He also teaches the 3 month Introduction to Music Production course on Logic.
If you would like to hear some of Ben's work check out his latest album "Lumina" which has been receiving rave reviews in the dance music scene.
Showing posts with label logic courses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label logic courses. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Rogue Element Reveals Studio Secrets
Acclaimed producer and Point Blank tutor, Ben Medcalf (aka The Rogue Element) is featured in iDJ magazine this month, revealing some of his essential production tips and tricks. Click on the picture for a large version. If you want to find out more of the secrets behind his sound then Ben will be hosting the Music Production Masterclasses throughout the summer.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Grammy-Nominated Mike Koglin to Develop and Teach New Trance Course
We are excited to unveil our new Trance Pro-Producer Course which has been developed in association with Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Mike Koglin.
Mike burst onto the scene in 1998 with his top 20 hit "The Silence". Since then he has released a string of productions and remixes, winning support from all the major players on the scene including Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto and Paul Van Dyk. Mike also runs his own label Noys Music, described by Mixmag as "one of the hottest trance labels in the UK". Last year he was named as one of the Top 100 DJ's in the world in DJ magazine’s annual poll.
The course is taught online and will be enrolling monthly from August 31st. It includes a wealth of course materials including tutorial videos, comprehensive notes, samples, song files and other resources. Each week students have the opportunity to upload their own tracks and get personal feedback, tips and advice from this hugely respected pro producer.
In addition to providing students with regular one-to-one feedback, Mike will also host a weekly webchat where the class can discuss course topics and exchange ideas with like-minded music producers from all over the world. This unique interaction has proved especially popular with students.
Check out the taster video:
...and for full course brochure and booking information please click on the following link:
Friday, 26 June 2009
Fabric London Resident DJ Tayo - Learning Logic at Point Blank
In this video, DJ Tayo talks about his time on the Logic Music Production Course at Point Blank. Since he took the Logic course Tayo has scored some top underground hits on the bass music scene and seen his reputation as a DJ soar, landing a residency at world famous London club Fabric and a slot on BBC Radio 1 Xtra.
Check out the full details of the Music Production Merit Course
Check out the full details of the Music Production Merit Course
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Student Diary - Structure and Arrangement
This is the stage which I, and many other budding producers who I have talked to, tend to neglect more than any other, despite a solid arrangement being absolutely vital to the listenability (yes, I just invented that word) of your tune. A poorly structured song will just not sit right in peoples ears because they are used to a certain classic length and order of verses, choruses and all the bits in between. If you are making music for the club you need to arrange your tune making sure the intro and outro are 'DJ friendly', and if you want to make a successful pop tune convention suggests that there is an even more rigid formula to follow.
So why do people tend to neglect structure and arrangement? Looking through my hard-drive you will find probably 80% of my tunes are unfinished. I create a hook and start to arrange; then I get frustrated or bored and say I will come back to that one and finish it later but I rarely do. I think the main reasons are that it simply isn't as fun or straightforward as creating the 4 or 8 bar loop; the rigid rules and fiddly, time consuming nature can sap the enjoyment out of the whole process. Also, even when you create a great hook, by the time you get to these final stages, you have listened to the same 8 bars so many times that you can literally grow sick of the sound of it.
But you must complete your tracks, resisting the urge to move on if you think you are on to a winner because, 1) if you leave it a while, you often will have lost the verve and enthusiasm when you return 2) you will have nothing to show for all your hours of hard work, 3) as a DJ, there is nothing quite like the feeling of satisfaction when you mix your tune in to another for the first time, and crucially 4) your learning curve will plateau and you will stop improving.
So my tutor demonstrated some ways to develop our arranging skills, such as the A-Bing technique whereby you breakdown a track that you like in the Logic arrangement view, and then imitate the structure of that track using your own parts. This technique is also the starting block of making radio-edits, a vital tool for any producer who wants the tune he is working on to get mainstream radio play which, in this age of digital piracy, is perhaps a more realistic way of earning some serious cash from your music.
