Your Sonic Review

Music Production Music Tech Discussion
1

Use this thread to post your view and opinions on the website, the forum and it’s tutors, be it good or bad, all thoughts and feedback is im sure always valued.

 

You know, a lot of message boards in my experience can be bitchy/nasty/cliqué or arrogent. But this one, it’s just great, i love how everyone is willing to help everyone with their problems/questions and i think its great how the ‘powers that be’ are always on hand to give advice, listen to our feedback and deliver professionally.

Not one person is left in the dark, from the absolute beginner to the ultimate professional.

I know at the moment it’s a small community here still, but maybe that’s probably why it works so well. I really hope in years to come i dont end up saying ‘it’s not like it used to be’ haha, but i spose i’ll be a grumpy old fart by then anyways :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ve been here not far off a year now and I’ve honestly learnt so much, I feel really lucky to have stumbled across it, i think by accident actually.

But i’m hooked, i find nearly every time i return i laugh at one post or other because there is some great personalities on this board.

I’ve recommended two people to this website now who’ve both joined up the years membership, although when it’s come to forum posting… they’re a bit slack.

The only negative i can really say - which is so minor anyways - is that things have taken a back seat for me a little with some of the tutorial videos due to my lack of Sylenth, but hopefully that will change soon with the new group buy discount we’ve been given!!

If anyone’s reading this and haven’t bought full membership yet, then i’d HIGHLY recommend it, what you get for the money is worth £100s/£1000s in my honest opinion. In fact, i’m not sure if anyone seen my ‘comment’ that regularly appears in the top right box corner of this website, but before i found this site, I tried taking ‘music production’ at university, was an absolute waste of time and a joke, I lost sooo much money doing it (£3100 per year) and learned not even a quarter of what I have learnt from this site.

Membership here is what, £60 per year? BARGIN!!!

Ok so you don’t get a degree after it, but i’d rather be advanced in production and engineering than walk away with a degree and (less than) amature as well as 1000’s of ££££ worse off.

In fact, maybe that’s something Sonic could offer? Maybe tuitions in the way that after completed course works that students could earn a certificate or something?

Maybe for the ‘course’ it’d cost more obviously because it takes more time for the tutors marking the coursework but i think it would more than valuable for many people. (As another option other than having to attend the training centre in Belfast).

Anyways there’s my review, I hope you enjoyed reading. Please do post replies as well as your Sonic thoughts too! :slight_smile:

 

 

 

edit ok thats weird, i added a lot of spaces to break things up, but for some reason when it posted the whole message has clumped up together ???

2

In my honest opinion i think that Sonic Academy is the best website on the net, the tutorials are all spot on and i would find it hard to pick my one favorite as they all have valuable info in them. i spent a serious amount of cash putting myself through college to learn about music and learned nothing about dance music at all. with sonic academy i was getting answers to my questions as i was watching the videos.



if we ask a question on the forum its only a matter of days before someone has answered it, the info given on the forum via the SA team and other members is always helpful.



in short i can’t get enough of SA



my only frustration is that there is no visual time line to when the next videos are scheduled and it makes for wasted threads asking on the forum, i feel that if SA where to make a thread with a calendar that shows which week in which month we would be getting (named) videos then this would be nothing short of a perfect forum.

3

Thanks for posting Jon, it’s a shame that so many people have viewed the thread but not taken the time to write their own thoughts and feedback.

Companies value customer feedback as this is what helps them to grow, improve, deliver what the customer wants and in turn make for a more enjoyable customer experience.


The tutors are happy to spend their valued time answering your questions, it’s not much to ask for a little bit of your time as well to give something back.

4

I would have to agree whole heartedly. I’ve said it in previous posts before and I’ll say it again, Sonic Academy is the best site on the web when it comes to production, techniques, and help with issues that one might have with their work. On top of the help, tips, and advise I get, I’ve made a couple friends along the way. Everyone is very nice and eager to help each other out. That attitude is contagious and it shows in the members posts.



My only criticism is this. I find that I come to the website strictly to watch the tutorials and to check out the forum. I wish S.A. could implement something else into the website to make it more valuable to its subscribers.



Other than that, I’m extremely pleased.

5

(My only criticism is this. I find that I come to the website strictly to watch the tutorials and to check out the forum. I wish S.A. could implement something else into the website to make it more valuable to its subscribers.)

