To innovate in the future is to learn from the past

Meet Noah Dayan one of our Advanced Diploma students

Noah started his own YouTube Channel earlier this year, motivated by the training he’s had at Abbey Road Institute. “All the things we learned about the history of Abbey Road Studios and its recording methods inspired me to blend some music history with practical advice on music production and sound engineering techniques of the past”.

Hi Noah, Thanks for taking the time out to meet me today.

Can you start to tell us a bit more about yourself?

I was born in Japan and moved to France at the age of 5 where I spent most of my time learning different musical instruments. I started with the saxophone and quickly moved on to drums, bass, guitar and piano. I remember already having this vision of forming my own one-man rock band at the time. After high school, I moved to Canada to study computer science at university and quickly realised that, although I had ease with many technical things, I was not passionate about it. I always felt this need to express myself through music.

Can you tell us more about your background in terms of music?

As mentioned previously, I learned to play many different instruments from an early age at the conservatory and played with many rock and jazz bands as a drummer, bassist, guitarist and saxophonist. Before coming to the Institute, I had previously acquired some knowledge while studying music performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston and music technology at McGill University in Montreal. While at university, I started writing my own songs and ended up recording two albums by myself. Although, I had some technical knowledge before coming here, my main goal was to learn the practical side of things and how to manage a real-life recording studio experience.

When did you start this YouTube channel? What is the channel about?

I started this YouTube channel about 3 months ago while studying at the Abbey Road Institute. All the things we learned about the history of Abbey Road Studios and its recording methods inspired me to blend some music history with practical advice on music production and sound engineering techniques of the past. I believe the best way to innovate in the future is to learn from the past.

I have always been passionate about music from the 60s and the 70s. In my opinion, there seems to be a mystery element making music from this era, click in people’s ears even to this day. Having said that, I also understand the technological changes that affect digital music making in this modern age so I decided to come up with a way to merge analog music-making with the modern digital audio workstation (DAW) that most bedroom musicians know how to use nowadays.

Each video discusses a different recording technique from the analog days, starting with some historical facts, a well-known commercial recording example that uses the specific technique, eventually ending with a tutorial in Pro Tools that explains how to recreate the effect in the digital domain.

What has the response been like to your YouTube channel?

I would love to continue as long as I can, and so far I have been receiving positive feedback from my classmates and teachers about this approach to making music education videos. But the channel is only a small reflection of a bigger vision I have about the philosophy of music. Even though the channel may not be running forever, the message behind it I will always carry with me. There is an indescribable quality to records created in a room full of live musicians playing together.

What are your ambitions after finishing your studies at Abbey Road Institute?

We all know that making it in the music industry is a long and winding road. But the Institute has opened so many doors for us, whether it be meeting so many talented classmates from all around the world to learning from amazing industry professionals in hands-on practical workshops. Ultimately, I would like to be an artist, songwriter and producer but the possibilities are endless and you have got to keep an open mind about the future and I believe with hard work and perseverance, there is always hope.

Apply for the Advanced Diploma

If you think this could be you and you’d like to apply to study with us find out more on the course page for our Advanced Diploma in Music Production and Sound Engineering.