Interesting point about treating It like a job. Damon Albarn (of Blur/Gorillaz) is really prolific and releases lots of great music. When he’s not on tour, he goes to the studio 5 days a week, 9-5 and works. It’s not a coincidence that he has such a good body of work.
I actually found it pretty informative tbh, obviously it's not perfect but as someone who has aspired to make dance music for years but could not do it, this class was a godsend.
The simple fact that you left so much helpful resources in the description of this video won me over. Instantly subscribed, appreciate the help brother!
Some people just aren't great teachers, so they need a lot of editorial help. I really appreciate that you took that into consideration and talked about it. I hadn't even been thinking about signing up to Masterclass but this was a great video.
12:10 "Adding kicks that are tuned to the key of the song" That's odd, I love Deadmau5, but I remember not long ago watching video of him ranting how useless it is to tune kicks and saying you should not do it
This is also how I feel about the celebrity courses on Skillshare. They’re kinda fun, they’re good marketing for the website, but they’re not a comprehensive education. More like edutainment.
Ya if you really want an education, look to University courses or the respective textbooks for such courses Or if it's a trade, find an instructor or if it's a licensed trade you have basically only one option
Thats basically the same with every single one of the Masterclass series that I've seen. None of them are actually tutorials. More an insight into how that particular instructor works, background on how they got to where they are in their career, insights into the industry etc. I've enjoyed watching some of them but I dont think I've learnt a single thing from any of them.
Great job. My favorite part was Part 2 and not thinking. When I watched it I was a complete beginner and I have to say everything he said was eye opening to me and helped me know where the limits of the pool was before it felt like an ocean. Incredible job detailing everything. I am going to check out your other videos.
His masterclass is directly responsible for getting me into EDM production. For me it was worth 20x the price. I can see that for someone who'd been doing it for a while it wouldn't have been as great.
Anything from Masterclass feels more like a fun way to get bite-sized info but that doesn't really help you further. In my experience, the content on Skillshare gets you way further if you want to learn anything in depth. Masterclass is more infotainment.
Skillshare celebrity courses are the same as Masterclass, but there are a few non famous pros on Skillshare providing a quality product. But the majority of Skillshare is silly and frivolous and no better than the average TH-cam instructional video.
@@dictabeat What I should ask you is what Skillshare classes you find valuable? I have learned a lot from After Effects teacher Jake Bartlett. But finding other good teachers on skillshare has been hard.
@@cleekersneaker I find the UX design courses on there to be highly informative and valuable, the graphic design courses too, marketing courses. I haven't dipped into music there. But those other three have plenty of solid content.
Thanks for a well-prepared talk. It can be a challenge to find people to learn from- stammering, "ums", bad mics, bad sound or lighting...refreshing and well execeuted, Gabe. +1 subscriber.
I watched a good chunk of the Deadmau5 and Timbaland classes. In general I find it interesting to hear artists talking about their process because creative processes are so infinitely variable. I wouldn't mind watching bits of other classes as well; photographers, writers, actors, whatever. However I think the Masterclass format is pretty bad, at least if those two are typical. If the artists were willing to put in the work to develop an actual class it could be invaluable but from what I saw and what you described, I don't think it's worth the time investment, much less the price. I knew next to nothing about Deadmau5 before watching and I liked him, I don't know if I'd get along with him but I'd watch more if it were better than this. Compared to having e.g., dolltrick teaching you Ableton for free though, it's extra shitty value for music production training.
I don’t know why but from the beginning I thought he was gonna go through and teach/ demonstrate the things he though were important but 10 minutes in I realized I’m just gonna listen to the rest 😅
Great review, I came away with most of the same takeaways when I watched it a few years ago. Granted, seeing how basic all of his advice is does sort of reinforce in a positive way that all you need is practice, as opposed to some secret knowledge only he has access to. I liked your critique about how a lot of the things he talked about are good advice but not something you need to hear from deadmau5. I hope artists doing online classes in the future take note and do something more interactive that feels more valuable and unique to people buying their course.
I sometimes find that “self-taught” people do not make the best teachers. There is a chaotic brilliance to some of what he does, but only because he’s done it a million times. DO NOT go modular. I spent thousands on a setup and TBH it was a glorified monosynth for me. I write music, and occasionally a modular can make a sound that a discrete synth can’t, but usually for my purposes it was just a damn fine sounding mono. The one good thing about modular is that you can sell all your shit for minimal markdown.
For me personally I learned more from that Masterclass than I have for MOST of my years learning electronic music, and that's no mean feat since I initially started taking this stuff seriously back when I was a sophomore in high school, and now I'm in my 2nd (and potentially final) year of college! If I seriously had to point my finger at one person who changed the way I make my music more than anyone else, it's him. Crazy. December 2023 Edit: Deadmau5 is number 2. My music studio director that just so happened to mentor me while I was interning for him changed the way I make music more than anyone else. Deadmau5 still did a lot for me, and I recommend you check out his class, but learning from a mentor in the recording studio business changed everything for me. :)
In the composition part of the video, how you describe him making his own sounds, cobbling them together and looping them, basically sounds like what a Hip Hop producer would do in many ways. They would crate dig for samples that they would mangle, cobble them together and then loop them over a beat. With electronic music the workflow doesn't really change much in the different genres. Maybe recording a band or live musicians is where the difference lies? I really enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work
the part about art being your job is an important takeaway. Also I liked that you said he works at night when his judgement of ideas doesn't work and he manages to put out a bunch of ideas like that. Also it's good to hear from a pro musician that you don't absolutely need to use hardware synths. The scene/career part is very interesting to hear about
Someone commented about the value of 'celebrity' masterclasses. I tend to agree. I've watched several and one of their main points of interest is seeing how the celeb thinks and works. Even you picked up a few useful tips :-) although whether or not these courses are VFM is debatable. In many cases you get the impression they are just another money-spinner. Well done for the superb review.
