Point Blank is very excited to announce our new online Drum and Bass course on Logic covering all you need to know on Jump Up, Liquid, Minimal and Tech styles. If you want to learn how to make D&B beats that will stand up against professional releases then this is the course for you.
In true Point Blank fashion we have enlisted some D&B heavyweights to provide the unique content and tracks for the course including MC Navigator, Zero T, Xtrah, Modified Motion and Data.
MC Navigator
Making the rare successful transition from UK Reggae Soundboy a Jungle artist back in the early 90s, Navigator has been involved with some key releases in Jungle and Breakbeat. After joining Freestylers as a live show hype MC he went on to record the international smash hit Ruffneck and has headlined the Jazz stage at Glastonbury.
Zero T
Zero T started his career back in 1998 when he began supporting Ed Rush, Matrix and Fierce at Dublin’s legendary Bassbin Night. Soon after 4 Hero snapped up some of his tracks and before long he released his EP on DnB label Reinforced.
Having colaborated with Calibre and Bryan G to name a few, Zero T has quickly found a name for himself on the Drum and Bass scene and looks to go from strength to strength with his first release on his own label Footprints and the release of his debut mix compilation for Fabric Live later this summer.
Xtrah
After being introduced to Drum and Bass by his older sister, Xtrah developed his love of the genre from a young age. He quickly brought a set of decks and began to get his head around mixing. 2003 saw him begin to dabble in music production and in 2010 his first EP was signed to Proximity Recordings. This release gained chart success on dnba, Trackitdown and much more and since then Xtrah has had heavy support from the likes of Andy C, Hype, Goldie and Friction. Xtrah recently came in to Point Blank and did a live masterclass. If you missed it click here to catch it again.
Data
Data’s love of music began as a child when he would experiment with old Casio and Yamaha keyboards. He found Drum and Bass through mixtapes and pirate radio stations and quickly set out to start making his own tracks and it wasn’t long before top DJs such as Goldie, Skream and EZ heard all about him.
With big releases on labels such as Metalheadz, Critical and Tempa, Data now plays on several pirate stations throughout London and is always dedicated to taking his productions to the next level.
Modified Motion
Formally known as Zodiac, Modified Motion grew up experimenting with a vast range of musical genres and sounds and quickly got hooked on Drum and Bass. Having had support from DFunk, the Basslin community and DJ Spim, he was discovered on the DnB Radar and currently hosts the Liquid Bass radio show on Bhotradio & Radio Studio One.
The first term starts on 23rd July and you can contact the course advisors on info@pointblanklondon.com or phone 00 44 (0) 207 729 4884 to get more information.
Transcription:
Paul: Hi. My name is Paul Crossman, I’ve been known as General MIDI. I am a course developer here at PointBlank. Over the years, I’ve worked with several labels from Distinctive to Hope Recordings. I’m here today to talk to you about the Online Pro Producer Series: Drum & Bass Course.
MC Navigator: PointBlank, the place.
Paul: One of the advantages of the online courses is the fact that you get to meet people from all over the world. So much of music is about networking. It’s about the people you meet; it’s the collaborations that you do. The course has been broken down into four particular styles. Those styles are jump up, liquid, minimal and tech. Producers from those sub-genres have been brought in to basically give us tracks. We’ve got a track from Zero T, we’ve got Xtrah, Data, and Modified Motion.
Zero T: I took this track “Refusal”, it’s like my [inaudible: 00:55], good friend from [inaudible: 00:58] sang on it. It’s the first song we every did in 2006. I wasn’t exactly sure what you guys were going to do with it. I came in and this girl’s singing a completely different song over it and I love that.
Paul: The course itself is a 4-week long course. Over those 4 weeks, we break down the styles into components. We normally talk about the drums, we talk about programming; how you create those sounds. Working with samples; [inaudible: 01:29], that break-type style music.
Xtrah: What I’m going to be doing is going more in-depth into creating basses. For instance, in breaks, stuff like that.
Paul: Second week, we talk a lot about the bass lines; everybody wants to know how to look at bass. What we can do is breakdown exactly how these bass lines [inaudible: 01:49] the riffs; the sounds that are used, which are a very important part of drum and bass.
Into the third week, we get onto the more melodic side of things, and also, the opportunity to start working with vocals. For example, Navigator has come in to provide an absolutely killer vocal for the jump-up track. This is an opportunity for you to work with material from an amazing MC.
MC Navigator: You lay your first bass, your first vocal, and then you have to match it by doing a double. Then if you’re going to do a hook or need something melodic, then you would have to put harmonies in, or something like that. That’s what I’m showing you how to do right now.
Paul: We also have a vocal from Liquid Track.
Vivienne: I just wrote something and they liked it, so they asked me to come down and record it. Nervous at first, but it’s been good. It’s been a lot of fun.
Paul: Finally in the fourth week, it’s about arrangements. It’s not just about the sounds you use; it’s about how you put them together, so there’s a lot of analysis of the different styles. We have tutorial videos, which are available for viewing. They’ll be downloadable Logic projects and patches for you to examine. They will be tests and examples for you to work to. It’s about embedding deep learning.
The lesson material is there for you to work at, at your speed. Over the week, we have a forum in which we can communicate, you also have email addresses. On top of that we have once-a-week Online Video Masterclass, in which the tutor will be available online for you to work with through the lesson materials. Any questions you have about the course and to maybe demonstrate some of the techniques and tricks which you may be struggling with as you go.
The course doesn’t end at the end of the fourth week, it’s an ongoing process. You stay in touch, we stay in touch. It’s about communication and networking, and that’s really the heart of it.
