Ableton Forum

Hi there!

I'm just about to start the video production on my new video/download course I'm preparing and I want to make it the best it can possibly be. I want to really nail this... to do it right the first time so I don't have to go back and change anything later.

If you can take a minute to give me some input, I can make this as awesome it can be, and you'll enjoy picking my brain in a format that is tailored to your own needs.

http://vimeo.com/10599396

what i need to do is to:

1. iron out any unprofessionalism in my presentation tone
2. make sure the videos are fun and interesting
3. make sure that they are useful for both noob and l33t
4. make people really feel like it's worth the investment to learn from me.
5. find the best online tutorials i can and learn from them

etc...

so if you could both critique the eskamon one, and then also give me any kind of general input you have it would be excellent. if there are any really exceptional tutorials that you think i should check out, now is the time to let me know.

thanks so much everyone!

dylan

high definition.

the best mic you have.

don't waste anytime explaining why your explaining that what your explaining has already been explained/needs to be explained.. just explain it!

I watched the eskamon one the night you posted it and don't remember any problems at all.. the clarity was there.. I just remember wanting more I guess..

but thats not your fault its just that fine objects is so DAMN FINE I want to see the whole process! and for some reason I thought that was gonna be more of what the tut was...

hmm.. what else..

just give us EVERYTHING.. I notice a lot of recent "super phat bass" videos give lots of inspiration but the results are still not what i'm hearing on anyones tracks.. not really sure if this is just mastering? or if they just feel there is some obvious step left out? or if its just my mis-understanding of stuff "sitting in the mix".. but be sure to cover as much as you can.

there is alot of people like me who are literally getting everything off tuts like this.. no peers.. no aim chats.. no instructors.. no local producers as friends

so yeah, I'm stoked!

Tone down the American Accent
joke

My thoughts with regard to that video: (meant for constructive means, dont mean to offend.)

Make sure you know what your going to say before you say it.
Once you (the viewer) picks up on the word 'err...' its hard to stop noticing it when it frequents. Script it if necessary.

We dont really need to know that you have "returned with a cup of coffee". Informal/fun works but not to that extent - in my tastes atleast.

It could be the compression, or the cheap mic on the camera, or the mic input clipping, or a combination, but strive to avoid the distortion in your audio - most notably the talking. Audio advice/training from a video with a distorted soundtrack is well...

The "introduction" was half the length of the video. I personally skipped the waffle about samplers to get straight to the content of the video. As mentioned in the post above:
"don't waste anytime explaining why your explaining that what your explaining has already been explained/needs to be explained.. just explain it!"


As an aside, it would have been nice to know on the Eskamon webpage/in the video, that the project was only usable in Live8. I downloaded it for Live7 to find out Id wasted my time and couldnt open the project. Worth noting for the future.

thanks for the input!

i've got a proper production facility this time 'round. not just a homey's house and a laptop so these ones are gonna be a lot more full on. i'm really excited about it

and the reason you don't get tones in tutorials like the tones you hear on records is that most of those people aren't putting out records

someone linked me this vid today tho: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRMqqkKrLhg that fellow certainly seems to know how to make a fat bass patch!

<3

d

hey so re: mics

do you think i should just use my zoom h4 or should i invest in a headset?

i've never used a headset mic. they seem more suited to this task than an h4, but maybe it'll just be like a laptop mic only closer to my face.

lol

get your H4N on a tripod and in mono recording mode. It would be great for recording your voice, if you want to be particular you could invest in a tie mic, and if you're on a budget, you can actually get them for very cheap at say Maplins (Radioshack as I guess you're american). They are better quality than what you had on the eskamon vid.

Goodluck will be looking out for your videos

oh and have a CLAP on both your camera + h4n so you can sync it all up after and replace your video audio with the h4n audio obviously

fsk wrote:oh and have a CLAP on both your camera + h4n so you can sync it all up after and replace your video audio with the h4n audio obviously

GENIUS!

thanks

see, to me the philosophical 'why' aspect is much MUCH more useful than the technical 'how' aspect so it's really strange to me that you guys all seemed to gloss over it.

after doing this for 16 years and getting to the point that i can actually make a comfortable living as a musician i've realized the importance of things like composition, workflow, arrangement, sound choice, etc... much MUCH more important than making 'that bass sound' imho.

so that's i think the main disconnect.

can you explain to me a bit more about why you think people aren't interested in that stuff? i'm developing a 12 week intensive ninja training course with heavy emphasis on the philosophical and artistic sides of music so i'd rather figure this out now than after i've invested hours and hours of production time.

you have all been really helpful btw. thanks a lot!

d

I'm def. interested in the why!

