When building a house, you always start with the foundation. The same principle applies to music production. What is sound really and how do our ears work? How do you manipulate these with techniques such as compression and the use of equalisers? How does the optimal studio set-up look like for you? These are important questions to ensure a basic understanding of music. We also take dive into the history of hardstyle, the future of hardstyle production and work out your personal learning goals.

During stage 2 of the course you’ll apply your previously acquired knowledge into your own hardstyle music productions. You will get a matching practice assignment from all subjects: EQ, drum production, sampling, reverb and delay.

We will look at workflow and creative techniques. Examples of questions that we discuss are: How do you correctly start up a new project? How do you get a powerful and unique drum sound? How do you fragment, stretch, and sample? How can you use reverb and delay creatively?

In addition, we focus on the technical aspect. How do you make a good mix? What is the correct signal flow? What are the characteristics of different frequency bands? In this stage, we handle important tools for editing your sound. You will know what actually happens when you press a button.

Entering stage 3 of the course, you will be able to make a basic production. Time to take all those techniques to the next level by producing your own sounds with software and hardware synthesizers. You will become independent from presets by mimicking the techniques used in both euphoric and raw hardstyle music. Additionally we will discuss subjects like sampling and layering, melodies and composition.

Another important aspect of making hard dance are vocals. You will practice vocal production with vocalists in our studios. Having studied microphones and recording techniques you will implement a vocal in one of your productions. The stage ends with a mixdown class, preparing you for your final course project in which you will produce your own track.

So you are now able to create an excellent production. Now it’s time to think about how you position yourself in music scene and market. We familiarise you with the world of copyright, publishers, online & offline marketing and contracts. So you are truly prepared to work as a professional artist in the music industry.

You will add more diversity to your portfolio by working on a different project. The Course will be completed with a final exam and evaluation. Afterwards you own a diverse portfolio, a certificate and of course plenty of knowledge, skills and experience!