5-Day One-to-One Course: Making UKG

Service Description

Duration: 5 days (7 hours per day = 35 hours total) Format: One-to-one, in-person or online (depending on setup) Focus: Learning the fundamentals of music production in Ableton Live & Akai MPC, applied directly to 2-Step UK Garage production. Day 1 – Introduction & Groove Foundations Course overview, goals, and expected outcomes. Intro to Ableton workflow vs MPC workflow. Setting up projects: BPMs, swing, and quantization for UKG. Drum programming basics on MPC (step sequencing, real-time recording). Layering classic UKG drum kits (kicks, snares, hats, shuffles). Introduction to groove templates in Ableton. End-of-day task: Build a simple 8–16 bar drum groove. Day 2 – Rhythm, Chops & Samples Sampling 101 (vinyl, loops, chopping on MPC). Drum processing in Ableton (EQ, compression, swing manipulation). Creating 2-step shuffles and ghost snares. Working with MPC to chop vocal samples. Importing samples between MPC & Ableton. End-of-day task: Create a drum loop + vocal chop groove. Day 3 – Bass & Musical Elements Designing basslines in Ableton (Operator, Analog, Sampler). Classic UK Garage bass sounds (sub, Reese, plucky). Chords and stabs (Ableton instruments + MPC sample chops). Arrangement techniques: 8 bar > 16 bar > 32 bar sections. End-of-day task: Build drums + bass + chord loop. Day 4 – Arrangement & Song Structure UK Garage track structures (intro, drop, breakdowns, outros). Building transitions with FX, risers, fills. Advanced automation (filter sweeps, reverb sends). Using MPC sequences in an Ableton arrangement. End-of-day task: Arrange a full skeleton track (intro to outro). Day 5 – Mixing, Mastering & Final Project Mixing essentials (gain staging, EQ carving, sidechain compression). UK Garage mix techniques: kick/bass relationship, stereo imaging. Intro to mastering chain in Ableton. Exporting stems, bouncing finished tracks. Final project: Student completes a full UK Garage track. Review, feedback, and next steps (developing personal sound).