DISCO

POP

TUTORIAL

Disco Pop Tutorial

Take the next step on your journey and learn genre specific music production skills. Make a modern chart track in the disco pop style, from start to finish and take the skills you learn with you into your future projects.

Watch the course overview for a more in-depth look at what you'll get out of the course, and listen to the track you will make

29 Lessons - 6 hours

Greater Experience

Perhaps you have successfully completed one of our beginner tutorials, or you are looking for new challenges and new ways to inspire your music. As long as you know your way around your chosen DAW, you will be able to soak up all the ideas and music production experience given in this course.

A Higher Level Of Music Production Skills

These any DAW 'start to finish' tutorials are full of more advanced music production techniques, that will help you discover new producer skills. This unique style of teaching means you learn music production in a linear fashion, just like it works in real life. As you are learning every step of the song creation process, it naturally gives you the ability to finish more tracks.

Fresh Inspiration

In this course you'll gain many inspiring ways to help you make your own music, including the steps required to get you there. Everything from complex melodies, to chopping up loops to creating your own original beats. The possibilities are endless and you'll go away with a load of easy to repeat ideas that you can use in your own tracks.

Reward

If you have already completed one of our beginner tutorials you will know, there is nothing quite like the satisfaction felt when you complete a song. Going from the basics of creating a beat, creating a melody, arranging your track into a full song, learning to create the elements of your track, and mixing all of it together is something YOU WILL achieve on this course.

ONWARDS!

We hope the first 4 lessons were helpful. If you want to continue to learn music production in this style and finish the track you have started, please click the button and gain access to the remaining 25 lessons (over 5 hours) of modern chart, Disco Pop music production gold dust.

By making a commitment to yourself and taking a further step on your journey to become a better music producer, you are also supporting us, and enabling us to keep making these in-depth tutorials that help thousands of fellow earthlings around the world become better music producers like you.

• Instant Download
• Any DAW compatible*
• Only basic plugins and FREE instruments used
• Email support (less than 24 hour response time)
• All audio, MIDI, and presets are provided

Module 1 - Getting Started

Whether it's from from the 70s, 80s or the modern era, Disco Pop is largely about the bassline. In this first module, you'll learn exacty how to attain that distinctive disco bass sound by layering different, well sought sounds together. You'll also learn what makes a typical disco drum beat, how to add disco chord stabs and those infamous minor 7 guitar chords Chic style.

Note : We use an incredible (and completely FREE) VST synth called 'Vital' so we highly recommend you install it. We also show alternative free plugins throughout the course, so this tutorial is accessible to everyone, in any DAW.

Although many of the sounds used are sample based (chord stabs, bass, FX strings etc) we always show you ways to create these yourself in this tutorial. For example, we show how to recreate the string stabs with a free Orchestra VST. We also show how to recreate the disco guitar chords using VSTs, in case you are not a guitar player or know anyone that plays. This way you're not just mindlessly pulling in samples, you're actually learning. All samples and MIDI are provided.

Module 2 - Song Structure

After this module you will start to think about arranging your tracks in a whole new way. If you've ever struggled to go from the initial idea to a fully engaging, complete song then this is for you. Learn how to think about the energy curve and journey of a track, where the goal is to keep the listener engaged throughout. Just like any good movie with ups and downs, you'll learn how to implement tension and release to keep the listener coming back for more. On top of that you will discover how to separate sections of your track to make them distinctive but at the same time how to tie them together with FX so they don't jump out of nowhere. This module will be a God-send for most people as song structure is a common concern for most producers.

Module 3 - Vocal Comping & Processing

The power of vocals in a pop track can never be underestimated. They need to be clean, energetic and super upfront so they jump out and smack the listener in the face. The bass provides the funk, the vocals provide the catchy hook and get people singing along. First you'll learn how the vocal structure was written, which ties in with the last module, Song Structure. You'll then learn how to cut up multiple takes to form one perfect take (called Comping), which will be our main vocal for the track. We also cut up the remaining takes and use them as backing vocals to thicken out the vocal performance in certain energetic parts of the track. Then....the magic happens. We bring the vocals to life. After corrective editing and EQ, we brighten and uplift the vocals with compression and saturation. The difference is night and day and these techniques will transform your vocals in your own tracks.

All audio used in the tutorial is provided in the workfiles

Module 4 - Filling Out The Track

In this module the focus is to fill out the rest of the track with other instruments, taking into consideration different instruments for different sections. You will learn why, where and how to add extra elements such as electric piano, guitar, vocal harmonies and adlibs, strings, fills etc and how to get them all to sit in their own space of the mix. We'll also get into more music theory knowledge here to make our chords more interesting. You'll learn layering to thicken our chords up for our pre-chorus section, which can be a tricky procedure and can sound messy. Taking all of these essential skills with you after the course will help transform your own productions.

Module 5 - Fills, FX & More Layers

So the track is now sounding a lot more full and professional and is roughly balanced (mixing lessons are next) so that all elements can be heard clearly. There are 2 things missing : the FX and the ear candy. The sound FX play 2 roles. Firstly they tie the different sections together, but perhaps more importantly, they provide the tension and release we were talking about in module 2. The ear candy is all the extra tweaks such as drum fills, quick breakdowns, adlib chops, vocal reverb tricks, automating so the chorus pops out, and so on. This is also essential to give your track that professional touch.

Module 6 - Mixing & Mastering

In the last module we concentrate on mixing the whole thing together and adding the final touches. We have taught you to mix as you go so this process is not as daunting as it could have been. However, it's a crucial stage and it will make or break your track. Luckily, we are on hand. Throughout this module, we give you our best tips for mixing which we've gained from producing music, hands-on for the past 20 years. You'll learn about mixing in a 3D soundscape, how to separate your elements and FX, no matter how small they are in the track, so they can all be heard clearly. Even though the vocals and bassline are the main elements, all pieces play a vital part in a track. After doing a couple of mix thru's and having sufficient breaks you'll also learn the importance of referencing other commercially released tracks. This way you can guage your mix against theirs. Finally, it's onto mastering and getting the track up to the final standard to compete with the big boys. We reference again and make final small changes to EQ and compression and then add the 'loudness' via a maximiser (limiter). You'll learn what to look for when making the final tweaks.

The remaining 4 lessons explain exactly how to make the 4 Vital synth preset patches we use in the track. All vital presets are provided in the workfiles.

Why learn from Born To Produce?

We have been refining the start to finish music production tutorial for over 8 years. In that time we've helped thousands of students become better producers. We put our hearts and souls into each and every tutorial, which is why we get such great reviews. Our students are always grateful for our super fast and helpful support.

Our tutorials take months of planning and execution. Everything you are taught has the sole purpose of giving you the best learning experience and the greatest transfer of knowledge possible. Simple, powerful & fun.