True.Since a bedroom producer may not have budget or space for quality moniters one should invest in pro headphones and refrence their work to wav files of music they like.
Being a great producer is one thing and having the ability to teach is another. I think deadmau5 is passionate about what he does and really liked the idea Masterclass brought to the table. However, I honestly think that you are better off watching his interivews, podcasts and streams as you will make your self want to learn and explore instead of just listening to what deadmau5 has to say. If you know deadmau5 well, you know its all about dedication and exploration and I think that was what he values in his teaching. When asked about Masterclass in one of many youtube clips, he explained that he wasn't given a specific audience and had to just assume that his audience are a mix of starters and intermediates and so he dosen't really have a clear idea on how to approach the classes.
First off, I want to say I really like the amount of work you put into this video. You obviously care and want to give back to the music community, so kudos for that. Secondly, I think you need to understand a bit of context. The Masterclass service is in name only. You're basically paying a little bit of money to listen to "masters" give a "class" about a certain subject. Full disclosure though, when I first finished Joel's Masterclass, I was a bit pissed off as I thought I was going to learn great tips and tricks for producing music. Turns out, 90% of the stuff he talked about, I've already seen in TH-cam tutorials or his opinions on Twitch streams. BUT I did walk away thinking "Well, I only paid X amount of dollars and I walked away with some pretty great chunks of knowledge that I think was worth the cost of admission." In essence, this class is perfect for Deadmau5 fans in their teens or 20s who want a Chex party mix between entry-level and master-level stuff. For me, who's been consuming music production knowledge for the last 7-8 years, it fell a little below my threshold of average knowledge, but I still saw a lot of value in the course (albeit poorly edited and structured - which a lot of that falls onto Masterclass and not Joel). Joel was one of the first EDM artists on Masterclass, for Masterclass to gain notoriety in that genre, so it's a bit more understandable that they didn't have all of their kinks worked out. Especially for someone a little eccentric as Joel. Anyway, that's my opinion on that. Speaking of opinions, I really, really hate it when people - who are emotionally breaking down - say some hurtful stuff they didn't mean to, and now they're branded as [insert]-phobic for the end of time. After that stuff happened, Joel opened up on his blog and explained he was going through severe anxiety and his friends and family recommended he get off of Twitter/Twich/etc because he was severely burning out. I should know because I used to consume a lot of his content. I urge you to at least look into what happened with him. Whether or not you choose to forgive and forget, I hope that maybe next time you hear someone use a charged epithet - maybe consider it's because they're hurting, not because they're hateful. And to defend him just a little bit more, his abrasiveness isn't so abrasive when you understand that he's a person with anxiety problems and a much lower tolerance for annoyances. I know this because I am like him. I see how he is a caring person. How he has fun and cherishes his friendships. How he takes care of his loved ones. He also values truth over being "fake", which means his opinions sometimes come out a little sharper than other's. That doesn't mean people have to like him equally, but I hope this gives you some empathy for the human artist behind the music. I feel like I relate with a lot of how you feel of this class and with Joel, as there are definitely certain parts about Joel I don't like. But then again, Joel is one of the most authentic or sincere people I know, from watching so many streams, etc. And I feel like I'd rather go through life without having to pad everything I say like 90% of people out there, when I can say exactly what I mean and know that the people who really like me - our relationships will be that much more genuine, and everything else doesn't matter. Thanks again for your video. I agreed with a lot of what you said as well. Best of luck in your endeavors!
FWIW, I’ve watched most of this and haven’t had the time to finish. A comment on Masterclass in general, though...as you’ve pointed out this is really just a structured interview, not a class. I think that’s basically all of their material. It’s an opportunity to view an extended interview with a celebrity, not really a structured class per se. There may be some Masterclass classes that are real instruction, but I haven’t come across that yet in the handful I’ve started.
"If you wanna see how I work just watch the f*cking stream", Joel once said. And I learned 900% more from watching him tinker for hours and hours on end when building "Imaginary Friends" live on stream than from the Masterclass - which was really good, I enjoyed it a lot - but exactly what you said, lot of the information is already out there. Joel has also stated that it's difficult for him to explain in academic detail on how he does what he does because it's just going with the flow/feeling - what feels that it works - and over time he developed the knowledge of just laying down stuff that he knows will work together. As for the comment of how Joel is "abrasive" - it's just how he is. And I know a lot of artist friends who are exactly like him - direct and honest. It's just a mark of efficiency. :D Some additional viewing material after the masterclass: "Imaginary Friends" >> th-cam.com/video/wN780dTTsZ4/w-d-xo.html With Steve Duda >> th-cam.com/video/8zyJJbT30Pg/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for dropping those links! That's fair on abrasive, but he's said some pretty questionable things over the last couple of years and I want to distance myself from that to a degree. And I think it's possible to be efficient and opinionated without coming off as rude or arrogant
@@GabeMillerMusic The beauty of it is that we don't have to work with him so he can tell it to the wall for all I care. lol. I would figure most people wouldn't want to deal with him on a project.