I'm sad to say next week is the culmination of this Introduction to Logic Production Course. There's a multiple choice test to check at least some the information has sunk in! And Ian will go through my final mix-down with me before I hand in my final project. So this coming week I'll be reading back through all my notes and putting the finishing touches to my track. Looking forward to getting my hands on my certificate and putting it all in to action…
See you next time.
So why do people tend to neglect structure and arrangement? Looking through my hard-drive you will find probably 80% of my tunes are unfinished. I create a hook and start to arrange; then I get frustrated or bored and say I will come back to that one and finish it later but I rarely do. I think the main reasons are that it simply isn't as fun or straightforward as creating the 4 or 8 bar loop; the rigid rules and fiddly, time consuming nature can sap the enjoyment out of the whole process. Also, even when you create a great hook, by the time you get to these final stages, you have listened to the same 8 bars so many times that you can literally grow sick of the sound of it.
But you must complete your tracks, resisting the urge to move on if you think you are on to a winner because, 1) if you leave it a while, you often will have lost the verve and enthusiasm when you return 2) you will have nothing to show for all your hours of hard work, 3) as a DJ, there is nothing quite like the feeling of satisfaction when you mix your tune in to another for the first time, and crucially 4) your learning curve will plateau and you will stop improving.
So my tutor demonstrated some ways to develop our arranging skills, such as the A-Bing technique whereby you breakdown a track that you like in the Logic arrangement view, and then imitate the structure of that track using your own parts. This technique is also the starting block of making radio-edits, a vital tool for any producer who wants the tune he is working on to get mainstream radio play which, in this age of digital piracy, is perhaps a more realistic way of earning some serious cash from your music.
I'm sad to say next week is the culmination of this Introduction to Logic Production Course. There's a multiple choice test to check at least some the information has sunk in! And Ian will go through my final mix-down with me before I hand in my final project. So this coming week I'll be reading back through all my notes and putting the finishing touches to my track. Looking forward to getting my hands on my certificate and putting it all in to action…
See you next time.
Friday, 13 March 2009
Student Diary - Getting to grips with the mix-down
Coming towards the tail end of the Introduction to Logic module it is time to learn how to properly mix down our tracks in order to make them sound as balanced, clear, and punchy as possible.
Once again I was itching to get to this lesson because I recognised that my mixes were not sounding nearly as good as the records I buy and listen to. I had tried incorporating a couple of my tunes into my sets when playing out on big sound systems and it was immediately obvious that there was much scope for improvement on the mix-down. As you may have realised yourself, any part of a mix that sounds iffy at a relatively low volume on a pair of studio monitors will be amplified and sound increasingly more obvious as the size of the sound system increases. It's a bit like slicing a shot in golf... the stronger the headwind you are hitting into, the more viciously the ball will curve away from its intended target.
So, I understood the theory and purpose of the mix-down; the importance of using dynamic processors such as 'eq', 'compressors' and 'limiters', but I was struggling to get to grips with the correct practises when using these, and the complex terminology and elements of mathematics involved. How do the various parameters affect the sound exactly? How do you calculate ratio and threshold? I was unsure whether, through my own learning, I was heading along the right lines or starting to pick up some bad habits.
You can tell Ian knows the workings of a mixing desk like the back of his hand, so he was adept at presenting the basic principles in clear and simple terms for us. Eq is used to create room in your mix, and compression and limiting allow you to add punch, crispness and volume.
The key to uniting these 3 elements is 'routing': The dynamic effect of eq, compression and limiting is affected by the order in which they are routed. Often it makes sense to group parts of your track together (for example your percussion parts); routing, using sends and buses, makes this possible and enables you to apply effects to multiple channels at once. What surprised me is the level of detail Ian was going into to get the sound perfect, sometimes eqing then running sounds through up to 3 compressors as well as a limiter. So it's clear to see how crucial it is to comprehend this technique.
