Deadmau5 Masterclass Review 2024: Is It Worth Your Money?
Last Updated on: January 17, 2024 by Aishwar Babber | Fact Checked
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OVERALL VERDICT
I recently completed Deadmau5's Masterclass and it's amazing! It's perfect for music enthusiasts. Deadmau5 breaks down electronic music production in a simple, clear way. I learned about beat making, mixing, and more. The lessons are fun and practical. For anyone into music creation, this class is a must-try. Highly recommended!
8.5
Out of 10
Pros
Focus on modern music industry.
Practical electronic music production tips.
Advanced techniques for experienced musicians.
Insight into Deadmau5's creative process.
High-quality video and sound production.
Cons
Recommended gear is not free
Not intended to be a four year degree in electronic dance music production
Have you ever wanted to make music that sounds amazing?
Well, I just checked out Deadmau5’s Masterclass, and wow, it’s pretty cool! This class is all about learning how to create electronic music, and guess what? It’s taught by Deadmau5 himself!
He’s this super famous DJ and music producer, so you know you’re learning from a pro. In the class, he shows you how to make beats, mix tunes, and even how to build your own unique sound.
The best part? You don’t need to be a music expert to get started. Whether you’re just curious about making music or you’ve been playing around with tunes for a while, this class has something for everyone.
Let me tell you, it’s a game-changer for anyone who loves music and wants to get creative. Stay tuned for more details in my full review!
Bottom Line:
I just finished the Deadmau5 Masterclass and wow, I highly recommend it!If you’re into music production, you’ve got to try this course.
Deadmau5 Masterclass is one of the best masterclasses we’ve seen for electronic music production. if you’re someone who’s starting to get serious about producing EDM tracks, this course is a goldmine for you.
Deadmau5 really breaks things down, making complex ideas super easy to understand. I learned so much about making beats and tunes.
I believe you’ll find this as a nice immersive introduction to the scope of what it means to produce successful music today.
If you have an interest in electronic music production, you must check out Deadmau5 Masterclass. It’s like getting a peek into a pro’s mind. Trust me, this class is worth it. Give it a try now!
Engaging and comprehensive for EDM production, with high-quality content and credible instruction, suitable for learning anywhere, anytime, and is a great starting point for aspiring producers.
DeadMau5 Masterclass Lessons
As mentioned earlier, the DeadMau5 Masterclass consists of multiple videos of over 6 hours in length explaining each of the chapters mentioned below into 23 lessons:
Introduction
This is a lesson that introduces you to the DeadMau5 studio. Learn what he’s got planned for your class in electronic music production with the man behind the mau5head, DeadMau5.
Many people skip over the introduction video when they take masterclass.com courses. With this course, I’d say you shouldn’t do that.
Deadmau5 sure does set the stage in his first video. Watching it has your head right in the right spot. This is especially necessary if you are not a professional musician.
The way he describes things makes it clear that electronic dance music can still be produced by non-musicians. It does take time and effort, of course, but it’s simpler than you think.
Importantly, without having to spend a lot of money on supplies, this can be done. Joel demonstrates how to simply use eight-bar loops to start and take stuff from there.
The DeadMau5 Process: Theory
This lesson gives you the opportunity to learn Joel’s unique approach to the music creation process, the importance of experimentation, and how to get the most out of your time in the studio.
The DeadMau5 Process: Practice
Watch how DeadMau5 music takes shape in real-time by virtually stepping into the studio with the master himself. Learn how to create a masterpiece, from an empty project to the beginning of a track.
Building Your Home Studio
Joel’s advice for what gear you need to start building out your home studio and making tracks of your own. Learn what you need to do and what you don’t.
Deadmau5 shows you how to quickly pull together and configure the hardware and software you need to build the EDM at home in this section. Here is what is protected by it:
Configuring your machine for EDM
DAWs-what they are and whether one is required
Monitors for studios
Configuring your speakers
Developing Melodic Structures
You can use these DeadMau5 techniques to start drawing melodies whether you’ve had musical training or not. Add a masterpiece into your DAW and create loops that resolve.
Joel teaches you how to figure out whether your initial concept is a good one or not in this portion of the course.
The first argument that Deadmau5 makes is that it produces the best melodies over time. You start with a simple idea and eventually mold it into something that sounds amazing and is unforgettable.
It can take hours, weeks, or even months for this process to take place. This differs from piece to piece. So, the sooner you begin, the better.
Usefully, if you have produced an initial melody that is worth working on, he demonstrates how to recognize it quickly. There are a few exercises you can use to get your ear in, as well.
Turning Melodies Into Arrangements
This lesson will give you an insight into how DeadMau5 makes full arrangements, including bass parts and leads, by taking basic chord structures and spreading them out across different instruments.
