Honestly I think that the people that are naturally talented or just “get it” (whatever “it” is) make the worst teachers. A lot of time they can’t really explain the why, because it just makes sense to them
Absolutely!! If things come naturally you have no experience "learning" in a way that can be directive, y'know? If it's a thing you put effort into learning/building skill instead of *enhancing* a natural talent/skill it's much easier to instruct (cue flashbacks of crying at the table as my mom tries to help with my math questions lmao).
My A.D.D. has allowed me to take up many hobbies, just good enough to say I can do them, but not enough to say I’m great. 😂😂 Technically I can play guitar, bass, and piano. I’m also an artist (watercolor, acrylic, and charcoal). I also know a little bit of Spanish and Dutch. I’m also in the beginning stages of a couple different stories and a movie hahaha!
For that price you can take an audio engineering or music production class at a community college and actually get high quality instruction and 1 on 1 attention lol
@@Abolas452 Yeah dude I said one class lol literally any class you can take at a community college would be better than this, I'm not saying those are the only options. And curriculums and class names are wildly different across different colleges
@@Abolas452 Dude you're trying to compare my extremely general statement to your one personal experience when I am not talking about going through a degree program at all. There is such a thing as continuing education courses and non credit courses that you can take independent of a degree program. While some classes require prerequisites, colleges like making money and still accept people who don't have them at the instructor's discretion, including when they're not seeking a degree. If we're using Gabi as an example, she could easily demonstrate her knowledge of general music theory with a placement exam to waive a prerequisite for a class like "intro to music production." Which is exactly what you can do at the community college near me. I don't know why you think I'm talking about getting expert level knowledge from one course when I'm only comparing it to the small amount of surface level knowledge Gabi learned from Charlie Puth's. Nowhere did I say they are "thorough or all encompassing," or even imply anything close to that. Since I did go to college, I can distinguish the difference between me using "better" and you thinking I meant "the best." I have a BFA so I'm not sure why you assumed I have 0 knowledge of signing up for college courses from 2 comments when I've actually taken more college courses than you.
@@Maria_745 Would you recommend someone take a community college class in production if they are passionate about it? Or is it better to just continue learning on your own and put the hours in the studio?
I took Andrew Huang's class on music production, and that did a lot of the things you say is missing from Charlie's class. He was very specific about everything, and is just very good at teaching. He used free plugin mostly, or offered free plugins as alternatives to the ones he used. I highly recommend it! I didn't know much production but have been writing songs all my life.
I took it as well, and I agree, the editing was incredibly clean, and following along was very easy. The only problem I can find with it is that it needs way more daily commitment than advertised, but it was great nontheless!
As someone who also has perfect pitch, I'm just amazed at the fact that someone managed to turn something so uninteresting into a talking point, let alone, a career. I've seen him do his perfect pitch shtick on some American TV show and I'm like "WTF people clap for him figuring out a note?", the absolute best reaction I can get for telling my wife about our neighbor's bike's ignition sound pitch and perfect 4th intervals is a "wow that's great, I really don't care"
As another person with perfect pitch, I can confirm! Getting my girlfriend to roll her eyes when I saw how our AC unit makes a Bb, or that her bike break is a C# 🤣
advice to beginners: you do NOT need fancy plugins you see your favorite artist use. realize without the ear they have, the room they record in, and the voice they have, you will not get the same sound. i wish i learned that before i dropped $1000s on plugins moral of the story. learn the basics, and i reccommend getting acoustic foam on your walls. record like theres no mixing, mix like theres no mastering.
Lemme add to this - The plugins only enhance whatever is already there - I finally spent a shit ton money on some plugins recently and they have been a god send but if I did even 5 months ago - it would have been useless - You need the basics and the ability to make good shit before you make good shit great .
If you’re recording in your room don’t also spend a lot in just putting foam all through the room or in a closet that’ll make your vocals boxy. Instead invest in acoustic panels to reduce the reflections
that last sentence is such great advice. as a beginner youll always think the reason your music doesnt sound as good is because you dont have the same tools professionals do. but good plugins wont make a bad performance sound good. record and record until you think its perfect then good plugins will give you that extra push. same with mastering, perfect the mix. dont just say "itll get fixed in mastering" cuz youll never get the results you want
@@jadedbunniii7757 Buy yourself a dynamic microphone dont need to drop lots of money even the popular shure58 would do or senheiser make some great cheap dynamics too ! it will save you a lot of headaches with room reflections etc
I do like his music, but this video is literally the definition of the person who is so far ahead in their field that they can no longer teach the basics, if it is actually meant to be catered to beginners.
I think it's even more simple than that - he really doesn't understand, and he says as much. In fact he just proves you can be successful without understanding your full toolset, with the right combination of other factors - something many famous artists of other fields can also say. So you can be successful and talented and still have no idea what you're doing. A quote often attributed to Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
You’re giving him way too much credit. He simply doesn’t understand the basic components of music at all. He’s just a fake personality in it to take your money
Music teacher here! Classes like these are a big problem nowadays with the ease of accessibility with the internet. You don't get to see what you're getting, but "it costs money so it must teach me something others aren't!" There are so many great content creators who go out of their way to educate for free, and unless you're taking a real class which gives you feedback and communication with an instructor, you're never going to learn more from these classes. Thank you for making this video! It's a shame to see that Charlie Puth, an artist I have a lot of respect for, is getting involved with these scams. He honestly probably doesn't have much to do with it other than recording the video(s).
Nothing these paid-for lessons will teach you anything you can’t learn for free on the internet. Hell you can even find college lectures free on UA-cam.
@@I-Need-LemonIt depends on what you’d like to do. I know that as a lyrical singer and « classical » instrumentist, I’ll always be better off in the physical, outside world with opera/orchestral workshops (and to think that I was a rapper/producer before the change). As I’m still in training, I have yet to develop my SM unlike a lot of my peers (especially female, girls are extra with their promo even as bachelor students only). I think however it’d be useful for me to learn how to self-market like modern music artists.
@@TheSoftestGirlYouKnow its becouse he is famous and people like his songs, so they can't bring themselves to state the obvious. He recorded the lessons and he recorded the promotion! He clearly knew what he recorded... and sold it as a thing that it was not.. Having good songs that lots of people like does not make you a good person, but some think that if you relate with the music he just cant me a bad person.. just look at R. Kelly case, lots of people were defending him just because they liked his music..
@mipmipmipmipmip its becouse he is famous and people like his songs, so they can't bring themselves to state the obvious. He recorded the lessons and he recorded the promotion! He clearly knew what he recorded... and sold it as a thing that it was not.. Having good songs that lots of people like does not make you a good person, but some think that if you relate with the music he just cant me a bad person.. just look at R. Kelly case, lots of people were defending him just because they liked his music..
Once you get to a point where music production tips start to sound like "things you already know", it's usually a sign to stop consuming tutorials and just make music. There are always things to learn and techniques to add to your arsenal - but it gets to a point where you gotta trust your musical taste and your process. Twitch streams are the best though. There are a ton of VODs floating around UA-cam - personal favorites being from Virtual Riot and Kenny Beats. That track sounds really dope! Digging the 80's Japanese pop vibes.
I hear that; I think really unless there's something specific you want to learn from someone and you have the ability to ask them, tutorials do start to fall off insofar as helpfulness.
@@joshthecellist That's true. It also depends how you use the tutorial. If you passively watch a bunch of them expecting to improve through osmosis - that probably won't work. If you have two monitors - one for your DAW and another for the tutorial - and follow along step-by-step, actively doing/re-creating/applying what you're being taught - that's much more beneficial.
This also illustrates perfectly how underappreciated teaching tends to be. Some people assume that as a teacher, you just go and randomly start talking about something - and sure, that is how teaching looks like on those days when you are feeling super tired and don't have time to plan anything. But if you want to make teaching work, you need to really get to know your topic and target audience, and think over how to present things in the most palatable, engaging way. That can take anything from 30 minutes to several days (per class), depending on how ambitious you are. I have a huge respect for people who know how to create new inventions and products, be it technology, art, or anything else. But I agree with what others say: Just because you know how to do something, doesn't mean you can teach it well.
So true. It's definitely not easy to translate what you know to someone who doesn't know anything about the topic. I personally think that this should be the point of teaching. Everyone deserves to have access to knowledge. I'm majoring in chemistry, everyday people ask me random questions about science and it's hard to find the right way to make it simple without not mentioning important stuff. Teachers definitely deserve a lot more recognition
@@isabelarodrigues95 Yeah, and imagine having 30-50 students in one classroom, from various backgrounds (as I do in most of my adult education classes). It's impossible to offer good education for all students in that situation but I do feel sorry for those of them who have special needs or similar issues. I have zero resources for helping them out with those.
@@johngr1747 What it comes down to is that teaching is itself a skill, and one you need to take the time and effort to learn if you want to pass on your knowledge effectively.
Gabi, I listened to your music on Spotify. One thing I would say you need to work on, is allowing yourself to take up more space! Your vocals are very quiet compared to the loud background music. You make lovely music, your vocals are the bread and butter of your songs. So let’s hear YOU more 💕 Make your voice loud and proud babe!
He goes off by his hearing, it's ultra-developed. It's clear that he doesn't know much about the technical stuff. The problem is that it's super rare that someone has hearing abilities of his level, even among musicians. When he says that something sounds good to him, normal people don't even get it.
It’s called “perfect pitch” and it’s a skill that must be developed in your early years (if im remembering correctly it’s around 3 years old, or you will not have the ability to develop it at all). You can develop relative pitch as an adult with practice (similar to perfect pitch, just not exactly). So not rare, just has to be developed at a young age, however you are able to develop something similar later in life if your interested.
@@arianakailin1186 It's not just his perfect pitch. As a beginner producer, I am simply tweaking things around till it sounds good to me. Puth on the other hand could simply hear a track and immediately know what ambient sounds need to be layered, what parts to mix higher, etc. He can immediately hear the difference. It's like how a good guitar solo tone is good on its own, but might sound like total garbage in a mix. He also probably has the skill "audiation" allowing him to fully visualize what a piece would sound like, combining the various parts.
@@arunthebuffoon4554 I understand that completely. I have perfect pitch and have been doing choir competitively since I was in kindergarten and opera for 10yrs. Difference is I usually perform acoustically in a choir or perform operatic pieces over classical music in a theater. I can immediately hear group/ individual harmonies, the pitch of notes I need to match, how to intergate w the orchestra, tempo, who is flat, sharp or off pitch within my group/choir and adjust how Im singing to better fit the performance but I wld know crap all about music accompaniments and technical editing. Just cause I'm good at 1 aspect of music doesn't mean I'm a master by any means, I really respect people who can mix music.
