Sonic Academy worth the price of admission?

[mazafaka]

I am considering subscribing to Sonic Academy (http://www.sonicacademy.com) to learn more about Live. The demo videos I have watched are quite well done, but the price is almost $100 USD per year. I watched Tom Cosm's stuff and while it's good, I think I need a little more planned-out lessons to get a more solid foundation.

If you don't like it, can you suggest another place to read/watch some materials to get a thorough understanding of Live?

Thanks for the help!

[timothyallan]

you won't learn much about live from SA... they focus on production techniques not DAW's

[mazafaka]

I am decent with Live in general, I am looking more for general production / DJ techniques used with Live.... Anyone currently a member?

[belmiro]

I am and I can't recommend highly enough. I don't think you will regret signing up. I have learned more from sonic academy than from any courses or books out there and I have tried a few.

As already mentioned they focus on production but in my opinion making tracks is a better way to learn than watching some guy go through every single feature in a video. Just my opinion and my experience!

[chris17]

i've only bought there ableton begginers course so far but it helped me loads and i plan to fully subscribe this week.........

[DJ Mike Beeds]

I think the price tag for that school isn't too bad. But, I agree with the previous comments that nothing can replace experimenting, along with trial and error. And, when you reach a "limit," you have the great guys on this forum to help you out

I'd say save that money and put it towards acoustics

[DJ Mike Beeds]

I retract my statement, their site looks pretty good! I think I might just sign up for it ^^

[The Northern Contingent]

Definitely. I'm the tightest sod around and I thought long and hard about joining. I have watched a few of their tutorials now and have already completely changed the way I approach music. The biggest hurdle is that a lot of the tutorials use Sylenth, a plug in instrument that costs around £130. But if you join Sonic quickly, they are offering members a big discount via a group buy. I've put myself down for this as well - it is well worth it, and one of the best soft-synths I've used.

[mazafaka]

Thanks for all of the input. I actually ended up winning a Twitter contest and got a free years' subscription. I watched my first course last night and went through all the Live DJ tutorials. Although they were definitely at the beginner level, I did pick up plenty of tips. It's nice just to see someone else's workflow and have it explained in depth.

I am planning to go through the Ableton Music Production tutorials next week.

My basic review is this: the videos are very well done. Professionally produced and you never have issues understanding what is happening on the screen. Also, there are a lot of videos available that cover a wide range of topics. While you might be able to find videos on YouTube covering somewhat the same material, they will not be near as understandable. My one issue is that the site is not as well-designed as I would have hoped. The video interface is VERY basic, and just getting to the subscriber videos is a bit more cumbersome than it should be. Many people seem to feel that their support is very responsive, while it took at least 12-24 hours for them to respond to my fairly basic questions.

All that said, I would pay the full fee for a years' subscription if I hadn't won it.