Final Projects and Important Dates

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Wednesday, May 6 - Job Readiness Workshop w/ Felice
• Friday, May 8 - Makeup class (3-6 pm)
  
• Friday, May 15 - Makeup class (3-6 pm)
  
• Saturday, May 16 - Our last Saturday class!
• Monday, May 18 - Peer review presentations
• Wednesday, May 20 - Troubleshooting Evaluation
• Monday, May 25 - Memorial Day (no class)
• Wednesday, May 27 - Last day of class
• Sunday, June 7 - FINAL EVENT!!!

Final Projects
At the Final Event for this class, everyone will be presenting a Final Project. Starting today, our main focus is going to be in getting these projects completed. This is your chance to make a polished audio project that showcases the skills you have acquired throughout the course of the program. You can decide what you want your project to be, as long as it uses the skills you have learned in this class (recording a song, audio post production, etc.)

Your project should:

• Be a reflection of your own unique experiences and skills – give me something that no one else in the world can give me!
• Be at least 5 minutes long
• It can be more than one project that add up to five minutes
• Polished, complete and to the best of your ability
• It should have some type of live recording
• Include great attention given to the mix (volume, panning, FX, automation)
  

If you are making a song/spoken word piece...

• It should have a deliberate arrangement and structure that keeps the listeners interested
• Vocals: rap, singing, poetry, essay, Speech
• Complex instrumentation
• Final piece Exported/Bounced song as an audio file
  

If you are doing Audio Post Production...

• All actions and dialogue should have corresponding audio with them - good synchronization, no empty gaps.
• Should have a musical score that you create
• Mix the audio - make the actions believable with the use of mixing, panning, FX, and automation.
• Export/Bounce the final piece as a Quicktime movie
  

Couple things...
Collaboration is encouraged, but be careful to budget your time accordingly - ESPECIALLY regarding the use of the vocal booth. Be considerate of the fact that everyone needs to have access. You are encouraged to constantly seek peer feedback throughout the production process (formal Peer Review will be happening on May 18).If you have an idea for a project that is different from the two options above, please talk with Chris and/or Corina to discuss how you can make this happen.

Logic Express - part 3 (Insert FX)

So today I want you to continue getting familiar with working with the Software Instruments in Logic, but today I would like for you to create a complete piece that you can use to record vocals over next week.

This can be whatever form that works for you, whether you are rapping, singing, or reading a poem or speech. Whatever it is, I would like for it to have a definite structure:

• If you are doing a song, give me at least 2 Verses, 2 Choruses and an Intro/Outro.
• If you are doing a poem/speech, I want to have specific musical things happening along with parts of the text.

In addition, I would like to see all of the following elements in the music you produce today:

1. At least 6-8 instruments in your song.
2. Use at least 3 different FX on your tracks (1 Delay, 1 Modulation, and 1 of your choice).

FX Plugins
So, in my opinion, one of the best things about Logic is that it has all kinds of instruments and FX that come with the program, and which you can start using right away. Pro Tools, on the other hand, tends to give you a lot fewer tools to start with, but gives you the option of buying them as you start to use the software more.

The FX in Logic actually work the same way that they do in Pro Tools. The easiest way to use them is to Insert them directly onto your tracks. To do this, simply do the following:

1. Find the Insert section of the track in either the Inspector Section or in the Mixer Window.
2. Click on one of the empty boxes.
3. Select one of the categories from the dropdown menu and click on one of the options in the submenu.

Intro to Logic Express- part 2 (Software Instruments)

Last week we started working with Logic Express and started to get familiar with the layout. Today we're going to get a little deeper into it and start making original beats using the Software Instruments.

The Software Instruments in Logic are simply MIDI-based instruments that you can play with your keyboard and/or program from inside Logic. They are basically just like the instruments in Reason that you are already familiar with, but they are already inside this DAW program, which means you have full control over every aspect of the music (composing/editing/mixing) all in one place. How is this is different from the way we have been working with beats in Pro Tools?

To use a Software Instrument in your song, do the following:

1. Start a new Logic session or Open an old one.
2. Open the Track Menu and click on New.
3. In the New Track Window that pops up, adjust the settings to create 1 Software Instrument.
4. Click the Create button and you should see a new track appear in your Sequencer Window.
5. Now look over to the left side of the screen and find the I/O symbol. Click on the box below the I/O and a list of all the Software Instruments pops up.
6. Select the one you want to work with and specify whether you want it to be Mono, Stereo, or Multi Output.
7. The Instrument should pop up for you to work with and your MIDI keyboard should now be controlling it. Try playing a few notes to make sure.

OK, so since we now know how to create Software Instruments, let's try working with one of them. Just like in Reason, a logical (haha) place to start is with the drums. One of the main drum plugins in Logic is called Ultrabeat. It works very similarly to the Redrum, so it should be really easy for you to get up and running with it. Please do the following:

1. Create a new Software Instrument track and load up Ultrabeat using the steps laid out above.
2. Try listening to the sounds in it by either playing some keys on your keyboard or by clicking on the notes of the keyboard on the left side of the window. If you like these sounds, skip ahead to Step 4. If you want to change them, go to Step 3.
   
