Project-Based Learning In Music Production (Newsletter 06)

“Well, that’s enough for today,” I said as I shut my laptop and got ready for bed. Another “successful” evening spent learning online, I thought to myself.

I was fascinated (and still am) by how deeply I could study almost any topic for free on the internet.

Whatever I was interested in, I could find information on (music production, weightlifting, music theory, philosophy, psychology, boxing, chess and more).

But there was a big problem. The more time I spent learning, the more information I forgot.

I had developed what I believed, at the time, to be a healthy studying habit.

The reality of the situation, however, was that I put myself into a constant state of information overload. I wasn’t able to metabolize the information coming in and put on a significant amount of “mental fat” in the process. Like a disorganized hard drive, my mind became sluggish.

My intention of self-improvement morphed into psychic entropy. The ideas I was consuming (which often contradicted each other) were either lost in the ether or filed away before I could truly understand or utilize them.

On top of that, I wasn't creating any music! The act of learning and the act of creating were separated.

I knew something had to change.

Tutorial hell (noun): the pattern of learning without building by doing tutorial after tutorial, and often switching subjects.

As humans, we need to be learning (whether this is conscious or not). It’s how our brains evolved to get us to where we are today.

Learning whatever we want has never been easier with the technology we’ve created (notably the Internet).

The downside, of course, is that this abundance of information can quickly lead to information overload. We can liken it to an overabundance of nutrition or pleasure—all of which lead to general disease.

But we aren’t only wired for learning. We’re also wired for creating. I believe learning and creativity to be intrinsically tied together.

We solve our problems creatively by putting what we learn into practice.

And so the solution I found, which I’ll be sharing in this newsletter, is Project-Based Learning (PBL).

Project-Based Learning

I fancy myself a teacher, and so one of my many interests is pedagogy (the theory and practice of learning).

My philosophy, at this point in life, is that project-based learning is the best way to both learn and live a creative life—two of my foundational personal goals.

Project-based learning, as the name suggests, is a system whereby we learn material to solve problems and reach a goal (the “project”).

I love this approach for several reasons:

1. It makes us set goals (without a goal, we have no project).
2. It gives us a framework for viewing problems (what’s stopping us from achieving the goal).
3. It provides a natural flow of research prompts (it points us toward what to learn)
4. It makes us act (and reduces our time researching unrelated topics, thereby reducing information overload).
5. It engages our senses and connects what we’re learning to the real world
6. It writes a storyline toward the success or failure of the project, which makes reflection easier and memory stronger.
7. It provides something tangible at the end of the process.

Many of us fall out of love with our natural desire to learn once we get into school.

What's worse is that many of us carry the more “traditional” way of learning (from school) to adulthood. If we do find the motivation to study, we often do so without necessarily applying what we learn.

Traditional learning (think back to public school):

• Pre-defined learning plan based on standardized goals (you don't choose the goal or “project”).
• Seated position (passive).
• Monologue from a teacher explaining often-abstract concepts (passive).
• Drilling those concepts.
• Taking a test.
• Passing or failing the test if you could regurgitate the information accurately enough.
• Maybe retaining the information, maybe not.

Project-based learning:

• Choosing a goal for ourselves.
• Developing a plan to reach that goal.
• Learning what we need to learn to reach that goal.
• Applying what we learned in an organized fashion toward that goal.
• Passing or failing by reaching the goal or not.
• Having better information retention through revisiting the story of striving for the goal.

Maybe your school experience was different than mine. Let me know if that's the case.

Our brains have evolved to discard “irrelevant” information. If what we’re learning isn’t directly applicable to our lives, there’s a slim chance we’ll register it as relevant. This is a good thing, but we must be aware of it to achieve our goals more effectively.

I hope this is as inspiring to you as it is for me!

“I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.” — Chinese proverb, often attributed to Confucius

Breaking this down, we innately understand the following:

Being told (”I hear”) how something works or how to perform a specific task requires abstract thought. It also, oftentimes, demands prerequisite knowledge and experience with the subject to understand the instruction. This is the least effective way to learn.

