impulse is a basic drum sequencer instrument Simpler is a relatively easy to use sampling instrument.
There are a number of additional instruments which can be purchased separately or as part of the Ableton Suite package:
Sampler is an enhanced sampler
Operator is an FM synthesizer.
Electric is an electric piano instrument.
Tension is a string physical modelling synthesiser.
Analog simulates an analog synthesizer.
Drum Machines is a collection of emulators for classic drum machines.
Session Drums is a collection of sampled drum and percussion instruments.
Essential Instruments Collection is a large collection of acoustic and electric instrument samples. Orchestral Instrument Collection is a collection of four different orchestral libraries, which can be purchased individually or as a bundle.
Audio effects included in the package include:
Auto Filter
Auto Pan
Beat Repeat
Chorus Compressor I
Compressor II
Dynamic Tube
EQ Eight
EQ Three
Erosion Filter
Delay Flanger
Gate Grain Delay
Phaser
Ping Pong Delay
Saturator
Simple Delay
Redux Resonators
Reverb Utility
Additionally there are a handful of MIDI-only effects including arpeggiator, chord, pitch, random, scale, and velocity. Live is also compatible with VST and AU plug-ins so you can utilise additional software instruments and effects.
The good news is that Ableton Live has been designed to offer a genuine alternative way to work and is growing in popularity amongst those of us who are bored of working in the traditional way. Interestingly Live takes a similar approach to the old hardware sequencers that were popular with live electronic acts such as Orbital and Underworld. These sequencers used looped sections of a track (see Ableton Courses info for more detail) which would be triggered by the acts on stage and manipulated via FX and EQ to provide the audience with a live, spontaneous remix of tracks they already know and love.
Ableton Live has two modes or “views” in which to compose your music. The arrangement view will be familiar to anyone who has used some of the traditional sequencer packages mentioned above. But where Live really comes into its own is the Session View. The Session is used to organize and trigger sets of sounds, called clips. Think of it as a kind of musical sketch pad where you can experiment with audio loops, samples and MIDI sequences before arranging them into a track.
Another unique feature in Live is its ability to manipulate audio as if it was elastic. Live's Time Warp feature can be used to either correct or adjust the timing of any piece of audio from a sample to an entire track. This means that tempo becomes completely fluid and you can fit any audio sample to the tempo that you are working at. “Warp Markers” allow you to push and pull individual beats to correct (or destroy) the timing and create unique effects. You can choose from several Warp Modes depending upon materials you work with.
Ableton Live also features an array of built–in instruments and effects:
Impulse is a basic drum sequencer instrument Simpler is a relatively easy to use sampling instrument.
There are a number of additional instruments which can be purchased separately or as part of the Ableton Suite package:
Sampler is an enhanced sampler
Operator is an FM synthesizer.
Electric is an electric piano instrument.
Tension is a string physical modelling synthesiser.
Analog simulates an analog synthesizer.
Drum Machines is a collection of emulators for classic drum machines.
Session Drums is a collection of sampled drum and percussion instruments.
Essential Instruments Collection is a large collection of acoustic and electric instrument samples. Orchestral Instrument Collection is a collection of four different orchestral libraries, which can be purchased individually or as a bundle.
Audio effects included in the package include:
Auto Filter
Auto Pan
Beat Repeat
Chorus Compressor I
Compressor II
Dynamic Tube
EQ Eight
EQ Three
Erosion Filter
Delay Flanger
Gate Grain Delay
Phaser
Ping Pong Delay
Saturator
Simple Delay
Redux Resonators
Reverb Utility
Additionally there are a handful of MIDI-only effects including arpeggiator, chord, pitch, random, scale, and velocity. Live is also compatible with VST and AU plug-ins so you can utilise additional software instruments and effects.
Friday, 31 October 2008
Making Music with Ableton Live
Ableton Live is a little different from some of the other music software packages. The program is set up to encourage a more improvisational approach to making music. In addition to the traditional timeline based approach we saw in Reason, Logic and Cubase, Ableton Live also features a unique "Session View".
The session view is a kind of musical sketch pad that allows you try out lots of different ideas before adding them to your track. This approach is particularly appealing if you are performing onstage, or using Ableton as a DJ tool.
Ableton Live is increasingly popular with music producers and is widely used by DJ's, because it allows you to produce remixes, re-edits and mashups very quickly. Check the video clip below to see how:
To learn more about producing with Ableton Live check out our Ableton Live Courses here.
To learn more about DJing with Ableton Live check out our Ableton Live Courses here.
The session view is a kind of musical sketch pad that allows you try out lots of different ideas before adding them to your track. This approach is particularly appealing if you are performing onstage, or using Ableton as a DJ tool.
Ableton Live is increasingly popular with music producers and is widely used by DJ's, because it allows you to produce remixes, re-edits and mashups very quickly. Check the video clip below to see how:
To learn more about producing with Ableton Live check out our Ableton Live Courses here.
To learn more about DJing with Ableton Live check out our Ableton Live Courses here.
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