3. On the right side of the Logic screen, look under the Library tab and click on Drum Kits. Click on whatever one you want to work with.
4. In the bottom right corner of the Ultrabeat window, click on the button called Full View. The window should change to show a big grid. This is the Sequencer where you can program your beat.
5. Turn the Sequencer on by clicking the blue circle button right under where it says Sequencer. Hit the Play button right next to it to hear the pattern play.
6. In that same area (lower left corner) find the pattern number (1 (C-1) sq) and click the little triangle next to it.
7. Click on one of the patterns that does not have the letters sq next to it.
8. Click on the sound you want to start working with and make sure it is highlighted.
9. Click on any of the boxes where you want the drum sounds to hit and make that slap.
10. When you are ready to really bring it into your song, click on the little box next to where it says Pattern and drag that into a track.
11. Copy the beat out for as many bars as you want it to go.
12. If you want to work on a fresh pattern, don't forget to change the pattern number.

Please create a verse (16 bars) and a chorus (8 bars) using the Ultrabeat drum machine. Get them all into the Main Sequencer. Let Chris or Corina check it out when you're done.

**Resume Workshop**

Today we're going to take a short break from the technical stuff to talk about a topic that is extremely important for our ability to become professionals: resumes. We've talked a little about resumes here in class, so we generally know what they are. Wikipedia says:

"A résumé is a document that contains a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education. The résumé or CV is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment."

So, we're going to be working with BAVC's Internship Coordinator, Felice Archbold, who is going to help us put together really solid resumes that will help us highlight our skills. Please keep in mind that Felice is going to be in charge of finding YOUR internship, so the more you can help her by putting effort into your resume, the better she will be able to help you find a great internship opportunity!

Intro to Logic Express - part 1 (Loops)

Thank you to everyone who made it out and brought people to Family Night last week. I was really proud of all the work that everyone produced and I think that our families were very impressed. We will be talking about it more soon, but I want everyone to start thinking about our Final Event and what kind of project you might want to do. Just to give you a heads up, I will be expecting everyone to get up and present a piece of work.

Also, FYI, this Wednesday, April 22 we will be working on our resumes with Felice, our Internship Coordinator. This is an absolutely mandatory class! If you want to get an internship, you have to come to this class. I'm going to take it a step farther and say that in order to receive you stipend check, you need to be here. If you think you will be missing this class, let me know today and we can talk about what you need to do to make it up.

OK, but getting back to business...

Today we are going to start working with another DAW software called Logic Express.  What does DAW stand for? What is another example of a DAW.

Logic Express is a "limited functionality" version of Logic Pro, Apple's own DAW software platform. For the most part, they look and perform the same. The main differences are that Logic Ex. can't do surround sound, can't handle certain professional software/hardware applications, and doesn't have as many plugin instruments. Everything else is pretty similar.

Right now, let's just get familiar with the main sections of the screen:
- The Arrange Area
- the Editing Area
- the Toolbar
- the Inspector
- the Transport Bar
- the Media or Lists Area

Just like Pro Tools, in Logic you are basically just working with regions on tracks. And, as in PT, there are a number of ways that you are able to edit these regions. Here are some basic navigation/editing techniques:

- Drag a region to move it.
- Option-drag a region to copy it.
- Place the mouse pointer at the end of the lower right corner of a region to resize it.
- Place the mouse pointer at the end of the upper right corner of a region to loop it.

Today we're going to use these techniques to put together a basic song using some Apple loops. Apple loops are free musical loops that come with Apple computers. They are used a lot in Garageband. 

Let's go ahead and start putting together a basic song and get familiar with working in Logic Express.

1. Launch Logic Express.
2. In the Collection Section on the left, click on the Compose Tab and Create an Empty Project.
3. In the Track Window that pops up, Create 1 Software Instrument Track.
4. Click on the Loops tab in the Media window.
5. Browse through and find at least 8-10 loops that you can create a song with and drag them into your Arrange window to work with them.

6. Create a song that has an Intro, 2 Verses and 2 Choruses.

7. Save this as your name_Logic beat1

**Family Night**

Welcome to the Digital Pathways Advanced Audio Family Night! We are really happy that you came through to listen to some of our projects and check out what we do here. We're going to have a short presentation featuring some of our projects. Please feel free to move around and check out each student's workstation to see the diverse range of styles and talents that we have in our class.

And help yourself to snacks!

If you have any questions about the class or other BAVC programs, don't hesitate to contact either myself (crunde@bavc.org), or Naomi Kawamura, our Assistant Director of Next Gen programs (naomi@bavc.org).

Thanks for coming out!

Clean it up!

Welcome back, my friends!

Hope you all had an exciting and/or relaxing Spring Break. As we had discussed last time, we will be having our Family Night on Wednesday, April 15 from 6:30-7:30 pm. How many of you think you will be having folks come through? We will have some snacks and light refreshments, FYI.

Also, we will NOT be having a class this Saturday, April 18. Unfortunately, there was a schedule conflict with another BAVC class that day and there doesn't seem to be any dates that we can reschedule to right away, so for now you all get the time off...

In the meantime, here are the two things I want you all to be focusing on today:

1. Please finish up all your Audio Post Production stuff. You can check to make sure you have everything in by going to Media Share>Student Work. Check all the folders that are highlighted orange and make sure you see your file in there.
2. Put any work that you would like for me to share with our guests into the Student Work folder. It can be either music or an audio post piece (I may pick a few select pieces to play). Put a copy in the folder called Family Night. I would like every person to contribute at least one piece that they want to share!
3. Work on some music! We're about to finish up with this audio post stuff and switch back to music (using some different tools), so let's start shifting our brains back into musical mode.