Creating Sounds for Electronic Music

Berklee via Coursera

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/music-synthesizer

Introduction

### Course Review: Creating Sounds for Electronic Music In the era where electronic music reigns supreme, understanding the intricacies of sound design and production can give aspiring musicians a significant edge. If you’re someone who dreams of crafting your unique soundscapes, the **Creating Sounds for Electronic Music** course on Coursera offers a deep dive into the world of electronic music production. #### Overview **Creating Sounds for Electronic Music** is a project-centered course designed for anyone interested in music production, whether you're a novice musician, an aspiring producer, or simply a hobbyist looking to explore your creativity. Developed by Berklee College of Music, this course guides you through the process of creating and implementing your sounds in songs, focusing particularly on the use of software synthesizers. You will gain hands-on experience with the FXpansion Strobe 2 synthesizer, which students can access for free. #### What You’ll Achieve Throughout the course, you will achieve several key outcomes: - **Sound Design Skills**: You will learn how to create an extensive database of custom sounds that you can integrate into your compositions. - **Increased Confidence**: The course provides a supportive learning environment that boosts your confidence in using music production software. - **Collaborative Experience**: Working alongside classmates allows for sharing ideas and inspiration, creating a collective database of designed sounds or patches. #### Detailed Syllabus The course is structured into clear, manageable weeks, each focusing on different aspects of sound creation and music composition. 1. **Welcome to Creating Sounds for Electronic Music!** The introductory week sets the stage for what you can expect out of the course. You learn how to navigate the platform and the tools you'll be using. 2. **Creating A Mock-Up** The journey begins with Strobe 2, focusing on drum and bass patches. This week lays the foundation for creating a mock-up of your song, allowing you to understand the structure and form of electronic music pieces. 3. **Creating Draft 1** You delve deeper into different sound patches like organ, lead, keys, and arpeggiators. This stage involves not just creation but also research and experimentation, which furthers your understanding of sound design. 4. **Creating Draft 2** This week expands your toolkit with pads, synths, unison, and chord patches. You will be encouraged to make bold creative choices, while also developing your ideas further. 5. **Creating Draft 3** Your final draft incorporates special effects and texture, refining your musical pieces into a more polished format. Expect to push your creative boundaries as you enhance your musical ideas. #### Recommendation The **Creating Sounds for Electronic Music** course is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in electronic music production. Whether you’re a beginner or someone with a bit of experience, this course offers a welcoming and engaging environment that fosters creativity. The hands-on approach ensures that you’re not just passively learning but actively creating and experimenting. Moreover, learning how to use FXpansion Strobe 2 effectively is a huge asset, as it's a powerful tool widely used in the music industry. The collaborative aspect, combined with the experience and credibility of Berklee, makes this course stand out. In conclusion, if you're ready to embark on your electronic music journey and want to hone your sound design skills, I highly recommend enrolling in **Creating Sounds for Electronic Music** on Coursera. The experience will not only enhance your technical abilities but also nurture your artistic expression. Happy creating!

Syllabus

Welcome to Creating Sounds for Electronic Music!

Welcome to your Berklee course! Before you begin the course, we will cover all the details about the course and what you'll need to know to get the most out of your Berklee course.

Creating A Mock Up

This week, we'll start working in Strobe 2 and create a mock up of our song. We will focus on creating drum and bass patches to use in our songs. We'll also go over the form we will be using for our electronic etudes.

Creating Draft 1

This week, we'll look at organ, lead, keys, and arpeggiator patches. We'll start researching and adding these patches to our etudes.

Creating Draft 2

This week, we'll learn about pads, synths, unison, and chord patches. We'll research these patches and add them to our second draft. We'll also take a look at changing something drastic in our etudes.

Creating Draft 3

This week, we'll create our third draft. We'll add special FX and texture to our etudes. We'll also expand on the 40-measure form and begin to develop our musical ideas further.

Overview

What you’ll achieve: In this project-centered course*, you will create sounds and use them in your own musical compositions. Whether you're an aspiring producer, composer, or hobbyist, this course will help you gain skills in music production and confidence using software synthesizers. Along with your classmates, you will create a massive database of designed sounds, or patches, to use in your compositions. As part of the course, you will work with a free version of FXpansion Strobe 2. What you

Skills

Sound Design Create custom synthesizer patches Create an electronic composition Create custom patches in Strobe 2 Manipulate preset patches

Reviews

I was pleased with this course. Loudon looked a lot Younger. At first I was critical of the synth (Strobe 2) and of the Course Style But I was impressed by Other Students. Thanks Loudon - Le

Fantastic. I used it to create a LOT of patches and use them in my songs now. My favorite of the 4 courses in the specialization

Very thorough and a valuable enrichment class to follow the Music Production class, which was also very thorough.

Well-balanced approach to basic synthesizer patches, along with a good portion of composition and arrangement. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this course and even though I have owned and played synths since the 70s I still learned a lot.\n\nThanks Loudan!