This lesson will give you an insight into how DeadMau5 makes full arrangements, including bass parts and leads, by taking basic chord structures and spreading them out across different instruments.
You will start to transform them into layered structures once you have your melodies figured out.
This includes selecting equipment, correctly getting your bass, and then layering and arranging until you are satisfied.
Again, Deadmau5 does not give you a tick box method to follow, which is significant. If he were to do that, it would only suffocate your creative impulses at this point.
Instead, he shows you how he does it. Again, you will need to do the assignment in order to cement what you have just learned.
A lot of what you have just heard will crystallize in your mind as you listen to Cat Thruster, and it will make even more sense.
Introduction To Synthesized Sounds
This chapter will help you learn the basics of synthesis and build the unique instrumental sounds that give your track its character once you’ve got a chord structure and an arrangement.
Deadmau5 points out that in the same way, all synths work more or less. So, it is not vital which one you use. Experimenting and learning are the secrets to getting the best out of a synth.
Deadmau5 likes to use backward engineering and tracking to figure out how each sound was made.
It sounds like a fascinating way for your synth skills to learn and build up. Deadmau5 explores the following topics in detail in this portion of his electronic music masterclass:
Modular synths exploration
The gap between digital and analog synths
The pros and cons of the different synth choices
Experimenting With Modular Synths
Watch and learn how DeadMau5 builds and tweaks his patches from scratch and how to experiment and play with the wall of knobs and flashing lights with the help of DeadMau5 modular synths that are all about messing around and finding unexpected sounds.
Digital Vs. Analog Synths
This is a lesson in which DeadMau5 teaches how Analog synths are a great way to add creative elements to your productions and are a big part of the DeadMau5 sound.
Watch DeadMau5, play some of the same patches on digital and analog equipment, and see the difference for yourself.
Shaping Sounds With Effects And Processing
Learn how DeadMau5 uses his plug-ins and effects processors to put life back into tired pre-sets, builds big stereo images, and fattens up his basses.
In these videos, Deadmau5 teaches you how to use various tools to make special sounds and effects.
For example, he covers physical hardware, guitar pedals, and insanely costly modular walls. Mixing outboard stuff with inboard stuff makes a big difference and helps you create unique sounds of your own.
Beats: Part 1
Learn the pro-level tricks and techniques to handle the kick drum, which is considered the heartbeat of an electronic music track.
This gives you an insight into how DeadMau5 lays the groundwork for big, danceable grooves by layering his kick drum samples.
Beats: Part 2
Get a closer look at the drum tracks in Snowcone with this lesson on snare sounds and DeadMau5’s rhythmic techniques.
Structuring Songs
DeadMau5 shows you how to combine all the elements of your chord structure, exciting synth sounds, and drum patterns into an exciting song.
I like the fact that Joel, in this section of the course, goes into great detail. To locate a kick, he uses a free library, nests a sampler into it, and produces a unique sound. The two-beat videos were, at least for me, very enlightening.
Remixes
Remixing is a wonderful way to practice your talent. It’s fascinating and enjoyable to take a stem from another artist and play with it.
You can join mixing contests if you would like to. This is a very good way to exercise your talents and master them. Competing with others forces you to do something that you wouldn’t consider otherwise.
When remixing for tournaments, you can really push the boundaries. It is a perfect way to get the creative juices flowing and get past the equivalent of the writer’s block of music makers.
Learn what DeadMau5likes to hear when other artists remix him and how he works when he’s remixing other artists.
Mixing
These are some important and crucial techniques DeadMau5 personally uses to write original music and how to mix it to sound great and ultimately shape his tracks in the mix.
Mastering
DeadMau5 is globally known to have mastered all of his music himself, unlike a lot of other artists. Learn all the basics of his approach to gain structure, EQing, and limiting.
Mastering Case Study: Snowcone
DeadMau5 personally teaches you how to go plugin by plugin through Snowcone’s master chain. Learn and understand the software step by step and hear how each piece is affecting and honing the track’s sound.
Mastering is not something in any practical way that a lot of music courses cover. It is always regarded as something for which you need a specialist. No question, mastering this skill set requires a lot of practice. Yet, it definitely deserves to do so. The method is divided into 3 stages by Deadmau5:
Adjustment of the dynamics
Balancing the EQ overall
Tweaking the volume overall
Joel shows you his whole step-by-step method, including the opportunity to restrict it. Then, it takes you to cement what he has just told you through a case study.
Starting Your Producing Career
Get up-close and personal ideas about what DeadMau5 looks for when he’s signing up-and-coming EDM artists as he dons his label manager’s hat. Here, he will also talk and offer advice about how to develop your brand and promote it the right way.
You need to invest in yourself, build your brand, and optimize any opportunity for success.