Good mixing skills are all about practice. A producer's ear can only be refined by hour upon hour of listening, tweaking, listening again, then tweaking again... your ear never stops learning. But on top of that, your mixes must be based on a firm foundation of knowledge of the tools you are using. Within more creative aspects of production, the rules are there to be broken, but in the mix-down there are certain rules you must follow before you can achieve professional sounding results hence why this professionally taught course is so beneficial.
I've uploaded my latest track onto my Soundcloud account, so you can check out how I'm getting on. Feedback is much appreciated.
Cheers!
Once again I was itching to get to this lesson because I recognised that my mixes were not sounding nearly as good as the records I buy and listen to. I had tried incorporating a couple of my tunes into my sets when playing out on big sound systems and it was immediately obvious that there was much scope for improvement on the mix-down. As you may have realised yourself, any part of a mix that sounds iffy at a relatively low volume on a pair of studio monitors will be amplified and sound increasingly more obvious as the size of the sound system increases. It's a bit like slicing a shot in golf... the stronger the headwind you are hitting into, the more viciously the ball will curve away from its intended target.
So, I understood the theory and purpose of the mix-down; the importance of using dynamic processors such as 'eq', 'compressors' and 'limiters', but I was struggling to get to grips with the correct practises when using these, and the complex terminology and elements of mathematics involved. How do the various parameters affect the sound exactly? How do you calculate ratio and threshold? I was unsure whether, through my own learning, I was heading along the right lines or starting to pick up some bad habits.
You can tell Ian knows the workings of a mixing desk like the back of his hand, so he was adept at presenting the basic principles in clear and simple terms for us. Eq is used to create room in your mix, and compression and limiting allow you to add punch, crispness and volume.
The key to uniting these 3 elements is 'routing': The dynamic effect of eq, compression and limiting is affected by the order in which they are routed. Often it makes sense to group parts of your track together (for example your percussion parts); routing, using sends and buses, makes this possible and enables you to apply effects to multiple channels at once. What surprised me is the level of detail Ian was going into to get the sound perfect, sometimes eqing then running sounds through up to 3 compressors as well as a limiter. So it's clear to see how crucial it is to comprehend this technique.
Good mixing skills are all about practice. A producer's ear can only be refined by hour upon hour of listening, tweaking, listening again, then tweaking again... your ear never stops learning. But on top of that, your mixes must be based on a firm foundation of knowledge of the tools you are using. Within more creative aspects of production, the rules are there to be broken, but in the mix-down there are certain rules you must follow before you can achieve professional sounding results hence why this professionally taught course is so beneficial.
I've uploaded my latest track onto my Soundcloud account, so you can check out how I'm getting on. Feedback is much appreciated.
Cheers!
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Student Diary - The Art of Sampling
Whether you are someone who is morally opposed to using snippets of other people's tracks in your own music or not, the art of sampling is a crucial skill to master in order to be a complete producer and enhance your overall understanding of the history of production.
We started by learning the basics of Recycle, a sample editing package that owes its popularity to its simplicity, intuitiveness and ease of use. Usefully, Recycle is integrated with Logic's own sampler the EXS24, so they can be used in conjunction to chop up the audio samples, adjust them in tempo and convert them into midi. Then the clever bit; using Logic's piano roll to splice and edit the sample in order to remove any sounds that you may want to get rid of and create your own interpretation to be part of your new track.
Ian (my tutor) talked about how the Hip Hop and Jungle movements were almost entirely based upon a few sampled James Brown drum loops, and even a quarter of a century later they are still in prominent use. My immediate thoughts were why rehash the same old loops when there is an infinite amount of new rhythms to explore? This surely only serves to drive a genre to stagnation, which some might say has been becoming true of Hip Hop for a long time. I guess the reason could be that groundbreaking, genre-defining songs can be so powerful that people are turned off when they don't recognise certain elements of them in new music they hear. Or, that producers know what works and are unwilling to risk losing money and credibility by experimenting with fresh sounds.
Personally, I do like the idea of old songs being dug up and given a new lease of life with a contemporary slant. I think that samples can add soul and depth to tracks when used well, but if not carefully chosen and subtly integrated can give the impression that the producer is too lazy to think of his own ideas.
