There is no required text for this class; all of the readings are online. However, if you are a music education major or you plan to teach music technology, I recommend buying Electronic Music School: a Contemporary Approach to Teaching Musical Creativity by Will Kuhn and myself.
Getting Started
Blog and music hosting setup
The internet is the most important piece of technology in the music world. For that reason, you will be posting all of your work for the class on a public-facing blog. If you do not have a blog, set one up on the platform of your choice. I recommend WordPress, Tumblr, or Google Sites. If you already have a blog, you are free to use it.
You will also need a place to post your music projects. I recommend using Bandcamp or SoundCloud but you can use any similar platform.
Blog post: Favorite song, least favorite song
In a blog post, link to or embed your favorite song (or any song that you find exceptionally wonderful), and explain why you like it. Then link to or embed your least favorite song (or any song that you find exceptionally terrible), and explain why you dislike it.
Loops and Song Structures
Resources: Loops and song structures
Submit at least two questions you have about this material. They can be about something you didn’t understand, something you would like to talk about in class, or broader philosophical issues.
A friendly introduction to electronic music production concepts and techniques, including loops, drum programming, and MIDI sequencing. Work through each chapter up to and including The Playground. The Advanced Topics are optional but recommended (and fun).
Making music with loops is effortless, but making it well is hard. The challenge is to figure out the right balance of repetition and variation. The best source of inspiration for musical form, unsurprisingly, is actual music.
The producer RJD2 gives a good suggestion for how to get maximal musical interest in loop-based music: superimpose loops of different lengths.
From GarageBand Loop to Grammy Award
How “Vintage Funk Kit 03” spawned Rihanna’s first hit.
Loop Song
Create a piece of music using only the loops that are included with your production software. First, assemble six to eight loops to make a two or four bar groove. Use at least one drum/percussion sound and at least one “not drum” sound. Next, copy and paste your groove to fill two or three minutes, then modify it to create song sections. Feel free to edit the loops, by splitting them into segments and shuffling them, by transposing, or by adding effects. Embed or link to your track in a blog post. Explain which sounds you used and why.
This is not a composition class. You are not required to create original music. If you prefer, you may arrange or adapt existing music. However, I encourage you to explore your own ideas in this project, as in all the creative projects this semester.
Notation, MIDI, Synths, and Drum Programming
Resources: MIDI and drum programming
Submit at least two questions you have about this material.
The aQWERTYon
How to record from the aQWERTYon
Visualize scales and chords and play them on your computer keyboard.
Explains the ultra-important concept of swing, and how it has changed over the past decades.
This traditional Afro-Cuban rhythm is everywhere in popular music: in the drums, of course, but also in the rhythms of guitar strumming patterns, basslines, horn and keyboard parts, and everywhere else.
Egyptian Lover builds a beat on the 808
Programming a drum machine is different from playing a drum kit. Egyptian Lover shows you how it’s done.
Ten Classic Roland TR-808 Patterns
The 808 drum machine is one of the cornerstones of hip-hop. It remains as popular now as it was in the 1980s for its deep, rich kick, punchy snare, and other distinctive sounds. Vintage 808s are expensive collectors items now, so most rank-and-file producers use samples or software emulators.
Short score
Create a score using the notation editor of your choice. It should be at least 16 measures long and use at least two instruments (including voice). If there are lyrics or chord symbols, include them. You can create an original composition, or transcribe an existing piece of music. Submit a link to a public Noteflight/Flat.io score, or upload a PDF.
Blog post: Beatmaking with the Groove Pizza
Use the online Groove Pizza app to create a beat. You can start with one of the Specials, use the Shapes, or just work by trial and error. Create a blog post that links to your beat. What musical style or genre do you think it belongs to?
Resources: Synthesizers and sound design
Submit at least two questions or comments about this material.
Playful guide to sound design with synthesizers.
Learn how musical sounds can be built by combining sine waves.
All the synths and drum machines you need to play this Michael Jackson classic.
A synthesizer you can play right in the browser. Try typing on the bottom two rows of the keyboard.
A free synth that sounds great. Works as a standalone MIDI instrument or as a VST plugin within your DAW.
How to recreate the bass from this Bruno Mars hit using the Helm synth and nothing else.
Ambient Song
Create a short piece of ambient music. It should use at least one synthesizer drone and at least one other sound. It should be at least two minutes long. Link to or embed your track in a blog post, and explain which sounds you used and why. What mood do you think your track evokes?
