COURSE CURRICULUM

AND PROGRESS CHECKLIST

AN OVERVIEW OF COURSE MODULES,

VIDEOS AND BONUSES
 DANCE MUSIC FORMULA: COURSE CURRICULUM & PROGRESS CHECKLIST 2017

MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction (7 VIDEOS)

1.1 Introduction To This Course

In this video, your course tutor Joey Santos welcomes you to the first module where we’ll get your home studio up
and running. We’ll setup your home studio, download and install Ableton Live on your computer, and you’ll also
learn how to download the Digital DJ Tips Sound Pack. You’ll then get an introduction to Ableton Live, learn about
its twin interfaces, and then you’ll begin working on your project by adding sounds from the DDJT Sound Pack.
Welcome to your new obsession!

1.2 Setting Up Your Home Studio

We go through the essentials needed so you can get started on this course. We also look at two set-ups:
speakers, and headphones only. So whether you’re using a pair of cans connected to your laptop, or you’ve
got a pair of speaker monitors and an audio interface, we take a look at best practices for setting up your home
studio - trust me, you’ll be spending a lot of time here.

1.3 Downloading & Installing Ableton Live

In this video I help you choose which version of Ableton Live to pick. Ableton Live is the digital audio workstation
we’re using in this course, and we’ll get it installed in your computer. We won’t run it just yet, because we’ve got
other items to install after this, so for now let’s just hit the ground running by getting Ableton Live on your computer.

1.4 Downloading & Installing The DDJT Sound Pack

Here we grab the Digital DJ Tips Course Sound Pack, which contains all the loops and samples you need for this
course. These are sounds that are on the same quality and level as the pros use, which will help you come up with
a great-sounding production quicker. Industry secret: Even the pros use samples in their own music!

1.5 On Live 9 Intro? Watch This: Downloading & Installing Additional Plugins
If you’re on Live 9 Intro, you need to watch this video. If you’re on Standard or Suite, you can safely skip this
video and proceed to the next one where we’ll run Live for the first time.
Plugins are extra pieces of software that give you extra functions and features, letting you do more with your
software. Since you’re on Live 9 Intro you’re missing a couple of plugins needed for this course, but don’t worry
because we’ll be using some free plugins to makeup for them, and I’ll show you how to download and install
them in this video.

1.6 Running Live For The First Time

In this video, we fire up Ableton Live and I show you around the interface. Live 9 has two workflows called
Session View and Arrangement View, which have their own strengths and use scenarios. Our focus on this course
will be Arrangement View, and though we won’t be using Session View in this course, I’ll talk you through it so
you have a grasp of the interface. Finally, I show you how to drag a clip from the DDJT Sound Pack into Session
View and get it looping.

1.7 Getting Comfy With Arrangement View

Here, we turn our attention to Live’s other view called Arrangement View. In this view, time moves from left to right
instead of in a cyclical loop, and this is the view that we’ll be using in this course. I show you the Arrangement
View interface in this video, and I teach you how to transfer the drum loop we added in Session View over to
Arrangement View. You’ll also add another loop to your project, and I’ll teach you some basic duplication and
copy / paste skills.

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MODULE 2
ARRANGE

2.0 Arrange (4 VIDEOS)

2.1 Introduction To The Arrange Module

In this video, I give you a glimpse of what’s to come in this module, which will have you deconstructing a song,
creating a guide from it that you’ll use as a template for your tune, and filling it in with loops and samples. By the
end of this module, you’ll have your very first arrangement filled with basic drum sounds, which we’ll build on as
we go through this course.

2.2 Importing Your Guide Track

A Song Map is like a “grid” for your tune, a rough sketch of its arrangement that helps us to make the track. We
will save time by basing our new song on the arrangement of an existing one, so in order to do that, we need to
load an existing track into Ableton and set its tempo. That way, Ableton can lay down grid lines over the guide
song that we can use to start to make our Song Map.

