COURSES
2 x 2.5 hours of live-stream lessons every week
1 x 30 minute live 1-2-1 session with a tutor every week
Introduction
Do you want to produce your own tracks? Or maybe you are a producer that wants to finally finish those projects!
Our online music production courses are taught using the powerful Ableton Live Suite software, and are written by Ableton Certified Trainers.
If you’re a beginner, you can benefit from a free 90 day trial of Ableton Live Suite, so you can start making music straight away.
Regardless of your ability level, our flexible courses will allow you to get comfy, get creative, and enjoy the process of getting great music out there.
Free copy of Ableton Live Suite worth £539... cutting-edge music software for both PC and mac users included with our beginner-friendly Ultimate Music Production Course to get you off to a flying start!
Or, if you fancy something more classroom based, with flexibility to train online but also use our studios, check our Fast Track Hybrid Delivery Introduction to Music Production Course.
Sign up to SEM’s newsletter for a 5% off online courses code
Train from the comfort of your own home.
Missed a livestream lesson? No problem. Lessons are also recorded and uploaded to the learning portal, so you can re-watch as much as you need, 24/7.
Our online courses
Music Production Ultimate
- Includes Ableton Live Suite (rrp: £539) free!
- Suitable for beginners
- 6 month duration
- 120 hours of live-stream lessons
- 24 live 1-2-1 sessions
Our flagship course for beginners going pro.
The best course for making the jump from a beginner to a pro. You’ll be able to create music in any genre you want to, and get it to a level to send out to labels.
The 6 modules will help you to explore Ableton’s powerful music production capabilities, whilst building a solid understanding of key principles along the way. Split into 4 distinct areas, the course will look at music production techniques first, to get you creating and exploring Ableton Live in a fun and constructive way. The course will then shift to creative tools and workflow to improve your speed, then onto sound design and developing trademark sounds, before the mixdown focus, helping your music to stand out sonically.
As our biggest online course, it is also the best value, with lots of interactivity from world-class tutors. Take the jump, and learn something that will last you a lifetime!
- £1995 as an advanced payment
- Or, 5 monthly payments of £399 per month (total: £2095).
- Or, UK based students can pay from as little as £48 monthly. See finance options.
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
|
Basics of Music Production module
|
Sound Design & Synthesis module
|
Advanced Music Production module
|
Mixdown Fundamentals module
|
Creative Music Production module
|
Advanced Mixdown module
|
Start dates and timetable
Click ‘Enrol’ to view the timetables; they change month to month.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
- Ableton Live Suite (free with course)
- Serum (Sound Design & Synthesis module)
- FabFilter Mastering Bundle (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Valhalla Room (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Slate Digital Everything Bundle (Advanced Mixdown module)
See further info below for plugin discount details.
Further info
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live (see system requirements here).
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Music production software*
- 3rd party plugins**
*Ableton Live 11 Suite is included free with this course (rrp: £539). We will utilise all the sounds, effects and tools that come within this. If you already have this software, speak with us to discuss a course discount.
The below plugins are recommended to get the most from your training, but are not needed until the modules they are taught on.
**The Sound Design and Synthesis module (typically taught in month 4) uses 3rd party plugins such as Serum, Massive X, Diva and FM8 to practice with. Out of this plugin list, the only plugin we would strongly advise purchasing is Serum by Xfer Records, as it is one of the most versatile synthesisers in the industry and has a lot of features to make learning synthesis easy. Serum can be purchased for $189 outright or via rent-to-own for $9.99 a month on Splice.
**The Mixdown Fundamentals module (typically taught in month 5) heavily uses the 3rd party plugins included in the FabFilter Mastering Bundle. This is £379, or with a 50% student discount, £189.50. You can provide your course confirmation to FabFilter to claim the student discount. Before you buy – you can download a free evaluation copy of the FabFilter Total Bundle, which includes all FabFilter plugins. This lasts 30 days; when the 30 days are over you can extend it here. Please note the extension is most likely a limited feature due to COVID-19 so this link may be deactivated.
The other plugin that will be used on this module is Valhalla Room. This is $50 for a one-off purchase.
