Let’s Debate: Paying For Dance Music Education

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Let’s Debate: Paying For Dance Music Education

Anyone who has considered dabbling in music production probably has had countless friends weigh in on the best ways to learn the acquired skill. On one side, you will have friends who got some production knowledge under their belt that will tell you YouTube is your production god to learning anything Ableton/Logic related. On the other side, you will have your friends who will point you to an institution and tell you that it’s the gateway to gaining the skills for industry standard.

With so many people tugging your arms, it can often be difficult to make a decision (coming from personal experience!), so we engaged student, producer, promoter, dj, business man Diego Slim. Real Name Lucas O’Loughlin, the Sydney based current day AIM (Australian Institute of Music) Student is engaged in the Bachelor of Music (Composition & Music Production). On top of studying, Lucas currently helps to organise and run weekly Sydney club night Cakes at The World Bar that sees a myriad of international DJs come through on a monthly basis.

To gain a further insight into his decision to go the music production education route, we asked him some questions

What were your expectations going into the AIM’s music composition course?

I originally started the degree majoring in Audio Engineering. I finished my first Trimester, then transferred to major in Composition and it was much better suited to me. I expected a decent amount of ground work for comp (theory based stuff)!

What were the three main skills you have picked up from the AIM course?

Number one would have to be theory knowledge. For someone that hated theory, in retrospect I can see now how much I use it. Secondly is probably being more organized. Having deadlines and such has really made me get my sh*t together. Then overall my knowledge as a producer, which is something they really focus on in the Composition course.

What is the main production tip you have learnt from AIM that you have applied to your work?

It’s kinda hard to say one thing. Although, the things I’ve learnt from all the production classes have been a huge help especially when getting started. We looked at things like shaping sounds & all the basics for dynamic processing. Basic DAW functions and it all got more advanced as you go. After these class’ my work inside & outside of AIM was at a much higher standard.

Have you found those skills have been useful in helping you assist in being involved with Cakes (club night)?

Yeah for sure. Not so much production wise, but being at a music based uni has definitely kept me in the right space to push Cakes as best I can. My friend/partner in crime, Jack Bailey gets all the credit for getting Cakes to where it is now. Being different & unique, then having a great vibe is what we really aim for at Cakes. Looking forward to Summer! yew.

What are your personal ambitions as a producer now that you have acquired those skills?

At the moment I’ve only just started to put a lot more effort into my own music. So I’m aiming to make as much music as I can & really push myself with more of my own work, as well as Uni.

What would you say to anyone thinking about doing the course?

Do it. Its still a Bachelor degree, so theres still a few mandatory classes that aren’t that fun. But thats like any degree I guess. The studio’s on offer are amazing. Being a Comp student we can book whenever we like and basically go nuts in there.

Is there value in enrolling into the production course?

I think there’s a lot of stuff in the production side of the course that people could learn on their own. Although receiving a Bachelor of Music when you finish is what I think adds the value to what you can gain from the course in the future.

Do you think the course has set you up to make money?

The course has definitely given me good knowledge within the music industry, I’m not finished yet so I’ve still got some work & learning to go. It’s a massive market & there’s so many talented people, a tough industry would be an understatement. I think this is just a matter of how hard your willing to work for it.

An interesting insight into how to blend hard work with play. You can check the course out on the AIM site and get an insight into the set up they have in both Sydney and Melbourne.

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