Music 101

Introduction to Creating Electronic Sounds is a beginner level course that explores a wide range of methods and conceptual approaches to creating electronic sounds. Through a series of lectures and creative projects students will gain the skills necessary to produce a portfolio of audio-based works using software and professional audio equipment. The class will survey some of the basic concepts and production techniques used in podcasts, documentaries, live performance instruments, electronic music and sound art. Throughout the course, students will build upon practical and conceptual skills to create a final class project that is focused around their particular creative interests.

COURSE GOALS:
By teaching a step-by-step introduction to best practices and basic techniques with standard sonic arts software, hardware, and tools this course is designed to enable students from the widest variety of backgrounds to explore further creative studies. Each assignment is intended to encourage students to find their own creative voice through music composition and sound design while practicing and developing technical skills. Students are encouraged to integrate their own life experiences, imaginations and musical preferences into the work they create, and will be exposed to different forms of sonic art using a variety of approaches that might be unfamiliar given their previous musical experiences. The final project will give students an opportunity to combine personal interests and skills they have learned throughout the course to create an audio-based work using any approach they so choose - pop music, a podcast, a radio play, sound art, a music video, a more traditional form of electronic music, etc.