Most of us never get the privilege of not having to work on our personalities to survive in this world. I tend to feel sorry for successful people who will never have people in their lives who genuinely love them.
Very fair, well articulated and instructive! I took this masterclass myself after over a decade of musical education and I felt pretty much the same as you. It has its moments I guess; for me, I mostly enjoyed watching him do his thing in his environment. Thank you!
30:07 - The most valuable lesson for any performance artist is demonstrated in this mini Master Class: ALWAYS HAVE BACKUP GEAR ARMED AND READY LIKE WE SAW HERE… sure it wasn’t the best mic possible, but it worked, and provided clear audio :) This in my opinion was a VERY fair review! I enjoyed the presentation and thorough notes. The fact that Red Means Recording signed off on it as well, was a bonus. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for a competent and intelligent analysis and review. I like DeadMau5’ rantings, he’s just hardcore to truth. He is like Eminem a great bit but I like it.
After you gave away the punchline I couldn't force myself to watch. I have been trying to figure out what I should be studying and it's a jungle out there. I want to take a cohesive course because on my own I don't know what videos on TH-cam I should be watching. I mean I guess I'd be watching videos on mixing because that seems to be what would make a difference in my songs--I think. There are a lot of people offering expensive courses promising fame and fortune. I am taking my time. Thank you for ending the speculation about Deadmau5!
I also seen and agree you completely. I was expecting much more, it is not structured, full of basic stuff, many unrelated/not important topics in detail, and lack of the nuances, tricks etc that you expect from a material like this. It is more they sold the name (widely known person), not the content you would really need.
To be fair, and I don't care about EDM at all; 1. In the advert is specifically says it is a Primer on this subject. 2. When you purchase a MasterClass subscription you get access to ALL the classes on offer as far as I can tell, not just Deadmau5 class. I think they make it very difficult to buy single class access. The price is not that bad if you have a curious mind and all up it is probably not bad value if you were going to take multiple classes throughout the year.
I’ve watched all the Audio Masterclasses and haven’t gotten much new knowledge out of them. But I’ve also been doing production a long time and just tried to enjoy them for what they were. lol they are all ridiculously too short to by any measure be called a “MasterClass”, I’ve taken other masterclasses that wore 30-40 hours long while the brand MasterClass stuff is mostly under even an hour.
The money that you pay gives you access to All of the Masterclasses. (At least it was 2 years ago). I found the money well worth it to watch different artists in different genres and subjects discuss their craft.
Thx for the review. And deadmau5 states, that's actually not a learning guide but moreover a tour inside his mind and attitude. Keep your channel as it's developed. Synths, music, theory, reviews. And from time to time a few downloads. Great work Gabe
Yeah, that's definitely more what it is. Although in the trailer he did pitch it as a primer/way to find your sound, which is not quite what you get. Glad you're digging the channel's direction!
Thought the review was pretty good, I appreciate how you ventured out and tried something new. Your much bigger than synths. When its implied its a masterclass , I would expect a class. I agree with your review. Did you get to check out Hans Zimmerman he made some nasty sounds and shred some solid theory. Telling someone to stick to what there doing and then asking for free downloads is pretty poor form and might I even say entitled.
Thank you so much for this! I've been wanting to check that masterclass out ever since it was released. I'm a massive fan of Joel's tracks and actually enjoy the abrasive personality he has - incredibly though I've been to two of his live shows and they've been surprisingly underwhelming. But anyway, this was really helpful in knowing what to expect from his masterclass. Not sure if I'll still be buying it but I definitely will look into his other material from Twitch and stuff. Thanks again!
I’ve been watching your videos and after each one my music gets like 1% more nuanced. They should have you teach a master class. You channel is basically already one 😂
A lot of people didn't like the masterclass because he talks about Analog a lot and uses very difficult ways of making music that most beginners wouldn't get into right away. Which I can see that happening. It's almost like Deadmau5's class is for more advanced users, not kids that want to play on fruity loops and not buy plugins. Also Armin's is more beginner style but more digital to really get a good beginners perspective, either way, they are both legends.
Videos like this are refreshing for one simple reason: yes you're being critical but you're not treating this like some kind of smear campaign you're just stating your opinions on the masterclass and what you felt was good and unnecessary about it whilst allowing us to make up our own minds about what we think of the masterclass with little to no leading language (yeah you pointed out his homophobic remarks but only in relation to how it made _you_ feel rather than how it should be making _us_ feel) I mention this because social media tends to have a bit of an obsession with the whole "us vs them" dynamic and using it when it doesn't really feel necessary; deadmau5 is hardly someone who's causing serious damage to the music industry. It's not like if he suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth the industry would just miraculously heal himself. To me he's just this guy who can be arrogant and abrasive but ultimately means well.
The Timbaland masterclass is much better, even if Rap/R&B isn’t your genre. it’s a more in depth look at workflow, tools and ideas for finding inspiration.
if anyone is looking for production masterclass recommendations, I think the Timbaland masterclass definitely has the most to offer...even if you're into different genres (i've taken all of mc's)
Thank you for reassuring me not to get it. I got started in music by choosing between Armin's Masterclass and Deadmau's and I am very happy I chose Armins.
I joined and watched Armin Van Buren, deadmou5, and part of Timbaland. As just more than a beginner at the time, I didn't find any of them particularly useful. That said, they see enjoyable, and I can see someone else getting something useful from them. More than anything, you see them doing normal things but knowing what to do when and why, so you are them doing what you do but getting better results. ☺️ Having said all this, my friend who's into writing, found the author/creative writing Masterclasses very useful and inspirational. So, Masterclass can be worth it to some.