MIDI Song
Create a piece of music using only MIDI and software instruments. You can use MIDI from any source: played in via keyboard, drawn into the piano roll, imported from notation software, downloaded from the web, or anywhere else. You do not need to compose an original piece; arrangements are fine. The only requirement is that the end result sounds good. Link to or embed your track in a blog post. Explain where your MIDI came from, which instruments you used and why, and any other information about your creative process.
Audio Recording, Mixing, and Effects
Resources: Audio recording, mixing, and effects
Submit at least two questions you have about this material.
Most of our experience of music comes through recordings. Audio recording and processing is very technical. It is not necessary to absorb all the details in these resources; I provide them for you to bookmark for future reference as you make recordings.
A guide to the most common formats for audio.
(Artificial) space is the place
A guide to different artificial reverb technologies.
Squeeze to Please: the Basics of Compression
Compression is one of the most important audio effects, but it takes some learning to get the most out of it.
Measure once, cut twice: EQ basics
EQ is another critically important tool for getting your recordings sounding good.
How to make your vocal tracks POP
NPR’s ear training guide for audio engineers
This resource for diagnosing and fixing common problems with recording speech applies just as well to singing.
Phone Recording
Record an environmental sound with your phone and post it to your blog. It must be set to be downloadable. Here is how to do that on SoundCloud. On Bandcamp, set the price of the song to $0.00. Your sound should be between five seconds and five minutes long. It does not need to be “musical.”
Found Sound Song
Create a piece of music using at least one phone recording from the class. You can use your own sound or someone else’s. You can use any additional audio, loops, or MIDI. Be sure to credit the source of your sound. The found sound(s) must be a recurring structural element of the song; it is not enough to have it play once at the beginning or end of the track. I recommend using audio effects and editing to make the found sound(s) more musical.
Sampling and Remixing
Peer Remix
Remix a song by another student in the class. You can work from their original session file, or download the audio from SoundCloud and work with that. You can make any alteration you see fit, up to and include radical reworking. Link to or embed your remix in a blog post along with the original. Explain what changes you made and why you made them.
Resources: Sampling and remixing
Submit at least two questions you have about this material.
Hip-hop and dance music are built on a foundation of existing recordings, repurposed and recombined. Samples might be individual drum hits, or entire songs. Even tracks without samples very often started with them; producers often replace copyrighted material with soundalike “original” beats and instrumental performances for legal reasons. Turntables and samplers make it possible to perform recordings like instruments.
There are few artistic acts more controversial than sampling. Is it a way to enter into a conversation with other artists? An act of liberation against the forces of corporatized mass culture? A form of civil disobedience against a stifling copyright regime? Or is it a bunch of lazy hacks stealing ideas, profiting off other musicians’ hard work, and devaluing the concept of originality? Should artists be able to control what happens to their work? Is complete originality desirable, or even possible?
Marley Marl on “Eric B Is President”
The veteran DJ and producer recreates a classic Eric B and Rakim beat and talks about the source samples.
From a series where producers choose three records blindfolded and have to sample them to create a beat.
FACT Magazine – Kink Goes Against The Clock
A Bulgarian producer uses synth modules, a drum machine, and a record of Motown acapellas to create a track from scratch in five minutes.
This six-second drum solo is one of the most important samples of all time. It has been used in uncountably many hip-hop songs, and is the basis for entire subgenres of electronic music.
Blog post: Sample genealogy
In a blog post, link to or embed an example of a song containing a direct audio sample of another song. I recommend using WhoSampled.com. Be sure to also link to or embed the song containing the original sample. Explain how the sample was used. Does it form the basis of the beat? Is it a background texture? Does it run throughout the song or just appear once?
Do the same thing for a song containing a quotation or interpolation of another song.
Blog post: Sampling ethics
Write a blog post answering the following question: Do you think that sampling without permission is morally acceptable? If so, why? If not, why not? I am not asking whether unauthorized sampling is legal, or how likely you are to get in trouble for it; I am asking whether you personally think it should be allowed or not.
Playing the Studio
Film Score
Choose a short video or movie scene (two minutes or so) and create a score for it. You may submit a video, or perform your score live during class. I recommend finding a clip that does not currently have music, but you may also simply mute the sound of your clip.
Resources: Playing the studio
Submit at least two questions you have about this material.
