As more and more music production courses arrive on the market it is refreshing to find one that sells itself on it’s personal and custom approach, rather than trying to cram as many students into a room as possible, or operating faddy courses (how to make Dub-Hop etc).

In testament to this, I discovered Quantize courses, not through an over-zealous tweet, or a glossy magazine advert, but actually whilst reading a helpful forum response written by the courses lead tutor.

At Bang the DJ we are always looking to bring you the best tools and resources you need to be the best at what you do. In this article we take a look at what Quantize have to offer aspiring producers in a two part article. In part 1 we’ll give you an overview of their current course offerings and set-up, in part 2 we’ll give you a field report from an actual day spent with them in the studio taking the course.

The key to any course is the knowledge and experience of the people teaching it. Quantize offer both online/video courses and one on one courses in their dedicated studio.

Taking the latter you will be instructed by Keith. Having been involved in dance music since the early 90’s, and with a string of releases to his name, you can be sure that the level of real world, practical knowledge is very high. It is perhaps in part down to the great many courses and qualifications taken that has given Keith not only the technical knowledge, but the deep understanding of what does and doesn’t work in the learning environment.

The courses are carried out using Ableton, and as such are ideal for people who already use, or are thinking about using this platform. That said, unlike other courses the training isn’t simply how to use the software, but how to use it to effectively produce music. This means that even if ultimately you might end up using something else, you can still massively benefit from what you will learn here.

The one on one courses take place in a dedicated studio in west London, near to the M4. Depending on your level of experience you can choose to have one or two (and we presume) more days of personal tuition. The best part is that rather than you learning a set syllabus that all students learn, prior consultation about your personal skill level, and what you want to take away from the day assure that you get the absolute most out of your time there.

Even the video courses are tailored in such a way that you will receive detailed personal videos giving  feedback and support as you work through the course together. It is this solid one on one approach that really does separate this resource  from what else is on offer out there at the moment.

The studio facility itself is in a dedicated, custom built unit, modern and comfortable. You are invited to bring along any other kit and equipment you might like to use on the day, if for example you have a controller etc that you use as part of your work flow, the same goes for samples.

Probably for me one of the best things is the pricing. Two days dedicated one on one tuition from an Ableton expert covering the exact topics of my choosing for the same price some people might charge to master an album, or just let you rent the studio in the first place. As for the video courses, again, Quantize charge the same that some video courses charge for their generic set of videos, no feedback, nothing.

As mentioned in the intro to this article, you often come across Quantize offering help and ideas in popular audio forums for free, and it is this engaging, direct and helpful approach that, in my opinion sets the courses apart from others we have seen.

In part two of this article, we go over the day spent in the studio, some of the topics we covered and show how they were approached and give an idea of how your time at Quantize will be spent.

In the meantime, be sure to check out a host of free tutorial videos at http://www.quantizecourses.com/pages.php/?cat=3

Follow them on twitter here:
http://twitter.com/QuantizeCourses

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quantize-Ableton-Tutorials/117459011613931