Composing and Producing Electronic Music 1

Loudon Stearns

Authored by Loudon Stearns

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Course Code: OCWPR-397

Contemporary electronic music creation drives this undergraduate music production course, where you’ll compose and produce tracks across key styles using modern DAWs and synthesizers. You’ll apply rhythm, harmony, sound design, and arrangement techniques while analyzing genre trends and building complete electronic compositions.

Level 3
Intermediate Plus
Modality
Online
Duration
12 Weeks
3-Credit Tuition
$1,575
Semester Starts
Enroll by July 9 Sept 28
(June semester enrollment extended!)
Accreditation
NECHE

Key Learning Outcomes

  • Compose and produce complete electronic tracks across multiple contemporary styles using professional DAW-based workflows
  • Design original electronic sounds, including basses, leads, pads, and hooks, using synthesis, modulation, and signal flow techniques
  • Create rhythmically compelling electronic music by building layered grooves, shaping feel, and designing effective builds and breaks
  • Apply arrangement, automation, and effects creatively to shape energy, texture, and movement in electronic compositions
Overview Syllabus Requirements Instructors Related Music Career Roles
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Course Description

Change is the nature of electronic music. To keep pace, the composer must adapt. Composing and Producing Electronic Music 1 is a completely current approach to teaching students the necessary tools and techniques to create contemporary electronic music in a variety of styles, including drum and bass, trance, dub, and house. You will learn the history of electronic music with listening examples that highlight the important people, technology, and techniques associated with the style. The lessons will feature a series of videos describing musical, DAW, and synthesis techniques appropriate to the style. For each style, there will also be a research and analysis component, in which students learn to listen critically and adapt to changes in technology and public musical taste. Students are then responsible for creating a complete piece of music for that style. Work can be done in any major DAW that supports AU, RTAS, or VST instruments, including Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Live, or Reason.

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This music composition course teaches topics like rhythm and harmony within the framework of a DAW, starting in the first week with an introduction to common scales and rhythms. As the course progresses, the musical examples become more complex as a harmonic language appropriate to the styles is developed. The course takes a similar approach with synthesis, covering the basic concepts of syntheses using a custom-built synthesizer. Quickly, the course moves into Xfer Records Serum synthesizer in order to develop patches appropriate to each style. With a thorough understanding of these patches, you can then apply the same concepts to another synth.

By analyzing and composing in a variety of electronic music styles, you will gain a deep understanding of many aspects of contemporary electronic music, including beats, harmony, bass lines, groove, melodies, synthesis, audio/MIDI editing, effects processing, sound design, form, performance, and mixing.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Analyze electronic music to keep up on current trends
  • Layer acoustic and electronic elements
  • Use automation effectively
  • Compose with harmony appropriate to electronic music
  • Utilize compressors, gates, and filters with and without sidechain inputs
  • Create exciting builds and breaks
  • Compose and synthesize powerful hooks
  • Compose and sequence keyboard parts
  • Use your sequencer to create complex edits


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Syllabus

Lesson 1: Introduction to Electronic Music

  • Essential DAW Skills
  • MIDI Note Editing
  • Adding the Pad
  • Automation
  • Mixing and Exporting
  • Sound and Synthesizer Basics
  • Filter
  • Envelope
  • LFO
  • Synth Building Blocks
  • Signal Flow Basics
  • Rhythm Basics
  • Swing
  • Assignment 1: Demo Project

Lesson 2: Drum and Bass 1: Groove Creation

  • History of Drum and Bass
  • Drum and Bass Tune Analysis
  • Drum and Bass Survey
  • Serum Synthesizer
  • Syncopation
  • Rhythmic Threes
  • Triplets
  • Sequencing Drum Grooves
  • MIDI Sequencing
  • Assignment 2: Recreate a Drum Groove with MIDI Sequencing

