this summer i was asked to write a feature on production schools and acadamies for dj mag. it involved a trip to the quite excellent akg / scholarship of sound as well as chats to plenty of other people… read on to find out about various sorts of dj courses; the scholarship itself and for some top tips from key industry people….
in the early days of our still young scene, music making and music mixing was the preserve of professionals and diehards – a wholly different beast than it is in today’s democratic world. aspiring djs necessarily wiled away their youth hunched over a pair of decks re-enacting that epic nine minute mix digweed pulled off last weekend, but that’s where it ended. dj schools were very basic, church hall affairs and, if you wanted to make music, you either had to rob a bank to buy the kit, or else you had to slowly work your way up from the bottom, starting out as a tea-boy at some large studio complex before, two years later, getting upgraded only to… tape-op. even then, those sorts of positions were rarer than a drizzle free day in sunny manchester and were certainly not for the faint hearted.
in 2010, though, you no longer need to save for years to buy a pair of decks then endure months of frustrating trial and error self tuition before you can even loosely claim to be a dj. instead, courtesy in large part to the rise in popularity of electronic music; the ensuing hoards of careerists, as well as the improvements in djing and production technologies, there are affordable courses available to all… from the established dj who wants to write a record, to the middle aged saturday hobbyist who has some disposable income and a few free evenings via the already well equipped producer who craves a wider, deeper understanding of sound, there is something – from a week to a year in length – for everyone. that includes, of course, courses for the wholly uninitiated (from all musical backgrounds, too, not just electronic) like ‘how to dj’ run by dr alinka greasley at leeds met as a module option for music technology students looking to broaden their horizons.
“there’s an important distinction between careerist people and those wanting to just get a little insight. we don’t have industry pros per se, this course is more of a taster” admits alinka. “i focus mainly on vinyl teaching (although we do teach cdj mixing later on) as i think it’s important to learn how to mix with actual records so the foundations are there for things like scratching later on. i think people go away from the course understanding djing more, understanding how much work and practice goes into the art and often they go off wanting to pursue what they have learnt on a more in-depth level.”
“one of the biggest challenges with these sorts of courses is the individual nature of djing” worries alinka. “as my students are often totally new to it, teaching things like beat matching can take a lot of time and that’s why this course is more of a taster. more personal sessions and smaller groups at other courses in the country can then take things to the next level.”
one such course for those with some pre-existing skills is run by ministry of sound which, the club’s phoebe smith tells us, “aims to specialise in live, club based performance. the students are based in the club so are learning, first hand, on industry standard equipment and booths on one of the world’s best live sound systems” that important fact is what separates this course from university tuition which instead often relies heavily on theoretical teaching.
phoebe continues “our courses are not a golden ticket into the industry and we always make that clear, they are just a more industry focused alternative to the classroom lead or theory based courses that you may see at other dj schools.”
for those looking for something which combines theory with practice; djing instruction with more techninal aspects of production and sound, there is the point blank school in london. one of the oldest schools, it was started by rob cowan in 1994 and, in the early days, was only a basic djing course. but, as the school’s david reid tells us “technology developments mean the courses are much broader now – we have 8 studios in total teaching dj skills, music production and sound engineering. we try and introduce people to the building blocks of beats, bars and phrases before they even touch a deck to get them thinking like a dj – that way it makes it easier to understand where and when to mix and they better appreciate the role of a dj.”
“although we run an ableton course which takes in production, djing and recording (because there is so much to learn we split it into modules and teach it over 12 months) our most popular courses are still the hands on practicals taught by pro djs” offers david. it seems, then, that the romantic idea of mixing two 12”s together (at least for beginners) still curries as much favour as it ever has, despite technological advancements.
so, how else have things changed since the early days? we rang up hospital producer and ex-college tutor, danny byrd, for his take on things…
“15 years ago i was doing stuff at my local youth club but it was really basic. the technology and computer software has definitely made these courses much more viable – mainly because kids can now go home and practice what they learn and simply because there is more to teach you can go into as much granular details as you need to with things like cdjs and ableton.” danny points out that, whilst such courses are brilliant and advance you much quicker than would self tutelage, there are potential drawbacks…
“when i started making music it was purely out of a passion for it. you had to be super dedicated back then as it cost £2, 500 (even in those days) for an akai sampler to play with whilst these courses now can rather sell a false dream…’come and do our course as a career move and, hey presto, when you’ve finished it you’ll be a superstar dj/producer.”
there is, however, a new type of schooling which certainly doesn’t aim to sell a dream but rather builds on a strong, pre-existing skill set and already burning passion – the inaugural, weeklong scholarship of sound course in berlin as put on by high end and long running technology company akg. it offers a fully expenses paid trip to the german hot bed of electronic music for ten handpicked students from all around europe. when djmag flew out to observe the course for two days, organiser nick sabine was quick to point out the positioning of the course as against those already mentioned.