@@estebanb7166 Well, it's more like he is very much aware of what he wants to make. And also how to make something that appears to a wide audience. That's why he's so successful
As someone who’s created a class, the one thing I’ve learned as a basic person is that it’s YOU HAVE TO CLARIFY WHO YOUR AUDIENCE IS. Otherwise NO one wins from the content you put out
ADHD and music productions are a hard mix. What's worked for me is forums- not just asking questions, but getting involved in the community and explaining what I have reasonable mastery of to newer members. I find that when I'm at the edge of my music theory knowledge and someone asks for an explanation I go look it up with more urgency than if it's just for me. (That said, I'm overly motivated by getting approval!) I'm completely with you on understanding why things work. That's how I work best too. I've also been lucky to be on forums that have had a lot of pros on them. When you have several famous authors in your subject, including the guy who wrote the 'Dummies' books, great pros... we once had someone ask what key harmonica Charlie Musselwhite played on a particular track and Charlie answered. Oh, and a bit of advice... don't say you didn't buy the lessons to do a review! Obviously you did it to do a review... then you can write it off! :)
I understand Charlie when he’s vocally sounding out what he’s thinking for each part. It’s hard to explain. But as a musician, it’s basically just hearing a whole arrangement in your head and using the tools you have available to put it into the world. Side note: I kinda hate how many interviews seemed so intent on talking about his perfect pitch as if it’s some insane superpower. You don’t need it to be a great musician.
It is a perfect example that being good at something doesn't mean you can teach it well. And when you are charging people hundreds of dollars for what seems a meh course at best some criticism is fair. It can be hard but he should have maybe realized that he simply isn't good at teaching.
But he doesn't have perfect pitch though? "Bonk" doesn't make one note, it gors up in pitch between notes. How dumb does that make him look to people who know what perfect pitch is?
Jacob Collier does logic breakdowns for a lot of his music and they can be boring much like the Puth ones, however, he does them live and answers fan questions. I've found those to be quite helpful
@@carldubcats3385Jacob Collier is a musical genius, but I genuinely haven’t liked any of the music he’s released. I can recognize his talent but most of his stuff seems to be an exercise in “hey look how complicated/intricate this song/melody is!” rather than just making digestible music that happens to be good. But I love how humble and open he is with getting people into the technical side of music.
I can see how Charlie might have walked into this without realising it was a bad idea. He probably gets told a lot that he's a talented guy and that people want to watch how he does things and hear him talk about it a bit. He probably doesn't recognize that he's a bad teacher and if this company approached him first and told him what to do I can see why he might not realise it's not worth its money. If he's self taught too (idk if he is or not) maybe he has nothing to compare it to and doesn't realise that people need more than this. He doesn't seem like a bad guy but I think everyone can agree from his tik toks that he has a bit of an ego and probably thinks every sentence he utters and bit of clicking around people get to witness is golden.
🤍 He’s definitely prepared. But teaching needs to come from a place of understanding what it’s like to be really confused about a subject and make it easier for other people. I also understand when these artists are surrounded by “yes” people the whole time, it does affect their ego.
That is your interpretation of Charlie But he definitely has a perfect pitch and good things must be appreciated For a matter of fact he writes his own songs, composes the music and is completely an OG I respect your opinion but saying that he has bit of an ego is a little harsh for such a talented personality
@@bananabrain2996 okay so Charlie saying that he has a perfect pitch would be considered bragging had he been falsely manipulating the audience into thinking he’s perfect but it’s absolutely true. It’s like Kendall saying I’m fair skinned might sound like a boasting to entire African population but she is simply stating a fact. Also I’ve been associated with music since as long as I can remember and listening to Charlie sing and compose feels like an honour. I just feel you disapproving him like that puts his efforts to shame
Thanks so much for the shoutout Gabi!! I hope you still got something out of Charlie's class! Also: keep up the good work!! (your music and UA-cam!) ps. maple story player here!!
LOST IN THE MOMENT HAS BEEN ON REPEAT SINCE IT CAME OUT dude!!!! i think the class was more inspiring and reassuring than anything else, but trying to train my ears for mixing & mastering has been the hardest part ❤️
Andrew Huang's series on 4 producers shows how producing can be explained. Most of the artists he brings make a short and very understandable explanation of what they did and why. They prove it can be done, just need the right people and approach.
It really depends on the major. For engineering and scientific fields, university teaches the skills you need. For example, when I was interviewing candidates for software engineering positions, there was an obvious difference between those who went to top schools, and those who went to second tier schools. (Not just a difference in talent, but difference in coding style, etc. And some good habits you learn in a good program can be seen even years later.) With that said, I have no idea what a non-engineering degree gives you. I guess a person working in your field would be the best resource for finding out if you really need to go to a top school, or can be self-taught.
Network or I can " contact" . I have been to a music school got my degree, but you know what ? I learn most of the knowledge from UA-cam. 4 years of degree taught in few hours only on youtube . Hahaha
The problem with a lot of these classes is that while these folks are very talented at their craft, they have little to no experience in actually teaching. And that’s not a bad thing in and of itself. It’s just like…learn to teach effectively or don’t do the class. I was offered the opportunity to teach songwriting at a summer camp, and get paid more than my normal amount as a counselor. I turned it down because I can’t explain to children how I write my songs. I’m not a good teacher, so I don’t teach. I can read children’s books aloud and I have fun older cousin energy, so I’m great as a counselor. I just can’t teach.
That’s the hard thing. You either get teachers who have no industry experience, or actual industry experts who can’t teach. Then the special rare middle ground where they can do both, but that’s a dime in a dozen
I always ask people to pet their dog for me when they say have a dog so you petting the dog when the dog is on screen makes me so happy I love this dog showing up through videos and you just casually petting them
I took Andrew Huang's class and had a rather different experience (mine was much better than yours I think), but I strongly resonate with the "Ad suggests you'll be working closely with famous artist but you actually won't be," as that is 100% what I experienced as well. I got a lot of great content from Andrew's course (far beyond what he covers on UA-cam), but I didn't have a single interaction with him (not even a comment on any of my assignments, which he did provide to a handful of students each week). I'm happy with my overall experience and it has taken me in a good direction with my music, but it's hard for me to recommend it, especially at the price.
Same for me - the selling pitch is kind of misleading however the content Andrew made was really good for my knowledge level (I obviously shared the content with other friends that made music as well and they too liked the content)
I took this class and never finished for this exact reason. I’m a music production teacher myself, I’m an advanced producer but a novice songwriter and the class was NOT good AT ALL explaining small details. And honestly sitting there watching him route sends and tweak compressors was completely useless because he never explains the WHY! I definitely regret taking this class, it didn’t help me much.
man's soo good at his stuff but forgot about the aspect of explaining stuff. average person isnt as talented as he is, he is like those typical kids who pick up piano and just naturally flow with it while we study weeks to get it properly. Natural talent ain't gonna be enough to help you in explaining stuff
I bought the Andre Huang course for my girlfriend she really like it and I think the editing was way more concise and to the point. No weird computer fiddling. My girls complaint was that she had to learn ableton on her own. So next course will be Mary Spenders RKC ableton music producers course
If someone wants a really good music production/songwriting class on Monthly, take Andrew Huang’s course. I learned so much! It’s really detailed for all aspects of production, including mixing and mastering. He’s also funny and engaging. The Pentatonix acapella course was really good too. Thanks for giving us the scoop on Puth’s class. 😁
I was looking for this comment, I couldn't agree more. I've been making music for a long time and I learned a lot, but there were also people who had never made music before in my class that improved so much over a month; he really goes from the bare basics to advanced content. Plus I go back and rewatch the class videos pretty often; the mastering videos in particular I rewatch almost every time I have to master something, just to refresh myself. Even for being almost $300 I feel like I got my money's worth.
I have to disagree. Just based on what was shown here of Charlie, I will say that Andrew Huang was a better teacher, likely because he’s spent so much time doing it for free on UA-cam already, but that’s… already free. I was hoping to get comments, as promised, from him in the class and thought the participation aspect could lead to I’m finding other musicians to work with, but after the first two weeks of realizing that just wasn’t going to happen, as well as the material that had been shared thus far, I requested a refund and received a prorated one. I won’t ever sign up for another of their classes. All the company cares about is branding something with a name and raking in the dollars. Not education.
Makes sense to me that the Andrew Huang course would be better than this, I've seen some of his videos and he's actually a good teacher, not just a good musician.
You absolutely nailed it about needing to know the “why” when someone is teaching you something. That applies to so many tutorials, and the teachers who understand this are the best ones to learn from. I’m not a musician, but I’m always constantly learning new editing tricks and techniques. The folks on UA-cam who make tutorials about editing and explain in depth why they are doing what they are doing are so incredibly invaluable to me. I also echo your sentiments about how being self-taught and simply seeing a professional validate what you do even if you don’t learn something new from them can be super reassuring and make you realize that maybe you’re more knowledgeable than you thought. Cue that imposter syndrome haha
You know, Ryan Tedder also offered songwriting classes in the same format. Given the nature of the classes, he decided to film an additional video on OneRepublic’s UA-cam channel where he would listen to the original songs his students wrote and give his feedback there. I feel like this could’ve been something Charlie could’ve done as well.
I enjoyed Ryan's class. These monthly classes and Masterclass will always be more about the creatives process and how they approach their craft more than actual lessons. It's not necessarily a bad thing but people shouldn't go in expecting they'll teach you fundamentals and guide you through everything step by step.
I actually really liked his course tbh, it’s absolutely not for beginners, but as a moderate level producer I found a lot of the tips he would mention occasionally to be super helpful, also the fact he gave away his vocal effect chain settings is literally priceless
Paying nearly $300 for someone to show you what presets they use, while simultaneously saying they don't know how it works, is extremely insulting to any customers/students.
I agree with everything she says. I took Ryan Tedder’s course two years ago and it was the most horrible experience, I regret every dollar I spent, unfortunately. At the of the day, free UA-cam videos and just listening to your favorite productions/ mixes do the trick. Teaching yourself by yourself the hard way, I think, is the most effective way to get better results.
A good teacher doesn't have to be exceptionally talented in his/her own speciality, all they need is just knowing how to speak well and acquiring an effective way of delivering messages. Problem is that most of immune talents (like Charlie) lack of these basic skills because sometimes they can't even explain why they ''get" it. In this case Charlie didn't scam, he's just simply an awful tutor, that's all
exactly! case in point: some world-class athletes were lousy trainers/coaches. and some people that weren't that gifted as athletes ended up by world class at leading others. because it simply isn't the same.
