Thoughts on 'Techno' courses?

[rktic]

Is there a streaming thing like Twitch that allows multiple users to talk with open mics, maybe a pro-conferencing thingy?

I get the social aspects of learning and hate the idea that you have to pay for that. Especially in the connected world we live in.

[dubdub]

I watched the Echoplex thing with the free trial, he's pretty funny and has some good lines but the content is really just 3 hours of him arranging a track.

[winston]

i got a couple of Producertech techno tutorials, the paul maddox mainroom techno and a general techno/tech-house one when they were on special. i don't really think i gained anything from them, it wasn't any real new techniques i didn't know and had no "why"s. it was really just watching him remake a track he had made off camera. perhaps the thing i should have taken from it is that you do a sound and move on instead of endlessly fuckin about. i've watched a lot of the free sonic academy (very average) and adsr(better than sonic academy) videos on youtube. lots of basic descriptions. not everyone can teach, not everyone can describe a process.

in comparison, i'd second what others have said about the rick snoman ones, they've been a great help.
if i could spend time in a studio with someone i would. perhaps part of the benefit of that would be the fact that i would have some monetary investment in it and would want results, instead of using free time which doesn't necessarily demand results.

[Mono-xID]

I watched the Echoplex thing with the free trial, he's pretty funny and has some good lines but the content is really just 3 hours of him arranging a track.

Watched it too out of curiosity and found that Echoplex dude quite hilarious. The track he made was shit too imo.

[disparate]

i got a couple of Producertech techno tutorials, the paul maddox mainroom techno and a general techno/tech-house one when they were on special. i don't really think i gained anything from them, it wasn't any real new techniques i didn't know and had no "why"s. it was really just watching him remake a track he had made off camera. perhaps the thing i should have taken from it is that you do a sound and move on instead of endlessly fuckin about. i've watched a lot of the free sonic academy (very average) and adsr(better than sonic academy) videos on youtube. lots of basic descriptions. not everyone can teach, not everyone can describe a process.

in comparison, i'd second what others have said about the rick snoman ones, they've been a great help.
if i could spend time in a studio with someone i would. perhaps part of the benefit of that would be the fact that i would have some monetary investment in it and would want results, instead of using free time which doesn't necessarily demand results.

What Snoman ones did you (and others) find most useful? And are they basically just tutorial videos, but good ones? I'm happy to devote some time to learning but gotta decide what to invest the money I'd otherwise spend on a bunch of records in

I'm not quite a beginner more an intermediate really - I know my way around Ableton pretty well, ok at synthesis, got a bit of gear and I'm finishing tracks that sound at least vaguely 'pro' at a decent rate even if a bit hit and miss with whether I actually like them... but I'm still keen to improve my ideas and my skills at drums, sound design, general composition etc. a fair bit and don't mind a bit of "back to basics" as long as it's not too fundamental! The Bumload one actually sounds quite good just for general ideas even though I'm really not into that type of techno.

[TimBuys]

Where can I find these Snoman courses everyone is raving about?

[Planar]

I find the idea of taking a course for underground music production as weird as watching Bob Ross for learning to paint. Especially with all the knowledge available on the internet.

Nothing weird at all, really. People are paying for all that information in a single place because enterprising souls have realised there's a market for this knowledge and generally people don't like to research themselves. It's not a real course, there is no homework or interaction with the tutor. Just convenience.

Whether they're getting their moneys worth is up to them to decide. But I think this is difficult to judge if you're not a beginner anymore; once you reach a certain level in anything it can be hard to relate to those that aren't at that level.

[Merah]

Techno is a genre of experimentation. To the people considering purchasing lessons, why not save some money, turn on your synths and drum machines, take advantage of the modern day routing and resampling options and come up with some happy experiments. Surprise your fellow producers, show some love to my ears!!!!

[Merah]

In fact, i would recommend reading the manuals and getting good with your daw and plugins. After that, pure experimentation!!!!!!!!!

[Stace]

I mean, I get where you are coming from Merah but if you don't know the fundamentals then you are fucked. You are saying that from a situation of knowing what you know. When I first started I didn't know what I kick was, bass. None of it made sense to me. I mean, much of it still doesn't

[jordanneke]

I have to say though, my technique as a producer and my mixes especially have improved through asking pointed questions on here. Is that any different? Although you kind folks do it for free, in exchange for banter.

I mean it's like football, you have to have someone to train you and show you the skills, once you get to a certain skill level through practice and training sessions with a coach, THEN you start to experiment and learn how the game really works.

[TimBuys]

I find it funny how some people don't see the added value of courses. In some cases they can be huge time savers, but especially when you just start out. In a world where working 40 hours a week is the norm, I am suprised some people hold different opinions on this subject. The fact that the internet and youtube has made these widely accessible is a thing that should be celebrated, because people can find out that they have talents/creative abilities that otherwise they would not have found out about. I remember when I just started out I was overwhelmed with all the possibilities Ableton gave me.

My question is, is it a pride issue for some to admit that they paid for tutorials to get help? Unless you are a genius like Aphex Twin/Trentemoller you are just going to have to work hard and look for valuable information from other people that can help you get to the next level.

