Any recommendation for a good book/video tutorials for DP7?

[skittlegirl]

Hello,

I've been using DP for a while, but I've been doing it in my own way. Now I want to learn how to use it effectively so that I can fully use my DP (now it's just scratching the surface).
I'd like to know if there's any good videos or books that I can use to learn DP.

I got a book called "Producing Music with Digital Performer" like 5 years ago. It was a good book but since it's for DP4, now the information is a bit old (but I'm still using it!).
I have manuals around me but I use them like a dictionary and I've never read through yet.

I also found a topic called "Has anyone used Tutorial Depot, DP5 tutorials ?" here, and it listed some cool tutorial videos like MacAudioLab's DVD and TutorialDEPOT's podcasts.
http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... 03&start=0
The topic was for DP5, but I noticed that the most of them were updated for DP7.
Has anyone tried their DP7 version?
I saw TutorialDEPOT's DP7 series were way shorter than DP5's and wondering if it still has depth.
MacAudioLab's DVD is a bit expensive for me but looks good.


The things that I wanted to learn are for example :
- Overall workflow. Say, I have 16 MIDI tracks and 4 of them are percussion tracks which I made first. I also have 2 virtual instruments tracks, and 2 audio tracks which include drum loops. Should I convert these 4 MIDI tracks of percussion to Audio immediately or should I do it at the last minute together with other MIDI tracks, just before mixing?
Some tutorial videos taught me how to convert MIDI to Audio but didn't tell me when...

- Use of AUX tracks.
I read the book "Producing music with digital performer" and it says that AUX track routes audio from one place to another. When I create AUX track for MIDI track to reroute, I hear the sound overlapped. I hear both aux track and the MIDI track at the same time in my audio interface. It might be my audio interface problem, but I wanted to know how to properly set up AUX tracks and also how to add effects on my MIDI tracks.

- Plug-ins.
There're lots of useful plugins like Proverb and MasterWorks EQ in DP but I've never had a chance to use them. I would like to see how and when to use them.

-Mixing
If I can learn tips for mixing on DP7 that would be great because I've never mixed on DP properly. (Previously I used Ableton Live to mix.)


There are lots more questions and things that I want to learn, but at this point I want to find tutorial videos /books which can cover these beginner questions. (By the way if somebody can answer these questions here, that would be wonderful as well!)


Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[Shooshie]

The things that I wanted to learn are for example :
- Overall workflow. Say, I have 16 MIDI tracks and 4 of them are percussion tracks which I made first. I also have 2 virtual instruments tracks, and 2 audio tracks which include drum loops. Should I convert these 4 MIDI tracks of percussion to Audio immediately or should I do it at the last minute together with other MIDI tracks, just before mixing?
Some tutorial videos taught me how to convert MIDI to Audio but didn't tell me when...

- Use of AUX tracks.
I read the book "Producing music with digital performer" and it says that AUX track routes audio from one place to another. When I create AUX track for MIDI track to reroute, I hear the sound overlapped. I hear both aux track and the MIDI track at the same time in my audio interface. It might be my audio interface problem, but I wanted to know how to properly set up AUX tracks and also how to add effects on my MIDI tracks.

- Plug-ins.
There're lots of useful plugins like Proverb and MasterWorks EQ in DP but I've never had a chance to use them. I would like to see how and when to use them.

-Mixing
If I can learn tips for mixing on DP7 that would be great because I've never mixed on DP properly. (Previously I used Ableton Live to mix.)

-Laughing Uproariously
Expert Village


(sorry; I know that's not contributing anything to your thread… but it's true!)

Shooshie

[skittlegirl]

Thanks, Shooshie.
I actually liked expertvillage DP tutorial videos .
Yeah, you're right, they were very helpful for beginners like me and yes, it covered most of the things that I listed.

Maybe I want to get more examples, tips and overall explanations.

[Frodo]

One problem has always been a comparatively scant choice of DP tutorials available for reasons unknown.

Course Technology has had a series of "...Power!" books that have been pretty good, but again the problem is that it didn't appear until a few months before DP7 was released. As far as I know, CT has yet to release anything on DP7. If you're using DP6, then I believe that book is still floating around on Amazon.

Tutorial Depot appears to have some 90 tutorials available for download. I found previous series of theirs not so much a tutorial but more of a short series of how-to's lacking in the "why" department. They used to be free. Hmm.