@mipmipmipmipmiptrue but my definition of a scam is it has to be dishonest as a money grab and from the videos it more seems like he is just a terrible tutor and doesn’t know what he’s doing
As a person who is LITERALLY in the same boat (I've been writing and singing music since I was about 10), I found this incredibly helpful - because I was curious about this class. Honestly, thank you for making this video! Also, unrelated, let's be friends! Would love to collab sometime :D
Me being a scuba dive instructor the first thing that I learned during my instructor course was that the students need to know why they need this information or this skill. It has to be valuable to them or they won't listen or forget it immediately. Objective: What is the lesson/skill/topic about Value: Why do you need this Main Points: Information short and/or easy to understand
One really good production tutorial for beginners IMO is Cavetown's " Music Production for Dummies" He explains things like how compression works and how each parameter works, eq, and many other tips. BLANKS is also really good and super fun to watch and can be pretty inspiring.
Blanks has a course? I had no idea lol. I was talking just about his channel. But that's interesting. It can be really upsetting when you join music related course (or really any creative course) not nowing what to expect or being lead to think thag it's a more advanced course wgen really it's just an entry level course with information you alr knew.
20:15 just finished the vid and you had me glued .. I loved how you flipped the topic and totally made it your own w some good humor . Then when I was least expecting it, ads were placed and I didn’t mind watching cause I had to finish the video out of pure curiosity. .. THEN when I was least expecting it even more so you promoted yourself and others and that was the best ending of all ! 20:15
Fantastic video that was super validating to the “am I doing any of this right?” doubts it seems like we all have. Thanks for making this :) also I LOVED the song!!
So glad I watched this. Thank you so much! I agree UA-cam has some incredible teachers on there and they're famous for their teaching. Teaching and being an artist are two completely different things. Thank youxxxxx
This video was great. Super entertaining for it being just someone talking about a class for 20 mins. I love when I watch something that I initially expect not to finish but then before I know it, the video is ending, and I’m writing a paragraph long comment about it on UA-cam.
I’m a licensed teacher in two states & I love all of your points about the actual educational aspects of this course. I always chuckle when people say stuff like “those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach” because in education theory, being able to teach a concept is the highest form of understanding (meaning good teachers *really* know what they’re talking about). I am working on building my own online course now (based in my content area) and one of the things that sets my course apart from most online courses is that students will submit their work to *me* for individual feedback and suggestions. There is value in peer feedback sometimes, but like you mentioned: a lot of the times, it’s like the blind leading the blind. (Peer review and suggestions are most beneficial when all students have mastered at least the same level of understanding of a concept or concepts. Otherwise you run the risk of someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about giving bad advice to a peer who may have been close to mastering the concept and stop making progress toward mastery as a result.) It’s the exact reason that I never assigned homework as a classroom teacher; I would rather a student can ask me, the “expert,” their questions and check their thinking in class rather than be stuck at home without resources and possibly be practicing concepts with wrong thought processes or information. Overall it seems like the course could have been improved very easily if they had just hired one or two producers to give feedback in addition to the peer feedback… and, ideally, had someone with an actual educational background help Charlie create the course content (they could ask what we in education call “probing questions,” which are essentially questions to understand someone’s thought process).
Thank you for making this video. I would have cried like a baby for buying this course. I obnoxiously received the advertisements for this course to the point I felt guilt for not buying the course! Thank you for this video!!!!!
To be honest, most of the Monthly courses are less like a course and more like you're sitting on the studio couch while the instructor works. Which is COOL, but should definitely be marketed and priced more appropriately. Also, the fact that the sound for the course was a mono room mic is unacceptable for a professional audio course. Nothing but respect to Charlie, and I know Monthly courses may be helping some people, but I feel like having a mediator or host to help these producers and artists who don't specialize as teachers or content makers would really streamline the process, make it more understandable, a better value, etc.
+1 for their screwup recording the entire course in mono. Monthly (Studio) did this with at least Ryan Tedder's and Louis Bell's courses as well. For a company attempting to sell top-shelf music production courses at premium prices, it's inexcusable that they made this mistake multiple times.
Fun Fact: Blanks had one of the first monthly classes, which I attended with a free DAW and now I'm at university doing music production, Blanks is the best teacher I've had I swear
I took the course in a shared group because it was expensive for me alone from india. It was kinda worth it. But i think youtube provide much lot content for free. But watching charlie sharing ideas and making music was satisfactory
I took this course as an ABSOLUTE BEGINNER and I did not finish it because I had no idea what was going on 90% of the time. He used a lot of keyboard shortcuts and Like you said just did things without explaining how or why.
I took these classes one time and im not a begginer im also not the best but im alright enough to have a band which i have, yeah everything u said perfectly sums up what i felt
The fact they are always using Pro Tools and tons of expensive plugins (which literally no beginner can afford) in like every paid production course pisses me off. I study audio engineering and I think certain pugins really are worth of buying (in my case Melodyne, some reverbs, Isotope RX and some virtual instruments) since there isn't always free alternative for everything, but in most cases stock plugins and free VSTs will do the job if you know what you're doing. An expensive emulation of some ancient tube compressor won't fix your shitty mix.
This class has really helped me. I didn't get "taught" by him in the literal sense, but I have rewatched certain parts to see how he does things and used it in my own production. When he was doing the bass I watched it to figure out bass myself. I haven't done acoustic bass really until this and did a pretty decent job. I use this class to see how he does things, but more so to use it as a reference point. When I'm struggling with something I can go back ti the class and see how Charlie puth would do it to get some ideas. It's helped.
Thank you for bringing this up. I'm currently taking the class right now and a lot of the things said in this video are true but I don't think it's a waste of money. Especially when you can go back and watch that content forever and share it with others. I've learned a lot of interesting techniques from Charlie that I never would've thought to try myself. I also loved when he would say, Max Martin taught me that, or Finneas told me to always do that. That was super cool to hear because it's like you're getting all of these inside secrets that pros use. I think that the issue is just the marketing. I don't think this is a beginner class, this whole class layout is for people who have already been doing music for a while, know the basics, have written songs before, and are looking to see different ways of producing and writing music. I think there is a lot to learn for beginners as well but it will involve a lot of what you did, going back and seeing what Charlie is doing rather than just being told straight up what to do. Blanks or Andrew Huang are both awesome and great and entertaining classes for beginners. This course is for intermediate producers looking to shadow a pro and see a different perspective. There is value in it, it's just not as straight forward as they market it and will not appeal to everyone. Anyway, just my perspective from what I've experienced so far.
@@Spicyboi1214 yes! that 100% completely explains my perspective on it. Wow. Other similar monthly classes are the same way. I believe it's because they don't make music like a beginner anymore. They are showing you how they make music currently, but a beginner may get overwhelmed or feel like they aren't learning anything. It needs to be broken down much simpler and to find that maybe another monthly class is available or there's the countless youtube videos. You nailed it though. I have the same perspective
see it’s not that he didn’t teach somebody something new it’s that he wasn’t very technical and doing so and if this is how you learn, it’s how you learn if it’s not then you need someone else to teach you this stuff
The class is really good for experienced producers who want their favourite producer, engineer at work and can take a lot from the video. As he doesn't explain most of the stuff you should have the experience and knowledge of why he's doing certain things just by looking at it. It's more of a "oh he also uses the same compressor on his vocals as me, he also uses the same synths/plugins or his process is also like me(slow or fast).
I really like this video. You hit the nail on the head around time mark 11:20. Just because someone is really good at what they do! Does not mean they can teach it to someone else. Most people do not know how to be the teacher.
in college my french horn instructor told me about taking a lesson from one of the top horn players when he was in college. He said it was one of the worst lessons he took because the guy didn't understand how to explain what he was doing because it just came naturally. I feel like this is a similar situation.
I do think it's worthwhile to mention that Andrew Huang's class was really different from this in a lot of great ways! Definitely not a magical class to take you to the pro level, but I found that it was broken down into a lot smaller pieces and went really in depth into writing and producing. I had a lot of fun with it!
Huang's stuff is awesome because it's essentially audio engineering for the creative artist and he really gives you a better knowledge of what you're using to build your ideas more thoroughly. Andrew doesn't necessarily focus on work flow BUT he does make a point of efficiency
I “did” this class a year ago too. I think I stopped after the 2nd class because there was no actual steps and instruction. You’re really just observing him.
I took the course and agree with everything you said. The course is great if your a major Puth fan and wanna watch him do his thing. But he gave so few details about his songs he makes in the course. Doesn’t explain chord progressions, just comes up with Melodie’s and harmonies instantly with very little explanation. I was able to figure these things out but I was teaching myself. Really unfortunate because I fell in love with the two songs he made in the course. As a fan I loved it. As a student I was disappointed
I've been listening to Blanks for a few years now, and I love his videos where he shows his recording/producing process. Good to see him getting more attention lately :)
I took Andrew Huang's class two years ago just when I started producing music. I really liked it, Andrew is a great teacher, he explains everything in details and he has charisma and he is also funny so you never get bored. I went back to it this year with two years experience on my side and I found it still very helpful. I would still take Andrew's class if I had to start everything all over again.
I took the course too and I saw it more like being a fly on the wall to see Charlie Puth’s particular process. Kind of like the Masterclass videos. It’s not a game changing course at all but it does satisfy a certain curiosity of sitting in a room with someone who has had huge success in what they do and they show you how they do it. It is chock full of little spoken and unspoken nuggets of music creation wisdom. So basically, if you can’t or won’t afford the field trip to Charlie’s studio, don’t go and you will still be fine. If you got cash to burn and are really curious about how Charlie does what Charlie does, it’s not a bad experience to be had at all.
I've watched quite a few of your videos and I tend to not subscribe but you made the button have an effect when you said it and I assume it's something simple to do, but I was impressed so I subscribed
"Actually I was here before she even hit 5k subs. So getting here before 1million isn't even saying much. And if you're here that late, just being a Patreon member doesn't mean much. You're just trying to fit in and pretend you're a real fan"
@@brandonnorvell5369 lol, glad to hear it. Imagine she gets big enough for people to do this fr though. That'd be wild and at the rate she's growing it's a real possibility
Loved the song you made! Plastic love is a classic! Love that song! Good stuff, man! Yeah, these classes are a mixed bag. I just bought a voice over class and im gonna see how that goes! 😅👍🏻 love your vibe and voice!
That tip about the stacking vocals really is a game changer, if you can get the takes close and double them up it can really make your vocal stick out of the mix when you need it to
This video was fire! Good luck on the journey!! I hope you blow up in music! Seriously though, the video was funny, fun to watch, and overall just a well-polished video!
I took the Ryan Tedder course on Monthly. It sometimes was inspiring to see his working process but other than that I don't think I learned anything new. It was fun meeting up with other musicians in the peer group though!