**The Advanced Mixdown module (typically taught in month 6) extensively uses 3rd party plugins included in the Slate Digital Everything Bundle. The Slate Digital Everything bundle can be rented for $24.99/month with no ongoing monthly commitment.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on Ableton Live whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
Music Production Basics
- Suitable for beginners
- 1 month duration
- 20 hours of live-stream lessons
- 4 live 1-2-1 sessions
Learn the basics of music production, using Ableton Live.
This beginner’s course will help you learn your way confidently around one of the world’s most popular music production softwares: Ableton Live. And the best way to learn is to make music!
We’ll start by showing you how to construct interesting drum patterns using a custom palette of sounds. You’ll progress to adding synthesized leads, before diving into sampled loops from tracks you love.
Ableton Live also has amazing ‘jam’ capabilities, which we can explore through improvisation to lay out a track. Through this we can finalise the arrangement of your musical ideas, taking you several steps closer to a finished track. It’s amazing what you can achieve in just one month!
- £395 as an advanced payment
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
Basics of Music Production
- Introduction to Ableton Live/Programming beats/editing MIDI
- Basics Drum Rack/Simpler/device editor
- Manipulating Audio/ Recording audio/Audio to midi
- Sampling/Slicing
- Sound generation with synthesizers
- Hardware controllers and automation
- Recording an arrangement
- Making a track/recap/Question time
Start dates and timetable
Click ‘Enrol’ to view the timetables; they change month to month.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live (see system requirements here)
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Ableton Live Suite*
*We will utilise all the sounds, effects and tools that come with the Live Suite software. You will need a version of Ableton Live Suite to use while you train – such as using Ableton Live’s full Live Suite free trial which you can use temporarily.
If you are thinking of enrolling on this course and looking to buy Ableton Live Suite in the future, Ableton Live Suite is priced at £539. We would recommend that it might be more cost-effective to study our Music Production Ultimate Course, which comes with Ableton Live Suite included. This will allow you to benefit from the software, and receive the additional online training from SEM.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on Ableton Live whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
Music Production Fundamentals
- Suitable for beginners
- 2 month duration
- 40 hours of live-stream lessons
- 8 live 1-2-1 sessions
Build your music production confidence.
This 2 month course is a great way to explore music production using Ableton Live. Taken from a beginner’s perspective, we’ll first look at creating interesting drum patterns, layering in synthesizers and samplers.
By drawing from music you already love, you’ll learn how to deconstruct it and take inspiration from it. We will then dive into advanced techniques and workflows, using Ableton Live the way the pros do – looking at complex processing chains to get the desired effects. You’ll also learn how to extend your improvisational skills with hardware controllers. Last but not least, we’ll instill some good habits that will benefit you for a lifetime – the lifehacks of organising your projects to maximise your creative output. No searching aimlessly for that awesome vocal sample ever again!
- £695 as an advanced payment
- Or, 2 monthly payments of £397.50 per month (total: £795).
- Or, UK based students can pay from as little as £17 monthly. See finance options.
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
|
Basics of Music Production module
|
Advanced Music Production module
|
Start dates and timetable
Click ‘Enrol’ to view the timetables; they change month to month.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live (see system requirements here)
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Ableton Live Suite*
*We will utilise all the sounds, effects and tools that come with the Live Suite software. You will need a version of Ableton Live Suite to use while you train – such as using Ableton Live’s full Live Suite free trial which you can use temporarily.
If you are thinking of enrolling on this course and looking to buy Ableton Live Suite in the future, Ableton Live Suite is priced at £539. We would recommend that it might be more cost-effective to study our Music Production Ultimate Course, which comes with Ableton Live Suite included. This will allow you to benefit from the software, and receive the additional online training from SEM.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on Ableton Live whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
Producer’s Bundle
- Not suitable for beginners
- 4 month duration
- 80 hours of live-stream lessons
- 16 live 1-2-1 sessions
Get your music to a professional sounding level.
Skip the music production basics, and go straight to aspects that will level up your production. Offered as a bundle, you have flexibility with booking the 4 modules.
Creative Music Production: Arm yourself with a series of tools you can use to get inspired and start finishing tracks right now. Learn how to create emotive chord progressions and hooks with ease; build intricate drum patterns, nuanced with character that set a solid foundation for your tracks.
Sound Design & Synthesis: Unlock full control of your sound, and understand how synthesis really works. Learn to reverse engineer sounds, create complex patches and develop your trademark style. Step away from the presets and get ground-breaking results.
