PURPOSEFUL LEARNING IN PRACTICE

Personal attention is our main focus. That is why we have chosen to give our lessons only in small groups or privately. This makes it easy for you to ask questions and allows us to tailor the lessons a lot better to your personal learning goals. From our years of teaching experience, we know that just listening to a teacher in a class or looking at a screen doesn't work for creative people like us. You want to apply what you learn directly and experience it for yourself. That's why we regularly put you at the controls yourself: so you learn the intricacies of production and know how to actually apply them.

MODULES

  • Your DAW (digital audio workstation) is the software package you work or will work with. You will learn how to use your DAW optimally in these lessons. You can choose from Logic, Cubase, Studio One, FLStudio and Ableton, Studio One and Protools. In this module we divide the participants by level, so you can proceed at your own pace. You will learn all about the interface, your edit and mix windows, midi & audio, basic mixing techniques and recording in your DAW.

  • You will learn all about sound, how your hearing deals with sound, how to train your hearing optimally, how sound behaves in your studio and how to optimize your home studio. After these lessons you will have a lot less trouble with the well-known problem that your music sounds different everywhere, and you will understand much better what you are doing.

  • You will learn all about music theory and how to cleverly apply it to your music. How do you come up with melodies and chords that fit together? When do you use which key or scale? How do you create a good tension curve with good transitions? If you understand music better, then creating it naturally becomes a lot easier and more fun. It may seem strange to have music theory as a practical lesson, but you don't learn music theory just by listening to someone; you have to apply it afterwards and experience for yourself what works and what doesn't. More advanced techniques such as polyrimes will be covered, while music will also be compared to a healthy sandwich...You will get tips on how to get started with your keyboard/controller right away in this module.

  • Of course, you will also receive lessons in your music style. In the music production lessons we focus on style-specific tips and tricks. How do you make a good template to start with, where do you get the best sounds, how do you get the right groove, what are common arrangements within your style and more specific: which plugins are best for your style, how do you get the right sound from your plugins, how do you make your track sound nice and loud, how do you make a techno or hardstyle kick etc.

    In addition to these production lessons, you will of course spend 100% of your time on your tracks during the private lessons (see below).

  • As a producer of electronic music, it is also important to make the best possible recordings. For most popular tracks, the vocals are the most important; that is where the emphasis is. Recording, editing, auto-tune, mixing; everything is covered in detail. But of course you will also learn how to incorporate different instruments like guitar and bass into your track and how a professional studio works. For people who want to focus more on bands (pop/rock/metal/singer-songwriter) we adapt the package as much as possible. You will also get an extra recording lesson, and the mixing and mastering lessons will be more focused on your style of music.

    For those specifically interested in band recording and mixing, we have additional sessions at our recording studios in Waddinxveen.

  • You get to know the plug-ins and peripherals you use to process sound. Filters/EQ, compression, gates, limiters, reverb delay, modulation and distortion/saturation are extensively discussed. Of course you will also learn more advanced techniques such as side-chaining, frequency dependent compression, mid/side processing, dynamic EQ's etc.

    In short; we make sure you can make your own tracks sound professional.

  • We pay extra attention to recording and mixing vocals as well as possible. You will be taught by professional singers/rappers or a singer, and Neenah; the best vocal mix engineer in the Netherlands.

    Recording is not just putting a mic in the corner of your room and then trying to fix the sound with a whole bunch of plugins. If you pay just a little more attention to it then it sounds good in the mix much faster too.

  • It's fine to use presets, of course. But that endless searching until you find the right sound can be quite frustrating. In these lessons you will learn how to create your own sounds with synths like Serum & Massive and samplers like Kontakt & Halion or the instruments that come standard in your DAW.

  • In these classes you will learn how to optimize the final mix for release on streaming services or record/CD, or for in the club. There's often a bit of mystery about mastering, but you'll see that this too is perfectly learnable.

  • In the end, of course, the coolest thing is if you can earn money with your passion! So then you need to know everything about the release of tracks, promotion, marketing and especially music rights: where does your money come from? This module is also a combination of practical lessons (so we can discuss your personal situation), online sessions and video material.

