Music Technology: All You Need to Know
481,482 TUTOR: Juan Jose Lopez
This course will suit those who have an interest in
music technology, including musicians wanting to make their own records at home
and those who, having had some experience with music technology, want to bring
the quality of their recordings up to a professional standard. While this will
be a practical course, you will develop a working understanding of sound and
music creation and how to channel this into a digital audio workstation to
create professional sounding multitrack recordings. You will gain general
knowledge that will help in all kinds of music making settings, such as stage,
studio and rehearsals.
COURSE No.
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PM
FULL DAY
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Apple
Macintosh workstations will be available, however if you are able to bring your
own laptop and audio Interfaces (DAWs) please do. Please also bring your own
instrument where possible.
Day 1
- Introduction - getting to know each other's interests,
needs and level of knowledge.
- Hands on experiments with sound - pressure
waves.
- Brief history of audio recording - wax
cylinder, tape and acetate disc to vinyl and new digital formats.
- Sound characteristics - volume (amplitude),
envelope (ADSR), frequency (pitch), waveforms, tone colour and timbre.
- Transducers - speakers and microphones types,
line instruments, keyboards, sound modules and virtual instruments.
Day 2
- Identifying your
goal - listening to different styles and aesthetics, from the purity and
clarity of classical recordings, to the loud distorted punk and thrash metal
and everything in between. From Bach to Stormzy, each style demands a different
approach.
- Computers and audio
interfaces.
- Setting up a DAW for
recording.
- Sound formats - sample
rate and bit depth.
- Signal to noise
ratio.
- Signal routing -
gain, nominal levels, sound effects and processors plugins.
Day 3
- How to condition
your recording environment and basic acoustic principles.
- The nature of
reverb, ambience sound and how to capture/cancel it.
- Experimenting with
acoustics, microphones, acoustic tools and their interaction.
- How to make the most
of your tools, resources and environment in practical terms.
Day 4
- Apple Garageband
with demonstrations on industry standard Logic Pro, DAWs.
- Overdubs, recording
a soloist/lead performer.
- Recording yourself -
participants to the course who are musicians are encouraged to bring their own
instruments.
Day 5
- Recap on signal
routing, plug-ins and FXs.
- Soundscape.
- Mixing and mastering
your recordings.
- Critical listening
session of student's final mixes.
What to bring:
- Own laptops and
audio interfaces (optional).
- Own musical
instrument (optional).
Work files produced
by students during the course will be available to take home on a USB memory
stick (provided).
Juan Jose Lopez
About Juan Jose
This course is taught by engineer/producer Juan Jose Lopez, founder member and former director of the Music Producers Guild UK (MPG). Juanjo has a vast experience on all aspects of music production, from designing P. A. systems for large events and broadcast to studio recording and mastering commercial releases.He taught recording techniques at the University of Córdoba, and a BTEC course at Norwich City College's Centre for Creative Arts. He is also a performing singer, a.k.a Juanjo Lopez Vidal.
