Online Music Schools
Coursera.org (My first and favorite online school)
Since 2012, Coursera has been providing quality education for all kinds of students around the world. They are partnered with top universities that offer classes online. Most of the online classes offered are free but if you would choose to enroll and pay for the course then you will receive a certificate that comes after completing the classes and passing the exams.
The certificates have helped me succeed in finding my first music related job and projects and has given my clients a certain confidence that I can finish the project with quality.
What I took in Coursera:
Berklee College of Music, Specialization Certificate for Music Production
- A specialization course from Berklee College of Music through Coursera. This focuses on skills, tools and disciplines you need to learn to become a Music Producer.
- Will expose you to other artists and students to train you in and for the industry.
Technology of Music Production (Beginner) - 2012
- This class focuses in the theory and tools of the fundamental basics of Digital Music Production and the Fundamentals of Sound.
- Also focuses on the uses and the tools of the Digital Audio Workstation or DAW.
- Does not require students to have previous experiences in music.
-- I will suggest anyone to start with this, I learned continuously after taking this course and initially took this to learn for free. Later on I paid and finished this course for the certificate.
Art of Music Production (Intermediate) -2016
- Provides training in the art of Recording Production and the skills you’ll need to record a song effectively and efficiently.
- In this class, I learned how to help an artist, including myself, access emotions to our advantage in recording which in my line of work today is a valuable skill to have.
1st Studio Setup - 1st Coursera Practical Exam (2016)
Pro Tools Basics - (Advanced) 2016
- The students will be using one of the industry standard tools both software (Pro Tools) and hardware needed in this course.
- I was lucky to have invested in one of the equipment that may work for Pro Tools to work, a M-Audio Mobile Pre, so I could take the class.
- It felt more like a practical/field test as we were told to record, arrange and mix tracks multiple times.
M-Audio Pre (Portable Audio Interface) - (2016)
Music Production Capstone - 2017
- This is a practical test for music producers to create their own music. It felt like I was writing my thesis in the later parts of my training and career.
- The test will require you to document and present your work complete with pictures of what equipment and where you did your recording if your project did involve recording or screen caps of your Digital Audio Workstation or DAW
Please bear in mind that:
- There are a ton of classes to choose from and that means that there are other classes focusing on other skill sets, careers and other topics.
- Coursera does NOT necessarily require a student to pay, it is optional to do so, they do allow you to access the classes of the course and learn for free although without access to the certificate, exams and other features.
- In 2016 the course and class prices ranges from $29-$99 depending on the class and if you were able to avail a promo. In 2018 they say it's $49 per certificate and other new offers are coming.
- They offer discounts for newly enrolled students that makes it in the promo period of the class which in my experience was 7-14 days after enrolling and instead of paying the full price, I paid $27 in 2012-2015.
I am not endorsing nor do I represent them. I am only blogging about where I first learned to produce music because I could say that this is a good start. Hope this helps in any way.
Was it worth it? As someone who knew nothing in music at the time. Yes it definitely was, those classes were one of the main reason I got far to where I am now. :)
Thanks for taking your time to read and sorry for the long post, hope you have a nice day. Cheers!!