Mixdown Fundamentals, and Advanced Mixdown: Approach your projects with new confidence. Break bad habits and replacing it with a tried and tested system. You’ll achieve effective, balanced mixes for your tracks, and allow you to mixdown others’ music too should you look to diversify your income streams.
- £1095 as an advanced payment
- Or, 4 monthly payments of £299 per month (total: £1196).
- Or, UK based students can pay from as little as £27 monthly. See finance options.
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
Creative Music Production module
|
Mixdown Fundamentals module
|
Sound Design & Synthesis module
|
Advanced Mixdown module
|
Start dates and timetable
This course bundle includes 4 modules. You can select the module intakes that suit you. We add new dates on a monthly basis – contact us and we can provide you with a full timetable.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
| Creative Music Production module
Next intake options: Pre-recorded module November 9th – December 2nd 2020 February 1st – February 24th 2021 |
Mixdown Fundamentals module
Next intake options: November 9th – December 4th 2020 February 1st – February 24th 2021 April 13th – May 6th 2021 |
| Sound Design & Synthesis module
Next intake options: Pre-recorded module January 7th – January 31st 2021 March 11th – April 4th 2021 |
Advanced Mixdown module
Next intake options: January 4th – January 29th 2021 March 8th – March 31st 2021 May 11th – June 3rd 2021 |
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
- Ableton Live Suite (or alternative DAW)
- Serum (Sound Design & Synthesis module)
- FabFilter Mastering Bundle (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Valhalla Room (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Slate Digital Everything Bundle (Advanced Mixdown module)
See further info below for plugin discount details.
Further info
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live* (see system requirements here).
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Music production software*
- 3rd party plugins**
*This course is delivered on Ableton Live Suite, but it is fine if you want to use an alternative DAW that you are more comfortable with such as FL Studio, Logic, etc. Should you wish to follow along using Ableton Live, you can download a full free trial of Ableton Live 10 Suite here.
If you are thinking of enrolling on this course and looking to buy Ableton Live Suite in the future, Ableton Live Suite is priced at £539. We would recommend that it might be more cost-effective to study our Music Production Ultimate Course, which comes with Ableton Live Suite included. This will allow you to benefit from the software, and receive the additional online training from SEM.
The below plugins are recommended to get the most from your training, but are not needed until the modules they are taught on.
**The Sound Design and Synthesis module uses 3rd party plugins such as Serum, Massive X, Diva and FM8 to practice with. Out of this plugin list, the only plugin we would strongly advise purchasing is Serum by Xfer Records, as it is one of the most versatile synthesisers in the industry and has a lot of features to make learning synthesis easy. Serum can be purchased for $189 outright or via rent-to-own for $9.99 a month on Splice.
**The Mixdown Fundamentals module heavily uses the 3rd party plugins included in the FabFilter Mastering Bundle. This is £379, or with a 50% student discount, £189.50. You can provide your course confirmation to FabFilter to claim the student discount. Before you buy – you can download a free evaluation copy of the FabFilter Total Bundle, which includes all FabFilter plugins. This lasts 30 days; when the 30 days are over you can extend it here. Please note the extension is most likely a limited feature due to COVID-19 so this link may be deactivated.
The other plugin that will be used on this module is Valhalla Room. This is $50 for a one-off purchase.
**The Advanced Mixdown module extensively uses 3rd party plugins included in the Slate Digital Everything Bundle. The Slate Digital Everything bundle can be rented for $24.99/month with no ongoing monthly commitment.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on your DAW whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
Music Production Ultimate
- Includes Ableton Live Suite (rrp: £539) free!
- Suitable for beginners
- 6 month duration
- 120 hours of live-stream lessons
- 24 live 1-2-1 sessions
Our flagship course for beginners going pro.
The best course for making the jump from a beginner to a pro. You’ll be able to create music in any genre you want to, and get it to a level to send out to labels.
The 6 modules will help you to explore Ableton’s powerful music production capabilities, whilst building a solid understanding of key principles along the way. Split into 4 distinct areas, the course will look at music production techniques first, to get you creating and exploring Ableton Live in a fun and constructive way. The course will then shift to creative tools and workflow to improve your speed, then onto sound design and developing trademark sounds, before the mixdown focus, helping your music to stand out sonically.
As our biggest online course, it is also the best value, with lots of interactivity from world-class tutors. Take the jump, and learn something that will last you a lifetime!