Deadmau5 discusses how to train yourself so that when you are about to show your music to the world, you make a good impression. Importantly, Joel often discusses how to stop being exploited. Something that still happens a lot in the music business, sadly.
Understanding the Music Business
Here are some essential guidelines by DeadMau5 that he has personally learned about navigating the logistics of a recording career so that Major labels don’t become a major headache for him.
On Stage: The Music
Learn how to take your music from the studio to the stage and plan how to play a set that’s creative and keeps your audience engaged.
On Stage: The Technical Side
Learn the techniques DeadMau5 personally employs for managing all his gear and keeping things running smoothly on the road while gigging and touring as an EDM artist.
On Stage: The Show
DeadMau5 tells you how performance is about more than just making great music. Learn the art of performing in front of a live audience and give audiences an experience they’ll never forget.
Closing
This features DeadMau5’s final advice on how to start putting his lessons to use once you have made it through the class and learned all types of skills.
Below every video lesson, you’ll see the Lesson Discussion section. It’s a basic comment section, much like when you’re watching YouTube videos.
Here, you can publish your comments, insights, and takeaways from each lesson for your fellow students to see. You can also reply to your fellow student’s comments and start a whole discussion.
7 THINGS I Loved About DeadMau5 Masterclass!
The entire Masterclass curated by DeadMau5 is top quality, so it is really hard to find topics or points that will displease you. After thoroughly going through the entire course, here are 7 points I have come up with which I loved.
1. Creating an electronic music track from scratch
I started this lesson and was immediately overwhelmed when I saw Ableton Live working with him. That threw up a mental roadblock for me because it doesn’t teach you how to use the app.
So, I was thinking, darn, there was no way I could do this. I basically gave up at that point. But I paused instead, got a coffee, and started again.
I got everything in perspective when I did, and I just watched the process and listened to what he was saying. I realized within 10 minutes that he essentially was playing around with music, building it up in layers and arranging them in a pleasing order.
There’s a little more to it, of course, than that. But that way, you can certainly get started.
Signing up for an Ableton free trial or something similar and completing the first assignment is worthwhile. If you do that, you will soon be aware of whether you want to continue learning how to create EDM.
First, you will need to go through the training software. Luckily, the community is there to help. Under the video, practically, there were hundreds of reviews, so getting help isn’t difficult.
2. Developing melodic structures
Joel will teach you how to find out whether the initial concept is a good one or not in this part of the course. The first point Deadmau5 makes is the development of the best melodies over time.
You start with a basic idea and gradually mold it into a memorable thing that sounds great.
It can take hours, weeks, or even months for that process. It varies piece by piece.
Thus, the sooner you get started, the better.
Usefully, he explains how to recognize quickly if you’ve created an initial melody that is worth the effort. There are a few exercises you can use to get your ear in, too.
3. Converting your melodies into full arrangements
Once you’ve sorted out your melodies, you can start turning them into layered structures. This involves selecting the instruments, getting the bass right, and then layering and arranging until you’re happy.
Again, Deadmau5 does not allow you to follow a tick box process, which is important. If he were to do that, it would just suffocate your creative instincts at this stage. He’s telling you how he does it instead.
Again, you’ll need to do the assignment to cement what you’ve just learned. Lots of what you’ve just learned will crystallize in your mind when you listen to Cat Thruster, and it will make much more sense for everything.
4. An introduction to synths and synthetic sounds!
Deadmau5 points out that all synths work in the same way, more or less. So, it is not critical which one you are using. Experimentation and practice are key to getting the most out of a synth.
Deadmau5 loves to track and reverse engineer to work out how each sound was created. It sounds like an interesting way to practice your synthesis skills and build up.
In this section of his masterclass on electronic music, Deadmau5 deals in depth with the following subjects:
Experimenting with modular synths
The difference between digital and analog synths
The pros and cons of the various synth options
This is a highly important aspect of the course. Your instrument is your synth, and you need to learn how to work well with it!
5. DeadMau5 approach to creating beats!
The beats are perhaps the most essential aspect of any electronic music dance show. So, that part of the course was a genuine eye-opener. The beats featured on an EDM track I assumed were just drummed sounds.
As it turns out, you can create your beat using all kinds of sounds. You can also bite out an existing sound to generate the kick you want.
I like the fact that Joel, in this part of the course, goes into more detail.
To find a kick, he uses a free library, nests a sampler in it, and produces a unique pitch. The two-beat videos, at least to me, were very enlightening.
6. Learn how to begin your music production career!
Before being globally known as Deadmau5, Joel started his career performing music at home.
So, there’s no excuse you shouldn’t do likewise. His journey toward turning his passion into a career has been rocky. It might be for you, too. It takes perseverance.
