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Electronic music production can be an incredibly complex skill to learn
Beyond the fact that there are endless elements to consider, including software, sound design, music theory, and more, the way in which you approach electronic music can vary based on the genre you’re working in and the DAW you’re using.
While you can no doubt find a breadth of information on YouTube or reputable music production blogs, these resources don’t provide mentors to work you step-by-step through the process and keep on on track. This is where online music production courses come in handy.
In this guide, I’ll be rounding up some of the best and most reputable electronic music production courses, so you can take your learning to the next level!
Summary of Best Online Music Business Courses
- Berklee College of Music – Electronic Music Production – From sound design to mixing and mastering, this Berklee Online production course offers credits toward an undergraduate degree program.
- Plugin Boutique Courses – Those looking for shorter and super affordable production courses should check out what Plugin Boutique has to offer.
- Udemy – Electronic Music Production with Ableton – This intimate module-style course is wonderful for students who want to learn at their own pace.
- Production Music Live Courses – Production Music Live offers a range of start-to-finish courses for beginner and advanced producers, many of which focus on specific genres.
- Masterclass – Armin Van Buuren – As one of the most well-known DJs and producers in the music business, there might not be anyone that can teach dance music better than Armin Van Buuren.
- Masterclass – Deadmau5 – Deadmau5 takes a slightly different approach than Armin Van Buuren, teach the overarching art of electronic music production with the same level of content quality.KMG Life Ableton
Related: The Best Electronic Music Production Books
Table of Contents
Related: The Best Music Production Schools
Berklee College of Music
In 2013, Berklee College of Music partnered with online learning platform Coursera to begin offering their award-winning education online. The school has certainly been at the forefront of both music education and distance learning for quite some time, though this partnership made their offerings more accessible than ever before.
They offer a lot of comprehensive music production courses and music business courses on the Coursera site if you’re interested in diving a little deeper into your music business and production studies.
Related: Best DJ Courses Online
Electronic Music Production Specialization
via coursera.com
Berklee’s Electronic Music Production Specialization course teaches students the latest and greatest in music production, synthesis, and sound design. If you’re learning to take your musical compositions from start to finish through the recording, editing, and mixing processes, it’s truly one of the best online courses around.
By the end of the course, Berklee promises every student an extended portfolio of pro-quality electronic music compositions and sound design pieces, making it an actionable commitment that you can use to find real work once you graduate.
As you move through this electronic music course, you’ll learn how to:
- Compose electronic music in a wide range of genres, from hip-hop music to dance music
- Use various synthesis techniques, including additive, subtractive, FM, and granular in sound design
- Apply core studio techniques in the music production process, including recording, editing, mixing
- Develop your unique voice as a professional producer
- Create remixes using existing source material
In terms of comprehensiveness, it’s one of the most complete electronic music production course options online.
You also get a certificate upon completion.
Other Berklee College of Music courses that may be of interest:
- Electronic Music Performance
- Creating Sounds for Electronic Music
- The Technology of Music Production
- Music Production Capstone.
Plugin Boutique
Though many music producers know Plugin Boutique as an online market for software developers to sell their virtual instruments and plugins, the platform also plays host to some of the best online music production courses around.
Let’s take a look at a few of their highest-rated music production courses:
- Jafunk Bass Production Masterclass – This online course is just one of the many genre-specific production courses on Plugin Boutique. What makes this particular course stand out is that it taps specifically into producing and arranging funk bass.
- Hip-Hop Production Techniques – Kaelin Ellis is one of the most interesting hip-hop producers in the game right now, and this beginner-friendly hip-hop production course outlines everything from finding inspiration to producing a full-fledged track in Ableton Live music production software.
- Advanced D&B Masterclass – If you consider yourself a seasoned music producer, you might enjoy this 90-minute masterclass on one of the most technically complex electronic music genres — drum and bass.
The wonderful thing about Plugin Boutique’s online courses is that they’re all wildly affordable, meaning you can take a number of other courses beyond your main choice for a fraction of the cost of popular in-depth electronic music production courses.
Udemy’s module-based framework is very similar to that of many online learning platforms, though, with more than 35 million users and 57 expert instructors across 180 countries, it’s one of the most popular online learning platforms out there. Those looking for high-quality online music production classes will have no shortage of resources to explore here.
Electronic Music Production with Ableton Live
Udemy is a great place to find electronic music production courses, at reasonable prices too. Keep your eyes peeled for the Udemy sales, they sometimes knock as much as 75% off a video, meaning you might pick this course up for £12.99. Which is exceptional value.
Though some Logic and FL Studio purists might disagree, Ableton Live is the greatest electronic music production software around, and with this Udemy course, you get 12 hours of world-class training to learn everything about it.
The class is taught by Simon Stokes, who is not only known for his artist work as Petrichor but is also an Ableton Certified Trainer.
Whether you’re looking to learn music production for the first time or seeking new inspiration for your tracks, this course has 58 videos and numerous course materials, covering everything you need to know, from creating a kick drum to mixing and exporting your music for release.
Stokes has a very clear and friendly way of teaching, taking all of the otherwise complex music and production jargon and boiling it down into something digestible that you can keep with your for a lifetime.
Related: The Best Music Business Courses
Production Music Live
Production Music Live is one of the best platforms for learning electronic music production, as the team offers a wide range of music production courses aimed at people of all skill levels.
Let’s take a look at some of the top-rated Production Music Live course offerings:
- Beginners Course: Ableton Live 11 – The Ableton Live Start to Finish course is one of the most comprehensive beginner-friendly Ableton courses on the internet, where you’ll learn how to produce your very first track using Ableton Live’s software.
- Techno Masterclass – Techno is one of the fundamental electronic music genres, and with this in-depth masterclass, Berlin-based music producer, Johannes Menzel, provides an exclusive look at his production techniques using Ableton.
- Mixing Course – Of course, no great production can be complete without a mix, and with this start-to-finish mixing course, you’ll learn all about how to elevate your tracks using processing tools, such as EQ, compression, reverb, and more!
If you are interested in other electronic music courses, Production Music Live have a range of genres to choose from. Check them out!
Related: The Best Mixing and Mastering Courses
Masterclass
You’d be hard-pressed to find online courses of the same caliber as Masterclass courses, as they’re taught by leading professionals in their respective classes. The beauty of Masterclass, as opposed to some of the other major online learning platforms, is that a single annual subscription gives you full access to their 180-course catalog.
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Armin Van Buren
If you’re looking to learn music production from one of the greats, look no further than Armin Van Buuren’s Masterclass.
Armin Van Buuren is arguably one of the most successful producers in the history of electronic music, and with his ‘Teaches Dance Music’ course (his very first online course ever), you get an inside look at how he builds a track from scratch.
From his sample selection methods to his plug-in techniques for mixing, this dance music course has almost seven hours of high-quality content.
Deadmau5
Up alongside successful music producers like Armin Van Buuren is Deadmau5. In many ways, he pioneered progressive house and electro-house music and to this day, he still sells out stadiums around the world.
His six-hour Masterclass takes you through his approach to music theory, sound design, building a home studio, developing melodic structures, building arrangements, mixing, mastering, and so much more.
Best of all, he teaches from the home studio perspective, meaning applying what you learn in this course doesn’t require you to spend thousands of dollars on high-end gear.
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