Tom Casey

Part 01_Understanding Music Theory in 3 Steps

Music theory can be confusing - but it doesn't have to be

Throughout my professional life - I have consistently found music can be understood in 3 basic ideas

IDEA 1: There is a Western Scale that shows us all 12 possible notes

IDEA 2: We use a specific scale (such as the major scale) to write our melodies and chord progressions

IDEA 3: Sometimes we break away from using that specific scale, using some other notes

In essence, this explains wh...

5 Genres in About 5 Minutes: Beat Making Tutorial

There's so many aspects to GENRE, but sometimes, it's much easier then you think to get started producing a new genre

Hip-hop, trap, lo-fi, EDM, house - all these genres share a lot of similarities - and that's what this lesson helps you with.

You can grab all the MIDI and samples that I used in this lesson here

2024-08-12 17:51:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Sample Pack: Hi-Hat Tops Essentials Volume 1

An entire sample pack dedicated to hi-hats and carefully programmed MIDI clips that can instantly transform your beats!

Perfect for pop, hip hop, trap, lo-fi and EDM

Watch the accompanying tutorial here, for more info and ideas!

ALSO, bonus attachments:

4 Ableton Live Lite presets for quick sound design on your drums.

If you guys would like me to design FL Studio modules as well, or you have any questions, please take advantage of the DM service you have ...

How to Audio Warp Drums in Pro Tools

Pro Tools is still one of the best ways to edit drum set performances without having to cut and rearrange audio.

Be sure to check out my Audio Engineering collection for more lessons like this.

If you have any questions about Pro Tools, be sure to sign up for access to my community chats and DM!<...

Ableton Live Lite Instrument Rack Preset

Simple, easy-to-use

Has macro knobs, top row is tone, bottom is compression and effects

This has parallel delay, reverb and chorus available and I programmed those effects to work well and clean with basically anything you want, including bass guitar

This is a great mixing tool if working with the different Ableton modules is overwhelming to you.

Hope this helps you out, and enjoy!

Vocal Processing: Custom Multiband Dynamics for Ableton Live

One-click and you can add pro-grade multiband processing to your vocal sound. Inspired by one of mixing engineers' best-kept secrets in getting that vocal production "shine".

RECOMMENDED: Ableton Live 12 Standard or Suite

Preset does NOT work with Ableton Live Lite versions

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Multiband Dynamics is one of the less-explored Ableton Live Audio Effect devices

You rarely see producers talk about this plugin because the inter...

An Entire Template for Arranging Chillhop Beats

This lesson and template covers chillhop/jazzhop style lofi beats

Piano Parts Come from the Essential Chord Progressions Library

https://www.patreon.com/posts/108374326

This example uses a 251 chord progression. To learn the Number System, watch this lesson

https://www.patreon.com/posts/107853274

2024-08-02 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

00_Midi & Music Theory_About This Course

This course covers three things:

Music Theory

Using Your DAW (MIDI, Virtual Instruments)

Finishing Ideas

Patreon allows one video posted at a time. This page is a directory, so all lessons are linked down below!

I'll attach the relevant course files to each post where they are referenced.

You can always download the main MIDI libraries this course referenced here:

2024-07-26 14:00:18 +0000 UTC View Post

11_Yes, Sample Packs Are Badly Labeled!

It's 2024 and people are still spending hundreds of dollars on sample packs that not only recycle sounds and have shady copyright terms...they aren't even labeled right!

Here's how to test it

Yes, your sub bass might not sound right because the sample is a half-step WRONG!

Also, welcome all my free Patreon members, come check out all the PRO content we've added in the last few weeks

186 Lofi MIDI Piano Library (+Audio versions)

2024-07-20 13:00:21 +0000 UTC View Post

MIDI LIBRARY_Essential Chord Progressions

NEW FOLDER UPDATE!