Chicago 2018 Aragon Ballroom. He got shit faced during the set and messed up the middle part and then just winged it at the end. I did the meet n greet. Dude was downing coronas during Feed Me.
I normally can't sit through this length of someone just 'talking' but it was actually interesting so I didn't get bored. It was put together very well with no babbling to waste my time. All comments were well worded to be "Politicly Correct" with opinions. Nicely done! Oh ya ... & some of us like Joel's arrogant attitude. He would fit in with my crowd just fine ;) So for that reason, I would possibly spend some time watching the MC. But not on my dime.
On the sentiment of speakers being better than headphones I'll say one thing. Things sound different. While a good speaker system is good for learning how it's going to sound on stage there are some drawbacks. For instance effects will sound less pronounced than in headphones. There's a bunch of other things that are different. I would encourage you to experiment for yourself and see how it affects your production style. One thing I would recommend as a pro tip is a notch filter consisting of a -3db notch with steep roll off at 4.2khz. That's the approximate resonate frequency of the human ear hence it's going to seem louder than it really is. If you reduce it a little, it makes the track sound a little nicer especially at high volume levels. Try it. You'll see what I mean.
The prices for masterclass are not that high, even if you do select the premium package for $23 a month its still only a few hundred per year. I thought about getting it but I agree with you that if you want to learn about something there are a multitude of other channels on here that teach the same thing. Good video and review thanks for uploading!
Before looking into taking classes go learn music, I was self-teaching myself watching TH-cam videos, and found the using headphone for ME wasn’t as accurate, making me want to invest in some really good speakers 😬just don’t know which one yet
Thats how a masterclass go for everything, If youre into to learn how this and that or the subject matter dont go to masterclass (Im taking about the so called master class/seminars in general but its the same) A master class is exactly if you want to know what the Speaker want to say. Its like mentor ship or any similar things but without the actual working with them. if its A master class of deadmau5, Dont expect he will teach you music production like in a school. Expect to get information he wants you t know, thats it, youre there to know what that person is doing and take what you can learn, but its up to you. Thats why I dont advice masterclass for people who just want to learn in general, Its when you want to specifically know how the person does things. Its not "Masters" like a degree. Thats why Q and A is important for such and discussions.
Looks like you took on his advice: Camera angle changes: Ok stare straight towards the audience, don't freak out, fix it, move on. Mic dies: Keep going, no-one will notice. Seriously, thanks for the review. Your videos and tutorials are a wealth of information and so good.
For the money and the information provided, it's great value. Especially if you're new to music production. It doesn't seem like a good fit for someone who's more advanced in music production.
I loved getting the ad for the Deadmau5 masterclass DURING this video
That’s funny.
I loved being reminded of what I pay $10 a month NEVER TO HEAR AGAIN
@@draztiqmeshaz6226 You lucky. I pay $12 I think. But, yes exactly!!! Best $$$ spent.
Download vanced youtube for your phone and ad blocker for your pc
Nani?!
The beginning nailed the ad in such a hilarious way.
Interesting point about treating It like a job.
Damon Albarn (of Blur/Gorillaz) is really prolific and releases lots of great music. When he’s not on tour, he goes to the studio 5 days a week, 9-5 and works.
It’s not a coincidence that he has such a good body of work.
I actually found it pretty informative tbh, obviously it's not perfect but as someone who has aspired to make dance music for years but could not do it, this class was a godsend.
Why couldn't you do it?
Plenty of free tutorials on youtube.
This is a better masterclass than the deadmau5 one
Seriously, I took his masterclass and was annoyed. His main point was "I just fuck about and make stuff" and he has no rhyme or reason in his process.
No better masterclass than Red Means Recording himself. Guy is a beast.
Just watch seamlessr then ig
Mau5 is a troll and dick anyways 🥴😛
Fun to watch hus twitter rants but I would NEVER consider a payed class from him, lol
Bless you, Jeremy. ❤
The simple fact that you left so much helpful resources in the description of this video won me over. Instantly subscribed, appreciate the help brother!
People who share knowloedge for free like you, is the reason why Internet can be such a nice place. Thank you, subscribed.
Some people just aren't great teachers, so they need a lot of editorial help. I really appreciate that you took that into consideration and talked about it. I hadn't even been thinking about signing up to Masterclass but this was a great video.
lol he's a great teacher bro, ,maybe you should watch it yourself. What a dumb comment
12:10 "Adding kicks that are tuned to the key of the song"
That's odd, I love Deadmau5, but I remember not long ago watching video of him ranting how useless it is to tune kicks and saying you should not do it
So what is the correct way ?
Whatever sounds the best to you
@@probmusic both lol
I remember that too
@@probmusic up to you
This is also how I feel about the celebrity courses on Skillshare. They’re kinda fun, they’re good marketing for the website, but they’re not a comprehensive education. More like edutainment.
Ya if you really want an education, look to University courses or the respective textbooks for such courses
Or if it's a trade, find an instructor or if it's a licensed trade you have basically only one option
Welllllll, Armin van Buuren's masterclass is actually pretty good
Thats basically the same with every single one of the Masterclass series that I've seen. None of them are actually tutorials. More an insight into how that particular instructor works, background on how they got to where they are in their career, insights into the industry etc. I've enjoyed watching some of them but I dont think I've learnt a single thing from any of them.