I was sorta trying to be clever with my explain this/that qoute.. but what I really mean is this:

DONT SAY WHAT YOU KNOW IN YOUR HEART ISN'T NECESSARY.

or like the other guy said, SCRIPT it.

and I'm only using caps because I think you're gonna charge... which is great (i'd rather pay for that than mp3's anyday) but if you are charging it should be pro as f*&k! lol!

you know what your doing man.. starting this thread is already a mile ahead of other tutorial producers..

and also.. people are interested in "that sound" tutorials because it helps. you are well aware of us being DROWNED in options-choices for software-hardware-genre-technique, I'm guessing, but 16 years ago it was a LOT different? maybe that doesn't make sense? I'm literally right at year into... so even though I find myself gasping at newb comments I'll admit I still have the same mentality... its probably due to the fact that music now is just so amazing. I mean the stuff you make, Bassnectar, Minilogue, Alix Perez, Electrypnose blah blah blah.. is like liquid!? I see the same comments over and over.. how do I make it? then someone with thousands of posts laughs and spats off half a patch with an lfo and a redux.. which of course sounds NOTHING like it. so it must be that I'm lacking the philosophical stuff. in other words thanks for stepping up to the plate

this is not to say I wouldn't be MUCH MUCH more interested in dancing to these live sets.. or sitting on a couch with you talking about what it all means.. thats just not reasonable. but you spending hours of time and frustration on teaching me which knobs to turn IS

5meohd wrote:I'm def. interested in the why!

I was sorta trying to be clever with my explain this/that qoute.. but what I really mean is this:

DONT SAY WHAT YOU KNOW IN YOUR HEART ISN'T NECESSARY.

or like the other guy said, SCRIPT it.

and I'm only using caps because I think you're gonna charge... which is great (i'd rather pay for that than mp3's anyday) but if you are charging it should be pro as f*&k! lol!

you know what your doing man.. starting this thread is already a mile ahead of other tutorial producers..

and also.. people are interested in "that sound" tutorials because it helps. you are well aware of us being DROWNED in options-choices for software-hardware-genre-technique, I'm guessing, but 16 years ago it was a LOT different? maybe that doesn't make sense? I'm literally right at year into... so even though I find myself gasping at newb comments I'll admit I still have the same mentality... its probably due to the fact that music now is just so amazing. I mean the stuff you make, Bassnectar, Minilogue, Alix Perez, Electrypnose blah blah blah.. is like liquid!? I see the same comments over and over.. how do I make it? then someone with thousands of posts laughs and spats off half a patch with an lfo and a redux.. which of course sounds NOTHING like it. so it must be that I'm lacking the philosophical stuff. in other words thanks for stepping up to the plate

this is not to say I wouldn't be MUCH MUCH more interested in dancing to these live sets.. or sitting on a couch with you talking about what it all means.. thats just not reasonable. but you spending hours of time and frustration on teaching me which knobs to turn IS

thanks man i appreciate it.

yea, that last one was kinda rough around the edges cuz i did it on the road with only my laptop and had to teach myself the editing/screen cap software while i did it, and only had an afternoon to do the whole thing. eep!

the course i am going to charge for, but i'm making a ton of free stuff to promote it and reward all the people who support me and have helped spread my name.



d

i like the "err..." and "have a coffee" parts as long as it isn´t the main output...
it makes the performance personal and symphatic.

i personally like to have a look what others do instead of having a teacher who tells me what i have to do.

so show a some more examples of your work or the situation, where you actually are using your tips in your tracks.

just my 2¢

The Phat Conductor wrote:after doing this for 16 years and getting to the point that i can actually make a comfortable living as a musician i've realized the importance of things like composition, workflow, arrangement, sound choice, etc...
can you explain to me a bit more about why you think people aren't interested in that stuff?

Because, presumably, by-and-large your target audience won't have been involved in the music industry, creating and writing etc, for ±16 years. They haven't yet got to the point of focusing upon the 'why'-behind it. If they're watching a tutorial then they'll be after the 'how'.

re.mark wrote:

The Phat Conductor wrote:after doing this for 16 years and getting to the point that i can actually make a comfortable living as a musician i've realized the importance of things like composition, workflow, arrangement, sound choice, etc...
can you explain to me a bit more about why you think people aren't interested in that stuff?

Because, presumably, by-and-large your target audience won't have been involved in the music industry, creating and writing etc, for ±16 years. They haven't yet got to the point of focusing upon the 'why'-behind it. If they're watching a tutorial then they'll be after the 'how'.

yes, but i want to actually teach them what's important, and to do it in the way that is most time effective.

is it better to tell them what they want to hear, or what they need to hear...

hrm....

i am honestly on the fence about this. there are things to be said for both approaches.

anyone have any input?

Im think we need both (is it better to tell them what they want to hear, or what they need to hear... ) I think you need to offer more than the video, I mean you explain some topic and add a device or a rack or watherever related.

Cheers