2.3 Building Your Song Map

In this video, I show you how to create a Song Map using the guide track we imported in the last video. We mark
all the main parts of the track on our grid (intro, outro, drop, break etc), so that when we remove the Guide Track,
we’re left with an outline of the guide track’s arrangement which we can use to build our new, original track on.

2.4 Adding More Sounds To Your Song Map

You now have a Song Map, but you’ve only got a few bars of drums and a synth loop going. So in this final
video, we fill in the sections of our song map with more sounds by copying and pasting these two loops, plus we’ll
add in one more drum and synth loop from the Course Sound Pack to keep certain song sections sounding fresh.
By the end of this video, you will be able to hear the basic structure of your production.

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MODULE 3
DRUMS

3.0 Drums (5 VIDEOS)

3.1 Introduction To The Drums Module

In the last module we laid the foundation for your track by creating a template, called the Song Map, and filled it
in with some basic loops. In this module, we’ll focus on the drums by adding in our own drum sounds, percussion,
and sound effects on top of those loops. We’re starting with drums because they’re the most important element of
a dance track, so getting it solid is a priority.

3.2 Creating The Main Beat Using The Drum Rack

In this video, I show you how to make the basic beat using Ableton’s Drum Rack. We demystify this powerful
instrument, and I talk about a basic rhythm concept that musicians use known as the quarter note, which will
help you understand how the beat is made. You’ll then begin to create what I call the “Master Drum Clip” by
adding a basic kick drum beat, and by the end of it you’ll have added some serious “punch” to your drums.
Get ready, Ibiza!

3.3 Adding Snare, Clap, And Hi-Hats To Your Master Drum Clip
There’s so much more to dance music than just kicks. In this video, we’ll draw in some snare, clap, and hi-hat
sounds in the Drum Rack to thicken your drums to make them “groove” and add some excitement. I’ll explain
another type of note here known as the eighth note.

3.4 Shaping The Kick & Snare Sounds In Your Master Drum Clip
The kick and snare are arguably the most important elements of the drums - this is why producers spend a lot
of time tweaking them so they sound great and cut through. In this video, I’ll show you how to do exactly that
through a process called layering, which will have you adding extra kick and snare sounds, and then zeroing
in only on the specific parts of that sound that we want, such as the “snap” of the snare or the “thud” of a
monstrous kick.

3.5 Copy/Pasting The Drum Clip To Other Sections In Your Song

In this final video, I show you how to copy the Master Drum Clip we’ve been working on to the other sections
of your song. We’ll also edit the Master Drum Clip differently for each section because that lets your drums
ebb and flow as the listener goes from one section to the next - if you just copy and paste the Master Drum Clip
as is to all sections, then there wouldn’t be any differences and it will begin to sound stale. We are going for
movement in our drums, so we need to edit them slightly differently per section. We’re at the end of this module,
so let’s finish strong!

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MODULE 4
MUSIC

4.0 Music (12 VIDEOS)

4.1 Introduction To The Music Module

Check out what’s in this module which has everything to do with adding melodic elements to your track. I’ll teach
you how to create chords, how to make a catchy melodic hook that will serve as your “lead”, and a thick bass
line that’s grooving with your drums. By the end of this module, you’ll have a project that already sounds like a
rough tune, which we’ll be polishing as we go through the next modules.

4.2 Adding The Chord Progression Loop

In this video, you will add a piano chord progression loop from your Sound Pack. I introduce you to what chords
are and how, together with the drums, they form the foundation of your tune. After that, I show you how to take
the piano chord loop from the Sound Pack and get it into sections of your song that will use it.

4.3 Making Your First Chord

In this video, I show you how to make your own chord. This is important because you’ll be able to make your own
chord progressions that can support your tune without having to rely solely on pre-made loops. I introduce you
to the two main scales in modern music known as the major and minor scales - a large chunk of dance music is
made in the minor scale, so that’s what we’ll use in this course. I then show you how chords are built, and then
you’ll add your first chord using a simple formula. You will use one of Ableton Live’s instruments called Simpler,
and it will be a type of sound known as a pad.

