Video tutorials

[counterparty]

Hi,

Can anybody recommend some good video tutorials on production techniques/mixing or music theory? I'm interested in fundamental techniques more than software-specifics, and I'm happy to pay for good quality. The main genres that I produce are pop and EDM.

Thanks.

[tehlord]

Sonic Academy is probably the best place to start for a source of good quality contemporary video tutorials.

[counterparty]

Thanks for the suggestion! Are there any particular videos or series of videos that you have enjoyed or would recommend?

[tehlord]

I create some of the synthesis/technical videos for Sonic Academy (although I'm not directly employed by them and don't get kickbacks for recommendations!).

They work on a subscription basis so you can access the videos for as long or as short as you like.

I would recommend paying the site a visit and looking at their catalogue. All the videos have a playthrough and sample chapters so you can see what's on offer.

[garryknight]

Groove3 have some nice video series on subjects like mixing, various virtual plugins (compressors, reverb, etc), and some modern musical genres. They have one called Mix School 101, for example. Payment is monthly, and they sometimes have discounted deals.

[Zexila]

I'm happy to pay for good quality.

In that case.

http://www.dancemusicproduction.com/

[counterparty]

Thanks, guys.. I'll have a look at all of those and see what grabs my attention!

[counterparty]

In the interests of not being a drive-by poster, I'd like to relate some of my experiences with/thoughts on the products that you recommended.

Sonic Academy: when I looked at the videos available on this site, they mostly seemed to be very sub-sub-genre specific (and the array of sub-genres was quite daunting). Most of them also focused around the style of specific artists, very few of whom I'd heard of. I didn't end up buying anything from here.

Groove3: I tried some tutorials from here. The music theory course that they offer seems to cover a lot, but all of the videos are so brief. For example, the video covering notation (staff, bass and treble clefs, note names and mnemonics, etc) in its entirety is 9:30 minutes long, and there don't really seem to be any examples or anything to reinforce what he's telling you - he sets everything out but doesn't really teach it. I also bought the 'EDM digital mixing with analogue results' and 'songwriting theory' courses, which look better but I haven't really worked properly though them properly yet.

Producertech (not suggested here, but found on PluginBoutique): bought 'The complete guide to EQ' and it was good. It's largely based around dance styles. The number of times that the presenter swallows was a bit distracting as the voiceover is heavily compressed, but you get used to it quickly. It's really nice to watch (and more importantly, listen to) somebody mix a track - I found the course very useful. I'm tempted by the mastering course from the same people. I also bought 'The complete guide to compression' which wasn't as comprehensive - it explained the basics of compression well, but didn't really go into practical compression of different instruments as you'd use it in a mix. It was also based around Ableton, which wasn't immediately apparent from the course description, but the things that they're teaching should be applicable to different compressors and DAWs.

DanceMusicProduction: the courses here are by far the best that I tried. I can't recommend them enough. I've bought the drums, bass, harmony, melody and counterpoint tutorials from them, and they've been incredible. The production quality isn't always as slick as some of the other vendors, but you get your money's worth - some tutorials are 1 dvd worth and some are 2, depending upon the price - and it's almost all gold. The level of detail is amazing. For instance, in the fundamentals 10 (drums) tutorial, he spends 50 minutes on layering bass drum samples, 40 minutes on synthesizing bass drums, etc - quite a lot of the videos are 30 minutes or more. He teaches a lot of fundamental techniques (such as tuning your drums into chords and layering drums, modulation on synth parts, call/response and rhyme scheme in drum parts, etc) that make an incredible difference to your sound, and once you know them you will notice them everywhere in commercial tracks. Yes, everybody's heard that you should layer drums, but to watch somebody do it and hear the difference it makes when it's done well is another thing.

The music theory in the bass, melody and harmony tutorials starts out basic, so some people might want to skip these parts or courses entirely, but they lead up to the counterpoint tutorial which is where it's all come together for me - it has made a massive difference to my ability to compose whole tracks, rather than just banging melodies and chords together and hoping for the best.

I know it sounds gushing, but I'm a very, very satisfied user of these tutorials - I feel like I've grown as a producer and a musician by watching them and practicing what they demonstrate. I'm glad I asked here, because I didn't find them when I first googled for music production videos, so thanks Zexila.

[Zexila]

so thanks Zexila.

Glad you went with DMP, heard nothing but praises for their stuff, everything got own price I guess, you pay for the real quality here, there's no doubt about it.

[jn2002dk]

There is also Skillshare

Monthly sub for all access with classes for pretty much everything, not just music

[rod_zero]

Macprovideo is the biggest one, Lynda.com has very good ones on mixing and effects.