A couple of favourite albums of mine that I think use the art of sampling to perfection are Merka's 'Make and Do' which infuses the breaks sound he built his name on seamlessly with elements of soul, jazz, funk, deep house, techno, jungle and cinematic score. It sounds like a mish-mash but trust me, it is brilliant! And Akufen's 'My Way' which uses chopped up samples from a cross section of Montreal's FM airwaves to create a funky tech-house masterpiece.
Go check 'em out!
We started by learning the basics of Recycle, a sample editing package that owes its popularity to its simplicity, intuitiveness and ease of use. Usefully, Recycle is integrated with Logic's own sampler the EXS24, so they can be used in conjunction to chop up the audio samples, adjust them in tempo and convert them into midi. Then the clever bit; using Logic's piano roll to splice and edit the sample in order to remove any sounds that you may want to get rid of and create your own interpretation to be part of your new track.
Ian (my tutor) talked about how the Hip Hop and Jungle movements were almost entirely based upon a few sampled James Brown drum loops, and even a quarter of a century later they are still in prominent use. My immediate thoughts were why rehash the same old loops when there is an infinite amount of new rhythms to explore? This surely only serves to drive a genre to stagnation, which some might say has been becoming true of Hip Hop for a long time. I guess the reason could be that groundbreaking, genre-defining songs can be so powerful that people are turned off when they don't recognise certain elements of them in new music they hear. Or, that producers know what works and are unwilling to risk losing money and credibility by experimenting with fresh sounds.
Personally, I do like the idea of old songs being dug up and given a new lease of life with a contemporary slant. I think that samples can add soul and depth to tracks when used well, but if not carefully chosen and subtly integrated can give the impression that the producer is too lazy to think of his own ideas.
A couple of favourite albums of mine that I think use the art of sampling to perfection are Merka's 'Make and Do' which infuses the breaks sound he built his name on seamlessly with elements of soul, jazz, funk, deep house, techno, jungle and cinematic score. It sounds like a mish-mash but trust me, it is brilliant! And Akufen's 'My Way' which uses chopped up samples from a cross section of Montreal's FM airwaves to create a funky tech-house masterpiece.
Go check 'em out!
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Student Diary - Exploring Synthesis
We're now getting into the really juicy part of the course, learning how some of the synths in Logic work, and how the various parameters and filters affect the output. This is where we start adding meat to the bones, or in other words basslines and melodies to our drum patterns.
It is exciting to be able to connect the style of a favourite producer or an effect in a particular track to the techniques which we are being taught; the "aaah... so that’s how he does it" moment if you like.
Take for example 'Wobble Bass', the staple of the Jump-up Dubstep sound which has exploded into prominence in the past couple of years. I now know it is achieved using the LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) assigned to a parameter, most commonly the cutoff. The LFO speed can be altered, but usefully remain in time with the track tempo, for a fast wobble over a 16th note down to a really slow one over 16 bars. Rusko is a favourite producer of mine who has truly perfected this technique to create some of the most squelchy, bone crunching, dancefloor destroying basslines that I have ever had the pleasure to ‘get my skank on’ to! Check his tune ‘Woo Boost’ for a perfect example.
The ES2 is a spaceship-like synth with a seriously daunting number of knobs and twizzly bits for a novice producer. I’ve fiddled around with the parameters a fair bit before but have never quite managed to work out was affecting what. Within one lesson I have a much firmer grasp on how the sound is affected by oscillators, filters and other parameters. Learning more about envelopes has clarified in my head how techno producers such as Nathan Fake, Extrawelt and Stephan Bodzin go about creating those spacious, evolving soundscapes in their tracks; The sort of music that I love to listen to whilst gazing out the window on a long, rainy bus journey (which seems to happen quite a lot in London!)
Now I can’t wait to try emulating these sorts of effects used by my favourite producers. And most synths follow the same theories and principles, so hopefully I will easily be able to translate these techniques to some of the other synths that I am looking to get my hands on!