4.4 Creating Your Own Chord Progression

Now that you’ve got one chord that you made yourself, let’s add some more to make a chord progression. In this
video, I’ll touch briefly on how to choose chords for a chord progression, and then you’ll build two more chords
using a different chord formula from what we used in the previous video, and then you’ll copy the progression
over to sections that need it.

4.5 Adding The Bassline Loops

We’ve got a nice drum rhythm going, and a strong chord progression, but I bet you notice that there’s still
something missing: the bass! The bassline is basically a melody, and a good rule of thumb to follow is that when
there are two melodic parts, one has to be simpler than the other to avoid them fighting for attention in a track.
We’ll drop a nice, complex bassline loop to add character and groove to your musical elements.

4.6 Creating Your Own Bassline

Here I’ll teach you how to write your own bassline, because sometimes you want to make your own, or you’re
inspired by a bass loop but want to make some changes to it. I show you how to pluck some notes from the same
minor scale to create a simple bassline, and then you’ll copy paste them to the beginning of the Intro and the tail
end of the Outro.

4.7 Adding The Melody Loop

In this video, you will learn what a melody is and why it’s important in a track. We’ll then drop in a melody loop
from the DDJT Sample Pack. Since we already have a fairly rich and complex melody care of the bassline, the
melody loop will just be a simple one that will sit further back in the mix, which will add to the atmosphere of your
house tune.

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4.0 Music Continued (12 VIDEOS)

4.8 Behind The Scenes: How I Made The Melody Loop

In this Behind The Scenes video, I then give you a glimpse of how I created the melody loop by using a hack that
guarantees all the notes will sound sweet and won’t clash with our chord progression. It’s a trick that producers,
singer-songwriters, and even rock guitarists love to use. It’s great for making quick, catchy melodies - if you want
to know more, this video has you covered.

4.9 Adding Vocals I: Drop Vocal Loops

In this video, you add some vocals to your track by placing two vocal loops in the Drop section. We’ll then copy
those loops over to all the other Drop chunks.

4.10 Behind The Scenes: How I Made The Drop Vocal Loops
In this Behind The Scenes video, I show you how I spliced two pre-made vocal loops together to create a new
one. It’s a cool technique to try out on your own later on because it lets you modify vocal loops and acapellas
found on sample packs. If you want to see how I chopped up the vocal loops and fused them, this video will
cover that.

4.11 Adding Vocals II: Verse Vocal Loops

In this video, you’ll be adding in even more vocal loops, this time for the Verse song sections. They’re a bit
different compared to the Drop vocal loops, and they provide the hook for the Verse chunks of your production.

4.12 Behind The Scenes: How I Wrote The Lyrics Of Your Production
In this Behind The Scenes video, I talk about my process for writing lyrics (hint: it’s got nothing to do with working
in the studio). If you want to know how I came up with the lyrics for your production, as well as how I came up
with the melody, then you’ll want to check this Behind The Scenes video out.

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MODULE 5
CUSTOMISE

5.0 Customise (8 VIDEOS)

5.1 Introduction To The Customise Module

This is an important module in the course because this is where we begin to really dig into your tune to add little
tweaks and details that’ll make it sound like a professionally produced track. We’ll create tension and release by
creating the breakdown and buildup, and I’ll teach you techniques that you can use to truly make a tune “yours”.

5.2 Tension & Release I: Adding Loops To The Breakdown & Buildup
Dance music is all about creating two moods: tension and release. Tension is the anticipation of the listener on
the dancefloor as she goes through a quiet portion in your song that slowly builds into a mountain of energy that
erupts, creating release. In production terms, this is known as the breakdown and buildup, while the release is
called the drop. You’ll add the piano breakdown and buildup loops in this video.

5.3 Tension & Release II: Adding Your Own Kicks & Snares/Claps To The Breakdown & Buildup
In this video, you’ll draw in your own kick, snare, and clap hits, which are essential in a breakdown and buildup.
I show you how to create a high-energy build you hear in a lot of dance music using the drum sounds that you’ve
already got in your Drum Rack.