- £1995 as an advanced payment
- Or, 5 monthly payments of £399 per month (total: £2095).
- Or, UK based students can pay from as little as £48 monthly. See finance options.
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
|
Basics of Music Production module
|
Advanced Music Production module
|
Creative Music Production module
|
Sound Design & Synthesis module
|
Mixdown Fundamentals module
|
Advanced Mixdown module
|
Start dates and timetable
Click ‘Enrol’ to view the timetables; they change month to month.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
- Ableton Live Suite (free with course)
- Serum (Sound Design & Synthesis module)
- FabFilter Mastering Bundle (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Valhalla Room (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Slate Digital Everything Bundle (Advanced Mixdown module)
See further info below for plugin discount details.
Further info
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live (see system requirements here).
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Music production software*
- 3rd party plugins**
*Ableton Live 11 Suite is included free with this course (rrp: £539). We will utilise all the sounds, effects and tools that come within this. If you already have this software, speak with us to discuss a course discount.
The below plugins are recommended to get the most from your training, but are not needed until the modules they are taught on.
**The Sound Design and Synthesis module (typically taught in month 4) uses 3rd party plugins such as Serum, Massive X, Diva and FM8 to practice with. Out of this plugin list, the only plugin we would strongly advise purchasing is Serum by Xfer Records, as it is one of the most versatile synthesisers in the industry and has a lot of features to make learning synthesis easy. Serum can be purchased for $189 outright or via rent-to-own for $9.99 a month on Splice.
**The Mixdown Fundamentals module (typically taught in month 5) heavily uses the 3rd party plugins included in the FabFilter Mastering Bundle. This is £379, or with a 50% student discount, £189.50. You can provide your course confirmation to FabFilter to claim the student discount. Before you buy – you can download a free evaluation copy of the FabFilter Total Bundle, which includes all FabFilter plugins. This lasts 30 days; when the 30 days are over you can extend it here. Please note the extension is most likely a limited feature due to COVID-19 so this link may be deactivated.
The other plugin that will be used on this module is Valhalla Room. This is $50 for a one-off purchase.
**The Advanced Mixdown module (typically taught in month 6) extensively uses 3rd party plugins included in the Slate Digital Everything Bundle. The Slate Digital Everything bundle can be rented for $24.99/month with no ongoing monthly commitment.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on Ableton Live whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
Music Production Basics
- Suitable for beginners
- 1 month duration
- 20 hours of live-stream lessons
- 4 live 1-2-1 sessions
Learn the basics of music production, using Ableton Live.
This beginner’s course will help you learn your way confidently around one of the world’s most popular music production softwares: Ableton Live. And the best way to learn is to make music!
We’ll start by showing you how to construct interesting drum patterns using a custom palette of sounds. You’ll progress to adding synthesized leads, before diving into sampled loops from tracks you love.
Ableton Live also has amazing ‘jam’ capabilities, which we can explore through improvisation to lay out a track. Through this we can finalise the arrangement of your musical ideas, taking you several steps closer to a finished track. It’s amazing what you can achieve in just one month!
- £395 as an advanced payment
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
Basics of Music Production
- Introduction to Ableton Live/Programming beats/editing MIDI
- Basics Drum Rack/Simpler/device editor
- Manipulating Audio/ Recording audio/Audio to midi
- Sampling/Slicing
- Sound generation with synthesizers
- Hardware controllers and automation
- Recording an arrangement
- Making a track/recap/Question time
Start dates and timetable
Click ‘Enrol’ to view the timetables; they change month to month.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live (see system requirements here)
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Ableton Live Suite*
*We will utilise all the sounds, effects and tools that come with the Live Suite software. You will need a version of Ableton Live Suite to use while you train – such as using Ableton Live’s full Live Suite free trial which you can use temporarily.
If you are thinking of enrolling on this course and looking to buy Ableton Live Suite in the future, Ableton Live Suite is priced at £539. We would recommend that it might be more cost-effective to study our Music Production Ultimate Course, which comes with Ableton Live Suite included. This will allow you to benefit from the software, and receive the additional online training from SEM.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on Ableton Live whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
Music Production Fundamentals
- Suitable for beginners
- 2 month duration
- 40 hours of live-stream lessons
- 8 live 1-2-1 sessions
Build your music production confidence.