You need to invest in yourself, develop your brand, and optimize any opportunity to achieve success. Deadmau5 discusses how to train so that when you’re about to show your music to the world, you get a good impression.
Importantly, Joel often explains how not to be manipulated. Something that sadly always happens a lot in the music business.
7. Performing live and on stage!
Live shows with Deadmau5 are always thrilling. He uses his DAW live, as opposed to some other EDM performers, rather than recording everything ahead of time.
He doesn’t like playing it safe and just hits the button on the play. Manipulating sounds on the fly keeps him engaged, and the excitement ramps up.
He moves ahead with this part of the course to focus on the following:
Performing the music
Nailing the technical side
Creating an experience that is memorable for your audience
Importantly, he’s covering how to make your sets start and end memorable. This is one of his signatures and part of the reason his live performances, years down the line, remain popular.
Every lesson is also accompanied by a class workbook designed for students to take their learning further. It contains recaps of each lesson as well as additional reading materials or assignments for you to do. I recommend doing these assignments.
They are really fun to do, and you might even get a chance to get some feedback from DeadMau5 himself!
DeadMau5 Masterclass: Perks of signing up!
Signing up for a DeadMau5 Masterclass comes with several benefits. The course gives you instant access to materials like:
Background material
Downloadable worksheets
Reading lists to peruse
A class workbook that summarises all the key points involved in each video
Additional reading materials and space to write notes
Deadmau5 Masterclass FAQ
I think most people who like music would find this course interesting. For fans of Deadmau5, it is a must. This course would also be excellent for someone new to making music.So, if you are interested in signing up for Deadmau5’s Masterclass, then here are some basic FAQs for you to clear your mind.
🤟Is The Deadmau5 Masterclass worth it?
With six Grammy nominations for his work, this is a rare opportunity to learn from this master of electronic music. Deadmau5 shows you how to make music from scratch with basic, free software. Valuable to musicians of all ages,
🙆♀️ How much is the MasterClass price?
An all-access pass that costs $180 a year is offered by Masterclass. Annually, a full access pass is charged. You can try the Masterclass with a 30-day free trial before you make your decision.
🧏♂️ What MasterClass software does Deadmau5 Use?
Deadmau5 usually uses many DAW programs. Still, he illustrates how to use Logic, Cubase and Ableton Live in his Masterclass.
🤷 Can You Get MasterClass For Free?
A free trial of 30 days is available, after which you have access to MasterClass for life. An all-access pass costs $180 a year. All-access ensures all the present AND future classes are open to you.
🤷♂️ How Much Does MasterClass Cost?
An all-access pass that costs $180 a year is offered by Masterclass. Annually, a full access pass is charged. You can try the Masterclass with a 30-day free trial before you make your decision.
The Masterclass All-access Pass
There are two plans that Masterclass has. You can either go for the individual to pass or go with the all-access pass.
With the individual pass, you will only be able to access one course at a single time. Also, each course costs you $90. The Masterclass all-access pass costs you $180 a year, and it allows you to browse all the website content without any restrictions.
As a result, you can learn your favorite subject at your own pace. You can get either one episode at a time, or you can binge-watch a whole course series
just like you do on Netflix. The quality of their course is also pretty high, and the instructions have credibility. So you can be sure that you are experiencing quality learning. Also, it does not cost you way too much. So yes, it is definitely worth your money.
Is It Worth The Money?
The masterclass is aware of persons like us and has included security against this behavior within its membership model.
However, if you find a few courses that pique your interest, you may reach a point where the amount of fun and useful information crammed into each course makes it worthwhile.
With the full access pass, subscribers have access to more than 100 courses, so once they’ve mastered everything there is to know
about electronic music production from Joel in The Deadmau5 Masterclass, they can move on to something completely different, like Danny Elfman’s Masterclass on film scoring, or even something completely outside of the realm of music, like Garry Kasparov’s Masterclass on chess.
The best thing about Masterclass is that the course structure they provide is very neat and simple. The lessons have been designed in such a way that you can learn your chosen art anywhere, anytime, whether at home, school, office, or at a café over a cup of coffee.
With up to 23 video lessons, which are usually five to ten minutes long, you won’t have to worry about cutting off too much time from your regular day-to-day schedule and learning anytime you wish to.
The overall course structure of DeadMau5 is such that some of the videos are short explanatory documentaries in which the instructor works with their students’ efforts in front of the camera.
Some of the videos are longer than the usual ones, which feature DeadMau5 himself speaking straight to the camera.
Aishwar Babber is a passionate blogger and a digital marketer. He loves to talk and blog about the latest tech and gadgets, which motivates him to run GizmoBase. He is currently practicing his digital marketing, SEO, and SMO expertise as a full-time marketer on various projects. He is an active investor in AffiliateBay. You can find him on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.