5.4 Tension & Release III: Adding Extra Effects: Risers & Downshifters
Effects are little audio clips that punctuate certain portions of music to add add flavour, variety. They are crucial in
a production because it gives the listener the impression that it’s either the beginning of a new section of the song,
or it’s leading to it. In this video, I show you how to add a riser, which gives the impression of increasing tension,
and a downshifter, which can emphasise the “release” of that tension.

5.5 Tension & Release IV: Adding The Synth Tension Loop
In this video, I show you how and where to add the synth tension build loop. This loop will add a rising melodic
element for the ultimate in tension building right before it all gets released during the drop.

5.6 Tension & Release V: Creating Your Own Synth Tension

To wrap up the breakdown and build up sections of our song, I show you how to draw in your own synth tension
part. This will complement the synth tension loop that you added in the last video and make it sound fuller,
creating an even more intense buildup that will have your listener begging for the drop!

5.7 Adding Extra Details Using Crashes & FX

We’ve just added our build and break down sections, and a few sound effects for certain portions. Now, we add
more flourishes like crash cymbals and FX to accentuate the start of some portions of our tune. This is important to
do because producers spend a lot of time adding these little details to break any possible monotony in their tune,
which in turn makes each section of the song exciting for the listener.

5.8 Removing Bits To Emphasise Sections

Just as it is important to add little details to make our production stand out, removing a few elements in our
production can also be used as a clever technique. Producers like Disclosure, Gorgon City, and MNEK do this a
lot in their songs, and we’ll do it here in the drop of your track to put a contemporary spin on your tune.

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MODULE 6
IMPROVE

6.0 Improve (9 VIDEOS)

6.1 Introduction To The Improve Module

Now that we’ve completed the arrangement of your production, along with adding in and removing elements
to make it sound like it’s your own, it’s time to get them to sound even better by using audio plugins. Plugins are
little pieces of software that let you do specific things, and in this module we’ll go through four of them: EQ,
compression, delay, and reverb.

6.2 EQ I: Adding The EQ Plugin

EQ is an important tool in the music producer’s toolkit, but what exactly does it do and why do we need it? I give
you the lowdown in this video, and I also explain the EQ Frequency Chart, which tells you where instruments fall
in the audio spectrum. Finally, I show you how to use the EQ plugin we’ll be using in this course.

6.3 EQ II: Brightening And Dulling Your Sounds With EQ

In this video, we’ll make some of our tracks “pop” and make others stay in the sidelines using EQ. This lets you
highlight specific tracks by altering the way that they sound, while de-emphasising those that only serve as
support roles, sitting further back in the overall track. This is a very general form of EQing, much like a painter
using broad strokes. We’ll do more of the surgical EQing in the next module where we mix your track.

6.4 EQ III: Removing Unnecessary Sounds With A Filter EQ

One of the biggest secrets for a big-sounding mix is to remove bass frequencies. Sounds weird? Not if the bass
that you’ll be removing are from tracks that don’t need them, like hi-hats for instance. You’ll remove unnecessary
low end from your tracks using the Auto Filter, which eat up “bandwidth” in your mix, allowing tracks that do
need low end to shine. You’re just making sure nothing’s passing through the net, so to speak.

6.5 Compression I: Adding Compression To The Drum Rack

Wonder how some synths, drums, or instruments sound “in your face” when listening to a track? That’s what
compression does, and in this video I introduce you to the plugin. I’ll give you examples of conservative and over-
compression, and then I’ll walk you through the controls of Live’s compressor plugin.

6.6 Compression II: Adding Compression To Other Tracks

Modern electronic dance music makes use of a lot of compression, and in this video we’ll begin adding
compressor plugins to the tracks in your project that needs compression to give them more energy and get them in
front of the your production’s mix.

