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Digital Music Production
MTS 113 |
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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Digital Music Production is the course that puts all the technologies together, combining analog and digital audio with MIDI the way modern musicians do. We introduce digital audio in this course, explaining this tricky concept in a clear and useful way. Then we show how producers combine audio recordings with sounds from MIDI instruments, apply effects, and mix. We cover mastering, special production tools, distribution, and career development with an additional emphasis on film-scoring and sound design. DIGITAL AUDIO We work with analog audio in Audio Recording Techniques (MTS111). But to use the computer in audio production, sounds have to be digitized. How does a computer, which does math and stores numbers, deal with an infinitely changing phenomenon like a soundwave? We sort that out first. MIDI, triggering sounds using messages from a computer sequencer, is addressed in our course MIDI Music Making (MTS112). But how do you combine the music that MIDI makes with real audio, like a vocal? We address that next. And then you need to mix the music together to create a finished product. We examine the useful tools that musicians use to manipulate the music the way they want, like compression, EQ, and reverb/echo. Then we address how you "finish" and distribute your music, via mastering tools and CD and Internet sharing. Finally, we take a thorough look at the technology involved in creating music and sound design for film. THE TOOLS WE USE The primary application used in this course is state-of-0f-the-art sequencing software Digital Performer. It's a great tool for creating MIDI, but it's also a professional audio recording and editing application used daily in numerous professional settings. We also work with several high quality plug-ins, including virtual instruments like Crystal, and effects like Masterworks multi-band compressors and EQ's. And since we do so much with the Internet in this course, each student is taught basic website programming and given their own web space! PREPARATION FOR AN ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL FUTURE Because many of our students are preparing for careers in music production, all our courses include significant career development content. In this course, we discuss project management, client relations, and pricing. This course is the third of our three Certification Series courses, and expands on concepts covered in Audio Recording Techniques |