Lesson 3: Drum and Bass 2: Groove Manipulation

  • Drum and Bass Resources and Techniques
  • Groove Manipulation 1: Audio Editing
  • Groove Manipulation 2: Sampling
  • Kick Synthesis: Massive, Serum
  • Submixing: Layering Electronic and Acoustic Drums
  • Creating a Submix
  • Consonance and Dissonance
  • Adding Simple, Out-of-Tune, and Complex Waveforms
  • Intervals and Harmonic Interactions
  • The Spectrum of Consonance
  • Assignment 3: Build a Layered Drum and Bass Groove and Configure a Submix

Lesson 4: Drum and Bass 3: Bassline

  • Drum-and-Bass Harmony
  • Aeolian Mode
  • Drum-and-Bass Bass Lines
  • Serum Signal Flow
  • Synthesizing a Reece Bass
  • Synthesizing a Hoover Bass
  • Composing Bass Lines for Drum and Bass
  • Assignment 4: Complete Your Drum-and-Bass Project

Lesson 5: Trance 1: Analysis

  • History of Trance
  • Trance Tune Analysis
  • Form Analysis
  • Changing Energy in Steps
  • Changing Energy in Ramps
  • Quick Drop
  • Reducing Energy
  • Trance Technical Analysis
  • Assignment 5: Form Template

Lesson 6: Trance 2: Bass

  • Trance Resources and Techniques
  • Trance Bass Synthesis
  • Trance Bass in Massive
  • Trance Bass Composition
  • Reverb and Delay Configuration
  • Send/Return Signal Flow
  • Parallel Delays
  • Assignment 6: Trance Development

Lesson 7: Trance 3: Lead

  • Trance Tune Analysis
  • Build-Up Techniques
  • White Noise Sweep
  • Risers in Serum
  • Sine Drops in Serum
  • Reverse Sounds
  • Trance Hook Composition
  • Supersaw Synthesis in Serum
  • Supersaw Synthesis in Massive
  • Sidechain Compressor
  • Assignment 7: Complete Your Trance Project

Lesson 8: Dub: Automation

  • Dub History: The Answer Riddim
  • Dub Analysis
  • Working with Stems
  • Importing Stems
  • Working with Vocals
  • Delay Specifics
  • Creative Delay Techniques
  • Artists, Resources, and Techniques of Dub
  • Assignment 8: Stem Remix

Lesson 9: House 1: Diatonic Progressions

  • History of House
  • House Form Analysis
  • Synthesizing a House Organ: Oscillators
  • Synthesizing a House Organ: Features
  • Chord Progressions
  • Building Chords
  • House Progression: Building Chords
  • House Progression: Voicings
  • Parallel Harmony
  • Assignment 9: Create a House Progression

Lesson 10: House 2: Melody

  • House Subgenres
  • House Resources and Techniques
  • House Progression Techniques
  • Respect the Swing
  • House Bass Synthesis
  • House Bass Riff as Melody
  • House Guide Tone Melody
  • Assignment 10: Continue the House Production

Lesson 11: House 3: Development

  • House Percussion and FX
  • Loop Libraries
  • Resampling Process
  • Serum House Synthesis
  • Massive House Synthesis
  • Assignment 11: Complete the House Project

Lesson 12: The Drop: Making It Loud

  • The Drop History
  • Melodic Construction
  • Pass the Melody
  • Loop Expansion
  • Routing a Loud Mix
  • The Conversation
  • The Mix
  • Serum Drop Synthesis
  • Massive Drop Synthesis
  • Compiling the Drop
  • Assignment 12: The Drop

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements 

Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Students should be competent in their chosen Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), including the ability to import samples, edit audio, use virtual instruments, add effects, automate, record MIDI, and export a final mix to MP3.

Textbook(s)

  • No textbooks required

Media and Subscriptions

  • Recommended: Subscription to electronic music sound library, such as Splice, Arcade, etc.