6.7 Compression III: Side-chaining

In this video, we’ll make your tracks pump using a production trick called side-chaining. I’m sure you know the
track One More Time by Daft Punk, or Satisfaction by Benny Benassi - that’s side-chain compression in action. In
this video I’ll show you a production trick that’s used in a ton of dance music tracks called side-chain compression.
It’s an important part of our production because it lets tracks that have the plugin “pump” along with the drums,
creating a “grooving” sound.

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6.0 Improve Continued (9 VIDEOS)

6.8 Delay: Making Sounds Fuller With Short Delay

Here you’ll add a delay plugin effect in our chords, lead, and vocal tracks to thicken up their sound. This gives
them a slightly different tonal character compared to what they originally sounded like, and it lets them punch
through the mix even though we haven’t even begun to level our production just yet.

6.9 Reverb: Adding Depth

Some tracks in your production will benefit from sounding like it’s in a bigger, deeper place than it initially
appears to be in. Reverb is an effect that can simulate acoustic spaces, and in this video I show you how to add
reverb to some tracks to make them sound huge and to give your production a “3D” sense of depth.

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MODULE 7
IMPROVE

7.0 Mix (10 VIDEOS)

7.1 Introduction To The Mixing Module

In this video I explain the concept behind mixing, which is to make the important elements of a production shine
while keeping the less crucial ones in the background as support. We’ll organise the tracks in your project so
they’re easier to spot, and then we’ll start levelling and placing sounds in the stereo field.

7.2 Organising Your Mix I: Grouping Tracks

We’ve now got a lot of tracks in our project, and music production can get out of hand when you don’t enough
proper housekeeping. Before we get started mixing, let’s clean up our project by arranging and grouping similar
tracks together. This lets you fold them up and expand only when needed, which is useful if you’re working on a
small screen, and more importantly it lets you control certain parameters of an entire group such as volume.

7.3 Organising Your Mix II: Colour Coding Tracks

To easily spot individual tracks in a sprawling project, colour coding them is a must. We’ll add colours to our
groups and individual tracks in this video, which will give our project a sense of visual order and make them
easier to spot while scrolling through it.

7.4 Levelling Your Individual Tracks

In this video, I show you which parts of your track should stand out and which one should sit by the sidelines. You
will level the tracks in your tune to emphasise the important production elements of your tune so they’re the most
dominant parts, while lowering the volume of the ones that should only be supporting them.

7.5 Automation: Adjusting Volumes For Certain Sections

In this video, you do another set of automation drawing, just like in the previous module. This time, however, you’ll
be adding automation to the volume controls of the drums and the bass groups. I show you how to increase the
volume of both groups so that they’re louder during the drop.

7.6 Creating Space In Your Mix i: Panning

In this video, we’ll use a technique called panning, which lets you put a track anywhere between the left and right
speaker. This allows you to create a “wider” sounding-track, and lets important elements in the middle of your
production take centrestage (literally!). It also further declutters your mix by having less crucial sounds sit to the far
left or right speaker.

7.7 Creating Space In Your Mix ii: Removing “Fighting” Frequencies

Some instruments occupy the same frequency range as others, which can lead to a muddy sound where neither
gets fully heard in a track. We can use EQ to carve out these frequencies so that they don’t compete for space in
a mix. In this video, I show you the technique for finding fighting frequencies and how to make them play nice with
each other.

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7.0 Mix Continued (10 VIDEOS)

7.8 Sends & Returns I: Adding Reverb

Your computer can only have so many plugins running at the same time. Sends and returns let you insert one
plugin to be used by multiple tracks. In this video, we’ll add a reverb and send tracks to it to get your tracks
sounding like they’re in one “place”.

7.9 Sends & Returns II: Adding Delay

In this video, you’ll use sends and returns with a long delay effect, which gives an instrument a “dreamy” sound
compared to the short delay we added in the previous module. We’re also going to draw automation to the
enable/disable button of some of the delay plugins in our track. This lets you turn the delay plugin on and off only
at sections of your track that needs the delayed sound to be enabled, giving added character to certain tracks.