[Folder 12: BRAND NEW Chord Progressions!] 159 NEW ROYALTY FREE ASSETS

From the Eagles' "Desperado" to Daniel Caeser's "Best Part", this chord progression collection traverses the tapestries of classic songwriting tropes to modern playlist tastemakers - rich chordal variations, densely composed sequences and beautiful, natural piano MIDI performances - all ready for your next dose of inspiration.

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1257 TOTAL MIDI Assets and Counting...

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10_The Secret to Ear Training is Simpler Than You Think

Access the full MIDI library HERE

https://www.patreon.com/posts/download-186-an...

09_The Most Important Lesson in Music Theory You'll Ever Learn

Downloads attached below!

In this lesson, we break down the "number system"

Most commercial music revolves around the MAJOR SCALE - and even when it deviates, it only deviates SLIGHTLY.

This reality is oftentimes NEVER acknowledged by music production "influencers" or even accredited music professors.

If you want to produce commercial music, you need to learn the number system and realize the MAJOR SCALE is the foundation to everything.

07_Let's Make Music Theory a SIMPLE Tool (Basslines, Melodies, Inversions)

This free lesson uses our LOFI PIANO MIDI Library.

Access it here as a paid sup...

06_A MASSIVE MIDI Pack for Producing Unique Ideas

This is a quick preview of the new MIDI producer kit dropping for my Paid Patreon Members.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

Your support enables me to make more lessons, do more track feedback sessions and create big exclusive resources like this, so THANK YOU!

Regardless if you're a free or paid member, our lesson series will be continuing right into SOUND DESIGN, so you can use midi clips to make music that sounds professional and/or REALISTIC.

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DOWNLOAD: 186 Unique MIDI Clips + BONUS AUDIO and SOUND DESIGN TIPS

Everything here is royalty free, same key signature and tempo, completely MODULAR

The above video is a basic beat making process with some easy sound design tips to get you started using all the benefits MIDI provides.

Also included:

3 unique Piano Audio Libraries to directly sample from

The Ableton template that is referenced in the video (Ableton 12 recommended)

THANK YOU for supporting the work I do. There will be many more exclusive...

05_The Secret to Writing Melodies

So why did we start this course with BASS PARTS?

As you go through and learn the different intervals, you can take all of that knowledge to melodies!

Melodies are not complicated, in fact they give you even more freedom.

The PROBLEM is that people never learn how to use note intervals properly, so when they start picking out melodies, they never know WHY certain notes work and certain others don't.

Music theory is a simple, repetitive tool -...

04_Bass is Monophonic, Set Your VSTs Up Properly!

I've had private students spend hours mixing their track, but their bass track was using a polyphonic midi clip

This makes your bass sound extremely muddy and confusing

All your VSTs and Virtual Instruments have a monophonic setting for a reason

Bass is Monophonic! (most of the time)

I've found this ONE SIMPLE CONCEPT could explain countless problems people are having with their mixes

If the bass in your track sucks, make sure your bass line is not playing deep, ...

03_Understanding Chord Tones and Non-Chord Tones

There's 2 types of notes you can fit into your bass lines

Chord tones and non-chord tones

Root notes, octaves of those root notes, 3rds and 5ths are all chord tones

They're like the basic building blocks of what your bass lines can safely do

Whenever you try to add "more notes" you just want your music to "make sense"

Chord tones are a simple way to ensure this

All the creativity and originality of music is how you can expand out of these safe barriers

02_How to Use MIDI Packs and Create Complex Bass Lines

MIDI packs give you all the benefits of a sample pack, but because they're MIDI, you can use your own custom VSTs and instruments to make your music.

This lesson, we combine MIDI clips together to create fuller ideas and then write a more complex bass line using different intervals from the chord.

Most people will tell you "Just use the root notes of a chord to write the bass line."

This is good advice, but it drastically limits what your bass lines can be.

Some of the...

How to Add Bass Lines to Your Samples/Loops - A Simple Approach

LESSON ATTACHMENTS BELOW

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Any producer that uses loops knows this pitfall.

You find an amazing loop, and you need to add bass notes.

