Point Blank on iTunes

Point Blank has pulled off a bit of a coup this month, becoming the first music school to offer lessons on iTunesU – the educational arm of Apple’s immensely successful download store.

from top universities such as Oxford,

We say ‘coup’ because most iTunesU content comes from top universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and MIT. But now those venerable institutions are joined by Shoreditch-based Point Blank, which is offering free ‘sampler’ tutorials in areas such as songwriting and music business management as well as genre-specific lessons in how to produce hip hop, dubstep, house and more. The freebie lessons are highlights from Point Blank’s full remote learning courses, enabling you to try before you buy.

Contact Point Blank 020 7729 4884 Web www.pointblankonline.net

InMyStudio...

ROBBIE JAY

My studio is best described as a work in progress. Like a lot of people, I started out DJ’ing and took my first steps into production with a Groovebox. From there I got into buying more hardware and learning to use it, but then, a few years ago, my partner and I started a family and I had to stop being a full-time DJ and go back to working in IT! So right now it’s just a hobby, but I’m hoping that within a few years I can get back out there again.

my first steps into production with a Groovebox. From there I got into buying more hardware and learning to use it, but then,

YOUR STUDIOHERE!Wantyourstudioto featurehere?Mailapic to:mystudio@anthempublishing.com

I need to because it’s kind of hard to justify spending that much money on kit if it’s not paying for itself with record releases! But I’ve been quite careful: when I’ve wanted a particular piece of kit, I’ve held back and held back until I found one at the right kind of price.

If I had to pick a favourite piece of kit then I’d have to say my Virus C synth. I love the filters on it: you can push them and push them and the sound never distorts. But I do love my Roland MC-909, too: partly because it was the first piece of ‘proper’ hardware I bought and partly because it just makes it so easy to get those classic house sounds.

Robbie Jay is a house producer and DJ based in Bath. Find him on Twitter: @robbiejaydj

KitList ● Quad-core AMD

Phenom PC ● Ableton Live 8 ● Reason/ReWire ● MOTUmicro lite ● Mackie CR1604 ● E-mu Orbit 9090/

Planet Phatt ● Novation

A-Station ● Novation

BassStation ● Roland MC-909 ● Access Virus C ● Alesis

Quadraverb ● Samson S-Direct

Plus DI box ● Genelec 8030a monitors with Behringer sub

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Latest Releases

TOOLROOM RECORDS SAMPLES 01 £39.90

Sample Magic Cutting edge samples from the world's most up-front dance label in association with Sample Magic, featuring 535+MB loops and hits, including many from head honcho Mark Knight.

CLASSIC HOUSE

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Waveform Recordings Fine follow up to the best-selling Vintage Deep & Tech House featuring 635 rich, melodic and groovy loops which marry the warmth of vinyl with robust contemporary programming.

PROG HOUSE SYNTHS & STABS 2 £12.95

Sounds To Sample A second 600+MB serving of deep, driving and euphoric mainroom synth loops, bonus basslines and prog stabs - plus Midi files.

SHAKER SENSATION £29.90

DigiNoiz Supersize your beatmaking armoury with 390+ hand-crafted and tempo-synced shaker loops for hip hop, urban and pop productions.

NUELECTRIK £23.49

SampleStar Seamless fusion of French electro, Italo and indie-disco that distils the sounds of the global dancefloor in one 640MB package.

ORCHESTRA ELEMENTS £14.95

Crate Diggers Scratchy ensembles, lush orchestras, string sections, brass and more. 210+ royalty-free phrases, solos and intros for old-school bliss.

PROG TOOLS 3 £12.95

Hy2rogen Must-have selection of searing synth leads, ultra detailed drum loops, kick-free tops, basslines, glitched vox and 100 XXXL drum hits.

DARK SKIES £89.95

Zero-G Award-nominated 9+GB library packed full of ambiences, soundscapes, drones and FX - ideal for film, TV and video games.

www.soundstosample.com

Pro Tips Dirty Dutch Leads Wobble Dubstep Bass Set up a digital label Start a club night

How To Fidget Production Making glitched vocals Electro production Programming chillout

Q&A Pan-Pot D.Ramirez Paolo Mojo Mark Broom magazine Xxxxx 2010 | 11