About the Electronic Music Production Class:

We would like to offer an Electronic Music Production class for BHS students.  This would be an after-school class taught once a week. We have already received sponsorship from Ableton (an industry leader in software and hardware), support from Cada Casa (a local nonprofit that offers educational opportunities), Keenan Branch (a local electronic music producer), and approval from BHS for facility usage. Funding would go towards the Artist in Residence as well as some hardware and would allow our students to take this class entirely for free.

This course is designed to explore the ins and outs of Ableton Live. Walking students through sketches and experimentation, the class will follow the steps involved to producing electronic music in any style. Beginning with familiarizing students with the tools that Ableton has to offer, they will then develop their ideas into full-length songs. After being exposed to a variety of approaches, students will have the freedom to focus on any specific musical direction and further develop their skills on their own. The final project is an optional live concert for BHS students.

Estimated Budget: $1649.00

• Artist in Residency (Twelve, 90-minute classes): $550  
• 25 USB Drives (8 Gb): $154 ($6.16 each)
• 25 Headphones: $0  ($200 value donated by Cada Casa)
• 25 Ableton Live 9 Intro (software):  $0 (donated by Ableton with hardware order)
• 2 Ableton Push (hardware): $614 ($307.19 each, 40% educational discount)
• 25 Basic VST (audio plugins): $175 ($7 each)
• 12 After school snacks: $156 ($13 each)

Class Details:

• Class 1: Intro, layout, clips, and drums
• Class 2: Recording audio, audio clips, warping, and looping.
• Class 3: Automation, composing, arrangement view.
• Class 4: Midi clips, drum patterns, filling the space in a track
• Class 5: Using simpler, creating melodies, using effects
• Class 6: Drum rack, importing samples, creating rhythm
• Class 7: Drum processing, and creating a bass line
• Class 8: Writing melodies, scales, lead processing
• Class 9: Chords, arpeggiators and using different sounds
• Class 10: Live recording, processing your recording
• Class 11: Composition and arrangement
• Class 12: Finalizing a track and exporting to audio

Testimonials:

Here is what students of a similar program have said in the past about this class:

This year I participated in the Electronic Music Production class, in which I learned, after school, how to navigate the program Ableton Live and begin to produce music. I found this experience invaluable, as I had dabbled in music production with free apps, but had never gotten an opportunity to explore further the possibilities within electronic music. Through this class, I began to develop my skills and gained a greater appreciation for electronic music artists and their work. I intend to explore this field in the future and hope to someday be able to use programs like Ableton more often. Of course, none of this experience would have been possible without the school funding that supported the instructor and kept the cost on me low. Had there been a price on this class, I may not have even considered joining EMP, and thus missed out on the great experience I ended up having. I am extremely grateful for all the funding and work that went into providing an EMP course, as it has opened up doorways for me that I would never have expected.