Some higher quality sample packs will provide a relevant bass stem to featured loops, but not most.

On top of that, the majority of sample packs people try to sell you do NOT feature diatonically accurate key signature labeling.

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This video will help you form a bass line by ear very quickly, especially with practic...

Lofi Meditations Vol. 1 - A Staggering Collection of Lofi Hip Hop Loops

There are so many useful aspects to this collection - I want to keep this description simple and easy. You can check out the original product description here

What is this pack?

The most successful sample pack I ever produced. Also the biggest in size, about 700+ files

2024-05-20 17:01:36 +0000 UTC View Post

Tops Essentials: An Entire Library of Drum Tops

An essential pack for music production, Tops Volume 1 contains a robust library of track-ready MIDI patterns, one-shots and processed audio loops, giving you instant access to creative, entrancing hi hat patterns. Craft your beats with speed and inspiration. Instantly.

This pack is dedicated to one thing - tops percussion.

Hi hats are an integral part of adding energy to your tracks

This ...

Essence and Essentials - An Entire Essential Hip Hop Library

Essence and Essentials is a quintessential hip hop producer library

Drums, midi, melodies, one-shots, loops - it has basically everything you can think of to produce hip hop music and it covers a variety of subgenres in the hip hop world

I'm excited to offer this as a download this week for my current Patreon members and will be also dropping more content around this pack in the future. Enjoy! 2024-03-28 18:11:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Using Ableton 12 to make a ProphetVS Emulation

The ProphetVS has one of the most iconic string synth sounds in music (think Terminator 2 soundtrack, John Carpenter films, and many others)

I decided to create a string synth patch emulation and then stack it with one of the best presets for Ableton 12's electric instrument, which is essentially an atmospheric Fender Rhodes sound.

I carefully mixed these two sounds together and then processed them with Echo, Reverb and EQ to get a nicely balanced sound that has a warm analog flav...

Ableton Live 12 Advanced Vocal Chain (Suite, Standard and Lite)

There's so much functionality in this new vocal chain update that I had to make sure all my Patrons have access to it.

To celebrate the release of Ableton Live 12, I've created a fully macro-function enabled version of the Vocal Chain for Ableton.

https://youtu.be/r8pnHeVwWMQ?si=bLxCXyknj3Sh2k0W

New Wavetable Presets

20 New Wavetable Presets I designed

These crossover into a variety of sounds

Crazy basses, atmospheric pads, weird Fender Rhodes variations

Feel free to drag-and-drop these into your Ableton User Library and use them how you like

How to Make ANY Synth Sound (in Wavetable)

You DON'T need complicated knowledge to use a synthesizer, and this video will show you why.

The Secrets to Mastering Your Music Part 2 HIP HOP

This Patreon tutorial is all about CLIPPERS

A very simple plugin that is almost never talked about, but gives us a very simple approach to creating loudness in our music, which is especially useful for genres like hip hop and EDM

If you haven’t watched Part 1, I highly recommend you do, since there are some ideas we’ll get into this video that are better explained in Part 1

The main takeaway from this tutorial is Simplicity.

There is no magic to getting loud, power...

The Secrets to Mastering Your Music Part 1

This video starts us off with some important topics music producers should know as they learn how to master their own music to sound great on ALL streaming platforms

topic covered:

What is Mastering?

What are Automated Mastering Services and why they are not ideal...

The problem with freelance mastering services in 2024...

What is LUFS?

Does LUFS really matter?

What is Loudness Range?

What is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to think about when masterin...

A Deep Dive into Diatonic Mastery

An essential, foundational lesson for any music producer trying to up their game on the keyboards and understand the bedrocks of Western Music Theory.

This Patreon post is a full-length, in-depth tutorial on challenging diatonic voicings and arpeggiations.

Attached is also a full library of MIDI clips you can use with any DAW, a fully prepared Ableton pack, and a special Fender Rhodes custom preset for Ableton Live users to immediately get playing in their DAW.

In...