7.10 Giving Your Mix A Final Listen And Tweaking

In this video, we’re going to have one final listen to your production before we head into mastering. We’ll make
sure that we have it sounding the way we want it to, and if we need to add in any final tweaks, we’ll do them in
this video.

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MODULE 8
MASTER

8.0 Master (5 VIDEOS)

8.1 Introduction To The Master Module

Mastering is the final polish given to the completed track once you’ve finished mixing it. In this video I explain the
vital importance of this final step in finishing a professional track, and what options you have, which are outlined
in more detail for the rest of the module. Congratulations on making it this far, you’re close to finishing your tune!

8.2 Preparing Your Song For Mastering

In this video, you’ll make sure that your tune is ready for mastering by checking that none of your tracks are
distorting, which will make it sound its best when it’s mastered. I show you what headroom is and why you need
it in order to help your tune sound as “big” as possible when it goes through the mastering process. At the end of
this video, you will also export your project into a stereo track which will be ready to be sent out for mastering.

8.3 Home Mastering Your Tune

It’s not realistic to expect a home producer to be able to master a track professionally (unless you’ve got your own
$$$ mastering studio at home), but I’ll show you how you can do a “rough cut” of your master by using what’s
known as a limiter plugin, which is useful if you want to try out your song at a gig before finalising it.

8.4 Online Mastering With LANDR

Online mastering services can get you pretty close to the results of a real-life engineer, and offers great value and
an immediate turnaround. In this video we’ll upload your tune to LANDR, which is one such service, and have it
digitally mastered instantly.

8.5 Getting In Touch With A Professional Mastering Engineer

For those tracks when it’s really important to get the best possible result, that’s when you should work with a
professional mastering engineer. Not all mastering engineers are equal because each one has his own style,
though, so I talk about some techniques on how to find and work with one that suits both the style of music that
you just made and your budget as well.

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BONUSES

1.0 Promoting & Distributing Your Tracks (10 VIDEOS)

1.1 Introduction To Promoting & Distributing

In this first bonus, I take you through the process of creating a promotion schedule for your track, which is key
if you want your tune to be heard by as many people as possible in a systematic way. I also show you how to
distribute your songs online and get it heard on sites like Spotify and Apple Music, and how to get it on sale on
iTunes, Amazon, Beatport, and other shopping sites.

1.2 Creating A Promotion & Distribution Plan

In this video, I show you what a promotion and distribution plan is and why it’s important to have one if you want
to have a release that’s effective and gets the most number of listens possible. I tell you how to craft a plan by first
identifying who your target audience is, which will inform where it would be best to reach them. I then rundown a
list of services and formats for distributing your music both online and offline.

1.3 Developing Your Promotion Schedule

Proper scheduling of the release and promotion of your track is essential in order to give it the best chance of
being heard by as many people as possible. In this video we’ll work on your track’s promotion calendar, which
consists of four weeks leading up to a date that your track is set to be released. Doing this lets you build as much
buzz as possible before the song actually drops.

1.4 Song Release i: Get It On SoundCloud

Here, I show you why it’s a good idea to use SoundCloud when you’ve got an original track. I give you best
practices on uploading and formatting your track on the platform, and I show you how to optimise your profile
page to get it looking professional and informative.

1.5 Song Release ii: Getting It On Stores & On Streaming Services

In this video, I show you how to get your music from your hard drive to the world’s biggest music streaming sites
and stores. Here, we cover using online services known as aggregators that let you upload your song for a fee,
and at the end of this stage your track will be professionally released on the likes of iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music
and so on.

1.6 Facebook Promotion: Creating A Facebook Page

In this video, I show you how to promote your track on Facebook by creating a Facebook Page. I show you how
to get it looking its best by adding in properly-formatted photos and relevant information, and then I show you
how to share it. By the end of this video, you’ll have your very own DJ/producer Facebook Page.
If you have one already, it’s worth checking this video out for tips on optimising your page.

1.7 How To Promote Your Track On Instagram

In this video, we tackle Instagram, the photo and video sharing platform. I show you how you can use it to
promote your track before and after it gets released. I also take you through the Instagram Stories feature, and
show you how you can post your Instagram photos and videos straight to your Facebook Page for your audience
to see.