OLD MAPLESTORY PLAYER HERE, SAYING HELLO!!! the moment you started playing your first draft i instantly got maplestory vibes, im so glad to hear someone breathing new life into such a great soundtrack
Hi :) I was actually delighted to see this come up in my sidebar. You make some really good points. I never took Charlies class, but I wa part of the first run of Andrews class. I honestly had a good time there, but where I agree with you the most is, that it is NOT for all skill levels. I’m also self taught and by no actually teach myself and learning to teach is a whole thing. I value really good teachers, and aspired to be one one day, but I am so tired of calling people “experts” based on their success and putting them in front of people to teach. But yeah, just wanted to pop in here quickly and let you know I appreciate what you are saying here, and I hope it potentially helps people not take the course, if it’s not what they are looking for. I still think it’s great for a certain skill and experience level, at least Andrew’s since that’s the only one I took, but certainly not for all levels. The on thing that all levels will benefit from is just the consistency of working on it for a month. Growth is very likely to happen in that time, but it would be unfair to attribute that falsely to the material. Cheers ;) Merlin
Disclosure has made some of the smartest producer streams on YT. Highly recommend. EPROM also has some great streams if you’re into crazy sound design.
Thank you so much for validating my experience, sis. 🌷 I thought I was a bad person for not being able to finish it and that I wasn't taking music seriously, but you helped me to realize that I really cannot learn by staring at a screen of someone stuttering🤣🤣🤣
Thank you gabi for taking the class and sharing your insights. I've seen that ad so many times and hesitated to get it myself. I did take Blanks' Monthly class a year and a half ago though and (I did not finish it either) the first half felt like it was actual, good, practical knowledge. I got to learn how Blanks builds his song (there was a class on some music theory, on drums, one on keys and guitar if I remember right) and I think he did explain every decision he made. It's unfortunate that Charlie's class turned out like that - I look up to him and his skills - but as you said, teaching is a whole other skill, and being great at something doesn't make you great at teaching it.
I totally agree with you. If the whole course is just watching him do stuff without being able to ask questions then why even buy this poop? I can just hop on twitch and find really good producers and just ask them my doubts by donating like $3-$5. Also, shoutout to Blanks. I’ve learned so many things watching him make songs in such short and entertaining videos
You have a very strong dork/ nerd gravity about you haha. The song you created is beautiful and well thought out. I wished I could have been here 2 years ago to be a Gabi gatekeeper, but I'm here now! 😂
Excellent honest and influential review especially for fellow neurodiverse folk like me, who knows how rare quality effective educational content is to find, so prefers to self-teach with snippets from here, there and everywhere including experimentation and learning from mistakes! Thank you!
Awesome video. I took the class too a little less than a year ago, and I have kinda the same thoughts. I was in the same boat as you: I had been studying music for a while and had intermediate experience with production. I decided to set aside some time and money for the class because I was off from college. I've got some thoughts about my experience of the class, sorry for the wall of text :) Firstly, I totally agree in that this class is not at all something for beginners. It's so fast-paced that basically everyone without multiple years of production experience in my "cohort" fell behind almost immediately. Even I inevitably missed a day and fell behind a bit, and at my skill level then I was totally left in the dust with some of the elements I was unfamiliar with (ex: vocal recording). In addition, the way work is presented in the group is basically like Instagram, meaning all of the best work gets pushed to the top. As a result, most beginners only got like 1 or 2 comments on their work, while the best producers gobbled up a lot of the attention. All of the plugins he uses being super expensive is totally another barrier to entry that pressures you into commitment and also into purchasing things that you probably don't need. For instance, I grabbed two of the hardware compressor emulations he used (the Waves CLA-2A and CLA-76) because they were on sale at the time. With more experience, I'm realizing that the stock compressors in my Digital Audio Workstation are easier to use and work better with the software, and I basically only use those compressors for really niche stuff. It was only $35, but I could easily see a beginner falling down the plugin rabbit hole in hopes of sounding better. Plus, there are easily free options out there that Monthly could have suggested, which leads me to suspect there might be some affiliate link shenanigans going on there. Another issue is that they don't explain many of the basic concepts of making music that Charlie uses. I took a Fundamentals of Music Technology class at university, and we started the class with multiple weeks of building knowledge about the physics behind sound, moved on to how sound is recorded digitally, and only then did we begin discussing how to manipulate sound in a Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW. It really helps when you're starting out to learn with enough time to really grasp the basics so you don't have gaps later on or get left behind, and Monthly's class fails in that regard. The same thing happens again, but WORSE, with music theory. Andrew Huang's a great teacher, and his video is succinct and clear, but what he's trying to do is cover 2-3 semesters of university basic musicianship and theory in 40 minutes. Again, this is a problem with how Monthly is set up. If you don't have a grasp on music theory coming in, you're kinda stranded in the class. I don't think any of this is directly the fault of Charlie or his working style. Not everyone's a great teacher, and they basically just told him to make a song on camera with no syllabus or real audience other than "people who wanna make a song in a month". He's also moving at a pace where he expects the audience to know quite a bit. Monthly really sold this almost as a lecture course, when it's more of a lab, where you see something demonstrated and get to observe the process and apply what you need to your work. Plus, he's using all these super expensive plugins because he's had 1) the time in the industry to rack up a library of licenses, and 2) the success to be able to afford whatever he needs. His studio setup is not applicable to every single producer, nor is it perfect or ideal for everyone either. Time-wise, the class was demanding, even though I was only taking the class and working part-time. One of the things you don't factor in is just how long it takes to actually make music, and that ends up compounding if you're a beginner. Finally, I do think the class has merits, just not in the way Monthly pitches it. I think it's valuable as a look into how an artist works and ways you can apply those basic concepts to create art. It's like the value I find in Logic Pro's example projects from producers like FINNEAS and Take a Daytrip, where I can open this project and break down not only what was done to achieve the sounds of those records, but I can also analyze why those choices were made with the audio material. Basically, it's valuable as a method of artistic study. Is it $279 worth of value? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk TL:DR / Monthly definitely advertised this misleadingly, and I would not recommend this to a beginner. However, I think the class definitely has merit. Once you have a grip on the basics, study of other artists' work is a huge part of development, or at least it has been for me. Excellent video and review. you've got a new subscriber :)
There’s a million music courses like this nowadays and they all seem to end up like this one I learned production by just doing stuff every wrong way until it sounded good😭
Honestly I think that the people that are naturally talented or just “get it” (whatever “it” is) make the worst teachers. A lot of time they can’t really explain the why, because it just makes sense to them
That’s very true... both amazing and also annoying at the same time haha
Absolutely!! If things come naturally you have no experience "learning" in a way that can be directive, y'know? If it's a thing you put effort into learning/building skill instead of *enhancing* a natural talent/skill it's much easier to instruct (cue flashbacks of crying at the table as my mom tries to help with my math questions lmao).
Reminds me of conservatory teachers that just expect ppl to be able to do things that either take decades to master or that came naturally to them
So true! I'm good at maths but am absolutely horrible at teaching it
That’s why I can’t teach ceramics lmao
Never take a class from someone "naturally" talented and gifted, always take a class from the people who struggled to get those same concepts.
Also the song you made is an absolute bop.
like for example ?
teachers ??@@xCriXiuSx
ye ye i see that no i meant like you have channel or course recomandations ?@@xenzmoth
That's why I hate math teachers.
"I'm not a beginner at all, but certainly not an expert" is the story of my whole life
Me, 20 years of beginner salsa classes.
thissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
FOR REAL
My A.D.D. has allowed me to take up many hobbies, just good enough to say I can do them, but not enough to say I’m great. 😂😂
Technically I can play guitar, bass, and piano. I’m also an artist (watercolor, acrylic, and charcoal). I also know a little bit of Spanish and Dutch. I’m also in the beginning stages of a couple different stories and a movie hahaha!
@yourlifeisagreatstory I made one of those hobbies my job, and man it's scary now I have to actually be an expert lol
For that price you can take an audio engineering or music production class at a community college and actually get high quality instruction and 1 on 1 attention lol
@@Abolas452 Yeah dude I said one class lol literally any class you can take at a community college would be better than this, I'm not saying those are the only options. And curriculums and class names are wildly different across different colleges
@@Abolas452 Dude you're trying to compare my extremely general statement to your one personal experience when I am not talking about going through a degree program at all. There is such a thing as continuing education courses and non credit courses that you can take independent of a degree program. While some classes require prerequisites, colleges like making money and still accept people who don't have them at the instructor's discretion, including when they're not seeking a degree. If we're using Gabi as an example, she could easily demonstrate her knowledge of general music theory with a placement exam to waive a prerequisite for a class like "intro to music production." Which is exactly what you can do at the community college near me. I don't know why you think I'm talking about getting expert level knowledge from one course when I'm only comparing it to the small amount of surface level knowledge Gabi learned from Charlie Puth's. Nowhere did I say they are "thorough or all encompassing," or even imply anything close to that. Since I did go to college, I can distinguish the difference between me using "better" and you thinking I meant "the best." I have a BFA so I'm not sure why you assumed I have 0 knowledge of signing up for college courses from 2 comments when I've actually taken more college courses than you.
@@Maria_745 Would you recommend someone take a community college class in production if they are passionate about it? Or is it better to just continue learning on your own and put the hours in the studio?
Big fish theory
You just want (1 on 1) attention
I took Andrew Huang's class on music production, and that did a lot of the things you say is missing from Charlie's class. He was very specific about everything, and is just very good at teaching. He used free plugin mostly, or offered free plugins as alternatives to the ones he used. I highly recommend it! I didn't know much production but have been writing songs all my life.
andrew’s channel is such a gem, the way he talks about music inspires me
This! I actually took both classes and also liked Andrew Huang's class much more.
Andrew comes of as a much more humble guy
(obviously I don't know him personally)
I’ve been following Andrew Huang’s stuff for like 10 years and he is so good at what he does
I took it as well, and I agree, the editing was incredibly clean, and following along was very easy. The only problem I can find with it is that it needs way more daily commitment than advertised, but it was great nontheless!
As someone who also has perfect pitch, I'm just amazed at the fact that someone managed to turn something so uninteresting into a talking point, let alone, a career. I've seen him do his perfect pitch shtick on some American TV show and I'm like "WTF people clap for him figuring out a note?", the absolute best reaction I can get for telling my wife about our neighbor's bike's ignition sound pitch and perfect 4th intervals is a "wow that's great, I really don't care"
As someone also with perfect pitch. Your reaction you get to exclaiming “I know that note!!!” is on brand. Nobody cares and most people find it weird
I think y’all are hanging out with the wrong people. I would be asking all the time what note this is followed by that is so cool.