I've learned to accent high notes in arpeggio runs with Herbie. That's probably single thing I've learned
exactly
Great job. My favorite part was Part 2 and not thinking. When I watched it I was a complete beginner and I have to say everything he said was eye opening to me and helped me know where the limits of the pool was before it felt like an ocean. Incredible job detailing everything. I am going to check out your other videos.
Man you even posted your notes in PDF.. Legendary!
His masterclass is directly responsible for getting me into EDM production. For me it was worth 20x the price. I can see that for someone who'd been doing it for a while it wouldn't have been as great.
I got a lot out of watching the actual deadmau5 masterclass as well. Took notes. No regrets.
Anything from Masterclass feels more like a fun way to get bite-sized info but that doesn't really help you further. In my experience, the content on Skillshare gets you way further if you want to learn anything in depth. Masterclass is more infotainment.
Interesting. Nothing on Skillshare has impressed me much.
Skillshare celebrity courses are the same as Masterclass, but there are a few non famous pros on Skillshare providing a quality product. But the majority of Skillshare is silly and frivolous and no better than the average TH-cam instructional video.
@@cleekersneaker sounds like we have very different experiences. Go figure huh? 😅
@@dictabeat What I should ask you is what Skillshare classes you find valuable? I have learned a lot from After Effects teacher Jake Bartlett. But finding other good teachers on skillshare has been hard.
@@cleekersneaker I find the UX design courses on there to be highly informative and valuable, the graphic design courses too, marketing courses. I haven't dipped into music there. But those other three have plenty of solid content.
That intro had me dead 😂
It h(ad) you dead
@@ianschilhab6222 you mean de(ad) ? 😂
The troll got trolled jaja
Thanks for a well-prepared talk. It can be a challenge to find people to learn from- stammering, "ums", bad mics, bad sound or lighting...refreshing and well execeuted, Gabe. +1 subscriber.
I watched a good chunk of the Deadmau5 and Timbaland classes. In general I find it interesting to hear artists talking about their process because creative processes are so infinitely variable. I wouldn't mind watching bits of other classes as well; photographers, writers, actors, whatever. However I think the Masterclass format is pretty bad, at least if those two are typical. If the artists were willing to put in the work to develop an actual class it could be invaluable but from what I saw and what you described, I don't think it's worth the time investment, much less the price. I knew next to nothing about Deadmau5 before watching and I liked him, I don't know if I'd get along with him but I'd watch more if it were better than this. Compared to having e.g., dolltrick teaching you Ableton for free though, it's extra shitty value for music production training.
As a music producer, my favorite Masterclass was actually the FBI negotiator. Chris Voss.
I don’t know why but from the beginning I thought he was gonna go through and teach/ demonstrate the things he though were important but 10 minutes in I realized I’m just gonna listen to the rest 😅
and now this "cardinal "sin" of edm thing is demystified by him lol
Thank you so much for saving me the time bro 💚💙💜
Probably your best video yet. Really good to see you developing as a creator, you can see the work you put into them!
Great review, I came away with most of the same takeaways when I watched it a few years ago. Granted, seeing how basic all of his advice is does sort of reinforce in a positive way that all you need is practice, as opposed to some secret knowledge only he has access to.
I liked your critique about how a lot of the things he talked about are good advice but not something you need to hear from deadmau5. I hope artists doing online classes in the future take note and do something more interactive that feels more valuable and unique to people buying their course.
I sometimes find that “self-taught” people do not make the best teachers. There is a chaotic brilliance to some of what he does, but only because he’s done it a million times.
DO NOT go modular. I spent thousands on a setup and TBH it was a glorified monosynth for me. I write music, and occasionally a modular can make a sound that a discrete synth can’t, but usually for my purposes it was just a damn fine sounding mono. The one good thing about modular is that you can sell all your shit for minimal markdown.
For me personally I learned more from that Masterclass than I have for MOST of my years learning electronic music, and that's no mean feat since I initially started taking this stuff seriously back when I was a sophomore in high school, and now I'm in my 2nd (and potentially final) year of college! If I seriously had to point my finger at one person who changed the way I make my music more than anyone else, it's him. Crazy.
December 2023 Edit: Deadmau5 is number 2. My music studio director that just so happened to mentor me while I was interning for him changed the way I make music more than anyone else. Deadmau5 still did a lot for me, and I recommend you check out his class, but learning from a mentor in the recording studio business changed everything for me. :)
In the composition part of the video, how you describe him making his own sounds, cobbling them together and looping them, basically sounds like what a Hip Hop producer would do in many ways. They would crate dig for samples that they would mangle, cobble them together and then loop them over a beat. With electronic music the workflow doesn't really change much in the different genres. Maybe recording a band or live musicians is where the difference lies?
I really enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work
the part about art being your job is an important takeaway. Also I liked that you said he works at night when his judgement of ideas doesn't work and he manages to put out a bunch of ideas like that. Also it's good to hear from a pro musician that you don't absolutely need to use hardware synths. The scene/career part is very interesting to hear about
"Joel Zimmerman's abrasive and controversial.... approach to the WORLD" ...
hilarious and true!
Someone commented about the value of 'celebrity' masterclasses. I tend to agree. I've watched several and one of their main points of interest is seeing how the celeb thinks and works. Even you picked up a few useful tips :-) although whether or not these courses are VFM is debatable. In many cases you get the impression they are just another money-spinner. Well done for the superb review.
honestly the armin van buuren one was amaaazing. if youre making electronic music i highly recommend Armin's
the sound system he uses is very accurate thats why he has his preferences comon speakers wont show
True.Since a bedroom producer may not have budget or space for quality moniters one should invest in pro headphones and refrence their work to wav files of music they like.