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1.0 Promoting & Distributing Your Tracks Continued (10 VIDEOS)

1.8 How To Promote Your Track On Blogs

Online music blogs, internet radio station jocks, and podcasters are your friend in helping you get the word out
about your tune. Here’s how to do it, including how to shortlist ones that will likely feature your track (hint: skip
Pitchfork and Brooklyn Vegan for now). Persistence pays off in the promotions game, and I show you how to
follow up on your blog e-mails without being *that* annoying DJ/producer that goes straight to spam.

1.9 Next steps I: Getting Signed To A Label

We’ve just gone through how to promote and distribute your song on your own, which gets your tune out online.
Later on, you may want to consider signing up to a record label. A record label is an entity that, generally, has
a greater network of connections and resources (ie money) than you, allowing your songs to land in the laps of
people who are harder to reach, such as radio DJs, TV / film producers, and music supervisors, leading to more
listens and streams. They also have influence and contacts with bigger music blogs, so signing up with one could
give your track more press and attention.

1.10 Next Steps II: Starting Your Own Label

In this final video, we’ll take a look at starting your own record label. This puts the power in your hands, but
also legitimises you as a business entity that releases songs. You can only go so far in putting songs out yourself,
and sometimes you’ll need the help of someone else to make things happen since a record label is like a small
business run by an entrepreneur. Generally, entrepreneurs are either business people (runs the day to day, makes
sure you’re not bankrupt), or product people (signs the music, makes sure the label branding is reflected in all
releases, quality control of tunes), and rarely ever both (remember, even Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak).

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2.0 Producer’s Hackbook (13 VIDEOS)

2.1 Introduction To The Producer’s Hackbook

In this video, I’ll go through the little tweaks and hacks that music producers use in order to craft songs quickly
and effectively, time and time again. Now that you’ve made the two tracks in the course, the videos in this module
will teach you techniques and tricks that will further your technical skills, and help you develop your artistry as a
producer.

2.2 Introduction to the Hands-On Hacks

In the first half of the Producer’s Hackbook, I take you through some of my favourite techniques for producing
music quickly in Ableton Live. It’s my bag of tricks that I use whenever I need to come up with a tune quickly (ie
all the time, to be honest), which includes my methods for disassembling a beat (great for figuring out how to
integrate a specific type of drum beat into your own production), coming up with your own bank of melodies that
you can use for those “dry days” when you’re uninspired, and much more.

2.3 Deconstructing Beats With Drum Tracing

In this video, I’ll show you a trick that can speed up your understanding of how drums are made and how you
can make yours sound like the pros quickly. I use this all the time when I want to breakdown a complicated drum
groove in a song to understand how it’s made, the learnings of which I then apply to a tune I’m producing.

2.4 Write Melodies Faster With Melodic Sketching

Here I introduce you to my Melodic Sketching practice for quickly writing melodies that you can use as starting
points for full productions later on. Since you’re not composing an entire song from scratch, Melodic Sketching
lets you focus on producing a melodic riff or hook first. It’s my secret for churning out catchy tunes even on days
when I’m not “feeling it”, just because I’ve got a repository of riffs that I can pull from. I’ll also show you how to
transpose these melodies too so they fit into any musical key you choose.

2.5 How To Add Your Own Vocal Pitch Shifts

In the course, we used a vocal sample to turn a melody into one that “sang” the notes. That’s a form of vocal pitch
shifting, and it’s a hot production technique right now. Here’s how to do it in Ableton Live using another sample
found in your Sound Pack, this time we’ll draw the notes after you’ve dropped the vocal sample in.

2.6 Even More Song Maps

Want to explore other genres? Here are some song maps for you to download and fill in. In this video I talk you
through the maps in this Song Map pack and where to get the loops from.

