Audio and music

- Audio and music are two big creative fields and your journey through them could take a variety of paths. If you're producing video, you'll need a solid grounding in audio skills, too. To make sure you're properly micing up your interview subjects, to record ambient sound, to mix and sweeten your audio tracks so they sound as good as your video looks. Many of our video courses discuss the audio half of the equation, but we also have an entire library of courses devoted to audio and music. As with every other area of our creative library, these courses will teach you the tools you'll be using as well as those creative skills that you'll need to get professional results. If you'll be recording original audio, narration for a film, podcasts that you'll distribute, or vocals and instruments for an original song, you'll need to set up a quiet space for recording. With some inexpensive materials and a few simple techniques, you can set up a room to improve its sound quality and reduce unwanted echo and external noise. Having a space like this will set you up nicely for just about any kind of audio endeavor, from recording narration for film to producing podcasts and radio shows to recording a full music album. So let's talk about music. The tools for creating and listening to music have never been more accessible. You can write, record, and mix a song anywhere, anytime using your laptop or your phone and then upload it to any music streaming service for the whole world to hear. Music and audio have seen those same technological benefits. Pro quality tools in small, inexpensive packages that have transformed every creative field. Big recording studios still exist and are still an important segment of the music industry. But more musicians and engineers are using digital audio workstation software to record, edit, and mix music. Some of the most popular tools here include Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live. Digital audio workstation software is often abbreviated DAW, and the DAW market has many players. Cubase, Studio One, Reason, GarageBand, just to name a few of them. Our courses on these tools will help you learn to record, edit, mix, and master your songs and soundtracks. Many of these tools also include virtual instruments which use sampling and complex mathematical modeling to recreate the sounds of real world instruments, everything from Steinway grand pianos to funky Hammond organs to guitars of all kinds, string sections, drum kits, and a lot more. Connect a music keyboard to your computer or to your tablet and you have a recording studio and a symphony's worth of instruments. Of course learning software is one thing, but you've got to have a song idea to begin with. Regardless of the genre of music you like, we have courses that teach the skills for writing better songs, from the fundamentals of rhythm and harmony to the characteristics of what makes a song a hit. Of course, writing songs means also performing them. We have music lessons covering the most popular instruments including guitar, piano, vocals, drums, bass, even banjo and mandolin. In order to capture the performance elements of any song, you need a strong foundation in recording and music production techniques. You'll find courses on these topics right here. In any audio endeavor, recording is only the start. There's also mixing and mastering. Putting the final touches on a recording and combining all its elements into a final mix, whether that's ordinary stereo or a multichannel surround mix. The courses in our audio foundation series cover mixing tools like compression, equalization, reverb, and delay. Tools that you'll use to improve the sound of your mixes. We also have courses that demonstrate the mixing techniques used by pros to produce music for radio and streaming services. Not all music is made with the purpose of getting radio play. That's why we also have courses on techniques for composing and mixing music for film and commercials as well as recording dialogue and sound effects, all essential skills you'll need if you're working with video and moving images. Any education on music would be incomplete without learning about the business side. The music business has changed a lot in the past few years. Major record labels are consolidating, smaller labels are expanding, and artists are engaging directly with their fans. Social media has changed the face of self promotion and legal issues have become important for artists seeking to protect themselves from copyright infringement and unfair payment in the modern music business. We have business and law courses in these areas. Courses that will help you use social media, understand how today's music business works, and get started in the business of songwriting. Of course there's a lot more to the audio and music landscape than I've covered in this video. To get a more detailed overview, watch our course called Audio and Music Production Careers: First Steps.