This 2 month course is a great way to explore music production using Ableton Live. Taken from a beginner’s perspective, we’ll first look at creating interesting drum patterns, layering in synthesizers and samplers.
By drawing from music you already love, you’ll learn how to deconstruct it and take inspiration from it. We will then dive into advanced techniques and workflows, using Ableton Live the way the pros do – looking at complex processing chains to get the desired effects. You’ll also learn how to extend your improvisational skills with hardware controllers. Last but not least, we’ll instill some good habits that will benefit you for a lifetime – the lifehacks of organising your projects to maximise your creative output. No searching aimlessly for that awesome vocal sample ever again!
- £695 as an advanced payment
- Or, 2 monthly payments of £397.50 per month (total: £795).
- Or, UK based students can pay from as little as £17 monthly. See finance options.
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
|
Basics of Music Production module
|
Advanced Music Production module
|
Start dates and timetable
Click ‘Enrol’ to view the timetables; they change month to month.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live (see system requirements here)
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Ableton Live Suite*
*We will utilise all the sounds, effects and tools that come with the Ableton Live Suite software. You will need a version of Ableton Live Suite to use while you train – such as using Ableton Live’s full Live Suite free trial which you can use temporarily.
If you are thinking of enrolling on this course and looking to buy Ableton Live Suite in the future, Ableton Live Suite is priced at £539. We would recommend that it might be more cost-effective to study our Music Production Ultimate Course, which comes with Ableton Live 11 Suite included. This will allow you to benefit from the software, and receive the additional online training from SEM.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on Ableton Live whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
Producer’s Bundle
- Not suitable for beginners
- 4 month duration
- 80 hours of live-stream lessons
- 16 live 1-2-1 sessions
Get your music to a professional sounding level.
Skip the music production basics, and go straight to aspects that will level up your production. Offered as a bundle, you have flexibility with booking the 4 modules.
Creative Music Production: Arm yourself with a series of tools you can use to get inspired and start finishing tracks right now. Learn how to create emotive chord progressions and hooks with ease; build intricate drum patterns, nuanced with character that set a solid foundation for your tracks.
Sound Design & Synthesis: Unlock full control of your sound, and understand how synthesis really works. Learn to reverse engineer sounds, create complex patches and develop your trademark style. Step away from the presets and get ground-breaking results.
Mixdown Fundamentals, and Advanced Mixdown: Approach your projects with new confidence. Break bad habits and replacing it with a tried and tested system. You’ll achieve effective, balanced mixes for your tracks, and allow you to mixdown others’ music too should you look to diversify your income streams.
- £1095 as an advanced payment
- Or, 4 monthly payments of £299 per month (total: £1196).
- Or, UK based students can pay from as little as £27 monthly. See finance options.
Subjects included
This course has the following modules included:
Creative Music Production module
|
Mixdown Fundamentals module
|
Sound Design & Synthesis module
|
Advanced Mixdown module
|
Start dates and timetable
This course bundle includes 4 modules. You can select the module intakes that suit you. We add new dates on a monthly basis – contact us and we can provide you with a full timetable.
Enrolment stays open beyond start dates. Those that want to get started straight away can enrol on a start date that’s begun, watch some lessons on catchup, and then jump into the live lessons when ready. You will not lose any 121s by signing up past the start date, we will ensure your 121s begin from when you enrol.
| Creative Music Production module
Next intake options: Pre-recorded module November 9th – December 2nd 2020 February 1st – February 24th 2021 |
| Sound Design & Synthesis moduleNext intake options:
Pre-recorded module January 7th – January 31st 2021 March 11th – April 4th 2021 |
| Mixdown Fundamentals module
Next intake options: November 9th – December 4th 2020 February 1st – February 24th 2021 April 13th – May 6th 2021 |
| Advanced Mixdown module
Next intake options: January 4th – January 29th 2021 March 8th – March 31st 2021 May 11th – June 3rd 2021 |
All lesson times are based on UK time.
Please remember, you don’t have to attend all lesson live-streams, as they are recorded back for you to watch in your own time. You will have full access to all the online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
We can also discuss alternative timetabling options if the lesson times do not suit you, please contact us.