Being shown (”I see”) how something works or how to perform a specific task plays into our innate ability to model others. This is a step in the right direction (toward learning). We can envision the physicality of the task and mimic it ourselves.

Learning by doing (”I do”) is the best way to learn because it’s actively engaging our minds and bodies. The act ofdoing gives us experience and feedback on whether we’ve learned something successfully or not.

I have a peculiar relationship with mechanics. I’m not super interested in the subject and yet I value that knowledge highly.

So when it comes time to fix issues with my car, snowblower or lawn mower, I’ll often try to do it myself.

(I Hear)

If you’re like me, the manuals are time-consuming at best and deeply frustrating at worst. The information is often poorly organized and unhelpful for your specific problem.

(I see)

I’ll often go to “YouTube University” unless I need a specific part number or other small piece of information from the manual.

Better yet, I have a good relationship with my neighbour, who’s a mechanic by trade, who can help me troubleshoot issues and show me solutions.

(I do)

Eventually, if it’s something I feel I can do myself, I’ll have my hand at it and either fail or succeed. Either way, I ultimately learn best by actually going through the steps to attempt to solve the issue at hand.

Of course, we have the free will to choose our own goals—I’m not particularly interested in becoming a mechanic. This is simply one example of interest without big ambitions.

However, if you do have a goal, it’s imperative that you build projects around that goal to make it happen.

But you didn’t come here for my thoughts on mechanical work. You’re here for music production. So let’s dive into PBL in music production.

Using Project-Based Learning In Music Production

My favourite projects are producing albums. You can find my music on your favourite streaming platform (under “Arthur Fox”) or on Bandcamp.

I personally love albums because they’re long-term projects that evolve as I evolve. Because they take more time than say, a single, they act as a long-form project “anchor” to apply my learning to.

Let’s go through the project-based learning outline I mentioned earlier (here it is again for reference):

• Choosing a goal for ourselves.
• Developing a plan to reach that goal.
• Learning what we need to learn to reach that goal.
• Applying what we learned in an organized fashion toward that goal.
• Passing or failing by reaching the goal or not.
• Having better information retention through revisiting the story of striving for the goal.

The Goal

Our goal is to create an album. Something inspired with our own unique sound—the music we want to listen to but doesn’t exist yet.

The Plan

We need to come up with a plan, preferably with time constraints, to complete the album.

This likely starts with writing the songs and practicing them. Perhaps they could benefit from additional arrangement, perhaps not.

The next part of the plan is whether we will record at a professional studio or record ourselves.

During and after the recording process, we can explore different production techniques to bring our sonic vision of our music to life.

Then comes the mixing stage. If all goes well there, we can move on to mastering.

Next comes distribution. Do we have a distributor or are we going to do it ourselves?

What about marketing the album?

Is there a plan to perform the album on tour?

Who are the collaborators willing to help? Who do you want to work on the album and how can you reach them?

Creating a plan gives you a concrete project to tie your learning to. This will help tremendously in internalizing the knowledge.

Let’s assume, for the sake of argument (and because it’s how I like to do things), that you’ll be taking on all these roles yourself. That’s a ton of stuff to do and learn. Work through it one step at a time, focusing your study and balancing it with action.

