Introducing the Intensive 1 Year Music Production Diploma

For many of us, music is an important part of our lives. The idea of making a living through it though is something not too many people are prepared to take a chance on as it is so competitive - what are the chances of getting through and succeeding? Which is where Point Blank's new Intensive Music Production and Sound Engineering Diploma comes in.

Previously available as a 2-year part-time qualification, the 1 Year Diploma is full-time and comes with as much practice time as you can handle in Point Blank's state of the art studios. To enrol, students will need to demonstrate their suitability to this type of intensive course of study.

Along the way there will be plenty of industry connections being brought in to advise the students on how to achieve their potential. Recent visitors to the studios include Mark Ronson, Louie Vega, Felix from Basement Jaxx, Kylie producer Tommy D and Robbie Williams' songwriting partner Guy Chambers.



Former Point Blank students include Leona Lewis, BBC 1Xtra/Channel 4 presenter Gemma Cairney, Armand Van Helden remixer DJ Jahawi, Universal Records A&R man Ben Scarr who signed Tynchy Stryder and Beyonce remixer Gareth Wynn.

Gareth says:

"This was the course that brought everything together for me and gave me the kick start I needed".

Gareth has remixed Beyonce's last two singles and Leona Lewis' recent comeback single 'Happy' for Sony and his own tracks have been released on Maelstrom, CR2 and Ministry of Sound, winning acclaim from the likes of Paul van Dyk, Pete Tong and BT.

The 1 Year Intensive Music Production and Sound Engineering Diploma is enrolling now for September 2010. Please call for details or to check out Point Blank's facilities on the studio tour which takes place every Wednesday at 3pm. Call first to book a place on 0207 729 4884. Places are strictly limited so don't sleep!

Secrets of House Music Course - This Weekend!!

Calling all house music producers! You still have time to enrol on our 'Secrets of House Music' course in association with Sample Magic.

The intensive weekend course which is taking place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th of July will be led by expert music producers Bruce Aisher and Sharooz, all at the Point Blank studios in London.

Plus, every participant will leave with an exclusive goodie bag worth over £300 including a copy of Sample Magic's 'Secrets of House Music Production' book, sample packs and a Point Blank T shirt.

Find out the full course breakdown and booking information here: music production course

Get in touch with a course advisor on 0207 729 4884 or luke@pointblanklondon.com to book your place.

The Point Blank Forum is Here!

The forum has always been a crucial feature of the learning process for music production students at our online music school; A place where they can interact with their fellow students, share their latest tracks and probe their tutors for any extra nuggets of knowledge not covered in the course material. Until now however the only people with access to the forum have been the paying students. We figured that this was going against the raison d’etre of a forum… they should be open to all, encouraging as many as possible to interact with each other, and in doing so build up a buzzing community of people who share the same passion.



So we are excited to announce the Point Blank forum. It works just like any other forum out there, you can embed content from youtube and soundcloud, and add a unique signature which appears after all your posts (an ideal place to put your myspace details or your latest tune from soundcloud). It may be slightly slow going to begin with as we spread the word and let all our students, past and present know it exists but please stick with it. With your help this will hopefully become one of the liveliest and of course friendliest music forums out there.

So come along, introduce yourself and get chatting. Feel free to suggest any categories that you feel would benefit the forum too… the forum is all about you and we are always open to ideas!

What Genre Next? You can Help us Decide

Since their launch in 2009, we have been overwhelmed by the popularity of the Pro Producer courses here at Point Blank Online. The genres have spanned from Minimal Tech, Deep and Soulful House, Trance, Electro House, and most recently Dubstep and Hip Hop.

Developed with the more experienced producer in mind, they are perfect for anyone who wants to raise their music above the competition and focus their sound by learning advanced techniques typical to that genre. These are no means painting by numbers courses though; we encourage students to take the techniques learned and apply them to other styles of music to create their own unique style. You can hear some of the best student tracks created on the courses here, or by subscribing to the Point Blank Podcast on iTunes.

We are currently deciding on which genre to develop next and we want your help!

Our shortlist is:

Nu-Disco
Chillout
Drum n Bass
Progressive House
R&B
IDM
Dub/Reggae
Death Metal!

Head to our online music school to enter your vote in the official poll or if you have a different suggestion that we haven’t thought up then feel free to post a comment here.

Fancy DJing at this years Lollapalooza? Then read on...