@@BeUnadulteratedRIGHT lmao i would be always asking “what note is that” i’d be so annoying
@@BeUnadulterated I came here to comment the same thing
As another person with perfect pitch, I can confirm! Getting my girlfriend to roll her eyes when I saw how our AC unit makes a Bb, or that her bike break is a C# 🤣
advice to beginners:
you do NOT need fancy plugins you see your favorite artist use. realize without the ear they have, the room they record in, and the voice they have, you will not get the same sound. i wish i learned that before i dropped $1000s on plugins
moral of the story. learn the basics, and i reccommend getting acoustic foam on your walls.
record like theres no mixing, mix like theres no mastering.
Lemme add to this - The plugins only enhance whatever is already there - I finally spent a shit ton money on some plugins recently and they have been a god send but if I did even 5 months ago - it would have been useless - You need the basics and the ability to make good shit before you make good shit great .
If you’re recording in your room don’t also spend a lot in just putting foam all through the room or in a closet that’ll make your vocals boxy. Instead invest in acoustic panels to reduce the reflections
that last sentence is such great advice. as a beginner youll always think the reason your music doesnt sound as good is because you dont have the same tools professionals do. but good plugins wont make a bad performance sound good. record and record until you think its perfect then good plugins will give you that extra push. same with mastering, perfect the mix. dont just say "itll get fixed in mastering" cuz youll never get the results you want
@@jadedbunniii7757 Buy yourself a dynamic microphone dont need to drop lots of money even the popular shure58 would do or senheiser make some great cheap dynamics too ! it will save you a lot of headaches with room reflections etc
AMEN
I do like his music, but this video is literally the definition of the person who is so far ahead in their field that they can no longer teach the basics, if it is actually meant to be catered to beginners.
I think it's even more simple than that - he really doesn't understand, and he says as much. In fact he just proves you can be successful without understanding your full toolset, with the right combination of other factors - something many famous artists of other fields can also say. So you can be successful and talented and still have no idea what you're doing. A quote often attributed to Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
@@peachy_lili good quote
You’re giving him way too much credit. He simply doesn’t understand the basic components of music at all. He’s just a fake personality in it to take your money
@@hobbitjaffa Bro studied at berklee what the fuck are you talking about?
@@hobbitjaffa Bro he graduated from Berklee, I'm pretty sure he does
Music teacher here! Classes like these are a big problem nowadays with the ease of accessibility with the internet. You don't get to see what you're getting, but "it costs money so it must teach me something others aren't!" There are so many great content creators who go out of their way to educate for free, and unless you're taking a real class which gives you feedback and communication with an instructor, you're never going to learn more from these classes.
Thank you for making this video! It's a shame to see that Charlie Puth, an artist I have a lot of respect for, is getting involved with these scams. He honestly probably doesn't have much to do with it other than recording the video(s).
Nothing these paid-for lessons will teach you anything you can’t learn for free on the internet. Hell you can even find college lectures free on UA-cam.
@mipmipmipmipmip I am also wondering why people are defending this particular scammer..? He sounds pretty run-of-the-mill to me.
@@I-Need-LemonIt depends on what you’d like to do. I know that as a lyrical singer and « classical » instrumentist, I’ll always be better off in the physical, outside world with opera/orchestral workshops (and to think that I was a rapper/producer before the change). As I’m still in training, I have yet to develop my SM unlike a lot of my peers (especially female, girls are extra with their promo even as bachelor students only). I think however it’d be useful for me to learn how to self-market like modern music artists.
@@TheSoftestGirlYouKnow its becouse he is famous and people like his songs, so they can't bring themselves to state the obvious. He recorded the lessons and he recorded the promotion! He clearly knew what he recorded... and sold it as a thing that it was not.. Having good songs that lots of people like does not make you a good person, but some think that if you relate with the music he just cant me a bad person.. just look at R. Kelly case, lots of people were defending him just because they liked his music..
@mipmipmipmipmip its becouse he is famous and people like his songs, so they can't bring themselves to state the obvious. He recorded the lessons and he recorded the promotion! He clearly knew what he recorded... and sold it as a thing that it was not.. Having good songs that lots of people like does not make you a good person, but some think that if you relate with the music he just cant me a bad person.. just look at R. Kelly case, lots of people were defending him just because they liked his music..
Once you get to a point where music production tips start to sound like "things you already know", it's usually a sign to stop consuming tutorials and just make music. There are always things to learn and techniques to add to your arsenal - but it gets to a point where you gotta trust your musical taste and your process.
Twitch streams are the best though. There are a ton of VODs floating around UA-cam - personal favorites being from Virtual Riot and Kenny Beats.
That track sounds really dope! Digging the 80's Japanese pop vibes.
I watch a lot of Bishu VODs myself. I like watching him mess around and try weird stuff.
@@queenwednesdayart yo they're pretty dope
I hear that; I think really unless there's something specific you want to learn from someone and you have the ability to ask them, tutorials do start to fall off insofar as helpfulness.
@@joshthecellist That's true. It also depends how you use the tutorial.
If you passively watch a bunch of them expecting to improve through osmosis - that probably won't work.
If you have two monitors - one for your DAW and another for the tutorial - and follow along step-by-step, actively doing/re-creating/applying what you're being taught - that's much more beneficial.
@@Anonymous-nk7jv Yeah that's fair. There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to learning. You do whatever works for you!
This also illustrates perfectly how underappreciated teaching tends to be. Some people assume that as a teacher, you just go and randomly start talking about something - and sure, that is how teaching looks like on those days when you are feeling super tired and don't have time to plan anything.
But if you want to make teaching work, you need to really get to know your topic and target audience, and think over how to present things in the most palatable, engaging way. That can take anything from 30 minutes to several days (per class), depending on how ambitious you are.
I have a huge respect for people who know how to create new inventions and products, be it technology, art, or anything else. But I agree with what others say: Just because you know how to do something, doesn't mean you can teach it well.
Underrated comment, so true what you said!
So true. It's definitely not easy to translate what you know to someone who doesn't know anything about the topic. I personally think that this should be the point of teaching. Everyone deserves to have access to knowledge. I'm majoring in chemistry, everyday people ask me random questions about science and it's hard to find the right way to make it simple without not mentioning important stuff. Teachers definitely deserve a lot more recognition
@@isabelarodrigues95 Yeah, and imagine having 30-50 students in one classroom, from various backgrounds (as I do in most of my adult education classes). It's impossible to offer good education for all students in that situation but I do feel sorry for those of them who have special needs or similar issues. I have zero resources for helping them out with those.
Yeah, having the skills for a thing doesn't automatically make you qualified to pass'em off to someone else
@@johngr1747 What it comes down to is that teaching is itself a skill, and one you need to take the time and effort to learn if you want to pass on your knowledge effectively.
Gabi, I listened to your music on Spotify. One thing I would say you need to work on, is allowing yourself to take up more space! Your vocals are very quiet compared to the loud background music. You make lovely music, your vocals are the bread and butter of your songs. So let’s hear YOU more 💕 Make your voice loud and proud babe!
maybe it’s intentional
He goes off by his hearing, it's ultra-developed. It's clear that he doesn't know much about the technical stuff.
The problem is that it's super rare that someone has hearing abilities of his level, even among musicians.
When he says that something sounds good to him, normal people don't even get it.
It’s called “perfect pitch” and it’s a skill that must be developed in your early years (if im remembering correctly it’s around 3 years old, or you will not have the ability to develop it at all). You can develop relative pitch as an adult with practice (similar to perfect pitch, just not exactly). So not rare, just has to be developed at a young age, however you are able to develop something similar later in life if your interested.
@@arianakailin1186 It's not just his perfect pitch. As a beginner producer, I am simply tweaking things around till it sounds good to me. Puth on the other hand could simply hear a track and immediately know what ambient sounds need to be layered, what parts to mix higher, etc. He can immediately hear the difference. It's like how a good guitar solo tone is good on its own, but might sound like total garbage in a mix.
He also probably has the skill "audiation" allowing him to fully visualize what a piece would sound like, combining the various parts.
@@arunthebuffoon4554
I understand that completely. I have perfect pitch and have been doing choir competitively since I was in kindergarten and opera for 10yrs. Difference is I usually perform acoustically in a choir or perform operatic pieces over classical music in a theater. I can immediately hear group/ individual harmonies, the pitch of notes I need to match, how to intergate w the orchestra, tempo, who is flat, sharp or off pitch within my group/choir and adjust how Im singing to better fit the performance but I wld know crap all about music accompaniments and technical editing. Just cause I'm good at 1 aspect of music doesn't mean I'm a master by any means, I really respect people who can mix music.
You act like he makes really sophisticated music. He has an incredible gift and very little taste.
@@estebanb7166
Well, it's more like he is very much aware of what he wants to make. And also how to make something that appears to a wide audience. That's why he's so successful
As someone who’s created a class, the one thing I’ve learned as a basic person is that it’s YOU HAVE TO CLARIFY WHO YOUR AUDIENCE IS. Otherwise NO one wins from the content you put out
nice pfp
ADHD and music productions are a hard mix. What's worked for me is forums- not just asking questions, but getting involved in the community and explaining what I have reasonable mastery of to newer members. I find that when I'm at the edge of my music theory knowledge and someone asks for an explanation I go look it up with more urgency than if it's just for me. (That said, I'm overly motivated by getting approval!)
I'm completely with you on understanding why things work. That's how I work best too. I've also been lucky to be on forums that have had a lot of pros on them. When you have several famous authors in your subject, including the guy who wrote the 'Dummies' books, great pros... we once had someone ask what key harmonica Charlie Musselwhite played on a particular track and Charlie answered.
Oh, and a bit of advice... don't say you didn't buy the lessons to do a review! Obviously you did it to do a review... then you can write it off! :)
thank you for this. i agree.
that's really good advice! what forums were the most helpful for you?
I understand Charlie when he’s vocally sounding out what he’s thinking for each part. It’s hard to explain. But as a musician, it’s basically just hearing a whole arrangement in your head and using the tools you have available to put it into the world.
Side note: I kinda hate how many interviews seemed so intent on talking about his perfect pitch as if it’s some insane superpower. You don’t need it to be a great musician.
It is a perfect example that being good at something doesn't mean you can teach it well. And when you are charging people hundreds of dollars for what seems a meh course at best some criticism is fair. It can be hard but he should have maybe realized that he simply isn't good at teaching.
And on the other hand, having perfect pitch doesn’t automatically make you a good musician. My chemistry teacher had perfect pitch. It means nothing.
But he doesn't have perfect pitch though? "Bonk" doesn't make one note, it gors up in pitch between notes. How dumb does that make him look to people who know what perfect pitch is?
I know a few perfect pitch peeps, and their music kinda sucks. It sounds nice, but it's just lame.
