Ambient Chillstep Music Production – Start To Finish TUTORIAL
Follow along step by step, and make a complete ambient/chillstep track from start to finish. Along the way you will learn all the techniques and skills you need to be able to make your own Ambient/Chillstep tracks.
Watch the course overview for more details, and to listen to the track you will make.
This is an in depth course that will take you step by step through the process of making this track. As you progress through the course you will learn everything from how to come up with initial ideas, how to develop those ideas, how to make your music emotive (you don’t need to play an instrument or have any prior music theory knowledge), all the way through to arranging, mixing and mastering.
Note: This course is made so it can be followed along in any DAW, but that will require you already know your way around your DAW of choice, so when I mention using EQ for example, you will know where to go in your DAW to be able to replicate the same settings. This is not a course for complete beginners, but even beginners with some knowledge should be able to follow along. All audio, MIDI, presets are provided, and only free/common instruments/plugins are used so you don’t need any special software to complete the course. All you need is a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)
Here is a more in depth description of what you’ll get out of the course.
Module 1 – Getting Started
Ambient music is all about minimal beauty. In this first module you will learn how to craft sounds and textures for your tracks using a variety of methods like synthesis and samples.
We use an incredible (and completely FREE) synthesizer called ‘Vital’. The only other instrument used is a piano instrument (also free), so this course is accessible to everyone, in any DAW.
You will learn the basics of synthesis in Vital, creating a luscious pad and bass lines, plus using organic samples to help augment the synthesized sounds to create a beautiful and diverse soundscape and help generate an emotional connection to the listener.
Module 2 – Music Theory
In this module you will learn how to create a full 32 bar chord progression. In order to achieve this you will learn from the very basics, how to select a scale, how to make triad chords, and then how to resolve a chord progression to give a sense of completion. We will go much further than this and enhance the emotional deepness of the chord progression by using different chord voicings, 7th chords, sus chords, and even borrowed chords.
We then use a technique called ‘complexity out of simplicity’ to take a standard 4 bar chord progression and turn it first into an 8 bar progression, then 16 bar, then 32 bar. This gives the track a real sense of evolution as it progresses and helps keep the listener engaged.
Module 3 – Soundstage & Effects
As important as the sounds used, is where and how these sounds are used in the mix, i.e. Creating a ‘soundstage’. In this module you will learn how to place the sounds for maximum impact, keeping a minimalistic approach in mind.
Using SFX sounds to enhance the emotion of the track is a vital and also satisfying process as it really ties the track together. You will use a variety of different SFX sounds, all taken from our Chill Step sample pack (all samples used in the tutorial are provided in the workfiles). Used in conjunction with modulation effects to tailor sounds to your track.
We’ll also be using reverb a great deal to generate a sense of depth and spaciousness to our mix.
Module 4 – Chill Step Beat
In this module we make a beat for the second half of the track (after the ‘Ambient’ section). You will learn how to create a Chillstep beat that has a big impact, and works in conjunction with the side chained bassline to provide a chunky rhythm. We’ll use a variety of sounds, drums and SFX sounds to create a beat that has the right energy and also compliments the track
As we discuss in the course, you can of course go in any direction you want when it comes to the type of beat you use for this track. You could choose to use very minimal drums or even no drums at all. The choice is always yours.
Module 5 – Song Structure
One of the most misunderstood skills is ‘song structure’. Here you will learn how to analyse the track on the micro and macro scale. Looking at how we generate a sense of push and pull (tension and release) at the micro level of the melody, and the macro level of the whole arrangement. This level of understanding can help you make tracks that always keep the listener engaged and coming back for more.
As well as analysing the track on an energetic level, you will also be enhancing the movement and flow of the track using SFX sounds and automation to help deepen the emotion of the track.
Module 6 – Mixing & Mastering
In the last module we will delve into the important processes of mixing and mastering. You will learn the key to making sure your mixes are effortless, and therefore easy to do.
Picking the right elements is paramount, but you also need to be able to balance these with each other, and you need to be able to tweak them to fit in the mix. Here we will look at EQ, compression, saturation, dynamic EQ (using a FREE plugin) and much more.
In the last lesson we will then apply the last minor tweaks to the track to make sure it is properly balanced and then render it out.
What you’ll learn
- Make a complete Ambient/Chillstep track
- Advance your music production abilities
- Advance your chord progression and melody making abilities
- Advance your arrangement and song structure abilities