Hey howie going on from what you and jon ,roben have said i do wish more people would chip in because dance music is ever evolving and the more tips and tricks shared by users of the site the better musicians wed become i have given tips and had no responce from many… in fact very few on here seem to be the only people i feel have responded positively to anything ive tried to say (you imostly roben ,jon ,buffont.howard,raymond )i know that its hard sometimes to put in to something that could be shot down with but  as said before this site is unique in the fact that we all have free range to input tricks and tips… an open source (without the B.S)if you like .

So really to all people who feel that they might have any tools but to shy to share dont be afraid to put your opinion in all of us are here to learn  and we can all learn from each  other as well as what we can learn from sonic academy …

But back to point of initial post that i agree fully with .

…This site is a pioneering site in terms of sonic academy guys undoubtedly understand that people struggle with howing to get a certain sound or understanding technology but have a love for dance music but dont understand how to produce it .

they fully give their best in trying to accomodate all of us to better our knowledge … remember its only one year old and many fantastic tutorials will come (as they already have) but i do know that it needs support from each of us to speak our minds and make this contine full stop ! wicked topic rob!

6

guys



we love posts like this and not because you tell us how useful you find the site but because we need your FEEDBACK!



the fact that you guys feel so strongly about what we do and enjoy the site so much is amazing. we’ve put a huge amount of blood, sweat and (literally) tears into this so thanks for your kind words!



BUT we need to know how we can improve things, so please tell us what you like and what you don’t like about the site. we are about to start on a massive redevelopment of the site so anything you can suggest to us, will mean an ever bigger and better site



so tell us please!



kev

7

Ok my big suggestions for the site are


  1. a calendar or something similar to tell user and future users which new videos are coming and when, this should be pinned so that we can find it easy and see what we have to look for ward to, a radar style thingy would be super cool so it show when the tutorials are getting closer.


  2. the forums should have user LOGIC,CUBASE,REASON,LIVE and any other major DAW threads pinned to the top, these can be used to post any new tip and trick the sa user have found or want to know, all the questions and answers would be directed at which ever DAW the user posted in.


  3. SA should set up a live chat function, maybe once a month or something one of the SA team could open it up for Q&A and live chat


  4. SA sound have a competition Thread this could be just for fun or prizes depending on the comp. this could be anything from users entering their own trick and tips tutorial videos, to synthesis competitions (a create that sound kinda thing) or remixing other users tracks
8

+1 to what Jon and Roben said.



I know that I have bitched in the past, and been quite an *** to some of you (sorry especially to Roben), but I must say that other than what they mentioned this site is rockin! I love the information that we get on here and am really digging the different styles of tutorials that are being laid out at the moment. The walkthroughs are sick, and I hope we get to see more of them, and maybe from some artists in the HTSL series! I know that some artists have done masterclasses for sites in the past. None the less, I think the only thing I might add that hasn’t already been said, is text based tutorials and charts. Things like scales, frequencies for eq, ratios for compression and all that jazz. I know that each of those items can be a course in itself, but I feel like if I knew what frequencies were mid, low, and hi, i would be able to play around and get my desired result, without having an in depth class on eq’ing. Same with the other items. Ya dig? Anyhow, keep up the good work SA! I eagerly await all the new information that comes!



Raymond

9

last night sonic saved my life …

10

[quote]jon_fisher (6/22/2009)[hr]Ok my big suggestions for the site are


  1. a calendar or something similar to tell user and future users which new videos are coming and when, this should be pinned so that we can find it easy and see what we have to look for ward to, a radar style thingy would be super cool so it show when the tutorials are getting closer.


  2. the forums should have user LOGIC,CUBASE,REASON,LIVE and any other major DAW threads pinned to the top, these can be used to post any new tip and trick the sa user have found or want to know, all the questions and answers would be directed at which ever DAW the user posted in.


  3. SA should set up a live chat function, maybe once a month or something one of the SA team could open it up for Q&A and live chat


  4. SA sound have a competition Thread this could be just for fun or prizes depending on the comp. this could be anything from users entering their own trick and tips tutorial videos, to synthesis competitions (a create that sound kinda thing) or remixing other users tracks[/quote]



    +1 to all of that, especially number 4. I think that would be a great way of getting the community more involved.



    What you could also do is a montly review on members tracks, good points/bad points, and talk on where the student could improve, or techniques to really bring out their track / remix.