MacAudioLab is probably the most comprehensive DVD training course out there, afaik (16 hours).
http://www.macaudiolab.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apex Web Media has 7 hours of DP6 tutorials. This could come in handy even if you are using DP7-7.21 because there are plenty of similarities between 6.x and 7.x. However, there are a few profound differences as well. At least the interfaces are more similar than that of DP 5.13 or earlier.

http://www.computer-training-software.c ... rmer-6.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You might want to look into Digital Music Doctor's series. Here's some info:

http://www.digitalmusicdoctor.com/motu_ ... aining.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Among the few decent websites out there on DP:

http://www.performernotes.co.uk/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(updated monthly)

[MIDI Life Crisis]

FWIW...

How much experimenting have you done on your own? A more useful question might be:

How did you learn DP?

So I'll go ahead and answer that from my perspective - not that I'm a power user like the two members who's posts precede mine...

Once I got the basics, such as how to get a soundbite into a sequence and then stop thinking "sequence" and start thinking "chunk," it was time to start pushing buttons and trying different things based on what project I was working on at the time. To date, after 100's of DP projects over the past 12-14 years or so, similar projects tend to be done in a similar manner in terms of work flow. A sound design pretty much looks like other sound designs, MIDI scores tend to be much the same and special projects (almost all involve film or video) generally look and feel the same. But there always seems to be something unique to each and I think that is the nature of art.

You can certainly apply "craft" and craftsmanship to the creative project, but there is a lot of wiggle room for creativity and that extends into how you use your tools, including your DAW - any DAW, not just DP.

I think each person has to find their own "workflow." Certainly there are things that make it easier for one person and harder for another. For example, I was a percussionist from a young age and then a guitarist and finally a keyboard player. Drum tracks are all done in real time but a lot of folks use step entry. Clearly our process will be different. Same for guitar and piano tracks. I usually know what I want quickly and one or two takes and I'm done.

That said, there are also projects where I have as many as 12 or more sketches (all different) for the same thing. Sometimes I'll combine them, more often I develop them as I refine things in later takes. other composers and arrangers will labor note for note in a piano part (especially if they are not keyboard players).

So again, workflow is going to be determined by your playing skills and perhaps by the project.

BOTTOM LINE
Use the manual when you need it. Read it when you can, but don't be afraid to try different things. You can't really "break" anything. Who knows, maybe you'll come up with a great workflow nobody has thought of before and you can be the one to cash in on the DP tutorial market!

[Schweats]

For mixing… 'The Mixing Engineer's Handbook' by Bobby Owsinski try amazon
for Aux trks … I only put audio thru aux tracks
Workflow … that's a very personal thing that I think is determined by what type of music you compose
Pop tunes ? Orchestral pieces ? underscores for film/video ? Answer that , then set templates up with the most
frequent instruments and sound sets that you use. When writing pop tunes , I always have a marker window open with markers already added and labeled where intro(s) verse(s) and Chorus(s) are located and go phrase by phrase and copy/paste to flush the idea(s) out as quickly as possible. I then start whittling away , adding here , subtracting there. Once you have one system , then change things up .. e.g., if you usually use a rhodes type piano to flush out chordal structures, switch to an acoustic piano etc., etc. etc. Experiment ! Experiment ! Experiment !
Read this forum every day - 365 !
Read http://www.soundonsound.com/articles/Di ... former.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - maybe subscribe

HTH - Schweats

[Frodo]

Here's the problem I find with tutorials:

One cannot sort out their own workflow until they have a good grasp of the software.

The manual is excellent--- but it is excellent on a "what-is" basis and not necessarily a "how-to" basis. Reading a handbook on mixing is fine as long as you are completely fluent in your DAW of choice.

There remains a gray area with so many users that leave them asking--- "How do I get there?". Go through the DP manual, and one might not find the info they need in the context for which they need it. Oh, the info is there. It might be scattered in bits and pieces throughout 1000 pages.

I challenge anyone to find info in the manual explaining the Buffy plugin. DP7 manual, page 869. Almost, but no cigar. It's still included with DP7.21, but there's no info to be read.

Wanna talk about its original intent? Slippery sloppery slope if you do. If it's no longer needed why is it still needed? Why is it still included but treated like a red-headed stepchild?

Let's not forget what it's like to be new at this. What new users need is a step by step for how to accomplish what they need to get done in terms of workflow.

Say a user wants to freeze a MIDI track to create a soundbite.