Yeah he just has to be 1.3938942383% more accurate
Being a great producer is one thing and having the ability to teach is another. I think deadmau5 is passionate about what he does and really liked the idea Masterclass brought to the table. However, I honestly think that you are better off watching his interivews, podcasts and streams as you will make your self want to learn and explore instead of just listening to what deadmau5 has to say.
If you know deadmau5 well, you know its all about dedication and exploration and I think that was what he values in his teaching. When asked about Masterclass in one of many youtube clips, he explained that he wasn't given a specific audience and had to just assume that his audience are a mix of starters and intermediates and so he dosen't really have a clear idea on how to approach the classes.
I took the Masterclass last year when it a $1 for the year for college students and I never finished the class. Thanks for the summary!
First off, I want to say I really like the amount of work you put into this video. You obviously care and want to give back to the music community, so kudos for that.
Secondly, I think you need to understand a bit of context. The Masterclass service is in name only. You're basically paying a little bit of money to listen to "masters" give a "class" about a certain subject. Full disclosure though, when I first finished Joel's Masterclass, I was a bit pissed off as I thought I was going to learn great tips and tricks for producing music. Turns out, 90% of the stuff he talked about, I've already seen in TH-cam tutorials or his opinions on Twitch streams. BUT I did walk away thinking "Well, I only paid X amount of dollars and I walked away with some pretty great chunks of knowledge that I think was worth the cost of admission."
In essence, this class is perfect for Deadmau5 fans in their teens or 20s who want a Chex party mix between entry-level and master-level stuff. For me, who's been consuming music production knowledge for the last 7-8 years, it fell a little below my threshold of average knowledge, but I still saw a lot of value in the course (albeit poorly edited and structured - which a lot of that falls onto Masterclass and not Joel). Joel was one of the first EDM artists on Masterclass, for Masterclass to gain notoriety in that genre, so it's a bit more understandable that they didn't have all of their kinks worked out. Especially for someone a little eccentric as Joel. Anyway, that's my opinion on that.
Speaking of opinions, I really, really hate it when people - who are emotionally breaking down - say some hurtful stuff they didn't mean to, and now they're branded as [insert]-phobic for the end of time. After that stuff happened, Joel opened up on his blog and explained he was going through severe anxiety and his friends and family recommended he get off of Twitter/Twich/etc because he was severely burning out. I should know because I used to consume a lot of his content. I urge you to at least look into what happened with him. Whether or not you choose to forgive and forget, I hope that maybe next time you hear someone use a charged epithet - maybe consider it's because they're hurting, not because they're hateful.
And to defend him just a little bit more, his abrasiveness isn't so abrasive when you understand that he's a person with anxiety problems and a much lower tolerance for annoyances. I know this because I am like him. I see how he is a caring person. How he has fun and cherishes his friendships. How he takes care of his loved ones. He also values truth over being "fake", which means his opinions sometimes come out a little sharper than other's. That doesn't mean people have to like him equally, but I hope this gives you some empathy for the human artist behind the music.
I feel like I relate with a lot of how you feel of this class and with Joel, as there are definitely certain parts about Joel I don't like. But then again, Joel is one of the most authentic or sincere people I know, from watching so many streams, etc. And I feel like I'd rather go through life without having to pad everything I say like 90% of people out there, when I can say exactly what I mean and know that the people who really like me - our relationships will be that much more genuine, and everything else doesn't matter.
Thanks again for your video. I agreed with a lot of what you said as well. Best of luck in your endeavors!
FWIW, I’ve watched most of this and haven’t had the time to finish.
A comment on Masterclass in general, though...as you’ve pointed out this is really just a structured interview, not a class. I think that’s basically all of their material. It’s an opportunity to view an extended interview with a celebrity, not really a structured class per se. There may be some Masterclass classes that are real instruction, but I haven’t come across that yet in the handful I’ve started.
"If you wanna see how I work just watch the f*cking stream", Joel once said.
And I learned 900% more from watching him tinker for hours and hours on end when building "Imaginary Friends" live on stream than from the Masterclass - which was really good, I enjoyed it a lot - but exactly what you said, lot of the information is already out there.
Joel has also stated that it's difficult for him to explain in academic detail on how he does what he does because it's just going with the flow/feeling - what feels that it works - and over time he developed the knowledge of just laying down stuff that he knows will work together.
As for the comment of how Joel is "abrasive" - it's just how he is. And I know a lot of artist friends who are exactly like him - direct and honest. It's just a mark of efficiency. :D
Some additional viewing material after the masterclass:
"Imaginary Friends" >> th-cam.com/video/wN780dTTsZ4/w-d-xo.html
With Steve Duda >> th-cam.com/video/8zyJJbT30Pg/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for dropping those links!
That's fair on abrasive, but he's said some pretty questionable things over the last couple of years and I want to distance myself from that to a degree. And I think it's possible to be efficient and opinionated without coming off as rude or arrogant
@@GabeMillerMusic Definitely. Always remember, insanity and artistry go hand in hand. Been there, done that. :D
@@GabeMillerMusic The beauty of it is that we don't have to work with him so he can tell it to the wall for all I care. lol. I would figure most people wouldn't want to deal with him on a project.