    Make this review in it’s own section on the website so that visitors and other members can easily see this, it will in turn inspire others to put up their tracks and seek feedback. Again this keeps everyone involved and builds a great relationship between S.A and member.



    Everyone’s posted some fantastic replies to this thread already and i have to agree with everyone.



    This is great, keep it up guys! :slight_smile:





    Raymondsar - Thanks mate and no worries! We’re both just very passionate and opinionated people, it’s all water under the bridge now :cool:
11

Well I have to say that I found this website to be really great , all the tutorial videos are interesting and everytime I can’t wait for the next videos to come = D



my only suggestion would be simply to get more videos with other softwares such as Cubase , Logic , Sonar… or at least an advanced series on them : “Cubase for advanced users” for example



other than that I’m pretty satisfied , keep up your awesome work ! ; )



sorry for my english…


12

Great suggestions guys. I have only been a member a while but I think this site is fantastic. I’m pretty new to producing music & haven’t been asking many questions because on other forums you can get flamed for asking such “stupid” questions but I think I will ask for more help in the future.

13

^^^^^ theres no such thing as a stupid question dude! if you new the answer you wouldn’t be asking. and those site that you get flamed on are the same sites that guys are making bad music and feel they are the next big thing because they’ve read and eq chart.

14

[quote]squeak2199 (6/23/2009)[hr]Great suggestions guys. I have only been a member a while but I think this site is fantastic. I’m pretty new to producing music & haven’t been asking many questions because on other forums you can get flamed for asking such “stupid” questions but I think I will ask for more help in the future.[/quote]



F*ck those guys, no one is born knowing, and as famously said on ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ - it’s only easy if you know the answer.

This website and community is for everyone, from beginner to pro and all those in between.

If you don’t ask, you’ll never learn right? :cool:

15

[quote]jon_fisher (6/23/2009)[hr]^^^^^ theres no such thing as a stupid question dude! [/quote]



I used to be an IT trainer and I once started a class with “There’s no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid IT trainers” and cracked up… to a sea of blank faces and total stony silence. Christ that was a long week…



Anyways, more on topic, totally agree with Roben and the rest of you. Sonic is a tip top place, I’ve learned loads, laughed loads (mainly at raymonds decription of Robens dancing) and generally found this place to be excellent.



I’m all for the competition idea and I also love the idea of selecting a track and having the SA crew create a vid around it showing us how they would tweak it to make it sound better etc. Perhaps a new vid section called SA Remixes… .



I also think a trip over to New Zealand to drum up support is order of the day, I’ll be the first in line at the tutorials :slight_smile: (that wasn’t a genuine ask by the way!)

16

Hey guy,

I am relativley new to the site but i feel like a full forum member meanwhile and i always check if i could help out … its not always easy for me to explain exactly what i mean because i am an Austrian guy and English is therefore not my mothertongue …:w00t:

but i give my best - as it should be on a forum right ? :wink:

I am extremley pleased about the site, I stumbled across here by accident really. I have been struggling on my own for 3 years now and I did a minimal/tech course @ Pointblank online and it was also useful but u cannot compare it with this in depth tutorials here !

I am really enormousley passionated about producing all kind of genres and music in general, so I find the tipps and tricks here really awesome.

I check this site nearly 10 times a day only to look if there are new videos online …)

A lot of stuff i knew already but its good for me to see that i am on the safe site in what i am doing (i am so technical minding its a bit frustrated - i often think if i am allowed to do that technicalwise - and thats really the wrong approach in making music and in being creative) - so therefore its really helpful for me to see how a prof. producer does it …

I see all the little things that are a bit unclear in my head disappears with every HTSL tutorial and because of the tech tips and forum shouts. I am also a subscriber fo the CM/FM magazines and those 2 and this site here is all i need to get always better with my own tracks.

There is so much to know that it sounds like a professional tune its unbelievable what enormous challenge and afford that is … i often thaught that i will never be able to get my grooves out of my head… but passion and perserverance is all …

and with every month i know even more and more

I agree with jon - it would be ubercool to have a clue when (and what kind of) the next tutorial will appear. I sweat my pants for the techno, minimal and electro ones… cant wait really :wink:

also its a good idea if u tutors could check some tunes of us and give feedback what u think has to be improved etc…

Its the best site on earth for advanced electronic musi production I have to admit !!

Cheers mates

have all a wonderful day

greetings from between the mountains !

robi