Software

  • Full-featured Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), such as Pro Tools (Studio or Ultimate), Logic Pro, Cubase Pro, Ableton Live (Suite or Standard), Reaper, Reason, or FL Studio (Producer or Signature). Note that GarageBand is not acceptable.
  • Xfer Records Serum (student discount information available within the course after enrolling)

Hardware

Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.

General Course Requirements

Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Classes. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course. 

Mac Users

  • macOS Monterey 12.0 or later

PC Users

All Users

  • Latest version of Google Chrome
  • Zoom meeting software
  • Webcam
  • Speakers or headphones
  • External or internal microphone
  • Broadband Internet connection

Instructors

Loudon Stearns
Loudon Stearns

Author

Loudon Stearns is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music, a course author and instructor at Berklee Online, and an active media-artist. Within the Contemporary Writing and Production department at Berklee College of Music, he prepares students to work as independent composers and producers in a technology-laden music industry. Online, he focuses on the latest electronic music styles and music-technology innovations, showing students how to analyze contemporary styles and use the latest music technology in their own works. An innovator in both education and art, Loudon authored a Massive Open Online Class, "Introduction to Music Production," that has provided high-quality free education to hundreds of thousands of students, received an award from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association for "Excellence in Teaching" and received the "Excellence in Media Art" award from the Emerson College Visual and Media Art department.

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Holding a Bachelor of Music in Contemporary Writing and Production and Bass Performance from Berklee College of Music, and a Master of Fine Arts in Media Art from Emerson College, Loudon pulls from a broad range of skills in the creation of his own multi-media performances that include live music, projection-mapping, dance, visual art and interactivity. Of particular interest is using the entire world as a performance space by using internet streaming to coordinate numerous performers and audiences on vastly different parts of the globe. The technical and aesthetic challenges of this type of performance are new and exciting and require the sort of broad skill-set that Loudon has developed through his extensive institutional and self education in music, sound, performance, motion graphics, photography, programming, and construction. Read Less

Kareem Clarke
Kareem Clarke

Instructor

Kareem Tony Clarke is a DJ, music producer, and label owner. Throughout his career, he has performed at major clubs in New York City, toured US colleges, performed at TEDxBerkleeValencia, played at SXSW 2017, and held DJ residencies in Valencia, Spain. In 2016 he founded the deep house and techno label Digital Den Records with fellow Berklee alum Ian Cahill.

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Kareem holds a BA in Engineering Studies from Lafayette College, as well as an MA in Global Entertainment and Music Business and an MM in Music Technology Innovation from Berklee College of Music. Read Less

Rishabh Rajan
Rishabh Rajan

Instructor

Rishabh Rajan is an educator with eight years of experience in higher education, having taught in schools in India, Malaysia, and the US. He is an Ableton Certified Trainer, Apple Certified Trainer for Logic Pro, and an Avid Certified Instructor for Pro Tools. He is also an accomplished electronic music producer, writing future bass music and performing mashups under the alias code: MONO. He has worked as a sound designer for Twisted Tools, Meta Function, and Bela D Media, and is currently developing sample libraries of Indian instruments with Crypto Cipher. His products have been used by BAFTA-, Emmy-, and Grammy-nominated composers from around the world. He has written three eBooks on sound design, which are all available on the Apple iBookStore. He has also developed over 30 sound design and music production streaming video courses for macProVideo and AskVideo. Aside from being a regular contributor to the online music production news blog Ask.Audio, he also hosts a YouTube channel where he regularly posts sound design/synthesizer tutorials & mashup performances.

What's Next?

When taken for credit, Composing and Producing Electronic Music 1 can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:

Related Certificate Programs

Related Degree Major

Related Music Career Roles

Employers look for skills learned in this course, when hiring for the following music career roles:

Mastering Engineer

Mixing Engineer

Music Editor

Radio DJ

Record Producer

Sound Designer (Games and Tech)

Synth Programmer

Technology Trainer/Specialist
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Questions?

Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.

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