PRIVATE LESSONS

Once the basics are well established, we start the private lessons. Here you learn very quickly and efficiently. The reason that you cannot learn everything from Youtube is that the application of certain techniques differs per song, style and person. What is shown on Youtube or in a tutorial is never exactly about you and your song.

Therefore, in these classes we focus 100% on what you need at that moment within the context of your music/production and you will get 1 on 1 lessons from an expert in this field.

Still struggling with arranging, making kicks, mixing, sound design? Then we will work on that. You choose which teacher you want to work with. Before you start, let us know which track or subject you want to work on so the teacher can prepare properly. The teacher in question is specialized in your music style or subject. That way you learn a lot and quickly, and you really get something done.

PRIVATE COACHING AND MENTORING

To get the maximum results within a year, it is necessary that you always have someone to turn to and the full focus is on you and your productions. Although our training is part-time and so you don't have super many contact hours per week, this doesn't mean you have to wait until the next class if you have questions or get stuck. At MTM, you can always contact your study supervisor outside of class. Our dedicated team is always there to help you further and provide feedback on your music or assignments, when you need it. In this way, we strive to make training as personal as possible. Also remember that the more you ask, the more you get out of it!

If you get stuck somewhere, don't understand something or just have something personal you're struggling with, you can request a mentoring meeting with Jochem, the owner of the program, at any time.

Ultimately, of course, it's about ending up in a place where you feel best and where you can grow best. That is why we pay extensive attention to this process during the Artist Development module. Moreover, you can always ask your questions during the mentor interview or the online Q&As with your coaches.

ONLINE THEORY AND VIDEO PLATFORM

Have you forgotten something from the lesson or do you run into something in your production that you want to learn more about? Then we have an online learning platform available full of theory and video material where you can review all the material and other information at your leisure. This way you can continue studying after your class and you can go deeper into the subjects you want to know more about.

STUDIOSESSIONS

UNIQUE: flying hours! Our Music Producer package includes studio time (for free). No less than half a day per person per week. You can also bring along people: vocalists or musicians to record with, clients or fellow producers/artists to work with; even from outside the training.

For example, you may use the studios for good mixing/mastering, recording an artist, collaborating with other students, just producing with better equipment and acoustics, or doing your homework. In short, you may use the time for what is best for you. You are also free to use all our producer gear. Are you curious about the sound of a particular microphone or would you like to use an analog synthesizer for once? This is all possible!

It is very important to work in a good studio from time to time so that you know how it differs from your home studio. You will learn how important acoustics and monitoring are and how you can improve your productions at home.

You can schedule the studio sessions yourself: from Monday to Thursday between 10:00 and 22:00 and Friday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00. We have 10 optimized sound studios so always plenty of space.

Studio 2

STUDENT DISCOUNTS

As a Master The Mix Academy student, you can take advantage of exclusive student discounts as high as 70% on the biggest music production software brands!

WRITERSCAMPS

It is also important to build your network and collaborate. That is why you are always welcome at our writers' camps. All our studios are at your disposal to make music and exchange ideas with your fellow students.

Furthermore, it's just very sociable and a good opportunity to talk informally about music: what sounds and techniques do your colleagues use? What are they currently listening to for inspiration? What do they use as reference tracks? What software was released this month? What websites, producers or artists are cool to follow?

Creativity comes from surrounding yourself with inspiration; the writerscamp are really worthwhile in that regard!

SOUNDGYM

Training your hearing is perhaps the most important thing there is to do when producing music. You must first hear and recognize in your head what you want to play/apply before you can perform it properly. For example, if you play guitar or piano you know it; only when you also "hear" the melody properly in your head can you play it properly.

That's why we work together with Soundgym; an app specially developed for ear training for producers. You learn to listen better and better in an interactive way. You learn to recognize frequencies, volume differences, types of plug-ins, but also how to adjust compression, reverb, echo, etc. You also get an extensive set of video tutorials, games to produce beats, very nice multitracks to improve your mixing skills and a nice forum.

So a top addition to our classes!