No he's actually an A-hole in real life as a person. 🙄
Most of us never get the privilege of not having to work on our personalities to survive in this world. I tend to feel sorry for successful people who will never have people in their lives who genuinely love them.
He talked a lot about transients, and the sounds of drums that I hadn't heard any producers on TH-cam talking about.
I havent seen this one but I really enjoyed the masterclasses that Ive seen. Wish they were cheaper though.
Very fair, well articulated and instructive! I took this masterclass myself after over a decade of musical education and I felt pretty much the same as you. It has its moments I guess; for me, I mostly enjoyed watching him do his thing in his environment. Thank you!
I felt the same way. BUT! The Admin Van Buuren Masterclass was pure gold. Loved every minute of it, you should try it and leave a review!
30:07 - The most valuable lesson for any performance artist is demonstrated in this mini Master Class: ALWAYS HAVE BACKUP GEAR ARMED AND READY LIKE WE SAW HERE… sure it wasn’t the best mic possible, but it worked, and provided clear audio :)
This in my opinion was a VERY fair review! I enjoyed the presentation and thorough notes. The fact that Red Means Recording signed off on it as well, was a bonus. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for a competent and intelligent analysis and review. I like DeadMau5’ rantings, he’s just hardcore to truth. He is like Eminem a great bit but I like it.
I love his rants as I tend to agree with him... especially about EDM
After you gave away the punchline I couldn't force myself to watch. I have been trying to figure out what I should be studying and it's a jungle out there. I want to take a cohesive course because on my own I don't know what videos on TH-cam I should be watching. I mean I guess I'd be watching videos on mixing because that seems to be what would make a difference in my songs--I think. There are a lot of people offering expensive courses promising fame and fortune. I am taking my time. Thank you for ending the speculation about Deadmau5!
I also seen and agree you completely. I was expecting much more, it is not structured, full of basic stuff, many unrelated/not important topics in detail, and lack of the nuances, tricks etc that you expect from a material like this. It is more they sold the name (widely known person), not the content you would really need.
Bro! I loved your Electric Battery 🫡
To be fair, and I don't care about EDM at all;
1. In the advert is specifically says it is a Primer on this subject.
2. When you purchase a MasterClass subscription you get access to ALL the classes on offer as far as I can tell, not just Deadmau5 class. I think they make it very difficult to buy single class access. The price is not that bad if you have a curious mind and all up it is probably not bad value if you were going to take multiple classes throughout the year.
I’ve watched all the Audio Masterclasses and haven’t gotten much new knowledge out of them. But I’ve also been doing production a long time and just tried to enjoy them for what they were. lol they are all ridiculously too short to by any measure be called a “MasterClass”, I’ve taken other masterclasses that wore 30-40 hours long while the brand MasterClass stuff is mostly under even an hour.
All music is built on 13th chords, with modulating drone notes.
Great info, great video. Thanks man, I hope to see more content from you.
Gabe, YOU are awesome. Great Video. Thank you!
The money that you pay gives you access to All of the Masterclasses. (At least it was 2 years ago).
I found the money well worth it to watch different artists in different genres and subjects discuss their craft.
I actually appreciate this video whilst simultaneously, it would super piss me off if someone did this to my masterclass.
i took it and i think it was the best masterclass on the website. very helpful for beginners.
omg that intro was hilarious hahahaha, please more of this!
Thx for the review. And deadmau5 states, that's actually not a learning guide but moreover a tour inside his mind and attitude.
Keep your channel as it's developed. Synths, music, theory, reviews. And from time to time a few downloads.
Great work Gabe
Yeah, that's definitely more what it is. Although in the trailer he did pitch it as a primer/way to find your sound, which is not quite what you get.
Glad you're digging the channel's direction!
Thought the review was pretty good, I appreciate how you ventured out and tried something new. Your much bigger than synths. When its implied its a masterclass , I would expect a class. I agree with your review. Did you get to check out Hans Zimmerman he made some nasty sounds and shred some solid theory. Telling someone to stick to what there doing and then asking for free downloads is pretty poor form and might I even say entitled.
Great Video.
Great vid, sir! Thanks for sharing such a useful info.
Hey havnt seen you since like 2015 and you have grown so much!
Thank you so much for this! I've been wanting to check that masterclass out ever since it was released. I'm a massive fan of Joel's tracks and actually enjoy the abrasive personality he has - incredibly though I've been to two of his live shows and they've been surprisingly underwhelming. But anyway, this was really helpful in knowing what to expect from his masterclass. Not sure if I'll still be buying it but I definitely will look into his other material from Twitch and stuff.
Thanks again!
Really glad this was helpful!
You absolutely should: it helped me SO much
Where's the full version of "Avaritia" on the kazoo?
Lol if I were to make that, it might get banned as a war crime
you did a relly great job on this video bro
I’ve been watching your videos and after each one my music gets like 1% more nuanced. They should have you teach a master class. You channel is basically already one 😂
After watching your video I am convinced I need to buy it.
You did a great presentation here
Joel is a bit grumpy, but he does and has done a many of things right and very well! Thanks for the summary! :)
Great explanation of how it really is
Thanks for the info & sharing your notes. I'll have to try the drum snare reverb compression thing & trying the other brickwall compression too. 👍 👌
A lot of people didn't like the masterclass because he talks about Analog a lot and uses very difficult ways of making music that most beginners wouldn't get into right away. Which I can see that happening. It's almost like Deadmau5's class is for more advanced users, not kids that want to play on fruity loops and not buy plugins. Also Armin's is more beginner style but more digital to really get a good beginners perspective, either way, they are both legends.