“we wanted this to be a really special, submersive and intense weeklong session which offers all round industry insights these students simply couldn’t get anywhere else.” important, too, is that with this course being a scholarship scheme, financial implications are removed from the equation so enthusiasts from any background can apply.
it’s clear as nick continues that this course is born from the genuine passion of a few key figures in the electronic music scene who simply want to share their knowledge and passion to those who appreciate it most; those who are already seriously involved in pursuing music careers…
“it means a lot to all of us involved to really get it right and make this a one-off experience. dixon, for example, broke off his honey moon to come and give his presentation on tuesday, whilst stefan betke [aka respected mastering technician, vinyl cutter and dub techno producer pole] spent time learning the names of the students before they arrived and prepped lots of music and blank vinyl for them to use in his session.”
said students range in age from late teens to mid twenties and all are either currently studying on music technology courses or are graduates working as composers, sound engineers and musicians of various types.
“the knowledge of the students has been really impressive – they know their stuff and are asking some really good, insightful questions of our panels” continues nick as we walk to the ableton studio where kompakt label manager jon berry is about to give a three hour talk. in it, he uses kompakt act the field as a case study and goes through – in compelling and minute detail – everything from signing the act, recording the album, mastering it, sorting artwork, accruing worldwide press teams, radio plays, booking a supporting live tour and a lot more.
over a beer afterwards, the students buzz with enthusiasm after what they have just learnt, particularly 24 year old dane matias “i really love kompakt so that was amazing – jon really went into an awful lot of detail with facts and figures i didn’t get on my course back home. i think i’d be able to run my own label easy after all that information – i wrote down every word!”
as the students disappear together for the evening, a representative from akg, ashely, tells us how this has been the norm all week. “they’ve hung out as a group, shared music in the hotel together, bounced off each other in the discussion sessions and generally shared their collective knowledge – that’s been nice to see and is what, we hope, makes this scholarship so worthwhile to them”
after sessions earlier in the week on mastering (both practice and theory) an ableton workshop, a discussion on ‘artistic development in times of information overload’ and, amongst other things, a morning working with microphones and headphones, the final day sees up close and personal vinyl cutting sessions with the aforementioned pole in his own private studio, before a 90 minute, hands on session in a boutique synth shop (as frequented, we’re told, by ricardo villalobos et al) playing with walls of modular synthesisers whilst receiving instruction from shop owner and super-enthusiast andreas schneider.
“that was my highlight of the week” bristol post-grad joshua tells us. “i love weird noises and even though a week’s drinking has caught up with me [joshua is in and out of the toilet all morning] there was no way i was missing that. had it been a normal uni class at home, though, i probably would have stayed in bed!”
for the students, one last thing remains on this final day – a trip to watergate hours before opening and the opportunity to spend time with the sound engineers and club promoters setting up the whole place before seth troxler headlines later in the evening. it’s the final impressive insight afforded to these students, and, along with the other incomparable edifications offered up throughout the week, is a final invaluable opportunity for these young sonic enthusiasts.
so what does a self taught producer make of all this? is production something that can inherently be taught? we asked intimacy label boss and respected producer paul woolford who points out that there have always been sound engineering degrees, but they were limited compared to today’s courses.
“the software aspect has definitely made production a more teachable science – there are definitely some hard and fast rules, but these are very specific engineering things, about bass placement and not muddying the lower and lower-mid frequencies for example.” as paul continues he is quick point out that such courses are not necessarily a fix all cure for everyone.
“skills you would acquire on such a course are a springboard to unlocking further potential.” paul points out, before going on to underline the sentiments of many of the tutors we have spoken to. “modern technology has opened so many doors, but it’s also true that it’s made things very same-y. learning aside, the ability to make good music all comes back to the inquisitiveness of the user. there are so many records emerging that are sonically ‘correct’ but that are redundant in terms of ideas.”
it seems, then, that whilst there is a wealth of courses available to anyone wanting to improve their djing and production skills, they aren’t there to lay down hard and fast dj or production rules. in the same way that a fine art degree doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the next david hockney, these courses aim to give students all the understanding they need to be able to go away and make their own art, without restraint, and to allow passions and idiosyncrasies to shine out as they always have. at the same time it’s also true that, given technological furtherments, the arts of djing and producing have been somewhat intellectualised. all that means, though, is that in 2010 there are no excuses for substandard productions; no get-out clauses for shoddy mixes and no reasons for those with a passion not to indulge themselves and their art as best they can.
top tips for djs/producers:
from pole: “if you have to use digital files to dj, make sure they are wavs as mp3s – even at 320kb – just don’t sound nice. seriously, they hurt my ears.”
from andreas schneider: “don’t just think you need to use moog because it’s the name everyone knows – effectively they are now mainstream machines which only use presets so don’t allow endless creative possibilities like modular synths do.”
from jon berry: “make sure you build yourself a good profile online, and make sure you work hard at getting yourself well known in your own local area. going to labels and telling them you have a solid local fan base is a good way to get in.”
from paul woolford: “something that has been a corner-stone of dance music’s creative development over the years is the mistake (for example when the batteries on phuture and pierre’s 303 were running down which lead to them making their classic ‘acid trax’). these mistakes are far less-likely to happen if you work strictly by the book, so there is still a huge case for doing things your own way in spite of the draw of all these new modern courses.”