Whether you are a progressive house head or not, chances are you have heard of Joel Zimmerman, also known as deadmau5. As one of the world’s most commercially successful electronic music producers, it stands to reason that
In deadmau5 Teaches
Moreover, he brings his authentic self to the course, which means the audience is treated to deadmau5’s thoughts on a subject, even if they contradict popular understandings and trends. Joel’s slightly sarcastic witty remarks are a constant source of amusement and manage to keep the course constantly engaging and personal.
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Masterclass Review
Deadmau5 Masterclass Overview
This deadmau5
Deadmau5 Teaches Electronic Music Production: Full Review
The course includes an intro, outro, and 23 video lessons altogether, amounting to 5 and a half hours of video content.
Overview
From the very beginning of the course, deadmau5 admits that he’s somewhat socially inept and that his way of thinking about music might not be “super anecdotal or, I don’t know, funny, or, you know, helpful.”
It is clear from the outset that a lot of the filler material that makes it into other
The lessons begin with the “deadmau5 process”: 35 minutes broken down into two equal-length lessons, one on theory and the other on practice.
The lessons that follow include (get ready) building your home studio, developing melodic structures, turning melodies into arrangements, an introduction to synthesized sounds, experimenting with modular synths, digital vs analog synths, shaping sounds with effects processing, two lessons on making beats, structuring songs, remixes, mixes, mastering, a mastering case study on “Snowcone,” starting your producing career, understanding the music business, and then finally three lessons on live performance: the music, the technical side, and the show.
The course also comes with two companion PDF documents. One, a 60-page guide for the class has some useful information gleaned from the videos but is mostly filler. The other, a three-page fundamentals guide, is primarily intended for the complete beginner, as it contains some basic definitions and information on where to find free trials of DAWs and plugins.
5 and a half hours of technical tips, useful advice, and the philosophy that forms the core of his approach to making music.
Target Audience
In the introduction video, deadmau5 suggests that this course (spoiler alert: every DAW and many plugins offer a free trial version), other tips feel like they could be a part of a conversation between seasoned professionals.
There is a moment in which deadmau5 discusses EDM’s popularity because of how it is structured formulaically.
He suggests it is “music for everybody,” which parallels how he has organized his
Though Joel has strong opinions about creativity and what sorts of copying should pass for original work instead of what is less impressive, it never feels as though he is talking down to his audience. Further, his advice for navigating the music industry and finding a niche is likely useful to anybody who has yet to reach deadmau5-level commercial success.
Regardless of where you are in your musical journey, and even if you are not a fan of deadmau5 or electronic dance music, this is a
Features That Stand Out
Workflow
Beginning in the second lesson, we look over Joel’s shoulder as he walks us through his process. This view of a musician’s work from the early, completely unpolished stages, feels surprisingly intimate.
In that second lesson, deadmau5 begins with a bass line and builds out a chord structure before walking us through the “Mr. Potato Head method,” as he calls it, of saving out-of-place clips within his filing system in Ableton Live so that he can revisit them later on when he has a place for them.
There is something really organic about this look at the deadmau5 method. Unlike a cooking show, where we see an abbreviated version of each process step before a completed project is taken out of the oven, we watch and listen as chord structures either work or don’t work in a track.
When something isn’t working, we get a window into deadmau5’s problem-solving process.
- In the episode on developing melodic structures, Joel is working on an eight-bar phrase.
- He shows us how he pays particular attention to the relationship between the last chord and the first chord, since he is working in a closed loop.
- When he cannot seem get the last chord to fit in the progression, he just deletes it and turns the phrase into a six-bar loop.
It is these sorts of creative solutions to musical problems that set this class apart from a more polished, cooking show-style lesson in EDM.
Technical Tips
The most common complaint I have heard and read about
Throughout the course, there are several points at which we get a comprehensive view of deadmau5’s process. Though he never takes us through a single work from start to finish, we do get a look at every step of the process in a systematic way.
Having watched through the entire course twice, I have benefitted from two different perspectives on the course and two radically different experiences.
The first time I watched the course was very early in my experience with music production, so I took more away from the broad strokes of each lesson. Joel’s philosophy stuck with me even though I did not yet have the mental framework to take much away from the technical aspects of each lesson. Some time later, having spent countless hours exploring the technical side of sound design, I am connecting more with the over-the-shoulder and screen capture-driven quality of each lesson.
Useful Advice
Perhaps the most helpful piece of advice for anyone looking to get started is just as useful for a more experienced producer looking to tweak their creative process: producing music does not have to be expensive.
Throughout his
That said, a decent amount of time in the deadmau5
The Multifaceted Nature Of Joel Zimmerman
I can imagine a reader skimming through this article who already has the technical know-how to glean next to nothing from the “over-the-shoulder” moments in this
Beginning in earnest in class 18, “Starting Your Producing Career,” Joel the artist trades his metaphorical mouse helmet for his Joel the businessman hat.
Not many individuals could speak as comprehensively to the many stages of artist recruitment, development, and the process of releasing a product as Joel Zimmerman. This is thanks to his work as an artist and a label manager.
The practical guidance he offers up-and-coming artists as part of the last quarter of the deadmau5
This makes his
Production Value
Though some of the early
Even though other content creators on YouTube are catching up to this quality level, this work continues to stand out.
The lighting, the sound, and the rhythm of frame changes make the experience of this
Is It Worth The Money?
Masterclass is wise to folks like us, and has built protection against this practice into their subscription model.
That said, if there are a few courses that interest you, you might hit a point where the entertainment and instruction packed into each course does become worth the money (for some possible examples, check out our reviews of the Hans Zimmer and Armin Van Buuren Masterclasses).
There are over 100 courses included in the full access pass subscribers buy, so when you have learned all there is to learn from Joel in the deadmau5
As far as the overall value of the
There is easily a year’s worth of content in place already on the platform, and new courses are added every month, so the question of value at this point has less to do with a single class and more to do with the likelihood you will get some use out of the other Masterclasses.
Nonetheless, an upfront cost of $180 is a significant barrier for many would-be viewers, which
Wrapping Up
The question remains: will you get some use out of this class? Yes, without a doubt. Deadmau5 is an excellent teacher with so much knowledge to share. His explanations of all areas of music production are concise, informative, and engaging.
Joel’s personality may be offputting for some as he’s pretty blunt and honest rather than warm and friendly.
But most will agree that this makes the lessons more engaging and personal.
Overall, there’s no way any fan of electronic music will be disappointed with what’s on offer here! It comes down to the price, which is the most divisive aspect.
(If you’re also scoping out production courses on YouTube, you’ll want to read our roundup of the 6 Best YouTube Channels For Learning Music Production next!)
5 and a half hours of technical tips, useful advice, and the philosophy that forms the core of his approach to making music.