Software required for course
- Ableton Live Suite (or alternative DAW)
- Serum (Sound Design & Synthesis module)
- FabFilter Mastering Bundle (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Valhalla Room (Mixdown Fundamentals module)
- Slate Digital Everything Bundle (Advanced Mixdown module)
See further info below for plugin discount details.
Further info
You will need:
- A computer capable of running Ableton Live* (see system requirements here).
- A pair of ideally flat-response headphones, or speakers.
- An internet connection to allow you to follow the lessons online.
- Music production software*
- 3rd party plugins**
*This course is delivered on Ableton Live Suite, but it is fine if you want to use an alternative DAW that you are more comfortable with such as FL Studio, Logic, etc. Should you wish to follow along using Ableton Live, you can download a full free trial of Ableton Live 10 Suite here.
If you are thinking of enrolling on this course and looking to buy Ableton Live Suite in the future, Ableton Live Suite is priced at £539. We would recommend that it might be more cost-effective to study our Music Production Ultimate Course, which comes with Ableton Live 11 Suite included. This will allow you to benefit from the software, and receive the additional online training from SEM.
The below plugins are recommended to get the most from your training, but are not needed until the modules they are taught on.
**The Sound Design and Synthesis module uses 3rd party plugins such as Serum, Massive X, Diva and FM8 to practice with. Out of this plugin list, the only plugin we would strongly advise purchasing is Serum by Xfer Records, as it is one of the most versatile synthesisers in the industry and has a lot of features to make learning synthesis easy. Serum can be purchased for $189 outright or via rent-to-own for $9.99 a month on Splice.
**The Mixdown Fundamentals module heavily uses the 3rd party plugins included in the FabFilter Mastering Bundle. This is £379, or with a 50% student discount, £189.50. You can provide your course confirmation to FabFilter to claim the student discount. Before you buy – you can download a free evaluation copy of the FabFilter Total Bundle, which includes all FabFilter plugins. This lasts 30 days; when the 30 days are over you can extend it here. Please note the extension is most likely a limited feature due to COVID-19 so this link may be deactivated.
The other plugin that will be used on this module is Valhalla Room. This is $50 for a one-off purchase.
**The Advanced Mixdown module extensively uses 3rd party plugins included in the Slate Digital Everything Bundle. The Slate Digital Everything bundle can be rented for $24.99/month with no ongoing monthly commitment.
Recommended, but not essential:
- A MIDI keyboard
- A second computer screen would be ideal so you can follow along on your DAW whilst watching your lesson.
- We always advise backing your music up on a second source other as well as the computer hard-drive, for example, a good sized USB (256gB+), external hard-drive, or cloud based system.
Book a call with a course advisor, or email us if you need any advice on getting setup.
For the curious
Ableton Live is the software we use to teach music production. It lets you easily create, produce and perform music within one intuitive interface. Live keeps everything in sync and works in real-time, so you can play and modify your musical ideas without interrupting the creative flow.
Live also comes with a versatile collection of instruments, sounds, kits and loops for creating any kind of music and provides a full complement of effects to tweak and process your sound.
Ableton Live runs on both PC and Mac. Get yourself the software and a pair of headphones and you’re ready to roll.
For the dedicated
Ableton Live 11 Suite is Ableton’s most comprehensive music production software, packed with over 5000+ sounds (over 70gb), 15 software instruments, 55 audio effects and 17 midi effects.
To purchase, this is normally £539. However if you opt for our popular Ultimate Music Production Course (£1995, or £399 per month), then you’ll receive this software free as part of your training.
If you’re serious about learning music production, this is the best way to get not only comprehensive training, but all the tools you’ll need rolled up into one bundle.
School of Electronic Music est. 1996
Get a feel for the training
SEM has training centre credentials with industry-leading giants Ableton Live, Apple, Pioneer and Native Instruments. Train with the best, enjoying amazing studio facilities, industry-active teaching staff, and cutting-edge curriculums designed to get you ahead.
All of our online tutors have years of experience teaching our professional in-house courses, so you can rest assured you’re in safe hands.
Yoss who taught this Free Music Production Taster Course Series is just one of our online tutors. He has decades of experience producing music, which he brings to the classroom in an informative and friendly way. Yoss also has expertise in mixdown and mastering through his work at 80Hz Studios (the UK’s largest independent studio) where he has worked alongside Diana Ross (EMI), Peter Asher (Apple Records), and Matthew Halsall (Gondwana Records).