2.7 Choosing Sounds i: Musical

In this video, I explain the basics of how sounds are chosen for different roles in a production. Think of each
musical instrument as a stage actor: there’s a lead, a co-star, a supporting cast, and so on. Sounds in a
production are quite similar, and as such certain instruments or sounds play certain roles better than others - this is
important because a good mix of “actors” leads to a fuller sounding dance music production.

2.8 Choosing Sounds ii: Drums

In this second video we focus on the drums. Like the musical video before this, it’s best to think of the drums as
a group of individual instruments - kind of like a “beat orchestra”, if you like! Each drum sound fills a particular
section in the audio spectrum, and plays specific roles in the drum beat too.

2.9 Introduction to the Hands-Off Hacks

In this second half of the Producer’s Hackbook, I offer guidance on developing your artistry as a DJ/producer.
I give you tips on how to sharpen your listening skills to make it easier for you to identify song sections, how to
draw inspiration from other styles of music in your own productions, and how to break the “rules” of production.

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2.0 Producer’s Hackbook Continued (13 VIDEOS)

2.10 Sharpening Your Ears: Listening For Song Sections

The ability to hear a track with all the elements separate can be developed, and is a skill that lets you understand
even complicated arrangements in much simpler terms. I’ll give you some telltale signs of how to spot an intro,
verse, breakdown and buildup. I’ll also quickly show you what to do when a song or genre you’ve picked doesn’t
seem to have these chunks.

2.11 Borrowing Ideas From Other Styles Of Music

A great way to develop your own sound is to analyse other styles of music, and bringing ideas across into your
own production. In this video, we’ll take some elements from hip-hop and apply them to a house track so you can
understand what it means to “borrow” ideas and fuse them into your project. (refer to the house track in the course)

2.12 How To Break The Production Rules

In this video, I go through some of the most common music production techniques that are particular to house and
bass music, and then we’ll use them as examples for how to break them. To keep things fresh in your career as a
producer, breaking the rules is something you’ll do time and time again - find out how in this video.

2.13 20 Popular Chord Progressions

In this video, I show you some of the most used chord progressions in contemporary dance music, including EDM,
future house, drum ‘n bass, and trap. I then show you how to apply these chord progressions in a production, no
matter what musical key you want to use.

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3.0 Bonus Module: Producing Bass Music (10 VIDEOS)

3.1 Making the Bass Song Map

In this video we’ll create a Song Map based on the Future Bass genre. Just like what you did in the full course,
you’ll add locators to song sections to make arranging a breeze.

3.2 Arranging i: Adding Synth Loops To Your Production

Here we’ll begin adding loops to the tune which will form a large chunk of the harmonic content in the track.

3.3 Adding Drum Sounds

Now you’ll add kick, snare, hi-hats, and other percussion samples to Live’s Drum Rack, which you’ll use to form
drum parts for the production.

3.4 Using The Master Drum Clip To Create Drum Parts

In this video, you’ll use the Master Drum Clip technique I taught in Module 3 to create the drums for the tune.

3.5 Adding Synth Chords

We’ve already added synth loops earlier, so now I’m going to teach you how to write Future Bass chords that will
complement those loops, and we’ll be using a synth that will further fill out the arrangement.

3.6 Writing The Bassline

The power of Future Bass lies in its simplicity - I show you how to write an effective Future Bass bassline in this
video using the root note technique I taught you in Module 4 of the full course.

3.7 Dropping In The Vocals

What’s a pop song without a strong vocal hook? We’ll drop in the vocal loops of the track in this video.

3.8 Adding Vocal Pitch Shifts

Those “chipmunk”-sounding vocals are a mainstay in the Future Bass genre - learn how to employ pitch-shifting to
great effect in this video.

3.9 Mixing Future Bass

Now that we’ve got all the elements laid down in your production, it’s time to get them levelled. Future Bass is a
distinct genre that has its own Mix Priority, and I show you exactly that in this video.

3.10 Mastering Your Track

Finally, we’ll create a mixdown of your track and send it to LANDR for mastering. By the end of this video, you’ll
have a tune that’s ready for any Top 40 / club dancefloor!

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