He can sing, play, he’s got perfect pitch but everything he does is bland, derivative shit. He also loves himself.
Jacob Collier does logic breakdowns for a lot of his music and they can be boring much like the Puth ones, however, he does them live and answers fan questions. I've found those to be quite helpful
Jacob Collier is great. He is a musical genius and is happy to teach other people what he knows.
@@carldubcats3385Jacob Collier is a musical genius, but I genuinely haven’t liked any of the music he’s released. I can recognize his talent but most of his stuff seems to be an exercise in “hey look how complicated/intricate this song/melody is!” rather than just making digestible music that happens to be good. But I love how humble and open he is with getting people into the technical side of music.
@@W4TSKYreally ? If you listen to son like witness me, or never gonna be Alone ? I think he really strikes a good balance nowadays, he's Amazing
Watching one Jacob Collier breakdown is an order of magnitude more illuminating than this entire class.
@@W4TSKYtry listening to Little Blue
I can see how Charlie might have walked into this without realising it was a bad idea. He probably gets told a lot that he's a talented guy and that people want to watch how he does things and hear him talk about it a bit. He probably doesn't recognize that he's a bad teacher and if this company approached him first and told him what to do I can see why he might not realise it's not worth its money. If he's self taught too (idk if he is or not) maybe he has nothing to compare it to and doesn't realise that people need more than this. He doesn't seem like a bad guy but I think everyone can agree from his tik toks that he has a bit of an ego and probably thinks every sentence he utters and bit of clicking around people get to witness is golden.
🤍 He’s definitely prepared. But teaching needs to come from a place of understanding what it’s like to be really confused about a subject and make it easier for other people. I also understand when these artists are surrounded by “yes” people the whole time, it does affect their ego.
@@eddiegarcia6771 Oh I had no idea! That rules out that part then
That is your interpretation of Charlie
But he definitely has a perfect pitch and good things must be appreciated
For a matter of fact he writes his own songs, composes the music and is completely an OG
I respect your opinion but saying that he has bit of an ego is a little harsh for such a talented personality
@@SakshiRanematriks I don't see how any of these things contradict him having a bit of an ego?
@@bananabrain2996 okay so Charlie saying that he has a perfect pitch would be considered bragging had he been falsely manipulating the audience into thinking he’s perfect but it’s absolutely true. It’s like Kendall saying I’m fair skinned might sound like a boasting to entire African population but she is simply stating a fact.
Also I’ve been associated with music since as long as I can remember and listening to Charlie sing and compose feels like an honour. I just feel you disapproving him like that puts his efforts to shame
Thanks so much for the shoutout Gabi!! I hope you still got something out of Charlie's class!
Also: keep up the good work!! (your music and UA-cam!)
ps. maple story player here!!
LOST IN THE MOMENT HAS BEEN ON REPEAT SINCE IT CAME OUT dude!!!! i think the class was more inspiring and reassuring than anything else, but trying to train my ears for mixing & mastering has been the hardest part ❤️
@@itsgabibelle Thank you!!! And yeah, mixing & mastering is the hardest!!! a completely different beast haha!
@@MusicbyBlanks I love your music man!
Omg 😳😳😳😳😳😳
Omg 😳😳😳😳😳
Andrew Huang's series on 4 producers shows how producing can be explained. Most of the artists he brings make a short and very understandable explanation of what they did and why. They prove it can be done, just need the right people and approach.
i love those, and it highlights how different production process can be for different people
“Why would I pay for this when I can get it for free on UA-cam” is the question I’ve been asking about universities for about a decade now
90% of the reason why you would go to a university to be taught a field that doesn't require a degree or on field knowledge is for networking
Degree
It really depends on the major. For engineering and scientific fields, university teaches the skills you need. For example, when I was interviewing candidates for software engineering positions, there was an obvious difference between those who went to top schools, and those who went to second tier schools. (Not just a difference in talent, but difference in coding style, etc. And some good habits you learn in a good program can be seen even years later.)
With that said, I have no idea what a non-engineering degree gives you. I guess a person working in your field would be the best resource for finding out if you really need to go to a top school, or can be self-taught.
Because you can't put UA-cam videos on a resume.
Network or I can " contact" . I have been to a music school got my degree, but you know what ? I learn most of the knowledge from UA-cam.
4 years of degree taught in few hours only on youtube . Hahaha
The problem with a lot of these classes is that while these folks are very talented at their craft, they have little to no experience in actually teaching. And that’s not a bad thing in and of itself. It’s just like…learn to teach effectively or don’t do the class. I was offered the opportunity to teach songwriting at a summer camp, and get paid more than my normal amount as a counselor. I turned it down because I can’t explain to children how I write my songs. I’m not a good teacher, so I don’t teach. I can read children’s books aloud and I have fun older cousin energy, so I’m great as a counselor. I just can’t teach.
That’s the hard thing. You either get teachers who have no industry experience, or actual industry experts who can’t teach. Then the special rare middle ground where they can do both, but that’s a dime in a dozen
Songwriting is such a personal thing I don't understand how anyone could teach it at all
You can teach if you want to. It's a skill one can acquire if they care to; it's not necessarily an inherent ability.
I always ask people to pet their dog for me when they say have a dog so you petting the dog when the dog is on screen makes me so happy
I love this dog showing up through videos and you just casually petting them
I took Andrew Huang's class and had a rather different experience (mine was much better than yours I think), but I strongly resonate with the "Ad suggests you'll be working closely with famous artist but you actually won't be," as that is 100% what I experienced as well. I got a lot of great content from Andrew's course (far beyond what he covers on UA-cam), but I didn't have a single interaction with him (not even a comment on any of my assignments, which he did provide to a handful of students each week). I'm happy with my overall experience and it has taken me in a good direction with my music, but it's hard for me to recommend it, especially at the price.
I thought for those classes they gave feedback to each student and even had video calls and stuff?
Same for me - the selling pitch is kind of misleading however the content Andrew made was really good for my knowledge level (I obviously shared the content with other friends that made music as well and they too liked the content)
same experience, i gave it a couple weeks to get feedback from andrew and that never happened, im pretty capable and wanted professional feedback
I took this class and never finished for this exact reason. I’m a music production teacher myself, I’m an advanced producer but a novice songwriter and the class was NOT good AT ALL explaining small details. And honestly sitting there watching him route sends and tweak compressors was completely useless because he never explains the WHY! I definitely regret taking this class, it didn’t help me much.
man's soo good at his stuff but forgot about the aspect of explaining stuff. average person isnt as talented as he is, he is like those typical kids who pick up piano and just naturally flow with it while we study weeks to get it properly. Natural talent ain't gonna be enough to help you in explaining stuff
Just curious, did he use any Routing Folder Track? Looks like he just had so many tracks and didn’t use the RF function
I bought the Andre Huang course for my girlfriend she really like it and I think the editing was way more concise and to the point. No weird computer fiddling. My girls complaint was that she had to learn ableton on her own. So next course will be Mary Spenders RKC ableton music producers course
If someone wants a really good music production/songwriting class on Monthly, take Andrew Huang’s course. I learned so much! It’s really detailed for all aspects of production, including mixing and mastering. He’s also funny and engaging. The Pentatonix acapella course was really good too. Thanks for giving us the scoop on Puth’s class. 😁
I heard very good things about the Andrew Huang class. I love his videos too, he knows how to be both entertaining and educating
I was looking for this comment, I couldn't agree more. I've been making music for a long time and I learned a lot, but there were also people who had never made music before in my class that improved so much over a month; he really goes from the bare basics to advanced content. Plus I go back and rewatch the class videos pretty often; the mastering videos in particular I rewatch almost every time I have to master something, just to refresh myself. Even for being almost $300 I feel like I got my money's worth.
I have to disagree. Just based on what was shown here of Charlie, I will say that Andrew Huang was a better teacher, likely because he’s spent so much time doing it for free on UA-cam already, but that’s… already free. I was hoping to get comments, as promised, from him in the class and thought the participation aspect could lead to I’m finding other musicians to work with, but after the first two weeks of realizing that just wasn’t going to happen, as well as the material that had been shared thus far, I requested a refund and received a prorated one. I won’t ever sign up for another of their classes. All the company cares about is branding something with a name and raking in the dollars. Not education.
Makes sense to me that the Andrew Huang course would be better than this, I've seen some of his videos and he's actually a good teacher, not just a good musician.
its NOT better. Its different. Half of the Huang course is veeeery basic.
You absolutely nailed it about needing to know the “why” when someone is teaching you something. That applies to so many tutorials, and the teachers who understand this are the best ones to learn from. I’m not a musician, but I’m always constantly learning new editing tricks and techniques. The folks on UA-cam who make tutorials about editing and explain in depth why they are doing what they are doing are so incredibly invaluable to me.
I also echo your sentiments about how being self-taught and simply seeing a professional validate what you do even if you don’t learn something new from them can be super reassuring and make you realize that maybe you’re more knowledgeable than you thought. Cue that imposter syndrome haha
Didn't expect to see nerdsync on a music related channel. Noice man.
Thanks!
very excited about the fact that i am a certified gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlbossing, gabi belle sub
me too
Yaaaaaas
yes
Bragging about being a gaslighter... That's new
Funny cuz gaslighting is pre much mental abuse so...ya stuck behind that BS....
You know, Ryan Tedder also offered songwriting classes in the same format. Given the nature of the classes, he decided to film an additional video on OneRepublic’s UA-cam channel where he would listen to the original songs his students wrote and give his feedback there. I feel like this could’ve been something Charlie could’ve done as well.
I enjoyed Ryan's class. These monthly classes and Masterclass will always be more about the creatives process and how they approach their craft more than actual lessons. It's not necessarily a bad thing but people shouldn't go in expecting they'll teach you fundamentals and guide you through everything step by step.
Ryan tedder is the goat
The way you said "subscribe" and the subscribe button kinda shined was rlly cool ngl
FRRR
I actually really liked his course tbh, it’s absolutely not for beginners, but as a moderate level producer I found a lot of the tips he would mention occasionally to be super helpful, also the fact he gave away his vocal effect chain settings is literally priceless
I might buy this course just for that if I can’t find someone else who’s uploaded it online LOL
Exactly the same!
Care to share? Lmao
Paying nearly $300 for someone to show you what presets they use, while simultaneously saying they don't know how it works, is extremely insulting to any customers/students.
I agree with everything she says. I took Ryan Tedder’s course two years ago and it was the most horrible experience, I regret every dollar I spent, unfortunately. At the of the day, free UA-cam videos and just listening to your favorite productions/ mixes do the trick. Teaching yourself by yourself the hard way, I think, is the most effective way to get better results.