Course FAQs
Which course is right for me?
We would ask for you to think about what level of music production you would like to get to – are you curious, a hobbyist, or taking it seriously and wanting to get to a professional level? We have 3 music production courses that are all totally suitable for beginners, but that will get you to 3 different levels by the end.
We would also recommend these 3 courses if you have produced music before but on a different DAW, if you are looking to learn Ableton Live. If you are unsure what is right for you, book a call with a course advisor or send us an email.
- Music Production Basics Course (1 module)
- Music Production Fundamentals Course (2 modules)
- Music Production Ultimate Course (6 modules)*
*Ableton Live 11 Suite music production software included with the training.
If however you are already making music and want to specialise further, check out our Producer’s Bundle which includes 4 of the 6 modules taught on the Ultimate Course.
Are there any entry requirements?
There are no formal academic requirements for our online training. Our courses are hands-on, and aimed at improving your skillset as a music producer. We only ask that you’ve checked you are at the right ability level for the course you pick – see ‘Which course is right for me?‘ or book a call with a course advisor.
For your own enjoyment, we also ask that you feel comfortable with the tuition in English. You can get a feel for this by watching our free online 3-part series.
At the end of your training, once you have completed all the course quizzes you will receive a certificate of completion.
Will I learn to produce specific genres on the training?
Lessons will generally focus around the more “popular” electronic genres such as techno, house, drum and bass, and the majority of sub-genres within these areas. More in-depth questions about genres outside of this can be brought up during your 1-2-1 sessions, or during the regular sound surgeries that will happen twice every week. Feel free to drop in and ask away.
What courses can I study if I’m not producing on Ableton Live?
The Producer’s Bundle focusses heavily on 3rd party plugins, and only uses basic DAW functionality outside of this. Although the lessons are delivered on Ableton Live, you should be able to follow along using any DAW that you are comfortable with. Or should you wish to follow along using Ableton Live, you can download a full free trial of Ableton Live Suite here.
The techniques and topics covered on this course will help you develop transferable skills that can be used in the majority of DAWs and other plugin bundles. You can view the recommended 3rd party plugins for the Producer’s Bundle here.
What is the difference between lessons and 1-2-1s?
Lessons
Where the main content of your training is delivered to your class. Lessons are:
- Taught live by your course tutor, twice a week. Each lesson is 2.5 hours long – you will receive 20 hours of lessons per module.
- Delivered to your class online as a closed group.
- Taught at fixed times each week. Lesson times will differ depending on the start date of the course, and may also differ between modules.
- Recorded and uploaded to your learning portal for you to re-watch as much as you need, so you do not need to worry if you cannot watch the lessons live.
- You will have access to online content for 3 months after your last lesson.
- You will not need a webcam for your lessons. You can however type questions in a chat forum during your lesson. For a period at the end of each lesson, your tutor will review these questions and aim to answer the most relevant questions relating to the lesson topics.
1-2-1 sessions
1-2-1s are quality time to cover anything you need answers for, in order to help you progress. 1-2-1s are:
- Taught live by a tutor.
- Taught as 4 x weekly 30 minute slots per module. When you’ve enrolled, an administrator will contact you to arrange when is best for your weekly slot.
- Are taught using Zoom, which allows you to record the 1-2-1s directly to your computer, should you wish to watch these back in your own time.
- 1-2-1s are all about helping you develop as a producer. The tutor will listen to your projects, and will help you to get over any roadblocks you’ve been having.
How do the payments work?
There are several ways to pay for your training. You can choose to pay in advance, you can pay in instalments, or if you are based in the UK you may be able to apply for finance to spread the cost over 6 – 12 months 0%, or over 24, 36 or 48 months 9.9%. Read more on the finance options here.
Instalments
If you choose the instalment plan, the first monthly instalment books your place on the course, and then instalments are paid in monthly intervals starting from the point of enrolment.
Our instalment payments are setup through Stripe, which accepts all major debit and credit cards. There are no credit checks required. Payment plans are only offered as a way to spread the cost, it does not negate that the full fees for any course you enrol for will still be due. Should you cancel your instalment payments at any point during your training, you will be removed from the training programme until course fee payment can be resolved.
