Andrew Huang

I've done commercial music production for about 15 years, and more recently have become fairly well known on for exploring a wide range of approaches to creating music. This week I released that lets you create full tracks with a super fun and fast workflow. I also run an online course called a few times a year, and I am very addicted to modular synths.

I'll start at 1PST :)

Proof:

Edit: Alright I think I'd better go but thanks for spending this afternoon with me! Sorry I couldn't get to everyone but I think a lot of my answers apply to many topics that came up often. Just a reminder to check out if you're looking for a fun mobile sampling solution, and thanks for all the great questions! Hope you're well and safe. Much love.

This is to debunk Andrew Huang's "Things The Beatles invented or popularized" Twitter post, which has many things that're incorrect. Here is what Andrew got wrong:

Artists writing their own songs: Not the case at all, even for rock/pop music. All of Chuck Berry's albums from the 1950s have songs that're all written by him. Roy Orbison is another example, as all of his hits have him credited as a composer. Buddy Holly & The Crickets' bigger songs are also credited to members of the band, as well as their manager Norman Petty. All of these artists are still pretty well known and were huge influences on The Beatles, so it's not like they're really obscure.

Concept Albums: Sgt. Pepper's state as a concept album is up for debate. Even members of the band have said it isn't a concept album, which is mentioned in the Wikipedia article for the album. It's also commonly known that In the Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra in 1955 is generally regarded as the first concept album in pop music, as well as being one of the first pop albums to be sold on 12-inch record. It was a commercial success and is regarded as one of the best albums of the 1950s by critics, again not really obscure. There's also a certain other concept album that preceded Pepper, but I'll get into that later.

Gapless Tracks: The Beatles did popularize this on Pepper, however it was arguably pioneered by The Mothers of Invention's 1966 debut Freak Out!, as well as it being used extensively on their 1967 follow up Absolutely Free.

Bands with more than one "star": It's time to bring up The Beach Boys, which won't be the last time. Starting out before The Beatles (releasing their first album Surfin' Safari before "Love Me Do"), all members have contributed lead vocals to their hit songs at least once in their early period. Throughout that period of the band, they were mainly led by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. So they did have more than one "star." And if we're talking bands that had more than one successful solo career, there's Buffalo Springfield and The Yardbirds exist.

Recording music that can't be performed live / Using the studio as an instrument: I decided to combine these two together, as it makes me bring up two artists: Phil Spector and The Beach Boys. Phil Spector is one of, if not the first example of a producer using the studio in a cutting edge way and making a hit record out of it. Using his signature "Wall of Sound" technique, he was really the first producer to become a widely recognized name - essentially becoming the star of it. This production technique couldn't be replicated live either. The same goes for the concept album that predated Pepper, The Beach Boys 1966 album Pet Sounds. It's not news to anyone that Pet Sounds was a huge influence on The Beatles, especially during their mid-60s period, so I'll keep it brief. The album was utilized the Wall of Sound technique, or at least Brian Wilson's attempt to recreate it, which further pushed the idea as "the studio being an instrument" as well as using instrumentation atypical for a rock album. When the band heard the album, they were worried about being able to capture it live. This was also the case for The Beach Boys albums Today! and Summer Nights, so you can't just default to "well.. Rubber Soul influenced Brian Wilson". The two examples are also synonymous with the legacy of 60s pop and rock, as well as being hugely influential on The Beatles.

Reverse sounds: "Car Trouble" by The Eligibles was the first use of backmasking, in 1959; although it wasn't a hit, only peaking at #107 on Billboard.

DI bass: While it's true they helped pioneer DI bass, the idea of DI guitar on a rock song was first used by Roger McGuinn of The Byrds.

Sampling Other Recordings Within Songs: I believe he is talking about musique concrete, which was extensively used in soundtracks such as Doctor Who and Forbidden Planet, as well as by John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. John was influenced by these composers for "Revolution 9".

Artist-Owned Record Labels: The Beach Boys label Brother Records was founded on 1966, two years before The Beatles founded Apple Records.

The notion of continual reinvention and evolution: This is what drives me mad about this post. The Beatles were certainly an important band in the 20th century, but you're saying no one before them was reinventing themselves or evolving their craft? You actually believe that no artist before them was trying something they hadn't done before? Well... to debunk this claim I want to go back to one of The Beatles' biggest influences, Buddy Holly. Along with being one of the most well known rock stars of the 1950s and still being well known today, Buddy was always seeking to evolve and reinvent himself. One of his biggest hits, "Everyday", used a celeste which wasn't commonly used in rock at the time. He was also one of, if not the first rock artist to use vocal overdubbing on "Words of Love" and "Listen to Me". He also was one of the first rock artists to use strings on his songs, with "True Love Ways" and "Doesn't Matter Anymore". Buddy was able to do all of this before The Beatles even went to Hamburg. And it's not just him. Tons of artist were reinventing themselves before The Beatles, and especially before they really started experimenting on Rubber Soul.

Music Videos: The Moody Blues have the first music video for their 1964 single "Go Now". And if you really want to go further back, you can count the performance of "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley in the film of the same name.

That's everything Andrew Huang got wrong in that stupid, inane post. Someone send this to him and see what his reaction would be.

I am completely new to music production but I have played the drums for the past 5 years and a little bit of piano. I was just wondering if anyone has had experience with Andrew's class and if it is worth it.

Music theory has always been something that's kinda kicked my butt, i've watched a few videos on it, read some articles but I never really grasped it fully for some time. . Its just half an hour, but he crams in so many foundational concepts in such a digestible fashion. If you're looking to get your feet wet, or just want a good foundation, I cannot recommend this video enough. Its half an hour, but it flies by

I'm going to be interviewing Andrew Huang on Thursday. Do any of you have some questions you would like to have him answer?