Duration 4 months (6 hrs each week)

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This is the only course designed for developing your musical & Technical skills together. Learn about the music production process—including learning music theory, composing, arranging, recording, editing, and mixing—and the tools available to you to create contemporary music on your computer.

This course is basically divided into two parts: A) Music theory & Music Production technology  & B) Audio Engineering.

With the recent introduction of high-quality-low-cost software and hardware, the tools of music production are now available to the masses. Albums are made in bedrooms as well as studios. On the surface this is liberating. Anyone can make an album for the low cost of a couple pieces of gear and a software package. But, if you dig deeper, you will find that it is not so easy. Producing music requires knowledge, dedication, and creativity.

    

Knowledge is where this course comes in. No matter what kind of music you are making, there is a large set of tools that you will need to use.  Each lesson of this course will demonstrate a different set of music production tools, loosely following along the music production process of recording, editing, and mixing. 

 

 

Are there any course requirements or prerequisites?

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• Basic Music Skills is desirable, but not necessary.

• A Working Mac or PC.

• Logic Pro X or Cubase Software

• Basic Music Production Skills is desirable, but not necessary

 

Who this course is for:

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• Those with basic music production skills who wish to improve

• Experienced music performers who want to know how to record their ideas

• New and experienced Logic users who want to deepen their knowledge

• Those interested in creating their own music or being better at music production

• You're a band member who wants to learn about Music Production in Logic Pro X

• You've been writing a few songs, but now you want to learn more about music production

• You want to learn how to mix the tracks you've been writing

• You might be completely new to music (You've had no formal training in music)

 

 

SYLLABUS:

 

Music Theory & Music production

 

• Pitches, Scales, Modes and Chords (Keyboard layout)

 

• Keys, Minor Scales, Intervals and Clefs 

 

• Rhythm and Form ( Notating time on a staff, Time signatures, dots, rests, ties)

 

• Harmony 1: Functional Harmony (Harmonising, Building Triads)

 

• Harmony 2: Inversions, Cadences and Sequences (Chord names, Chord progressions, Modulation)

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• Understanding various musical Genres.

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• Breakdown of many famous songs.

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• Building melodies on Chord progressions techniques.

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• Back vocals, layering, orchestration & rich sound making techniques.

 

Audio Engineering:

 

Sound and Signal Flow

We will start with some background on the nature of sound and how we perceive it. We will then examine the components necessary to record audio into a computer, so that you understand the devices that sound must travel through in a music production process.

 

1. Propagation

2. Amplitude

3. Frequency

4. Visualizing Sound

5. Connections Overview

6. Microphone as a Transducer

7.  Microphone Types

8.  Microphone Frequency Response

9.  Microphone Polar Patterns

10.  Microphone Placement

11. Line Level and Gain Staging

12. Cables

13. Interface

14. Microphone Connection and Gain

15. Analog to Digital Converter

16. Pickup Connections

17. The Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

 

 

The DAW

The contemporary editing tool is the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), a piece of software that stores and organizes all the assets of a musical project. We will focus on the editing tools that are essential in contemporary music production and that all DAWs provide.

 

1. Analog to Digital Conversion

2. Buffer Size

3. File Types

4. Project Folder

5. Project Checklist

6. Multitrack

7. Recording Audio

8. Zooming

9. Trimming

10. Separating and Cutting

11. The Grid

12. Fades

13. Cycling

14. Merging

15. Naming and Coloring

16. Markers

17. Comping

18. MIDI

19. MIDI Controllers

20. Software Instruments

21. MIDI Editing: Velocity

22. MIDI Editing: Quantization

23. Common MIDI Recording and Editing Functions

 

 

The Mixer

We will explore the basic functionality of both hardware and software mixing boards, including volume, pan, mute, solo, busses, inserts, sends, and submixes.

1. The Channel Strip

2. The Bus Concept

3. Effects Categories

4. Inserts

5. The Submix

6. Sends

7. Automation

 

Dynamic Effects

Sound must be processed, modified from its recorded state to fit the context of the music. This week, we will focus on tools you can use to effect the dynamics of your tracks and how they are used in a musical context.

 

1. Noise.

2. Distortion

3. Dynamic Range Manipulation

4. Dynamic Processors Overview

5. Dynamic Processor Parameters

6. Gate

7. Downward Compressor

8. Limiter

 

Filter and Delay Effects

Sound can be modified from its recorded state using tools that effect the actual quality of the sound. This week, we will look at equalization and delay and examine the many audio effects that are offshoots of these devices.

1. The Delay Concept

2. The Delay Spectrum

3. Modulated Short Delays

4. Filters Overview

5. Mixing EQ

6. Medium Delay: Slap Back

7. Long Delay

8. Reverb

9. Width in Mixing

10. Space in Mixing

 

 

Synthesis

We will explore the synthesizer, a major tool within the production of contemporary music. Learning how a synthesizer works will give you a language to describe sound. Music is a collaborative art form, so there is nothing more powerful than effective communication.

1. Oscillators

2. Filters

3. Amplifiers

4. LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)

5. A Language of Timbre

6. Understanding about Various VSTs.

 

Song composing, Arranging &  Mixing Demos.

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