12 Weeks
Level 2
3-Credit Tuition
$1,545Non-Credit Tuition
$1,290In the course Sound Design for the Electronic Musician, you’ll learn to create your own electronic sounds for musical productions using Reason and Vital. By working through a series of practical, hands-on activities, you'll gain an understanding of the skills necessary to produce and replicate the electronic sounds common in today's modern music. This course begins by introducing you to the basics of how synthesizers work, sound design concepts, and how to program a wide variety of synthesizers. From there you'll explore more detailed aspects of sound creation and manipulation including imitating acoustic instruments, FM, oscillator sync, ring modulation, and advanced modulation; techniques that you can transfer to any hardware or software synthesizer.
By the end of this course, you will:
- Use control signals and understand control signals in Reason's Subtractor
- Understand digital samplers
- Understand modulation and MIDI control
- Build complex sounds and create sonic gestures (macrosynthesis)
- Understand the basic sound design elements of visual media
Berklee Online and Reason Studios have come together to offer an educational discount on Reason. Once you enroll in the Sound Design for the Electronic Musician course, you will be able to purchase a Reason+ subscription at the discounted price. Read Less
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Overview of Electronic Music Synthesizers
- What's a Synthesizer?
- Synthesizer Specsmanship
- Synthesizer Architecture: Generators and Processors
- Properties of Sound
- Pitch
- Timbre
- Loudness
Lesson 2: Using Control Signals in Sound Design
- Types of Control
- Envelope Generators
- Controlling Pitch—the LFO
- Understanding the Korg Polysix
Lesson 3: Control Signals in Reason's Subtractor
- Subtractor Architecture
- Fixed and Flexible Modulation Routings in Subtractor
- Real-Time Control
Lesson 4: Sound Design—Characteristics and Editing
- Sound Categories
- Musical Functions
- Instrument Types
- Sound Characteristics
- Sound Editing
- The Art of Tweaking--Sound Editing and Redesign
Lesson 5: More Sound Design—Designing Sounds
- Sound Redesign, Function Swapping
- Creating Sounds from Scratch
- The Default Patch
- Imitating Acoustic Instruments
- Solo Brass Instruments
- Ensembles
- Classic Electronic Sounds
- Filter Sweeps
- Electronic Percussion
- LFO Patterns
Lesson 6: Understanding Digital Samplers
- Understanding Digital Samplers
- Virtual Samplers
- Sampling Concepts
- Saving Memory—Looping
- Sampling Applications
Lesson 7: More on Digital Sampling
- Drum Machines
- Velocity Cross-Switching
- Using Effects with a Sampled Instrument
- Sampling Project
Lesson 8: Extended Subtractive Techniques
- Timbre and Waveshape
- Basic Geometric Waveform Review
- Wave Mixing
- Chorusing
- Waveshaping
- Frequency Modulation (FM)
- Linear and Exponential Control
- Linear FM
- Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Ring Modulation
- Oscillator Sync
Lesson 9: Advanced Modulation and MIDI Control
- Modulation Routings
- Matrix Modulation
- Vector Synthesis
- Wave Sequencing
- Step-Sequenced Control
- Control with Gate Signals
- Additional Modulation Routings within Reason
- LFO Trigger
- Modulation Routings between Devices
- Tempo Control—LFO Sync
Lesson 10: MacroSynthesis
- The Sound Spectrum Viewed as a Three-Dimensional Space
- Creating Complex Sounds by Combining over Time
- Sonic Gestures
Lesson 11: Sound Design for Visual Media
- The Role of Sound Design for Visuals
- Sound Design vs. Film Scoring
- Elements of Music
- Case Studies
Lesson 12: Final Project Posting and Discussions
- Final Project
- Where Do I Go from Here?
- How to Grow Your Current Setup
- Suggested Additional Reading
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Music Production 101, or equivalent knowledge and/or experience.
Software
- Reason+ / Reason 12
- In addition to Reason, a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) capable of video playback and export is required for the final project (Reason does not support video playback). Examples include Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, Ableton Live, etc.
- Note: You may choose to run the Reason Rack plug-in within another full-featured DAW throughout the course.
- Vital virtual synthesizer (free version acceptable)
- VCV Rack (free version acceptable)
Hardware
- MIDI keyboard controller
- One of the following studio monitoring options (both recommended):
- Studio monitors (pair), such as JBL 305Ps or better, as well as an audio interface and necessary cables
- Over-ear studio headphones, such as Sennheiser HD 600, Sony MDR-7506, Philips SHP9500, Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, etc.
- Recommended: Audio interface
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
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author & Instructor
Michael Bierylo is an electronic musician, guitarist, composer, and sound designer. He has been a faculty member at Berklee College of Music since 1995 and is currently Chair of the Electronic Production and Design Department where he led the development of Berklee’s Electronic Digital Instrument Program, the Electronic Performance Minor, and the Creative Coding Minor. Major projects include artist residencies with Suzanne Ciani, Nona Hendryx, Hank Shocklee, Richard Devine, Chagall, Robert Rich, and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. He is also active in Berklee Online, Berklee’s online school, where he authors and teaches music technology courses.
Bierylo has performed throughout the United States as a member of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. As a solo electronic artist, Bierylo has performed with laptop computer and modular synthesizers in the US, Berlin, Shanghai, and Krakow including concerts with Grammy-nominated electronic musician BT and Terence Blanchard. As an active member of the Audio Engineering Society he has chaired the Electronic Instrument Design and Applications Track at national conventions, bringing together industry innovators such as Dave Smith and Dave Rossum, as well as design teams from Moog, Roland, and Korg. Read Less
Author
David Mash is a guitarist, composer, producer, synthesist, author, educator, and futurist. He retired in 2017 as Senior Vice President for Innovation, Strategy, and Technology at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, where he had worked for over 40 years. David was the founding chair of Berklee’s Music Synthesis Department (now known as Electronic Production and Design). David has collaborated on development and artistic projects with leaders in the multimedia and music industries such as Kodak, Adobe Systems, Digidesign/Avid, Opcode, Kurzweil, Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Softube, Fishman Transducers, Godin Guitars, and many others.
David is past International Chair for Electronic Music for the International Association of Jazz Educators, was a founding board member of the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME), and recently retired as the Founding Executive Chair of the Avid Customer Association board. In addition to recently joining the Board for The Record Co., he is currently President of the board for the Bob Moog Foundation and chairs the Alan R. Pearlman (ARP) Foundation.
Today he is writing and producing music full-time, releasing his own music under the “Mashine Music” and “Stefan” personas, and you can find his work wherever you normally find digital music (Amazon, Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, CDBaby, etc…). He’s also producing music for other artists with his long-time collaborator and friend Peter Bell, under the name “Bar Of 2 Productions.” Read Less
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Sound Design for the Electronic Musician can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:
Related Certificate Programs
Related Degree Majors
Related Music Career Roles
Employers look for skills learned in this course, when hiring for the following music career roles:
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.