It’s safe to say that the summer season has well and truly arrived, and to us passionate music lovers that means one thing: an overwhelming amount of festivals. Ah, the thought of basking in the hot sun surrounded quirky stalls and decorations, days gone by without a shower, eating tinned food and the occasional over-priced meal when the hangover is a little too much to bare, dancing to great music, meeting strange and beautiful people, DJing in front of a massive crowd… Whoa there! Roll back a bit. No that wasn’t a typo; this years Chicago-based alt fest, Lollapalooza, is running its annual remix contest, aptly titled the Lolla Remix Throwdown. Music producers the world over have until 25th June to submit either an original tune or remixed piece, and the winner in return not only lands the opening slot in Perry’s dance stage at this years Lollapalooza, but also bags themselves a huge array of prizes not witnessed since the days of the Generation Game: two Pioneer CDJ900’s, a pair of Shure SE535 sound isolating earphones, a $250 gift certificate for SatelliteRecords.com, their tune/remix featured as a free download on SatelliteRecords.com homepage for one week, $1,000 cash, a Lollapalooza artist pass and artist guest pass, and a hotel for the duration of the Lollapalooza weekend. Runners up won’t be left forgotten though, as the three remaining finalists will receive Pioneer HDJ2000 headphones, a $150 gift certificate to SatelliteRecords.com, two three-day passes to Lollapalooza and $750 cash.

Don’t hesitate in submitting tunes though, as the winning track will be based on public votes so, quite naturally, the quicker you get your music on the site, the more time in which people can vote. Bare in mind you’ll also need to get your self-promotion hat on too if you want to crank up the numbers as there’s a lot of competition already. Just imagine all those prizes rolling by on a conveyor belt if you need a little incentive.

Also on the bill at this years Lollapalooza are 2ManyDJs, Erol Alkan, Digitalism, Tiga, Rusko, Caspa, Felix Da Housecat and much more. Going to be a surefire banger! For full details on the contest click here. Good luck and Godspeed!

Point Blank At IMS Ibiza

Point Blank's very own Rob Cowan is currently sunnning himself on the beautiful island of Ibiza, but it's not simply a holiday, in fact Rob is visiting in order to take part in the annual International Music Summit hosted in Ibiza.

The IMS have pulled out all the stops, assembling an eclectic array of talent and bringing together a uniquely different festival line-up to Ibiza. Underlining the IMS mantra of being forward-thinking in everything they do. Artists in attendence this year include; Sasha, Buraka Som Sistema, Pete Tong, David Guetta, Annie Mac, Busy P and a whole lot more. The summit contains a mixture of panel talks with Q & A's and discussions, as well as live performances and DJ sets.

So with all this in mind, Point Blank's Rob Cowan has just been in a studio located within the IMS to see Hip Hop DJ extrodanire Mark Ronson and Dubstep pioneer Skream record a show for Ibizian station, Sonic Radio. It turns out that before the show kicked off there was some kind of technical difficulty which coulp have possibly meant the show wouldn't have gone ahead, however, luckily Rob was on hand to save the day! After some technical wizardry he managed to get the equipment working again and the radio show was back on track with just a minor delay.

We're all eagerly awaiting Rob's return with more stories of all the goings on at IMS Ibiza, in the meantime you can check out the photo above taken with Rob, Mark Ronson and Skream at the Sonic Radio Studios.

Techno, Techno, Techno...

Belgian music festival I Love Techno is looking for a young up coming producer to create a track to become the soundtrack to this years festival. So if you Love Techno and want to be a part of one of the best international electronic music festivals of the year then read on...

"Do you eat Fruity Loops for breakfast at your Cubase? Are you Ableton to make an awesome track? Does this sound Logic or make any Reason? But most of all... Do you LOVE Techno?

Then you are the one we are looking for!

Grab all the vocoders, grooveboxes, MIDI Keyboards, triggerfingers, distortion units & compressors you can find. Launch your favorite production software and start building the most awesome track you have ever built. Maybe your track will become an official track for this year's edition of ILOVETECHNO.

The selected track will be featured on our official ILT promotional cd and will be distributed digitally on iTunes & Beatport by the record company News.

And, as a bonus, you + 10 of your best friends will be invited as a VIP on the next ILT edition.

So what are you waiting for?

This song starts now!"

This is an amazing opportunity for you to get your music out there and heard by a whole host of people, not to mention the fact that you and 10 mates get VIP festival access! Entries for the comp must be in by 15th June, so don't delay...get involved now by following the link.