The creative process of making a recording is very different from composing on paper or performing live. The creativity in making records is only partially in the songs and the performances. A major part of the art form is the creation of sound itself. Timbre and space that makes the best recordings come alive as much as any of the “musical” components. The digital studio erases the distinction between composition, improvisation, performance, recording and mixing. The best popular musicians are the ones most skilled at “playing the studio.”
Vocal arranging the “Positions” bridge
A rare and fascinating look at Ariana Grande’s studio process.
The music theory and production of “Dear Prudence”
A look at how songwriting and production interact in a Beatles classic.
“Space Oddity” – from song to track
A great song will not grab you unless it is realized as a great recording. Listen to three different recordings of David Bowie’s classic “Space Oddity” to understand what the producer adds to a song in the studio.
Brian Eno and the role of the producer
Brian Eno has produced classic albums by David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay, and others.
Lee “Scratch” Perry records the Heptones
Perry was part of a generation of dub reggae producers who pioneered the studio mixing console as an instrument unto itself. For Perry, recording a performance of musicians was only the first step of creating the music. By muting and unmuting tracks on the tape and manipulating the sound with echoes, Perry lay the groundwork for the production methods of electronica and hip-hop.
The Scientist mixes Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub
Another Jamaican dub producer performs a mix. You can see how he literally plays the mixing board like an instrument, shaping the track by turning different instruments up and down and by turning the echo effect on and off.
Blog post: Production analysis
Pick a song recorded since 1960 and write a blog post identifying all of its sound sources. (Pick something sonically interesting, not just one person singing over acoustic guitar.) The sound sources might include voices, acoustic or electric instruments, synthesizers, and samples. Be as specific as you can: which synthesizer was used? Did the drums have any special effects or processing on them? If you can not identify the specific equipment, describe the sound subjectively: distorted guitar, echoing synth, artificial bird chirps. List each sound in the order that it appears in the track. Be sure to identify the producer(s) and engineer(s). And, of course, link to or embed the song in your post.
Blog post: Real vs hyperreal vs surreal
In a blog post, describe three recordings with different recording aesthetics as specified below. Embed or link to each song.
- Choose a “realistic” recording, one that accurately represents the sound of people performing live. It could be an actual live recording, or a studio recording with a live sound. What makes it sound realistic?
- Choose a “hyperrealistic” recording, one that sounds like a perfected or enhanced live recording. What makes it sound realistic? What makes it sound artificial or manipulated?
- Choose a “surrealist” recording, one that could not possibly have been recorded live using instruments. What elements make it sound unreal? How would it affect you differently if it were somehow created “live” with acoustic instruments?
Self Remix
Remix one of your own projects from the class, using your greater knowledge of production techniques and aesthetics. You can alter it as subtly or dramatically as you see fit. Link to or embed both your remix and the original version in a blog post, and explain what changes you made and why you made them.
Final Project
Final Project Proposal
In a paragraph, describe your planned final project. If you are creating or performing a piece of music, what software or equipment do you plan to use? Will you collaborate with a classmate? If you are giving a presentation, what do you plan to discuss? Topics are subject to approval by me. If you are not sure what to do, please let me know, I’m happy to help you narrow it down.
Final Project
Create a short (five minutes or less) presentation on the music technology topic of your choice. Possibilities include:
- Create an original piece of music and explain the process behind it.
- Present a recording and explain in depth how it was created.
- Present a particular artist, producer, or engineer, and discuss their creative techniques.
- Explain the history and significance of a particular technology: instrument, piece of recording gear, software.
Hey Ethan! Thanks for the update on this. Have you had to teach any of these classes remotely over the past couple of years? How has that (if it has) impacted the classes and/or assignments?
Yes! Since March of 2020, all of my classes have been either partially or entirely remote. As it turns out, teaching remote has had very little negative impact on my music tech pedagogy. I have always designed the class so that all of the assignments and projects could be done entirely in the web browser anyway. Making music in-class is more difficult on Zoom, and we can’t be hands-on with things like microphones or MIDI controllers, but otherwise being remote has not required any sacrifices at all. There are a few ways in which teaching on Zoom is better for this kind of material. It is easier for students to do presentations without having to worry about the classroom A/V situation, for one thing. For another, students can make comments on each others’ music while the music is playing via the chat function. The chat is also useful for class participation by students who might be reluctant to speak up face to face. I know the students don’t love Zoom, and I get it, but as far as the class content is concerned, it is absolutely fine.