That being said there are a lot of crappy tutorials/courses out there and I never actually paid for them + I made my first tracks without any knowledge whatsoever.

[Dattington]

Where can I find these Snoman courses everyone is raving about?

https://www.dancemusicproduction.com/

[Hexonics]

Is there a streaming thing like Twitch that allows multiple users to talk with open mics, maybe a pro-conferencing thingy?

I get the social aspects of learning and hate the idea that you have to pay for that. Especially in the connected world we live in.

Hmm Skype for business would probably do this, although i think it costs. Sure there must be a freeware version of this, i'll have a look

[rktic]

My question is, is it a pride issue for some to admit that they paid for tutorials to get help? Unless you are a genius like Aphex Twin/Trentemoller you are just going to have to work hard and look for valuable information from other people that can help you get to the next level.

That being said there are a lot of crappy tutorials/courses out there and I never actually paid for them + I made my first tracks without any knowledge whatsoever.

My reasons for thinking critically about courses (rant ahead)

I believe that all meaningful things derive from sweat, blood, dedication, hard work, practice, frustration, investing energy, passion, time, more energy and even more time. If you're driven by such forces, the internet will provide you with all the information you need without spending a single dime. Dedication. That's what I'm talking about. There is no short route to glory. That's where Techno came from, a 'pushing-the-envelope-mindset'. Aphex Twin etc took exactly this route of mastering their crafts to develop their own sound.

Courses, sampling-, preset-packs and the latter only exist because a legion of people are looking for the path of least resistance. To me this is nothing but laziness. When I hear "lack of time" what I really read is "don't want it bad enough".

Ask yourself: Why do I want to do this? How much is this worth to me? What am I trying to achieve?

youtu.be/plWexCID-kA

[Plyphon]

Is there a streaming thing like Twitch that allows multiple users to talk with open mics, maybe a pro-conferencing thingy?

I get the social aspects of learning and hate the idea that you have to pay for that. Especially in the connected world we live in.

Hmm Skype for business would probably do this, although i think it costs. Sure there must be a freeware version of this, i'll have a look

Discord is a great free VOIP service, not sure if they do screen sharing, though.

[Dattington]

My question is, is it a pride issue for some to admit that they paid for tutorials to get help? Unless you are a genius like Aphex Twin/Trentemoller you are just going to have to work hard and look for valuable information from other people that can help you get to the next level.

That being said there are a lot of crappy tutorials/courses out there and I never actually paid for them + I made my first tracks without any knowledge whatsoever.

My reasons for thinking critically about courses (rant ahead)

I believe that all meaningful things derive from sweat, blood, dedication, hard work, practice, frustration, investing energy, passion, time, more energy and even more time. If you're driven by such forces, the internet will provide you with all the information you need without spending a single dime. Dedication. That's what I'm talking about. There is no short route to glory. That's where Techno came from, a 'pushing-the-envelope-mindset'. Aphex Twin etc took exactly this route of mastering their crafts to develop their own sound.

Courses, sampling-, preset-packs and the latter only exist because a legion of people are looking for the path of least resistance. To me this is nothing but laziness. When I hear "lack of time" what I really read is "don't want it bad enough".

Ask yourself: Why do I want to do this? How much is this worth to me? What am I trying to achieve?

youtu.be/plWexCID-kA

What a total load of bollocks.

Spending time to educate yourself on skills you want to acquire is dedication and getting taught a skill from someone that knows more than you will get you there faster.

Which makes more sense to you:

1. Spend two hours playing with various compressors trying to work out what they are doing

2. Spent 30 minutes a high quality tutorial that explains it in one go, then 1.5 hours actually using that knowledge in your own music.

This isn't about lack of time, it's about wanting to achieve more with the time you have.

Heres an old quote that i think sums it up nicely:

I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using premade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all.

[collide]

Spending time to educate yourself on skills you want to acquire is dedication and getting taught a skill from someone that knows more than you will get you there faster.

Agreed.

Posting on Subsekt might be cheating - too.

[winston]

Courses, sampling-, preset-packs and the latter only exist because a legion of people are looking for the path of least resistance. To me this is nothing but laziness. When I hear "lack of time" what I really read is "don't want it bad enough".

load of wank.

Math class is for the lazy, if they really wanted to be able to know trigonometry and calculus, they'd go and discover it themselves.

Dedication. That's what I'm talking about. There is no short route to glory. That's where Techno came from, a 'pushing-the-envelope-mindset'. Aphex Twin etc took exactly this route of mastering their crafts to develop their own sound.

totally valid viewpoint. i just think different roads are available in the road to Mastering the Craft.

[gedda]

Is there a streaming thing like Twitch that allows multiple users to talk with open mics, maybe a pro-conferencing thingy?

I get the social aspects of learning and hate the idea that you have to pay for that. Especially in the connected world we live in.

Hmm Skype for business would probably do this, although i think it costs. Sure there must be a freeware version of this, i'll have a look

Discord is a great free VOIP service, not sure if they do screen sharing, though.

I think subsekt should get a Discord. It's free and I'm sure a lot of us already use it for whatever.