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Do you love music, but are unfamiliar with how to get started with making and producing your music?
Have you always wondered if you should write lyrics first or if you should make your music first?
Timbaland’s MasterClass on Beatmaking and Producing will teach you these things, among many others.
In his class, you will get an inside look into his creative workflow on how to create top-notch tracks, and how to collaborate with some of the best musicians in the world.
Who is Timbaland?
Timbaland (real name Timothy Zachery Mosley) is a four-time Grammy winner, who has been nominated 21 times for his impeccable music. He is a rapper, a DJ, a record executive, and a music producer.
He is known for his award-winning productions, and his collaborations with high-profile celebrities including Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Rhianna, Drake, Jay-Z, and Madonna.
The artist has over 99 U.S. hit songs under his name, and he is a household name for hit tracks throughout his career. His music solo debut was released in 1998, titled Tim’s Bio: From the Motion Picture: Life From Da Bassment.
He soon received appreciation from the noted press, and by the beginning of the 2000s, he was a high-paid producer. Timbaland also signed a deal with Interscope Records and created the Beat Club record label, under which, in 2001, he released Dark Days, Bright Nights by Bubba Sparxxx.
In his MasterClass, he talks about his experiences of being a music producer, and how you can be one like him too.
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Timbaland MasterClass Course Overview
Timbaland’s MasterClass course is divided into 15 lessons, all videos. The classes are five to 20 minutes each, and they add up to just over 3 hours of total viewing time. In his class, Timbaland explains how music is made, and his creative process of making the music.
He explains how he comes up with the beats and the process of writing lyrics to a song. He also takes you through how different artists have different styles, and how these artists come together to collaborate and make top charts music.
This class helps you understand the workflow behind writing and producing music, and how to build hit tracks.
His class also comes with a PDF workbook where students can download extra reading material and has a comprehensive explanation of the jargon that he uses in every chapter. He also provided samples in his workbook that students can use to create their pieces.
Lessons By Timbaland
Here is the course curriculum of Timbaland’s MasterClass on Music Production.
- Introduction
- Studio Session: Making a Beatbox Beat
- Building Beats: Tim’s Process
- Making a Beat: Getting Warmed Up
- Song Origins: “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”
- Making a Beat: Starting with a Chord Progression
- Making a Beat: Tweaking and Layering Drums
- Song Origins: “Pony”
- Making a Beat: Manipulating Vocal Samples
- Making a Beat: Creating a Breakdown
- Song Origins: “Gossip Folks”
- Making a Beat: Adding a Topline
- Song Origins: “Are You That Somebody?”
- Tim’s Influences
- How to Persevere
What will you Learn in this MasterClass?
In this MasterClass, you will get an insight into how the minds of music producers work when creating their beats. You will learn how to loop your voice and your beats, and how to experiment with the speed, overlays, and produce the music.
You will also learn how to tap into the beats, and gain inspiration – this is where Timbaland also brings in stories from his own life and how inspiration struck him at the right time. Timbaland’s MasterClass also gives a peek of his secrets on how his biggest hits were created.
He also talks about the importance of collaborations, and how different artists with different styles come together to form a hit song.
#5 Key Lessons you’ll Learn in Timbaland’s MasterClass
Beatboxing as the initial stages of music production: Timbaland, in his early lessons, explains how even if he isn’t familiar with playing any instruments, can come up with a beat by just using his mouth and beatboxing. He explains how he creates a rhythm and how he proceeds to create a layer with your voice and put them in a loop. He teaches how you can experiment with your beats, and how creative you can get with your beats.
Workflow: Timbaland’s MasterClass is a class with his expert team, and the most important thing they teach is how you can create a workflow that will suit you. He explains how you can build a track without losing your momentum – as if you lose your beat, it will be hard for you to pick up again. He also shows his creative journey and his workflow, and how he creates his tracks.
