Best Online Courses To Level Up Your Music Production
From mixing and mastering, to songwriting and vocal training, here’s our wrap of the best online courses for music artists.
Written by Leni - July 1, 2020
Tour been cancelled because of coronavirus? Take the opportunity to upskill in your downtime and build new skills and knowledge to keep your music career moving forward. From mixing and mastering, to songwriting and vocal training, here’s our wrap of the best online courses to level up your music production.
Music Production MasterClass by Deadmau5
In his first-ever online class, Joel Zimmerman (aka Deadmau5) teaches artists how to approach melodies, mixing and mastering, and the business of music, sharing everything he’s learned about navigating the logistics of a recording career in this 23-part MasterClass series. “You learn by experience,” says Deadmau5. “I became business savvy because I learned very early on of how people get exploited with arts in general, and then more specifically, in music.”
Ableton Live course by Noiselab
Noiselab offers one of the most comprehensive online courses for Ableton Live users around, with a heap of ‘out of the box’ lessons where tutors break down the production techniques of some of the biggest artists — like Kendrick Lamar, Carl Cox and more.
Sign up for an account and check out the free course In The Studio Stint, a 10-part course hosted by Canadian producer and songwriter STINT. Best known for producing and co-writing music for artists such as AlunaGeorge, Portugal. The Man, and Sabrina Claudio, Stint breaks down the craft of some of the world’s biggest artists and gives his students an inside look at how he approaches synths, guitars, vocals, and effects.
Hip-Hop Beatmaking MasterClass by Timbaland
Grammy-winning music producer Timbaland takes students behind the scenes of his process for creating iconic tracks with artists like Jay-Z, Missy Elliot, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, and Aaliyah. In this 15-part MasterClass, learn how to collab with vocalists, layer new tracks, create a breakdown and add a topline to your tracks. Timbaland also serves up his advice for persevering in your music career, revealing what drives him and how you can keep focused on your goals.
Girls Make Beats Online Classes
Girls Make Beats is a US-based nonprofit with a mission to empower young female artists to pursue a career in the music industry. With a series of online classes, you can take lessons on music production, engineering and live performing. Girls Make Beats offer scholarships for their program, available for up-and-coming female artists under 17.
Breaking It Down by Amuse
Our very own ‘Breaking It Down’ YouTube series gives artists the low-down on music distribution, with episodes hosted by some of the top execs in the music industry. From artwork and production, to copyright and music law, subscribe to our YouTube channel to peep the latest episodes.
Berklee MOOCs
The Berklee College of Music offers a massive collection of online courses that lets artists sample the “Berklee experience” for free, hosted by industry heavyweights like seven-time Grammy-winning vibraphonist Gary Burton; Grammy-winning producer and engineer Prince Charles Alexander (B.I.G, Alicia Keys), songwriter Pat Pattison and entertainment lawyer John Kellogg. Check out a list of their free courses here.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed is the online learning extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas. Built by a network of more than 500,000 creators, the video-based interactive classes include lessons like “How to Read Music” to “Beatboxing 101” and a DJ tutorial with Cole Plante (Avicii, major Lazer).
Want to learn more? Download our free 48-page Digital Career Guide for DIY Artists.
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