Before he was deadmau5, all Joel Zimmerman wanted for Christmas was old toasters to take apart. Now, you can watch him take his music apart. In his first-ever online class, Joel teaches you how he approaches melodies, mixing and mastering to make unique sounds you can't find in a cookie cutter sample pack. You'll not only get his lessons, you'll learn how to create your own music without spending money on million dollar gear.

Syllabus

Introduction

Welcome to the deadmau5 studio. Meet Joel, the man behind the mau5head, and learn what he's got planned for your class in electronic music production.

The deadmau5 Process: Theory

It's all about experimentation. Learn Joel's unique approach to the music creation process and how to get the most out of your time in the studio.

The deadmau5 Process: Practice

Get in the studio and watch how deadmau5 music takes shape in real time: from an empty project to beginnings of a track.

Building Your Home Studio

Ready to start building out your home studio and making tracks of your own? Here's Joel's advice for what gear you need and what you don't.

Developing Melodic Structures

Whether you've had musical training or not, you can use these deadmau5 techniques to start drawing melodies into your DAW and creating loops that resolve.

Turning Melodies Into Arrangements

Here's how deadmau5 takes basic chord structures and spreads them out across different instruments to make full arrangements including bass parts and leads.

Introduction To Synthesized Sounds

Once you've got a chord structure and an arrangement, it's time to build the unique instrumental sounds that give your track its character. It all starts with learning the basics of synthesis.

Experimenting With Modular Synths

Don't be intimidated by the wall of knobs and flashing lights. For deadmau5, modular synths are all about messing around and finding unexpected sounds. Watch how he builds and tweaks his patches from scratch.

Digital Vs. Analog Synths

Analog synths are a big part of the deadmau5 sound and a great way to add creative elements to your productions. Hear the difference for yourself when Joel plays some of the same patches on digital and analog equipment.

Shaping Sounds With Effects And Processing

Learn how deadmau5 puts life back into tired presets, builds big stereo images and fattens up his basses using plug-ins and effects processors.

Beats: Part 1

The kick drum is the heartbeat of an electronic music track. Learn how Joel layers his kick drum samples to lay the groundwork for big, danceable grooves.

Beats: Part 2

Dive deeper into deadmau5's rhythmic techniques, with lessons on snare sounds and a closer look at the drums tracks in Snowcone.

Structuring Songs

You've developed your chord structure, arranged it with exciting synth sounds and added drums -- now deadmau5 shows you how to combine all those elements into an exciting song

Remixes

Learn how deadmau5 works when he's remixing other artists, and what he likes to hear when other artists remix him.

Mixing

Good producers need to know how to write original music and how to mix it to sound great. Here are some important techniques Joel uses to shape his tracks in the mix.

Mastering

Unlike a lot of other artists, deadmau5 masters all of his music himself. Learn the basics of his approach to gain structure, EQing and limiting.

Mastering Case Study: Snowcone

Go plugin by plugin through Snowcone's master chain and hear how each piece is affecting and honing the track's sound.

Starting Your Producing Career

Joel puts on his label-manager's-hat to talk about what he looks for when he's signing up and coming EDM artists, and offer advice about how develop your brand and promote it the right way.

Understanding the Music Business

Major labels can be major headaches, or worse. Here's some of what's Joel's learned about navigating the logistics of a recording career.

On Stage: The Music

It takes effort and planning to play a set that's creative and keeps your audience engaged. Here's how to take your music from the studio to the stage.

On Stage: The Technical Side

Gigging and touring as an EDM artist means learning and managing lots of gear. These are Joel's techniques for keeping things running smoothly on the road.