We DJs are endlessly bombarded with the mantra that to play other people’s music, we must also be able to make music too. This isn’t something I personally subscribe to, but having an understanding of the fundamentals is a very useful thing to have under your belt. And that’s where Ableton’s new learning site comes in.
It breaks down the basics into bite-sized lumps, including the structure of beats, baselines, notes, scales, chords etc. What I like is the very interactive feel of the site — I had a lot of fun knocking out Techno beats in the oh so basic on-screen drum machine, complete with 707 drum sounds. The song structure section is also quite useful too.
It does go some way beyond the basics as you progress, but it’s definitely a good place for people to cut their teeth in the daunting world of music creation. Who knows — with any luck you’ll soon be knocking out your own Techno tunes…