It is exciting to be able to connect the style of a favourite producer or an effect in a particular track to the techniques which we are being taught; the "aaah... so that’s how he does it" moment if you like.
Take for example 'Wobble Bass', the staple of the Jump-up Dubstep sound which has exploded into prominence in the past couple of years. I now know it is achieved using the LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) assigned to a parameter, most commonly the cutoff. The LFO speed can be altered, but usefully remain in time with the track tempo, for a fast wobble over a 16th note down to a really slow one over 16 bars. Rusko is a favourite producer of mine who has truly perfected this technique to create some of the most squelchy, bone crunching, dancefloor destroying basslines that I have ever had the pleasure to ‘get my skank on’ to! Check his tune ‘Woo Boost’ for a perfect example.
The ES2 is a spaceship-like synth with a seriously daunting number of knobs and twizzly bits for a novice producer. I’ve fiddled around with the parameters a fair bit before but have never quite managed to work out was affecting what. Within one lesson I have a much firmer grasp on how the sound is affected by oscillators, filters and other parameters. Learning more about envelopes has clarified in my head how techno producers such as Nathan Fake, Extrawelt and Stephan Bodzin go about creating those spacious, evolving soundscapes in their tracks; The sort of music that I love to listen to whilst gazing out the window on a long, rainy bus journey (which seems to happen quite a lot in London!)
Now I can’t wait to try emulating these sorts of effects used by my favourite producers. And most synths follow the same theories and principles, so hopefully I will easily be able to translate these techniques to some of the other synths that I am looking to get my hands on!
Friday, 30 January 2009
Student Diary - into week 3
This week Ian taught us about some basic music theory and a few of the useful features to be found in the environment window. It was something that my own delvings into Logic hadn't uncovered before. I'm beginning to realise that Logic 8 is so enormous that guidance on the key tools and features from someone who knows it inside-out will prove highly comforting in two ways: 1) The assurance that I am using the software to its maximum potential and 2) The knowledge that time and energy saved on technical concerns like working out the best tool to create a certain effect and then getting to grips with it, can now be spent on experimenting with the musical possibilities that the tool in question allows. After all, it’s the creative side of producing that attracts us (well me anyway), the desire to craft a unique, emotive piece of art to call your own. The rest is essentially a means to this end.
So now I know how to assign chords to individual notes on the keyboard using the Chord Memoriser. This will cure a lot of the frustrations I have encountered so far. I can usually make up chords that work together but don’t have the dexterity of a pianist to be able to play these chords together in a melody... the chord memoriser solves that problem, reducing the amount of different fingers your brain has to control at once. The arpegiattor is the real dogs nut-sack (excuse my French) when it comes to creating intricate melodic patterns though. Apparantly the one that comes with Logic isn't the best compared to Cubase, but it is still a brilliant tool which can immediately add life into a snooze-inducing riff.
A little tip I have picked up: randomize the arpegiattor and increase the octave range for some crazy sounding melodies.
Now I can see how these two tools, when used together correctly can be the basis for a great track and why so many producers swear by them.
Have a great weekend peeps... I'm playing with Bass Clef tonight at Phantom Fridays. If you haven't heard of him check his myspace, he's the don of glitched out 2-step dub and his live show is truly something special – cowbells aplenty! I'm feeling the afro-kissed techno at the moment so expect some tribal grooves from me... get down if you're in London.
So now I know how to assign chords to individual notes on the keyboard using the Chord Memoriser. This will cure a lot of the frustrations I have encountered so far. I can usually make up chords that work together but don’t have the dexterity of a pianist to be able to play these chords together in a melody... the chord memoriser solves that problem, reducing the amount of different fingers your brain has to control at once. The arpegiattor is the real dogs nut-sack (excuse my French) when it comes to creating intricate melodic patterns though. Apparantly the one that comes with Logic isn't the best compared to Cubase, but it is still a brilliant tool which can immediately add life into a snooze-inducing riff.
A little tip I have picked up: randomize the arpegiattor and increase the octave range for some crazy sounding melodies.