The Learning

Let’s go through the skills required to create an album:

• Songwriting: the art of creating songs.
• Instruments And Vocals: playing your instrument(s) and/or singing to the level the album requires.
• Music Theory: the study of how music works and how it may help your effectiveness and creativity in music production.
• Arrangement: the elements of the song, both in terms of long-term dynamics (the sections of the song) as well as the instrumentation (the elements creating sound throughout the song).
• Digital Audio Workstation Usage: using a DAW to record, arrange, produce, mix and master your music (alternatively, you could go the analog route, though digital is the way to go in most cases in the modern world).
• Recording Technology: the gear needed to record, how it works, and how to use it creatively.
• Recording Techniques: how to capture the sound of your music during recording.
• MIDI Programming: the utilization of MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) for triggering samples, virtual instruments, and more.
• Mixing: the art of balancing the individual tracks of your recording for maximal impact on the end listener (I have a course on the tools of mixing music that you can find here).
• Mastering: the art of finalizing recorded music for distribution for optimal translation to different media and playback systems.
• Distribution: the process of getting your music out there.
• Marketing: the process of letting your fans (and strangers) know that your music is available for listening.
• Productivity: the art of actually getting things done—includes time management.
• Collaboration: the processes and systems of working with others.
• Performance: the ability to perform the music live.

Additionally, you can use the album project to tie everyday learning to something tangible.

In other words, you can find inspiration for your art in simple observations throughout your day because you have an active project you’re working on.

Note that keeping an “amateur's mindset” can help make learning and mastering the fundamentals much more fun.

The Application

The application goes hand in hand with the learning. Learn just as much as you need to apply your knowledge to a task. This increases skill acquisition and mental clarity toward your album’s completion.

If the goal of a “DIY” album is too much (I know the feeling), then focus on sub-goals.

For example:

Learn songwriting by writing songs.

Study the components of songwriting (rhythm, melody, harmony, lyrics, arrangement, etc.). Apply what you learn immediately by writing something.

The same goes for music theory.

In fact, I wrote Fine Dining With An Octopus by immediately putting to use what I was learning in Mark Levine’s The Jazz Theory Book.

Learn recording techniques by recording yourself and others: study the basics and put them into practice.

When you inevitably run into a problem, research the solution and put that into practice (sometimes it’s best to find a workaround in the moment and revisit the issue later).

Learn mixing by actually mixing your own material:

So many people get stuck here. It’s still arguably the most difficult part of the process for me. Like most things, practice makes perfect, especially the practice of the fundamentals. Again, learn the basics and apply them to the music you’re invested in. Listen critically and list out the issues you must solve to mix to an appropriate level.

I won’t go over every one of the skills required a second time—revisit the section above :).

I will mention that multi-sensory learning, which integrates visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements, offers a dynamic approach to project-based learning. We are more likely to retain information and stay actively involved in the learningand creative process if we can engage more of our senses.

Luckily for us, we’re automatically involving visual and auditory elements during the music production process.

However, it can be easy to reduce the kinesthetic elements in certain genres. Even if you aren’t using “real” instruments, try your best to perform the audio on your records. It makes it a hell of a lot more fun and also helps in the overall process.

The Result Of The Project

This is all easier said/written than done.

It takes time, especially if you’ve never produced a record before. There’s a ton to learn if you want to do it yourself, which is why it’s often a wise decision to collaborate for most people.

But if you’re interested in every facet of the music production process, I invite you to set the goal of producing an album, learning what you need to achieve that goal, and applying it.

You’ll either complete the album or you won’t, and that’s enough of a result.

Beyond that, you may have additional goals to achieve with the specifics of the album. That's the beauty of it—you get to decide and you get to put the work in.

The Result Of Personal Growth

Our fulfilment in life is ultimately about the development and utilization of our knowledge and skills. I’m finding this to be true in all the most important aspects of life: health, wealth, relationships and self-actualization.

And so even if we “fail” at our project (we don’t finish our album, in this example), we can move forward having improved ourselves through the experience of learning and applying what we learned.

Even better, if we succeed in our efforts, we’ll have built our self-confidence and we'll have a tangible work of art to call our own. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.

Recap

I sincerely hope this newsletter was educational and inspiring for you. It’s one of my main goals, with this newsletter, to share solutions to the problems I’ve faced with the intention of helping you overcome the same or similar challenges.

And with that, I wish you luck with your next album, should you choose that project for yourself.

Get creative and make the music you want to hear!

Cheers,

-Art