During this first session students formally meet Tutors D.Ramirez and Pete Griffiths to discuss their intended direction as an artist. Here we will analyse your current sound & style against your intended musical direction, and look at how this fits the current market, whilst focusing on the importance of sound choice and artistic identity.

During this session students will learn how to build their drums from scratch whilst further developing their own sound and Artistic Identity. Focus will be on Sound Choice, the correct processing for Tech House, layering sounds and the relationship between all the parts in your groove.

Students will create five different drum grooves using the various methods taught during their studio session whilst considering style, sound choice and artistic identity. During this A&R session students will spend time with Tutor Pete Griffiths to assess and analyse the recently produced drum grooves, giving feedback from an A&R standpoint and advice on which drums to move forward with for the students course track.

Here we look deeper into the art of writing the perfect bassline – and how choosing the right sound and style can influence the success of the groove, showcasing how to write different basslines using varied techniques whilst understanding how variance in melody can determine style.

Students will create five different basslines over their chosen drum groov,e using the various methods taught during their studio session. During this A&R session students will spend time with tutor Pete Griffiths to assess and analyse the recently produced basslines, giving feedback from an A&R standpoint.

During this session we look at adding vocal samples to our tracks and creating an original hook to suit our style. We delve into the do’s and don’ts of sampling. We will be working with spoken word acapellas from various sources (YouTube, Films, Sample Packs etc) and will demonstrate techniques on how best to process these – whilst finding something unique to create a new hook, making these fit into the groove through processing techniques in Ableton.

Students will create four different Vocal Hook ideas over their groove utilising each of the methods showcased in the latest studio session whilst considering style, sound choice and artistic identity. During this A&R session students will spend time with Tutor Pete Griffiths to assess and analyse the recently produced vocal hooks, including advice how these can vary the stylistic identity and overall success of the track.

During this session students will cover some Musical theory, understanding scales and how this applies to creating Musical hooks. The Tutor will demonstrate how to write an original riff using Lennar Digital’s Sylenth, we will also cover creating stabs, chords, pads and melodies, whilst considering your style and artistic identity.

Students to create four different Musical Hook ideas over their groove utilising the methods showcased in the latest studio session. During this A&R session students will spend time with Tutor Pete Griffiths to assess and analyse the recently produced musical hooks, giving feedback from an A& R standpoint and advice on each hook and how these work with the other key parts of your track.

We extend our groove to a basic pre-arrangement of 16 bar groove, 16 bar break, and back into 16 bar groove to see how our ideas will progress and work to create the key moments in our track .During this session we will also look at adding FX to the focal parts of the track to create tension, drama and key moments alongside adding more common FX techniques such as risers, snare rolls and delays.

Students to extend their groove to a 48 bar pre-arrangement to showcase & develop their ideas, whilst adding and creating FX to add tension. Students will also be required to start between two and four new track ideas during this assignment period to be assessed during the following A&R session.

During this session we will demonstrate how to take your extended loop and arrange it into a full-length track, whilst focusing on how this will work in the club for the DJ. Particular attention will be on each focal section, showcasing how the importance of creating key moments at the right times and blending these sections together well will keep your track interesting throughout. We will also delve deeper into more advanced automation techniques.

Students will now create a full arrangement of their track to be assessed in the following A&R Session whilst considering techniques displayed during the studio session. Students will also continue working on their second track based on recent feedback.

Mixing down can be one of the most daunting areas of music production to master, but by applying the right techniques in the right order it can be conquered. With the main elements to the track now in place we look at the preliminary mixing techniques focusing on gain staging to balance your track, working with the K-scale and introducing the right plugins and best practice when using them.

Students will now work on their initial mixdown of their track utilising the techniques displayed during their studio session to be assessed in the following A&R Session. Students will also continue working on their second track based on recent feedback.

The final mixdown of a track can often be one of the key reasons why tracks get missed or not supported by many DJs. During this session we look at all areas of the track to complete a more advanced mixdown utilising techniques like parallel processing, compression, bussing and using Modulation FX. We will also showcase our Mastering chain which enables us to have a DJ Master ready to test in the clubs.

Students will now work on their final mixdown of their track utilising the techniques displayed during their studio session. Students will also continue working on their second track based on recent feedback. During this session students will spend time with Tutor Pete Griffiths to assess the final mixdown whilst giving feedback from an A&R standpoint. Here we will also assess the students second track and give overall feedback and some points to follow for the final Studio session of engineering with D.Ramirez.

During this session Students will spend time finishing off their second track that has been developing during the course, with Tutor D.Ramirez focusing on key areas for improvement and answering any questions that have arisen from the course.

Six weeks after the course finishes, students will receive an extra A&R session where they can submit further works for A&R Feedback and advice with Tutor Pete Griffiths.