Now I can see how these two tools, when used together correctly can be the basis for a great track and why so many producers swear by them.
Have a great weekend peeps... I'm playing with Bass Clef tonight at Phantom Fridays. If you haven't heard of him check his myspace, he's the don of glitched out 2-step dub and his live show is truly something special – cowbells aplenty! I'm feeling the afro-kissed techno at the moment so expect some tribal grooves from me... get down if you're in London.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
What's The Best Music Software?
This is probably the most common question that we get asked here at the music school. If you are new to music production there is now a bewildering number of music production software packages (often referred to as DAW's or Digital Audio Workstations) out there to choose from and it's difficult to decide what is going to be best for you.
There's a number of factors that can affect your decision. Here's some of the key things to bear in mind before you spend your hard-earned cash:
What is your budget?
Are you a Mac or a PC user?
Do you want to record "live" instruments or record vocals?
Do you want to connect external devices like synthesizers, samplers and so on?
Here's a summary of some of your options - there are others of course but these pieces of software are all widely used and will give you professional results (provided you take the time to learn them thoroughly!).
Cubase 4
Will run on a Mac or a PC and is used by music producers all over the world. Cubase 4 comes bundled with a whole series of software instruments and effects, plus you have the ability to record audio tracks so if you want to record your guitar or vocal then you can just plug in and hit record then edit and re-record to your hearts content. You can also use a variety of "plug-ins" within Cubase which replicate just about every instrument and effect you can think of. If you are a newbie then this is going to keep you busy for a while.
Cost £649 (student discounts are available when you enrol at Point Blank)
Logic
In terms of how it works and what it can do, Logic is very similar to Cubase. With two major differences. It's only available for Mac and it's much more affordable since Apple lowered the price and removed the copy protection! The instruments and effects that come with it are awesome and it also supports third party "plug-ins" so you can incorporate lots of other instruments and effects too. Logic is favoured by many producers but there are a lot of features to get to grips with so it can be a bit daunting for beginners.
Cost £319 (students at Point Blank qualify for discounts on Apple hardware & software - view Logic Course including free lessons)
Ableton Live
This is the package that has got people talking in recent years. It has a completely unique approach which offers seasoned producers a new way of creating tracks but is relatively easy for beginners to get results with. If you like working with loops and audio samples it's hard to beat. Recent updates have also added some pretty decent software instruments and effects and it supports external "plug-ins". DJ's love it too because it allows you to improvise and perform live (hence the name) in a way that just isn't possible with decks and a mixer.
Cost £449 (student discounts are available when you enrol at Point Blank - view Logic Course including free lessons)
Reason 4
Reason is modelled on a "real" hardware studio so you start out with an empty rack and add a series of "virtual" synths, samplers, drum machines, effects and mixers. Connect them all up and you're ready to make some noise. Reason comes bundled with a host of instruments to keep you busy and the "rack" system is a great way to learn about how the elements in a hardware studio are routed together. No support for "plug-ins" I'm afraid but you can buy Refills which are basically sound libraries designed specifically for Reason and available in every genre you can imagine. Reason is great for beginners and reasonably easy to learn but at some point down the line you're probably going to want to start recording and editing audio.
Cost £269 (student discounts are available when you enrol at Point Blank)
Pro Tools LE
Pro Tools is the professionals choice and is used in many pro studios. It integrates both hardware and software and specialises in particular in recording and editing audio tracks. The downside is that it costs thousands and is therefore out of reach for most home recording or project studios . The manufacturers have introduced a "lite" version in recent years (Pro Tools LE) which you can run on your PC or Mac without all the additional HD hardware. It's more affordable certainly and the audio recording and editing is still hard to beat, but the MIDI instruments that come bundled with it could be better.
Cost Pro Tools LE from £199
Remember whatever software you choose - it's not going to do all of the work for you. The quality of the music that you produce is down to you; your creativity and your skills as a producer. The software is just a tool for turning your ideas into reality. So whatever DAW you go for try and learn it as thoroughly as you possibly can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