Videos like this are refreshing for one simple reason: yes you're being critical but you're not treating this like some kind of smear campaign you're just stating your opinions on the masterclass and what you felt was good and unnecessary about it whilst allowing us to make up our own minds about what we think of the masterclass with little to no leading language (yeah you pointed out his homophobic remarks but only in relation to how it made _you_ feel rather than how it should be making _us_ feel)
I mention this because social media tends to have a bit of an obsession with the whole "us vs them" dynamic and using it when it doesn't really feel necessary; deadmau5 is hardly someone who's causing serious damage to the music industry. It's not like if he suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth the industry would just miraculously heal himself. To me he's just this guy who can be arrogant and abrasive but ultimately means well.
The Timbaland masterclass is much better, even if Rap/R&B isn’t your genre. it’s a more in depth look at workflow, tools and ideas for finding inspiration.
Tell us. Why?
if anyone is looking for production masterclass recommendations, I think the Timbaland masterclass definitely has the most to offer...even if you're into different genres (i've taken all of mc's)
Thank you for reassuring me not to get it. I got started in music by choosing between Armin's Masterclass and Deadmau's and I am very happy I chose Armins.
I joined and watched Armin Van Buren, deadmou5, and part of Timbaland. As just more than a beginner at the time, I didn't find any of them particularly useful. That said, they see enjoyable, and I can see someone else getting something useful from them. More than anything, you see them doing normal things but knowing what to do when and why, so you are them doing what you do but getting better results. ☺️ Having said all this, my friend who's into writing, found the author/creative writing Masterclasses very useful and inspirational. So, Masterclass can be worth it to some.
Thank you for this video!
awesome video...downloaded the hand written notes ...well done sir!
I spent almost this entire video trying to find out how that shelf is put together
Great insight man. Keep it up.. might use some of it for my own live production.. who knows
Well yeah Joel, if I had your Adobe TurboCum studio speaker setup I'd struggle to find headphones that are as accurate too lol.
I'd much rather pay for a masterclass with Aphex Twin or Squarepusher.
Its labeled as a Master Class even if it isn’t a Master Class
Chicago 2018 Aragon Ballroom. He got shit faced during the set and messed up the middle part and then just winged it at the end. I did the meet n greet. Dude was downing coronas during Feed Me.
I bought the master class maybe 4 years ago and I had already knew most of what he was teaching
Thanks! That was awesome, safed me a lot of money :-D
I normally can't sit through this length of someone just 'talking' but it was actually interesting so I didn't get bored. It was put together very well with no babbling to waste my time. All comments were well worded to be "Politicly Correct" with opinions. Nicely done! Oh ya ... & some of us like Joel's arrogant attitude. He would fit in with my crowd just fine ;) So for that reason, I would possibly spend some time watching the MC. But not on my dime.
Dude you are awesome!
Thanks a lot for the links.
Great video!! Really helpful man! Thanks!
On the sentiment of speakers being better than headphones I'll say one thing. Things sound different. While a good speaker system is good for learning how it's going to sound on stage there are some drawbacks. For instance effects will sound less pronounced than in headphones. There's a bunch of other things that are different. I would encourage you to experiment for yourself and see how it affects your production style. One thing I would recommend as a pro tip is a notch filter consisting of a -3db notch with steep roll off at 4.2khz. That's the approximate resonate frequency of the human ear hence it's going to seem louder than it really is. If you reduce it a little, it makes the track sound a little nicer especially at high volume levels. Try it. You'll see what I mean.
Thank you!
Masterclass taught me a lot about how to watch videos of celebrities and not much more.
ive watched it and i totally agree
The prices for masterclass are not that high, even if you do select the premium package for $23 a month its still only a few hundred per year. I thought about getting it but I agree with you that if you want to learn about something there are a multitude of other channels on here that teach the same thing. Good video and review thanks for uploading!
Before looking into taking classes go learn music, I was self-teaching myself watching TH-cam videos, and found the using headphone for ME wasn’t as accurate, making me want to invest in some really good speakers 😬just don’t know which one yet
incredible video!
Thats how a masterclass go for everything, If youre into to learn how this and that or the subject matter dont go to masterclass (Im taking about the so called master class/seminars in general but its the same) A master class is exactly if you want to know what the Speaker want to say. Its like mentor ship or any similar things but without the actual working with them. if its A master class of deadmau5, Dont expect he will teach you music production like in a school. Expect to get information he wants you t know, thats it, youre there to know what that person is doing and take what you can learn, but its up to you. Thats why I dont advice masterclass for people who just want to learn in general, Its when you want to specifically know how the person does things. Its not "Masters" like a degree. Thats why Q and A is important for such and discussions.
Where do you get those purple light form mate?
I don't know those specific ones but search for "RGB lamps"
Looks like you took on his advice:
Camera angle changes: Ok stare straight towards the audience, don't freak out, fix it, move on.
Mic dies: Keep going, no-one will notice.
Seriously, thanks for the review. Your videos and tutorials are a wealth of information and so good.
I very respect deadmau5 for his attention to details. Tell my anyone how he make so dense sound
🗣DEAD ABSOLUTELY D E A D 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😭 you're my favorite person ever. To ever live. 🙌
For the money and the information provided, it's great value. Especially if you're new to music production. It doesn't seem like a good fit for someone who's more advanced in music production.
Thank you this is awesome you saved me so much consideration and time and life lmao
Got a lot out of this