A good teacher doesn't have to be exceptionally talented in his/her own speciality, all they need is just knowing how to speak well and acquiring an effective way of delivering messages. Problem is that most of immune talents (like Charlie) lack of these basic skills because sometimes they can't even explain why they ''get" it.
In this case Charlie didn't scam, he's just simply an awful tutor, that's all
exactly!
case in point: some world-class athletes were lousy trainers/coaches. and some people that weren't that gifted as athletes ended up by world class at leading others. because it simply isn't the same.
Some people also don't really have the structures to sing like Charlie and that can't be taught.
I definitely agree. For example, in video games, I don't have the best mechanical skills, but I can teach people how to play very well
@mipmipmipmipmiptrue but my definition of a scam is it has to be dishonest as a money grab and from the videos it more seems like he is just a terrible tutor and doesn’t know what he’s doing
As a person who is LITERALLY in the same boat (I've been writing and singing music since I was about 10), I found this incredibly helpful - because I was curious about this class. Honestly, thank you for making this video!
Also, unrelated, let's be friends! Would love to collab sometime :D
you got a spotify or something?
@@oxey_ yes sir! Checkout The Midwest Theory 😊
OneRepublic's class looks nice though
I love your version of Plastic Love. It was so pretty! I literally listened to it on repeat.
Me being a scuba dive instructor the first thing that I learned during my instructor course was that the students need to know why they need this information or this skill. It has to be valuable to them or they won't listen or forget it immediately.
Objective: What is the lesson/skill/topic about
Value: Why do you need this
Main Points: Information short and/or easy to understand
One really good production tutorial for beginners IMO is Cavetown's " Music Production for Dummies" He explains things like how compression works and how each parameter works, eq, and many other tips. BLANKS is also really good and super fun to watch and can be pretty inspiring.
I personally didn't lke Blank's class. It was way overpriced for what we got, especially since I already knew most of the stuff he taught
Blanks has a course? I had no idea lol. I was talking just about his channel. But that's interesting. It can be really upsetting when you join music related course (or really any creative course) not nowing what to expect or being lead to think thag it's a more advanced course wgen really it's just an entry level course with information you alr knew.
20:15 just finished the vid and you had me glued .. I loved how you flipped the topic and totally made it your own w some good humor . Then when I was least expecting it, ads were placed and I didn’t mind watching cause I had to finish the video out of pure curiosity. .. THEN when I was least expecting it even more so you promoted yourself and others and that was the best ending of all ! 20:15
Fantastic video that was super validating to the “am I doing any of this right?” doubts it seems like we all have. Thanks for making this :) also I LOVED the song!!
So glad I watched this. Thank you so much! I agree UA-cam has some incredible teachers on there and they're famous for their teaching. Teaching and being an artist are two completely different things. Thank youxxxxx
God you’re a good communicator.
Can’t wait for your beginner to intermediate producer class.
This video was great. Super entertaining for it being just someone talking about a class for 20 mins. I love when I watch something that I initially expect not to finish but then before I know it, the video is ending, and I’m writing a paragraph long comment about it on UA-cam.
I’m a licensed teacher in two states & I love all of your points about the actual educational aspects of this course. I always chuckle when people say stuff like “those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach” because in education theory, being able to teach a concept is the highest form of understanding (meaning good teachers *really* know what they’re talking about). I am working on building my own online course now (based in my content area) and one of the things that sets my course apart from most online courses is that students will submit their work to *me* for individual feedback and suggestions. There is value in peer feedback sometimes, but like you mentioned: a lot of the times, it’s like the blind leading the blind. (Peer review and suggestions are most beneficial when all students have mastered at least the same level of understanding of a concept or concepts. Otherwise you run the risk of someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about giving bad advice to a peer who may have been close to mastering the concept and stop making progress toward mastery as a result.) It’s the exact reason that I never assigned homework as a classroom teacher; I would rather a student can ask me, the “expert,” their questions and check their thinking in class rather than be stuck at home without resources and possibly be practicing concepts with wrong thought processes or information. Overall it seems like the course could have been improved very easily if they had just hired one or two producers to give feedback in addition to the peer feedback… and, ideally, had someone with an actual educational background help Charlie create the course content (they could ask what we in education call “probing questions,” which are essentially questions to understand someone’s thought process).
I was not able to focus for 10 minutes straight because of the ADORABLE DOG SLEEPING ON THE BED. He's so cute!!!
Thank you for making this video. I would have cried like a baby for buying this course. I obnoxiously received the advertisements for this course to the point I felt guilt for not buying the course!
Thank you for this video!!!!!
To be honest, most of the Monthly courses are less like a course and more like you're sitting on the studio couch while the instructor works. Which is COOL, but should definitely be marketed and priced more appropriately. Also, the fact that the sound for the course was a mono room mic is unacceptable for a professional audio course.
Nothing but respect to Charlie, and I know Monthly courses may be helping some people, but I feel like having a mediator or host to help these producers and artists who don't specialize as teachers or content makers would really streamline the process, make it more understandable, a better value, etc.
Honestly I‘ve learned soo much from u austin FOR FREE! Thx so much
@@prodjxnas Thank you so much!
+1 for their screwup recording the entire course in mono. Monthly (Studio) did this with at least Ryan Tedder's and Louis Bell's courses as well. For a company attempting to sell top-shelf music production courses at premium prices, it's inexcusable that they made this mistake multiple times.
You are honestly so good at making videos! The script! The editing! Its so funny
Fun Fact: Blanks had one of the first monthly classes, which I attended with a free DAW and now I'm at university doing music production, Blanks is the best teacher I've had I swear
Yessssssss
I took the course in a shared group because it was expensive for me alone from india. It was kinda worth it. But i think youtube provide much lot content for free. But watching charlie sharing ideas and making music was satisfactory
Well-spoken, talented, and hilarious. Keep doing your thing homie!
I can totally recommend andrew huangs monthly class on music production! That shit got me leveled up like A LOT
ayy
I took this course as an ABSOLUTE BEGINNER and I did not finish it because I had no idea what was going on 90% of the time. He used a lot of keyboard shortcuts and Like you said just did things without explaining how or why.
Needless to say I gave up 🥹😅
that sucks
@@aerial5554 Yes it does haha
I took these classes one time and im not a begginer im also not the best but im alright enough to have a band which i have, yeah everything u said perfectly sums up what i felt
I love how you turned to your dog for the answer about the nuggets! lol!!!
The fact they are always using Pro Tools and tons of expensive plugins (which literally no beginner can afford) in like every paid production course pisses me off. I study audio engineering and I think certain pugins really are worth of buying (in my case Melodyne, some reverbs, Isotope RX and some virtual instruments) since there isn't always free alternative for everything, but in most cases stock plugins and free VSTs will do the job if you know what you're doing. An expensive emulation of some ancient tube compressor won't fix your shitty mix.
This class has really helped me. I didn't get "taught" by him in the literal sense, but I have rewatched certain parts to see how he does things and used it in my own production. When he was doing the bass I watched it to figure out bass myself. I haven't done acoustic bass really until this and did a pretty decent job. I use this class to see how he does things, but more so to use it as a reference point. When I'm struggling with something I can go back ti the class and see how Charlie puth would do it to get some ideas. It's helped.
Thank you for bringing this up. I'm currently taking the class right now and a lot of the things said in this video are true but I don't think it's a waste of money. Especially when you can go back and watch that content forever and share it with others. I've learned a lot of interesting techniques from Charlie that I never would've thought to try myself. I also loved when he would say, Max Martin taught me that, or Finneas told me to always do that. That was super cool to hear because it's like you're getting all of these inside secrets that pros use. I think that the issue is just the marketing. I don't think this is a beginner class, this whole class layout is for people who have already been doing music for a while, know the basics, have written songs before, and are looking to see different ways of producing and writing music. I think there is a lot to learn for beginners as well but it will involve a lot of what you did, going back and seeing what Charlie is doing rather than just being told straight up what to do. Blanks or Andrew Huang are both awesome and great and entertaining classes for beginners. This course is for intermediate producers looking to shadow a pro and see a different perspective. There is value in it, it's just not as straight forward as they market it and will not appeal to everyone. Anyway, just my perspective from what I've experienced so far.
@@Spicyboi1214 yes! that 100% completely explains my perspective on it. Wow. Other similar monthly classes are the same way. I believe it's because they don't make music like a beginner anymore. They are showing you how they make music currently, but a beginner may get overwhelmed or feel like they aren't learning anything. It needs to be broken down much simpler and to find that maybe another monthly class is available or there's the countless youtube videos. You nailed it though. I have the same perspective
I AGREE WITH U !!!! I DID THE SAME . Ended up producing 2 songs . It helped me as well.
see it’s not that he didn’t teach somebody something new it’s that he wasn’t very technical and doing so and if this is how you learn, it’s how you learn if it’s not then you need someone else to teach you this stuff
That’s what I do with writing I only understood it when I see a reference not when taught how
The class is really good for experienced producers who want their favourite producer, engineer at work and can take a lot from the video. As he doesn't explain most of the stuff you should have the experience and knowledge of why he's doing certain things just by looking at it.
It's more of a "oh he also uses the same compressor on his vocals as me, he also uses the same synths/plugins or his process is also like me(slow or fast).
I really like this video. You hit the nail on the head around time mark 11:20. Just because someone is really good at what they do! Does not mean they can teach it to someone else. Most people do not know how to be the teacher.
in college my french horn instructor told me about taking a lesson from one of the top horn players when he was in college. He said it was one of the worst lessons he took because the guy didn't understand how to explain what he was doing because it just came naturally. I feel like this is a similar situation.
I do think it's worthwhile to mention that Andrew Huang's class was really different from this in a lot of great ways! Definitely not a magical class to take you to the pro level, but I found that it was broken down into a lot smaller pieces and went really in depth into writing and producing. I had a lot of fun with it!
Huang's stuff is awesome because it's essentially audio engineering for the creative artist and he really gives you a better knowledge of what you're using to build your ideas more thoroughly. Andrew doesn't necessarily focus on work flow BUT he does make a point of efficiency
9:53 that’s Andrew Huang’s video that’s actually on UA-cam for free haha
I “did” this class a year ago too. I think I stopped after the 2nd class because there was no actual steps and instruction. You’re really just observing him.
I took the course and agree with everything you said. The course is great if your a major Puth fan and wanna watch him do his thing. But he gave so few details about his songs he makes in the course. Doesn’t explain chord progressions, just comes up with Melodie’s and harmonies instantly with very little explanation. I was able to figure these things out but I was teaching myself. Really unfortunate because I fell in love with the two songs he made in the course. As a fan I loved it. As a student I was disappointed
Really shocked to see you were into Foo Fighters. That’s awesome.
