Music 173. Audio Production: Mixing and Editing

Instructor: Prof. Shlomo Dubnov 

Instructor Office Hours: After Class on Tuesday, in my office CPMC 250

TA: Mike Gao

TA Office Hours: TBD

Course Website (you are here):

http://2015ucsdmus17.blogspot.com/

• https://soundcloud.com/ucsdmus173
• Informal FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ucsdmus173/
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Course Description:

The course teaches the basics of using DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for creative production, with emphasis on hands on composition projects. We will focus on techniques related to Ableton. Hands on projects include tempo warping, beat and tonality matching, working with drum kits, chord progressions, processing of sound and creating sound effects, arrangement and remixing, and experimenting with electronic, glitch, mashup, electroacoustic and other traditional popular and experimental composition genres. Students will also be trained in deconstructing existing main stream compositions, critical listening and peer review.

NOTE: This is not a mastering / post production studio course, and it is not about using protools, studio techniques or using multi-track recording consoles. People specifically interested in the recording engineering track should consider the 174 sequence.

Assignments and quizzes:

There will be 5 assignments, 2 quizzes, and a final music project. All assignments (including the project) must be submitted via SoundCloud. Set up an account (if you do not already have one), and "follow" your TA, Mike, so that he can collect your submissions.  Please label your submissions clearly!

Assignment 1 - Simple arrangement, working with warping, midi map, recording 
Assignment 2 - Routing, signal chain, audio and midi effects, grove
Assignment 3 - Side chaining, vocoder, Audio to Midi and creative effects
Assignment 4 - Deconstruction
Assignment 5 - Intro to Max4Live

Final Project: 

Quiz 1 Tuesday, 02 / 05 / 2015 - Ableton Basics: Arrangement, Session, Library, Signal Chain, Instruments
Quiz 2 Tuesday, 03 / 02 / 2015 - Clip View: Automation, Envelope, Track Freeze, Dummy Tracks, Effects, Side Chaining. IAC Driver Settings, Remote MIDI Assignments

Unless otherwise specified, all assignments will be due each week, via electronic submission, by the end of the day (11:59pm) on Thursdays. Both projects will be presented in class for in-class critique. The due dates for assignments and projects are as follows:

Week 02 (01 / 15 / 2015): Assignment 1
Week 03 (01 / 22 / 2015): Assignment 2
Week 05 (02 / 05 / 2015): Assignment 3 (and all missing 1 & 2)
Week 06 (02 / 10 / 2015): Quiz 1 (in class)
Week 07 (02 / 17 & 19 / 2015): Assignment 4 (Deconstruction): Presentations in Class
Week 08 (02 / 26 / 2014): Assignment 5 and Project proposals (in class)
Week 09 (03 / 02 / 2014): Quiz 2
Week 10 (03 / 10 & 12 / 2014): Final Project (Critiques on Tuesday & Thursday)

Grading: 

Assignments: 8% (Total 40%)
Project: 30%
Quizzes: 10% (Total 20%) 
Critiques: 5%
Final Presentation: 5%

Extra credit of up to 10% will be given for class participation and collaborative spirit!