LPH E&DMP Class Review & Track

This past weekend, I took the Electronic & Dance Music Production class with Darren in Los Angeles. I was excited for a few reasons, one of which being that I've always enjoyed Darren's tutorials on AskAudio/MacProVideo. They didn't ask me to write a review, but I enjoyed the class so much I thought I'd share the experience with everything else.

 

Here's the song I made that came out of the two days: https://soundcloud.com/freepuppies/fante-wip-mix

 

Some background on me: I've used Logic Pro for a year or so. Mostly self-taught with MacProVideos and some books, I took a Scratch DJ Academy class for Ableton. I took the LPH course wanting to get a better understanding of arranging, layering and Logic's tools.

 

Boy, did I get more. I have something like twenty pages of notes. Darren provides a CD with projects for the lessons, many of which had copious notes throughout to help. Additionally, many came with beats and sounds which made working within them a lot of fun.

 

My classmate was a guy from Toronto who enjoyed the LPH Logic 101 course so much that two years later he flew back out to LA for this session. We both agreed in the parking lot afterwards that the class was worth it.

 

Some of Darren's online tutorials went over my head, but in the class, he was able to demonstrate them all very clearly. We were able to ask a lot of questions and get a lot of answers. More than once, there was a, "Oh, and this is cool, too" moment where something would lead Darren into showing us something else. I can't tell you how many things I've struggled figuring out on my own that Darren revealed a quick and easy way to fix. It's made something as formidable as Logic seem a lot more accessible.

 

If you're near LA and enjoy making electronic music of any kind, I highly recommend the class. After two days in the room with Darren, I got a lot more than just what was taught - I got to see how mastering Logic can open up a whole new world of music.

Hey Sam, thanks a lot for your detailed review!! I appreciate it. Darren told me after the class that it had been a pleasure for him to spend the week end teaching talented people... always nice to hear that!

 

Also congrats on your track, it's very nice, very musical. I ... think... I ... heard... some drum loop sidechained into sculpture somewhere in there?

Thank-you Sam! . It certainly didn't hurt teaching a very sharp and talented person like yourself. Thrilled about this review and also that you got a lot out of the class.

I ... think... I ... heard... some drum loop sidechained into sculpture somewhere in there?

 

Not to give away Darren's secrets, but it's an Apple Loop converted to audio and dragged into the Space Designer window. It's an example of two things I wouldn't have tried before, but with Darren's guidance became a quick and easy way to start doing some interesting things. We weren't quite sure how it affected the sound, but sidechained is an interesting way to look at it as if Sound Designer is using the transients to interpret the reverb, it might have that kind of a feel to it.

Ah ok I see. Funny, the way it sounds reminds me of sidechaining a drum loop into Sculpture like this: Sculpture Sidechain with Drum Loop

Sculpture is so cool... it was a lot scarier before, but it's starting to make sense! Sidechain audio as object 2... brilliant