DJ PRODUCER COURSE

Producer school Amsterdam

introduction

Producer school Pyntago, in cooperation with the Pioneer DJ School, offers you a unique chance to launch your DJ/Producer career. In three months, you will follow an intense program, comprising the whole DJ and production curriculum of both schools, with additional masterclasses, workshops and private lessons. Groups are strictly limited to 10 students, allowing for a personal approach, tailored to each student. You’ll start out learning all the basic skills you need as a DJ and producer. Once you master those skills, you will work towards becoming an engaging performer and producing tracks worthy of release.

Overview

• Developing, improving and perfecting your DJ skills
• Producing mash-ups
• Learning how to use Ableton Live in a productive way
• A structured approach to producing and finishing tracks
• Music theory that is relevant to producers of electronic music
• Basic and advanced synthesis- and sounddesign-techniques
• A structured approach to mixing
• Polishing your mix by advanced use of compression, EQ and reverb
• Basic and advanced mastering techniques
• Mastering your own tracks and getting the best out of mastering engineers
• Special lessons about acoustics, performing live and recording of instruments and vocals
• Adding sound and music to video
• Contracts, copyright and labels
• Using internet and social media to boost your profile
• Additional private lessons

DJ TOTAL SKILLS

The course starts out with taking your DJ skills to the next level. You will learn everything a DJ needs to know to play a coherent set. But you will also go beyond, and learn about advanced techniques to make you stand out from the crowd. During the course you will have unlimited access to our DJ-Xperience, where all the latest DJ gear is waiting to be used. Perfect for working on your DJ skills or recording sets. Often there are workshops or professional DJ’s present to help you with all your questions.

DJ Basic Skills

• Introduction to Pioneer CDJ’s
• Learn how to connect equipment
• Fade Mixing
• Cueing techniques, setting a cue point
• Counting beats and bars
• Beat-Matching basics
• How to detect BPM/Tempo
• Understanding the structure of dance music
• Beat matching different tracks
• Using basic EQ controls
• Cross-fader technique
• Loops & Hot Cues

DJ Advanced Skills

• Creating Hot Cue’s
• Using loops to create build up effects
• Creating a Delay effect with two identical tracks
• Using the mixer’s ‘Delay’ & ‘Echo’ effects to enhance your mixes
• Using the ‘Roll’ and ‘Filter’ effects
• Transitions between different genres using effects

DJ Pro Skills

• Acapella Mixing/Digital Tricks
• Using Acapellas to create live remixes
• Basic scratch techniques (Baby, Slur, Transforming)
• Use Pioneer RMX 1000 external effects units
• The basics of Ableton Live
• Creating Mashups
• Making Bootlegs and remixen
• Live edits
• Create your own samples for use in mixes
• Plan and perform a DJ set
• Get expert advice/tips from a pro DJ
• Upload your mix online on mixcloud
• Promotion

Extra Skills

• Structuring a mix
• Checking levels for effective recording
• Record your own demo mix
• Basic recording and editing techniques
• Working with Rekordbox
• Making a KUVO profile
• Harmonic Mixing/Digital DJ Skills
• Understanding music formats and sound quality
• Analyse and detect the key of tracks for perfect harmonic mixes

ABLETON LIVE PRODUCER

To develop your producer skills, you’ll first master Ableton Live. You’ll get a firm grasp of all the basic concepts like MIDI, audio, editors, samplers, synths, effects and plugins. Once you feel comfortable using the program, you’ll start using it to create your own tracks. You’ll learn all about structuring your compositions, making good build-ups and finding the synths and samples that fit your style best.

ADVANCED PRODUCTION

Besides working on your basic production skills, we’ll also go more in depth with Music theory for Producers, Mixing/Mastering and Synthesis/Sound-design.

Music theory for Producers will teach you about scales, melody, rhythm and chords in a way that’s relevant to electronic music producers. Once you understand the basic concepts, we will then use them to build throbbing bass lines, banging beats and flowing chord progressions. Not only will it allow you to make your music faster, your tracks will also be more coherent.

A good way to create a unique and recognizable signature, is to build your own sounds from scratch, or mangle existing sounds with effects and editing. Synthesis/Sound-design will give you a firm grasp of the most common synthesis methods, including subtractive, additive and FM, and apply this in a hands-on way to a wide range of popular software synths. Furthermore, we’ll take a broader look at sound-design and learn about advanced use of effects and sampling- and editing techniques.

When you have all the elements for your track and are happy with the structure, it’s time for Mixing. You’ll learn how to use compression, EQ and reverb to make all the elements work together and make the whole more than the sum of its parts. When the mix is done, you will then take it to another level with Mastering.

During the whole DJ/Producer course in our producer school, you’ll work towards making a finished demo that could be presented to labels.

EXTRA

In our producing school you will receive additional one-on-one lessons, as well as lessons about DJ-ing and producing where we focus on putting the theory into practice. Furthermore, there are special lessons about social media, producing mashups, recording vocals and instruments, acoustics, performing live and contracts. You will get special access to all masterclasses organized by producer school “Pyntago” and the dj school “Pro DJ school” and the teachers are always available for feedback or advice. You will meet other students and be able to expand your network.