We built BandLab to be a platform anyone can use to make music, no matter your skill level. But over the years, we’ve added more and more advanced features on our Mix Editor, some of which you probably missed, and we’re not surprised to see tutorials popping up everywhere on the internet.
There’s even a full BandLab Beginners course, hosted by the online school Education & Bass. Started by Nomine, an international DJ and producer, Education & Bass offers countless hours of courses, tutorials, tips for all levels aimed to inspire the next generation of music producers.
We tracked down its founder to talk about how it all got started and their brand new free BandLab course for beginners.
Tell us about how Education & Bass got started and your background in music
I have been an international electronic music DJ and producer for 25 years now and in 2012 I returned back to education to do a Masters Degree in Advanced Music Technology, followed by a teaching degree, which led to me becoming a university lecturer of Music Technology for the last six years.
Four years ago, the Education & Bass journey began in Brick Lane, London at 93 Feet East. The first event was actually a launch party for my Nomine Sound label, a “No Rules Bass Orgy” with some of my best friends, favorite DJs and producers across a range of genres: DJ sets and live music production masterclasses covering Drum & Bass, Jungle, Dubstep, Grime, Techno, House and UK Bass Music. 300 people passed through in total throughout that day, very special to say the least, the beginning!
After the first event on May 8th, 2016, the concept continued as an Education & Bass monthly at Cafe 1001 in Brick Lane, London: multi-genre bass music events with guest DJ sets, masterclasses and workshops, a concept that we have since taken around the world, featuring more special guests, the original Tribe on rotation and some of the general public, The Tribe who joined us in our open deck sessions!
In December of the first year, 2016, we had an E&B event in Coventry, UK at The Tin Music and Arts venue where I booked my old friend Samas to DJ, I knew he was a web developer and ran the idea of E&B online by him, he took on the challenge and in September 2017, we launched www.educationandbass.online and we now have nearly 2000 online tutorials, courses and lectures for all genres and DAWs.
E&B has far from made me rich, that was never a thought, but it has allowed me to do what I love, which is share knowledge, help support the next generation of music makers, producers and engineers…
I left my teaching job and a salary to put my all into E&B, my savings, my time, my dedication, EVERYTHING. At the time it was a big risk as I had just moved in with my partner and we had bills to pay and kids to feed. However, I have never looked back, even though it has been tough – and still is, E&B has far from made me rich, that was never a thought, but it has allowed me to do what I love, which is share knowledge, help support the next generation of music makers, producers and engineers, help put food on the tables of those who work very hard with E&B as tutors, mastering engineers and in other essential job roles within the company.
What influenced you to use BandLab?
It really helps learners get off the starting block and make noise fast, giving them a boost in confidence and showing them what is possible with basic audio and MIDI sequencing skills and the ability to go further…
As Educators of Music Technology, we found BandLab perfect to teach beginners as it is very intuitive, simple and can also produce professional results. The fact that it is free and accessible for anyone that has access to the internet, desktop, tablet or phone has really helped us educate learners around the world who are not able to attend school during the pandemic and these crazy times.
I think the loop packs are great – it really helps learners get off the starting block and make noise fast, giving them a boost in confidence and showing them what is possible with basic audio and MIDI sequencing skills and the ability to go further, if they wish to do so.
Tell us a bit more about the video course, how can people get it and what sort of person would you recommend it to?
For the past year, we have been supporting many schools, colleges and universities around the world with some free music technology education and wanted something that could cater for the true beginner, something that could be easily accessed with little or no financial commitment.
The BandLab Beginners course covers the basics of Audio and MIDI Sequencing and and has been designed so that the average learner will have made their first track in just over an hour. We have had learners from the age of 7 years old to adult beginners successfully take the course, giving us wonderful feedback.
What do people have to do to get your BandLab course?
The course is totally free for school learners of any age. For anyone interested, please email edu@educationandbass.online and we will get you signed up with just an email address required.
Can people expect more BandLab content soon?
Yes, we will be developing the course to show the power of BandLab at intermediate and advanced levels in the near future.
Does your alias, Nomine, or Education & Bass have a BandLab profile people can check out?
Yes, indeed:
E&B: https://www.bandlab.com/educationandbass
Nomine: https://www.bandlab.com/nominesound
What else can people learn at Education & Bass?
We have nearly 2000 music production tutorials, courses and lectures for many genres and DAWs and a 30-week Ultimate Music Production Course from beginner to pro. We try as much as possible to ensure that the content is software and platform agnostic so that learners can benefit from all content, irrelevant of what music making software they use.
All of our tutors are active industry specialists with 250+ years of combined industry experience and over 25 years of teaching experience in schools, colleges and universities. In addition to the standard educational content we offer extra benefits to VIP members such as 1-to-1 mentoring, music mastering, access to DAW templates, technical and A&R feedback on their music where we can assist with top label demo submissions, free sample packs and much more. More info can be found here.
My good friend Raff aka Nurve (our content and partners manager) and myself are at the helm day-to-day and we have a solid team of very talented tutors who are always up for a challenge with many exciting things in the works!