I've been listening to Blanks for a few years now, and I love his videos where he shows his recording/producing process. Good to see him getting more attention lately :)
My friend took the class and felt the same. It sucks watching people get scammed by it tbh.
Also maple story wooooooo! Ur song is so good
17:30 I laughed very hard at that joke lmao, so true xD
I took Andrew Huang's class two years ago just when I started producing music. I really liked it, Andrew is a great teacher, he explains everything in details and he has charisma and he is also funny so you never get bored. I went back to it this year with two years experience on my side and I found it still very helpful. I would still take Andrew's class if I had to start everything all over again.
I took the course too and I saw it more like being a fly on the wall to see Charlie Puth’s particular process. Kind of like the Masterclass videos. It’s not a game changing course at all but it does satisfy a certain curiosity of sitting in a room with someone who has had huge success in what they do and they show you how they do it. It is chock full of little spoken and unspoken nuggets of music creation wisdom.
So basically, if you can’t or won’t afford the field trip to Charlie’s studio, don’t go and you will still be fine. If you got cash to burn and are really curious about how Charlie does what Charlie does, it’s not a bad experience to be had at all.
I've watched quite a few of your videos and I tend to not subscribe but you made the button have an effect when you said it and I assume it's something simple to do, but I was impressed so I subscribed
I’m going to clip gabi saying “yes daddy feed me” and email it to her one year from now with no context
11 months left
We'll be waiting🍿🍿
I clipped it too 😎
So did u do it?
Did you do it?😅
do it
Can't wait to be a Gabi gatekeeper.
"Yeah I was a member of her Patreon before she hit 1million subs. You're not even a real fan tbh."
mood
"Actually I was here before she even hit 5k subs. So getting here before 1million isn't even saying much. And if you're here that late, just being a Patreon member doesn't mean much. You're just trying to fit in and pretend you're a real fan"
@@noahmoots9901 we're both joking and I'm still PISSED that you out gatekeeped me.
@@brandonnorvell5369 lol, glad to hear it. Imagine she gets big enough for people to do this fr though. That'd be wild and at the rate she's growing it's a real possibility
Loved the song you made! Plastic love is a classic! Love that song! Good stuff, man! Yeah, these classes are a mixed bag. I just bought a voice over class and im gonna see how that goes! 😅👍🏻 love your vibe and voice!
That tip about the stacking vocals really is a game changer, if you can get the takes close and double them up it can really make your vocal stick out of the mix when you need it to
Parallel compression works really well too, and you can use a copy of the same track for it to save time.
@@TheresaTV1 def! Parallel comping a reverb or delay on a vocal makes it less muddy too which can help when stacking
This video was fire! Good luck on the journey!! I hope you blow up in music!
Seriously though, the video was funny, fun to watch, and overall just a well-polished video!
Yo, I love your content! Just found you yesterday and you are very funny
I also took this class and i didn’t finish it either. Im glad im not the only one who felt this way too
I took the Ryan Tedder course on Monthly. It sometimes was inspiring to see his working process but other than that I don't think I learned anything new. It was fun meeting up with other musicians in the peer group though!
OLD MAPLESTORY PLAYER HERE, SAYING HELLO!!! the moment you started playing your first draft i instantly got maplestory vibes, im so glad to hear someone breathing new life into such a great soundtrack
Hi :)
I was actually delighted to see this come up in my sidebar. You make some really good points. I never took Charlies class, but I wa part of the first run of Andrews class. I honestly had a good time there, but where I agree with you the most is, that it is NOT for all skill levels. I’m also self taught and by no actually teach myself and learning to teach is a whole thing. I value really good teachers, and aspired to be one one day, but I am so tired of calling people “experts” based on their success and putting them in front of people to teach.
But yeah, just wanted to pop in here quickly and let you know I appreciate what you are saying here, and I hope it potentially helps people not take the course, if it’s not what they are looking for. I still think it’s great for a certain skill and experience level, at least Andrew’s since that’s the only one I took, but certainly not for all levels.
The on thing that all levels will benefit from is just the consistency of working on it for a month. Growth is very likely to happen in that time, but it would be unfair to attribute that falsely to the material.
Cheers ;)
Merlin
"i thought of this melody half asleep" you know, this causes his entire discography to make a lot more sense
That's when you get the best ideas tbh
Disclosure has made some of the smartest producer streams on YT. Highly recommend. EPROM also has some great streams if you’re into crazy sound design.
You are brilliant and I’m stoked I found your page. I’m excited to watch your growth. You are going to do amazing things!
Thank you for taking this class. Will watch the video soon but it’s nice to know tips.
Your dog is so cute, also great video! :D
This whole course was available on UA-cam for a minute. I had like one hour left to watch before it got taken down.
Thank you so much for validating my experience, sis. 🌷 I thought I was a bad person for not being able to finish it and that I wasn't taking music seriously, but you helped me to realize that I really cannot learn by staring at a screen of someone stuttering🤣🤣🤣
Wow...I'm shocked. I would have never expected.
Did you take notes? Did you even try?
I wasn't sold until you asked the dog what mcnuggets were called and didn't acknowledge that was out of the ordinary.
This was such a cool vid, online classes are kinda hilarious especially when it's someone famous. Just subbed. :)
20,000 subs! Keep it up Gabi! You’re getting better every upload. Also, nice sweats.
As someone who knows jack about music production, your song sounds like a bop and is an absolute vibe. ❤
The song he was making in the course still haunts my dreams
yugottagoandgetmyhopes UP!
Thank you gabi for taking the class and sharing your insights. I've seen that ad so many times and hesitated to get it myself.
I did take Blanks' Monthly class a year and a half ago though and (I did not finish it either) the first half felt like it was actual, good, practical knowledge. I got to learn how Blanks builds his song (there was a class on some music theory, on drums, one on keys and guitar if I remember right) and I think he did explain every decision he made.
It's unfortunate that Charlie's class turned out like that - I look up to him and his skills - but as you said, teaching is a whole other skill, and being great at something doesn't make you great at teaching it.
I totally agree with you. If the whole course is just watching him do stuff without being able to ask questions then why even buy this poop? I can just hop on twitch and find really good producers and just ask them my doubts by donating like $3-$5. Also, shoutout to Blanks. I’ve learned so many things watching him make songs in such short and entertaining videos
I'd rather buy actual poop
Blanks is a lame producer in comparison to puth
BLANKS IS SO GOOD
duality of man
@@bw2937 atleast he explains stuff better, and is not so much naturally talented that it becomes inaccessible to beginners
You have a very strong dork/ nerd gravity about you haha. The song you created is beautiful and well thought out. I wished I could have been here 2 years ago to be a Gabi gatekeeper, but I'm here now! 😂
Excellent honest and influential review especially for fellow neurodiverse folk like me, who knows how rare quality effective educational content is to find, so prefers to self-teach with snippets from here, there and everywhere including experimentation and learning from mistakes! Thank you!
Awesome video. I took the class too a little less than a year ago, and I have kinda the same thoughts. I was in the same boat as you: I had been studying music for a while and had intermediate experience with production. I decided to set aside some time and money for the class because I was off from college. I've got some thoughts about my experience of the class, sorry for the wall of text :)
Firstly, I totally agree in that this class is not at all something for beginners. It's so fast-paced that basically everyone without multiple years of production experience in my "cohort" fell behind almost immediately. Even I inevitably missed a day and fell behind a bit, and at my skill level then I was totally left in the dust with some of the elements I was unfamiliar with (ex: vocal recording). In addition, the way work is presented in the group is basically like Instagram, meaning all of the best work gets pushed to the top. As a result, most beginners only got like 1 or 2 comments on their work, while the best producers gobbled up a lot of the attention.
All of the plugins he uses being super expensive is totally another barrier to entry that pressures you into commitment and also into purchasing things that you probably don't need. For instance, I grabbed two of the hardware compressor emulations he used (the Waves CLA-2A and CLA-76) because they were on sale at the time. With more experience, I'm realizing that the stock compressors in my Digital Audio Workstation are easier to use and work better with the software, and I basically only use those compressors for really niche stuff. It was only $35, but I could easily see a beginner falling down the plugin rabbit hole in hopes of sounding better. Plus, there are easily free options out there that Monthly could have suggested, which leads me to suspect there might be some affiliate link shenanigans going on there.
Another issue is that they don't explain many of the basic concepts of making music that Charlie uses. I took a Fundamentals of Music Technology class at university, and we started the class with multiple weeks of building knowledge about the physics behind sound, moved on to how sound is recorded digitally, and only then did we begin discussing how to manipulate sound in a Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW. It really helps when you're starting out to learn with enough time to really grasp the basics so you don't have gaps later on or get left behind, and Monthly's class fails in that regard. The same thing happens again, but WORSE, with music theory. Andrew Huang's a great teacher, and his video is succinct and clear, but what he's trying to do is cover 2-3 semesters of university basic musicianship and theory in 40 minutes. Again, this is a problem with how Monthly is set up. If you don't have a grasp on music theory coming in, you're kinda stranded in the class.
I don't think any of this is directly the fault of Charlie or his working style. Not everyone's a great teacher, and they basically just told him to make a song on camera with no syllabus or real audience other than "people who wanna make a song in a month". He's also moving at a pace where he expects the audience to know quite a bit. Monthly really sold this almost as a lecture course, when it's more of a lab, where you see something demonstrated and get to observe the process and apply what you need to your work. Plus, he's using all these super expensive plugins because he's had 1) the time in the industry to rack up a library of licenses, and 2) the success to be able to afford whatever he needs. His studio setup is not applicable to every single producer, nor is it perfect or ideal for everyone either.
Time-wise, the class was demanding, even though I was only taking the class and working part-time. One of the things you don't factor in is just how long it takes to actually make music, and that ends up compounding if you're a beginner.
Finally, I do think the class has merits, just not in the way Monthly pitches it. I think it's valuable as a look into how an artist works and ways you can apply those basic concepts to create art. It's like the value I find in Logic Pro's example projects from producers like FINNEAS and Take a Daytrip, where I can open this project and break down not only what was done to achieve the sounds of those records, but I can also analyze why those choices were made with the audio material. Basically, it's valuable as a method of artistic study. Is it $279 worth of value? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk
TL:DR / Monthly definitely advertised this misleadingly, and I would not recommend this to a beginner. However, I think the class definitely has merit. Once you have a grip on the basics, study of other artists' work is a huge part of development, or at least it has been for me. Excellent video and review. you've got a new subscriber :)
Omg is that really the pickle guy!? I remember laughing at that song forever ago!!!
There’s a million music courses like this nowadays and they all seem to end up like this one I learned production by just doing stuff every wrong way until it sounded good😭