Following the success of their house and techno editions with Freemason’s James Wiltshire, Point Blank are back with a brand new Style Guide, a video series where they explore the origins of a musical genre, delving into its history and exploring the production techniques and hardware that characterize it.
For the latest in the series, PB visited award-winning producer MJ Cole at his London studio to dive into UK Garage. Watch the video below in which he gives a concise history of the genre and keep a look out for part 2, where MJ Cole will be building a UK Garage track on the fly using sounds from his Loopmasters sample pack. UK Garage and a range of other genres are covered in depth on the Production Analysis module of Point Blank’s BA (Hons) Music Production & Sound Engineering Degree.
There are few candidates with as solid credentials as MJ Cole to represent the UK garage scene, and he continues to tour regularly at the worlds biggest clubs and festivals as well as producing for a plethora of top artists. MJ Cole began his journey in music as a classical musician, receiving a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. After falling in love with dance music at London’s infamous drum & bass raves of the 1990’s he began work as a studio engineer at D’n’B label SOUR and his time working there with some of garage’s earliest pioneers influenced him to start producing in the genre. MJ Cole’s 1998 release ‘Sincere’ was eventually picked up by Pete Tong, with the track being one of the earliest garage cuts to break the UK Top 40. Since then he has remixed for the likes of Jill Scott, Amy Winehouse and De La Soul, as well as beating Dr Dre to win MOBO’s ‘Best Producer’ award in 2001.
For those that want to develop their musical skills, Point Blank’s BA (Hons) Music Production & Sound Engineering Degree is one of the most comprehensive music courses out there, in which you can learn everything you need to know about music production including mixing, mastering, composition, and music business. They also offer an online alternative, in the form of their new online BA (Hons) Music Production & Sound Engineering Degree. Point Blank are currently offering a huge 25% discount plus a free copy of Ableton Suite or Logic Pro X with a range of online courses until September 30th, so make sure you enrol soon to make the most of it! For more information, contact a course advisor on +44 20 7729 4884. If you are a resident of the USA, you can reach them on 323 282 7660.
