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What Is the Point of Mastering If the Mix Is Good? A Guide to Understanding Mastering's Role

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For many newer producers, it can be confusing to understand the importance of mastering, especially when your mix feels polished and balanced. However, mastering is an essential step in the...

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Write a Vocal Melody That Stands Out: Tips for Phrasing and Dynamics

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If you’ve been writing music for a decade but are just starting to dive into vocal melodies, you’re not alone in facing challenges with phrasing and creating vocal dynamics that don’t feel repetitive.

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Add FX and Ear Candy to Your Tracks: Tips for Taking Your Sketch to the Next Level

August 23, 2024

Adding FX and ear candy can feel like a daunting task, especially when you start to overthink the process. However, these little details are often what bring a track to life, adding depth, excitement.

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Recreate a Vocal Stutter Effect Like Skrillex: A Step-by-Step Guide

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If you’ve just stepped into the world of music production, vocal stutters can be a fun and impactful technique to add excitement and energy to your tracks. You’ve heard that fast vocal stutter at...

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Get a Great Sounding Synth: The Deadmau5 Approach

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If you’ve been experimenting with synthesizers, you know the quest for a perfect synth sound can be a challenging but rewarding process. Whether you’re looking for something clean yet huge, or...

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Make Music Again: Overcoming Creative Burnout Like Pharrell Williams

August 21, 2024

Hey there, fellow music creators! Whether you’re balancing a day job, DJ gigs, and music production, or just feeling creatively stuck, you’re not alone. Many of us hit a wall at some point, where...

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Master Your Craft as a Beatmaker: The J Dilla Way

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In this article, we’ll explore the most efficient ways to master your creative process as a beatmaker, and how you can learn from one of the most respected producers in the game: J Dilla.

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Bumbershoot Festival 2024: A Creative Celebration in Seattle

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This Labor Day weekend, Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival returns to Seattle Center from August 31 to September 1, 2024. With a rich history spanning over 50 years, Bumbershoot continues to be a...

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Ohana Festival 2024: A Must-Attend Event for Music Creators

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As the summer winds down and the crisp autumn air begins to roll in, music enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating one of California’s premier music festivals. The Ohana Festival, set to take place...

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Desert Daze 2024: A Creative Oasis for Music Enthusiasts

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As the vibrant hues of summer give way to the golden tones of fall, the anticipation for one of California’s most eclectic music festivals begins to build. This October, the 2024 Desert Daze music...

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How to Create a Joyful Song Like "Happy" by Pharrell Williams

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Creating a song that radiates joy and energy, much like Pharrell Williams' hit "Happy," is an exciting challenge for any music creator. Whether you're a seasoned producer or just starting out...

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Why Nas' Illmatic Deserves the Top Spot: Rap Lyricism at its Finest

July 17, 2024

Nas’ debut album, Illmatic, has been crowned the greatest rap album of all time by Billboard, and for good reason. Celebrated for its lyrical brilliance and profound storytelling, Illmatic set...

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Ryan Tedder’s Studio Review: Writing Three Songs From Scratch

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Photo: Studio

Ryan Tedder is a highly accomplished and sought-after music producer and songwriter. He is known for his work with a wide range of artists including: Adele, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and OneRepublic. He has won multiple awards for his production and songwriting, including multiple Grammys. In his pop songwriting and production class with Studio, he teaches a class about the best way to efficiently create music starting from conception all the way to mastering. The cost for this course begins at $19/month and goes to $279/year if you want to utilize more of Studio’s classes. There is great demand for this course and it even has a waitlist at times, when it isn’t running, but is it worth waiting for?

The course promises that you’ll leave the course with three fully completed songs. From concept to recording to production and mastering, Ryan guides you through the process in four short weeks, including helpful plugins, tech like MIDIs and audio interfaces, and melodic inspiration. In comparison to other popular online music courses, the output is much greater and Ryan helps by providing time management skills he has picked up for the artistic process throughout his career. The output promise of the course also comes with a time commitment on the student’s part, with most reviewers saying that they spent more than 10 hours a week to complete the assignment requirements. So if you don’t have that much time in a week, it may need to be put off until you have that kind of time. 

To help you with the time dependent process, each student is put into a small group to work through ideas together and give each other feedback. The small groups really support students in their process and encourage each other to create. These small groups are very important for building the community base that many people enjoy about the course. From these groups, students will find collaborating partners whom they’ll make their third song with. Many students said that this process was very helpful in making them create much more efficiently with a partner as they are given about 4-5 days to finish a collaborative song. Within this, they learn to give each other feedback live and grow in their own respects. Feedback is also a core base of the course and how musicians learn to create better melodies and supporting sound for their tracks. In some instances, Ryan Tedder also will give feedback on some group’s tracks. The students who received feedback said that having an industry professional view their work and respond with constructive praise and criticism, was very helpful and supportive to their process. That being said, very few people got feedback on their songs and for most reviewers, they only had one group of songs have a feedback session from Ryan. For this course, it is very self-directed so don’t expect to be guided along the way, and feedback may be far and few between from Ryan.

Photo: Inc. Magazine

This course will challenge you. From time constraints to fast-paced collaboration to sharing music for feedback, this course will take you out of your comfort zone, in the best of ways. Many reviewers loved the challenge of having to create in such an intense time frame and said it made them create some of their best work. 

Many said that this course would be good for beginner to intermediate songwriters because it succinctly describes some of the basics of melody writing and song structure. Sometimes, it does jump around between concepts, and skip over some explanations of harder concepts though. 

Overall, Ryan Tedder’s Studio Course is an excellent resource for those looking to get into music production or take their skills up a notch. With its comprehensive approach and clear explanations from one of today’s top producers, this course is sure to provide viewers with valuable insight into the world of music production. For the price, the course is worth it for a self-directed and passionate music maker. Be ready to be challenged and sign up!

If you want to watch Ryan react to songwriter’s songs from his class follow the link below!