amica events
Drop In Club #3: Where to Start! Ableton Edition
Join audio engineer and educator Hadyn Buxton at The Drop In Club!
The Drop-In Club is a relaxed Zoom space for musicians, sound engineers and other creative types, held on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Each month begins with a mini-lecture on a music industry topic, followed by a casual chat to get to know others in our community.
New to Ableton or want to feel more confident opening a session without everything falling apart? This Drop-In club covers the essential stuff you actually need to get going in Ableton Live — from setting up your audio interface and managing latency, to navigating Session vs Arrangement View, warping audio, routing tracks, and keeping your projects clean and organised.
It’s a practical, no‑stress walkthrough focused on good habits, clear workflows, and understanding why things work the way they do. Bring your questions, poke around the software, and leave with a setup that makes sense and projects that won’t haunt you later.
Perfect for beginners, and anyone who wants their Ableton sessions to feel less chaotic and more intentional.
Tuesday 7th April
7pm-9pm AEDT (Melbourne time)
Online
$15
Hosted by Amica Familia, the industry & mentoring arm of Amica Records.
Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
Can’t make it, but want to know about the next one? Subscribe to our newsletter (scroll to the bottom).
Drop In Club #4: riders and stage plots
Join Hadyn Buxton and Nat Bartsch at The Drop In Club!
The Drop-In Club is a relaxed Zoom space for musicians, sound engineers and other creative types, held on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Each month begins with a mini-lecture on a music industry topic, followed by a casual chat to get to know others in our community.
This month's Drop In Club is about stage plots/tech riders, hospitality riders, and access riders - for performing musicians in any genre. We’ll walk you through a few examples, industry expectations, and some do’s and don’ts.
Tuesday 7th April
7pm-9pm AEDT (Melbourne time)
Online
$15
Bookings will open soon.
Hosted by Amica Familia, the industry & mentoring arm of Amica Records.
Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
Can’t make it, but want to know about the next one? Subscribe to our newsletter (scroll to the bottom).
Drop In Club #2: grant writing resilience
Join composer, pianist, producer and record label founder Nat Bartsch at The Drop In Club!
The Drop-In Club is a relaxed Zoom space for musicians, sound engineers and other creative types, held on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Each month begins with a mini-lecture on a music industry topic, followed by a casual chat to get to know others in our community.
Preparing to submit a grant in the next 2 weeks? Well this month's Drop In Club is on the theme of grant writing, rejection and resilience. With lived experience of some appalling grant submissions, some successes, and many rejections, Nat will propose some ways to re-frame the grant process, making the post-submission waiting game hopefully feel a little lighter.
We look forward to hearing all about your wonderful projects, worthy of support, without being restricted to 1000 characters!
Tuesday 3rd March
7pm-9pm AEDT (Melbourne time)
Online
$15
This event won’t be recorded, but Nat's slides will be available upon request.
Hosted by Amica Familia, the industry & mentoring arm of Amica Records.
Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
Can’t make it, but want to know about the next one? Subscribe to our newsletter (scroll to the bottom).
Creative Freelancer Xmas Party (online)
Have you spent 2025 working your butt off in the music industry (or other creative fields), basically all by your darn self?! Well, Amica Familia would like to try something out: a Creative Freelancer Xmas Party!
It’s a zoom hangout, for people who always miss out on having an office xmas party, because our office is just…in our house, and having 'staff' to celebrate with is… a dream for most of us.
So why not bring all our home studios together, make one big virtual lounge-room, and celebrate and share the music we've made, ideas and skills we've gathered, and toast our hard work. If we have a larger group, there will be some breakout rooms for small group chats.
Friday 19 December
8pm AEDT - 10pm AEDT
Free entry
Online - registration required
Hosted by Nat Bartsch
Awkward MS-Paint xmas party poster design also by Nat Bartsch
The Drop In Club
Join engineer Hadyn Buxton for the Drop In Club!
Maybe you’ve just finished studying audio engineering, maybe you’ve been DIY-ing and still have questions, or perhaps you’re working in the industry and want to connect and sharpen your skills.
The Drop-In Club is a relaxed Zoom space for musicians, sound engineers, and aspiring producers to connect, share ideas, and talk all things audio production. There’s no formal agenda—just a chance to hang out, learn, and get inspired. Share your latest mix for feedback or simply join the conversation. All skill levels are welcome, from beginners to seasoned pros. Bring your curiosity, your questions, and your love for sound!
Monday 1 December
7pm-9pm AEDT (Melbourne time)
Online
$15
At this stage, we’re only accepting stereo mixes for discussion—sessions are too complex for this format. However, selected participants may be invited to screen-share their DAW session and audio via Zoom for deeper insights. If you’d like to share a mix, please invite Hadyn to a Dropbox folder before the day after booking your ticket. First in, best dressed—we’ll aim for a spread of styles and topics. If we don’t get to your mix, we’ll hold it for the next session.
This event won’t be recorded to protect creators’ IP and privacy.
Hosted by Amica Familia, the industry & mentoring arm of Amica Records.
About Hadyn
Hadyn Buxton is a recording and mix engineer, and educator from Melbourne, Australia. He’s worked in the Australian recording industry for 25 years, creating over 100 albums with artists like Uncle Archie Roach, Luke Howard, Ecca Vandal, Trial Kennedy, and Nat Bartsch. He began his career at the iconic Metropolis Studios, and has taught audio production since 2019 at Monash University and Box Hill Institute.