Ableton Live Suite Licence
If you are studying our Music Production Ultimate Course you will receive Ableton Live 11 Suite (rrp: £539) as part of your training. If you have paid in advance for this course, the Ableton licence will be issued to you 14-days after your enrolment once the cooling-off period has ended, or on your first module lesson, whichever comes first.
If you are on a monthly instalment plan, you will receive your Ableton licence after all your course fees have been paid. Alternatively if you wish to receive the Ableton licence earlier, we offer a £250 deposit scheme. Once you have paid the £250 deposit, we can issue the licence to you. Then once your final course payment has been received, we will then refund the £250 deposit back to you. An administrator will be in touch to organise this with you.
Please note that once entered onto a monthly payment plan, you have entered into a legally binding and all course fees will be due. Any unpaid course fees will be recouped, along with the cost of the Ableton licence (valued at £539).
Course Pricing
Depending on which level of training you want to study, the payments are as follows:
1 module courses (Basics of Music Production)
- Advanced: £395
- No instalment plan available
2 module courses (Music Production Fundamentals)
- Advanced: £695
- Instalments: 2 monthly payments of £397.50 each. Total: £795
4 modules (Producer’s Bundle)
- Advanced: £1095
- Instalments: 4 monthly payments of £299 each. Total: £1196
6 modules (Ultimate Music Production Course)
- Advanced: £1995 (includes Ableton Live 10 Suite rrp: £539)
- Instalments: 5 monthly instalments of £399. Total: £2095
If you have any queries regarding course fees, please book a call or email us.
How does the monthly finance option work? (UK students only)
Get instant monthly finance with Omni Capital (the finance applicant will need to be in employment)
Prospective students are able to get an instant online decision to fund training though our partner Omni Capital.
Benefits of the monthly finance are that the baseline course price is based on our ‘advanced’ cheaper price – although payment durations longer than 12 months will have interest of 9.9% applied. You can however overpay the finance plan at any point either in part or in full – there are no fees for doing so. Paying the finance off faster will also reduce the interest paid.
Please note, the person applying for Omni Capital finance does not have to be the student, for example a parent could apply for finance on behalf of a student.
Payment durations of 6 months or 12 months are 0% interest. Duration of 24, 36 or 48 months have interest of 9.9% applied. Please note Omni Capital will undertake a credit check when you apply for finance.
To apply, the applicant must be 18 or over, earning over £5000 annually and have been living in the UK for at least 3 years before your course starts. Omni Capital will also take into consideration additional factors such as credit score.
You will need to pay a minimum 5% downpayment on the course fees to SEM at the point of successful finance application, although you have the option to make anything up to a 50% downpayment on course fees (a larger downpayment will make your monthly instalments cheaper).
Book a call with a course advisor now who can setup and walk you through the finance application, and then enrol you to onto the online course of your choice.
You can view the finance calculator below to look at the options that suit your budget. Start by entering the total ‘advanced’ course fees (Fundamentals: £695, Ultimate: £1995, Producer’s Bundle: £1095) and change the finance product dropdown.
As mentioned, there is a minimum of 5% non-refundable deposit (downpayment for the course fees) required from the student at the point of successful application. The calculator will tell you minimum deposit required.
EG: Music Production Ultimate Course. Fees: £1995
£1995 over 36 months : Deposit £99.75 : Monthly instalments of £60.69. Total finance: £2184.86
What if I already have Ableton Live, but want to study the Ultimate course?
Already got Ableton? Awesome!
If you’re wanting to study the Music Production Ultimate Course, this normally comes with Ableton Live Suite included. We would therefore advise booking a call with a course advisor or emailing us so we can look at some options with you to discount your training.
What language are the courses taught in?
Our online training is all taught in English. Please be mindful of this when enrolling.
If English isn’t your first language, remember that your lessons will all be recorded so you can watch these back as much as you need. You can also record your 1-2-1 sessions should you wish.
What happens when I enrol?
We look forward to welcoming you as a SEM student! Once you enrol, join the community online and give us a shout on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, by tagging us and using the hashtag #SEMONLINE to tell us what course you’ve enrolled for. Please add info@semmanchester.com to your email address book so that you receive the admin emails for getting you setup, and keep an eye on your inbox as this is the main way we will liaise with you throughout your training.
Once enrolled, you will be taken to your course player, which contains all the getting started information to ensure you’re all ready for online training. Your course content will unlock as your course progresses.
If you have any questions about enrolling, please book a call or email us.
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