Collaborations: Timbaland’s MasterClass has an exclusive demonstration of how he created his tracks with artists with styles that are very different from his. He explains how collaborations are important, and he shows the creative process that unfolds when making a song together. He says that tapping into emotion and spontaneity is the key that puts his unusual music together. Some of the examples of collaborations he uses are Dirt Off Your Shoulder (Jay-Z), Pony (Ginuwine), Gossip Folks (Missy Elliott), and Are You That Somebody (Aaliyah).
Teamwork: While the name of the class doesn’t include the team in it, Timbaland’s MasterClass is mostly about his team, and how they work together to make the perfect trcks. He shows how he weighs in their opinions continuously, and how they use different equipment to bring the best out of a track.
Building a beat: Timbaland shows you how you can expand your beat by building chord progressions, and tweaking and layering drums to fill the beat. His lessons are to edit your vocal samples to match the sound that you want and create a breakdown. These sessions are for beat-making, and Timbaland’s idea of how to bring a skeleton of a song to life is impeccable.
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Pros and Cons
Pros
Practical lessons: Timbaland goes with an approach of ‘showing, and not saying’. He explains his lessons of beat making and music production in practice and takes the viewers through his process behind making music.
Workbook: Timbaland’s workbook has not just information from the class, but also information on specific songs that he had worked on, the instruments he uses, and the software that he processes on. He also has samples included in the workbook that is helpful to dive deeper into the lessons.
Download: Once you sign up for this course, you will also have access to download the stems, and you can work on exclusive Timbaland’s tracks.
His team: Timbaland’s class is not just about him, but his team too. This lesson gives an insight into how production is a team sport, and in the class, you will get expert opinions from the full team, and you will get to see them working in their natural habitat, without any added frills.
Cons
You need music background: Timbaland does a pretty good job with explaining the technical terms and making you understand the little things. But if you are only a beginner, and if you do not have a computer or the setup that is capable of music production, then this class isn’t for you.
Beatboxing, and not software: Timbaland explains how he beatboxes a tune before going further. However, this isn’t an ideal method for most, and he speaks about beatboxing too much. Instead, he could’ve talked about the software that he uses.
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Is Timbaland’s MasterClass worth the Money?
In a nutshell, yes, this MasterClass is completely worth your money. If you get the exclusive pass for this class, then it will cost you $90, which might seem extreme. However, you can buy an all-access pass on MasterClass for $180 that will be charged annually.
With this pass, you can listen to all other classes like – cooking from Gordon Ramsay, writing from James Patterson, and Conservation from Jane Goodall. For this price, in Timbaland’s class, you will get insider access to his life, and how his creative workflow is when he makes a hit track.
He teaches beatboxing, production, and collaboration in the class. You will get practical tips on production and expanding on a beat from the expert, and you will also get a workbook handcrafted to make your skills better.
Final Verdict – Is It Worthy MasterClass?
Timbaland’s MasterClass is not just for music producers, but it is also for music enthusiasts that are thrilled with knowing about the creative workflow behind a hit track. You will learn how to make tracks from absolutely nothing but just a beat, and you will learn how to structurize your music.
This MasterClass is all about finding your inspiration, while also seeking guidance. It is also worth mentioning that the workbook and the accompanying tasks will only be set to improve your music skills, and will give you a boost in composing and enhancing your music. For $0.49 a day, this class is worth it.
FAQs
Timbaland’s MasterClass is for you if you have a little background in music, and if you have access to the software and recording equipment. If you don’t own a computer that supports the production software, you can still take this class to know how the music legend makes his music.
Timbaland has 15 total lessons on his MasterClass that are 5-20 minutes in length. Combined, these classes add up to a total of 3 hours of viewing time.
On MasterClass, you can download your classes in video or audio mode, and can stream the classes anywhere, anytime. You can also download the PDF versions of the classes to brush up on the learnings.
No, MasterClass will not offer you a completion certificate if you finish Timbaland’s course, or any other course on the platform. However, you will receive an email when you finish a course, that can be used in the same way as a certificate. In the email, you will also receive links to the workbooks.
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