Calling all budding music makers: now’s your chance to learn the ropes or brush up those skills, writes Marijke Hall

Calling all budding music makers: now’s your chance to learn the ropes or brush up those skills

It’s no secret that some of today’s biggest names in the music industry started out making tunes in their bedrooms, sharing their creations to the world online.

There’s Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O’Connell - widely known to have recorded most of her hits at the family home - and DJ Martin Garrix, who started out creating music in his bedroom.

Then there’s promising new star PinkPantheress, who recently won BBC Radio 1's Sound of 2022, making music in her university dorm room, singing over retro garage samples and putting them on TikTok.

From the outside looking in, it would seem producing music has never been more accessible to someone with passion. And a bedroom.

But in reality, there is still lots to learn and this is where David Maitland can help.

The audio engineer and music producer is gearing up to launch his Electronic Music School and Studio in Margate (@tonicnoterecords).

The first course, due to be launched in the spring, will teach budding music producers how to use Ableton Live, an industry standard music making software used by electronic, R&B, hip hop and pop creators.

Students will learn creative and technical skills, synthesis and sound design, sampling, arrangement and mixing among other production techniques.

“This course is for people who want to make their own songs who may be a beginner or someone who wants to refresh what they know about the software,” he said.

“Music software has really given people who want to make music the chance to do it. In the 70s and 80s you’d have to pay a fortune to record a song in a studio. Now, people have access to software and the technology - it’s all there in a box.

“It means people can expand their imaginations and creations, for example look at Billie Eilish, she made her music at home.”

Maitland, who works at a radio studio in Canterbury, says his dad got him into Pink Floyd as a youngster, and he loved all the synth sounds they used.

During his formative years in the early noughties, he says everyone was in a band although he loved electronic music.

Starting a night course to learn Ableton Live, he learned how to blend both, something that was also being seen in the industry.

“There were bands that sat in the middle, so there were rock bands that wanted more electronic sounds in their music and electronic that wanted a bit of rock,” he said. “Ableton is not just used in electronic music, but by hip hop, pop and R&B artists. It’s an amazing piece of software.

“One of the things I like about it is it was designed to be on stage. So when you’re ready to take that step, it’s designed to allow you to do that.

“So you can make the music at home and bring it onto the stage, you can add in real musicians or sing. You can really play around.”

Maitland says his aim is to keep the course fun while teaching people all they need to know.

He is also planning to run workshops, studio sessions, music pop-ups and events with the school’s label Tonic Note Records.

He will run free webinars before the creative music producer course starts in April to give people a taste of what it will be like.

For more information or to register an interest in the course go to www.tonicnoteaudio.co.uk/track-accellerator