1. Create instrument track. pp. 277-280

2. Load sounds-- contact third-party developer for details.

3. Check your filters, p. 363. Okay-- there are 40 words about filters on that page that don't help in this context. Let's try p. 378, Ah-- The View Filter. Another 40 words that end with "see page 486". The treasure hunt is on! Forget workflow.

I won't go on, but I'm sure some could. Hey-- we never quite got to freezing tracks, did we?

Are you tired yet?

My point is that the manual does EXACTLY what it's supposed to do. It's just not a proper "tutorial".

That's where good "how-to" and "why" tutorials come in and are necessary--- and are woefully missing.

That's why I appreciate that James opened the new tutorial videos forum. He may not even realize it, but what those videos do is to cover complete disjunct pages of info in the manual into one tidy place. IMHO-- THAT'S what a good tutorial is supposed to do. It addresses the following:

1. "This" is your goal and "this" is your approach.

2. These are the things you need to set it up and HOW you need to set them up.

3. This is WHY you need to set those things up-- or else you will not get the results you want.

That is the foundation of a killer tutorial. Sadly, the thought process is often taken for granted all too often.

One of these days, someone's going to make a fortune-- not on just printing another boiler plate tutorial, but on understanding what the learning process is all about from the users' perspective--- on understanding how human beings (and hobbits) NEED to process this information --- on how the brain works---in what sequence that brain processes that info--- and what turns a beginner DP user into a power DP user.

For more info, go to page 562.

[Schweats]

There is also many short video tutorials on youtube.com Type Digital Performer tutorials and start watching

HTH - Schweats

[James Steele]

There is also many short video tutorials on youtube.com Type Digital Performer tutorials and start watching

HTH - Schweats

If there are, please feel free to post the links here or add them to the Tutorial Video forum. There's a tag for embedding YouTube videos.

[cowtothesky]

Last month, I purchased the Mac Audio Lab DP7 training video. I thought it was a really good video tutorial. Much better than the Tutorial Depot videos. This is what I would recommend.

http://www.macaudiolab.com/ultimatedp7.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Several months ago, I bought the Tutorial Depot video. When I switched computers, I lost the video. So, I emailed them about how to get the video again, and provided proof that I purchased it. I received no response from their customer support. I wouldn't buy from them again.

[craigw]

I have scoured the internet looking for good DP training. What you want will really depend on how far along the curve you are in understanding Digital Music Production. I am a newcomer and I found the tutorial at VTC.com to be very helpful. Very basic, but I like the way it's done. The presenter talks as if he were one on one with you. After I went through that tutorial I found the MacAudioLab tutorials to be very good. I also like the project tutorial available at Tutorial Depot. I do not like the tutorial at Digital Music Doctor as much. The approach just didn't work for me. It may for others. Most of them will let you view a few of the tutorials so you can get a feel for what will work best for you.
craig

[Armageddon]

The problem I have with all recording/engineering/soundware tutorials is, all of them are taught from the perspective of one engineer/user, and usually, they read like they either assume you have a background in engineering or are just unwilling to part with their "trade secrets" and, therefore, give you a very generic overview of the experience. I've learned a few rules of thumb by perusing 'em, or by subscribing to "Recording", but not even the sacred tomes of Craig Anderton really taught me all that much. Your best bet is to just dive in and learn from your own experience. If you hit a technical snag, you have a Bible-sized DP 7 manual to refer to and, failing that, you might get lucky and speak or write to a MOTU Tech if you need instant guidance. And fortunately, unlike Logic or ProTools, DP is fairly easy to work with even without formal training.

[skittlegirl]

Frodo,
You're my hero! You've been helping me here and there. Thank you very much for the lists of useful tutorials.　I checked Digital Music Doctor and MacAudioLab's website and tried their demos, but I didn't know about Apex Web Media. They're all good, but I might go with MacAudioLab's DVD because it seems to be very extensive. The Performer Notes website was really handy; I'll try to check the website every once in a while. And Digital Performer 6 Power! seems to be a good book too. I'll try the sample of the book (amazon has a kindle version).

Schweats,
Thanks for the recommendation of the book for mixing. I'll check it out. And I'll check SOS' website more often.

cowtothesky,
When I checked Tutorial Depot's forum, I saw that currently there's no activity going on. Sorry to hear that you lost all that data… I wish they could've helped you recover it. Thanks for the comment about MacAudioLab's DVD. I'm thinking of getting it later.

Craig,
Thanks for the info. Ah, VTC.com and Apex Web Media has the same tutorials. I watched the video and it was a very easy to understand tutorial.

Again, thank you very much for your time and post, everyone!