So You Want To Make Music?

Point Blank Online Music School

Take a look at today’s top 40 charts. Everything on there can safely be considered Pop. But what is pop? Over the years it’s shifted, from rock’n’roll, to R’n’B to, at one point, garage. For the last ten years however pop music’s been going one way and one way only: electronic. Every major song today, whether it’s Katy Perry, Flo Rida, Coldplay, Nicki Minaj or affirmed dance acts like DJ Fresh and Skrillex, is driven by the sound of electronic, or dance music. 

It’s never been an easy business making music. Aspiring rappers need to book studio time and find backing beats. Rock bands need to find time for every member - and his kit, to practice together. But what about electronic music? Years ago it involved tracking down and hiring a cramped studio with enough equipment to land a stealth bomber. It was staggeringly complex, staggeringly expensive and at the time a less attractive option than buying a guitar and heading to your mate’s garage. Thankfully nowadays all those huge synthesisers and insane cables have been compressed into software that fits on your laptop. With music the way it is, anyone with serious intentions of moving into the industry either as performer or in another capacity needs to have a working knowledge of the likes of Logic or Ableton. Luckily, with Point Blank Online School - this can be done in 8 weeks, from the comfort of your bedroom. 

“We are one of, if not the, first music school to offer online education.” Explains Luke Hopper of Point Blank. "Whilst a lot of online courses in, well any area of music are often quite dry - ‘Turn this knob here and this happens’ we make it as close as possible to a physical school experience’

Point Blank’s multi award-winning courses in everything from DJing to music production, radio broadcasting and even general music business diplomas are built like a college course. Weekly there are “lectures” comprised of pages of interactive lessons, tests and demonstration videos. 



Any questions are answered in minutes on a supervised forum, whilst once a week there’s a university-style tutorial - where a live video chat sees classmates (up to 14 per class) interact via video with their tutor as they go through the week’s notes. Following this - each student submits a piece of work and receives back one-on-one feedback, including a video of the tutor editing the student’s project.



The production and sound design courses, among the school’s most popular alongside DJing, are relevant not only for budding musicians either: “A lot of guys that study sound design here go on to work in TV and film. It makes a real difference if you can present a course certificate that says, for instance, that you’ve done an extensive course on NI Reaktor software. Another area is video games - video game sound design is massive at the moment, a lot of our course graduates move into that field."

For those who do harbour intentions of being the next David Guetta however, the production courses have an comprehensive alumi system as well. Point Blank runs its own record label, Point Blank Records, featured on Beatport, iTunes and other distributors, as well as having strong links to names including Defected and Cr2, who they regularly contact with tracks from the most promising students. “It’s a good way to get onto the ladder - labels are much more inclined to look at your work if you’re already signed to a known label” explains Luke. Access to course material and notes remains for one year after completion of the course as well. 

There are a plethora of music courses out there - from the very cheap to the premium. Point Blank’s main selling point is its interaction. Working in your own spare time, from your room can be a challenge. Point Blank’s structured lesson plan, complete with weekly assignments and one-on-one feedback, make you feel you really are part of a course. With flexible course lengths, a range of course options, enrolment dates and a series of payment plans, Point Blank is now among the most accessible of music courses - or indeed any online courses out there.

For anyone that plans to move into the music industry: from TV and sound design, to broadcasting, management, to making it as a performer, DJ or producer themselves, a Point Blank Online course is the most efficient, and likely best, way to go

10/10

Find out more at the Point Blank London School: www.pointblanklondon.com

Alternatively, check out the online courses site: www.pointblankonline.net