Hi everyone! My name’s Janie, and I use she/her pronouns. I’m a senior, studying Computer Science and FGSS! In terms of my musical background, I’ve been singing ever since I was little. I sing in an acappella group on campus (The Key Elements, holding virtual auditions until 9/21!) and love to make music however I can! I’ve never been able to pick up instruments very easily, but I love to play around with different apps and programs. Its the CS kid side of me! 🙂 Some of my favorite music I made in dinky phone apps! I’m mostly self taught, and never really bothered with music theory – I love to compose just by figuring out what I think sounds good. I’m really excited to take this class to get some formal education in a lot of things I’ve just sorta played around with! I’m looking forward to learning as much as I possibly can, and hopefully making some amazing music with you all along the way!
Assignment 0: Jacob Pelster
I have musical experience with the piano (multiple years), and got alright. However, when I started undergrad, I lost access to a piano and wasn’t able to practice. I’ve been working on learning the guitar. I’ve — badly — recorded a few songs and am currently working on spewing something out. I have no idea how to mix well, or how drums work conceptually. I’m hoping this class will help me get the grease off my hands so the pencil doesn’t keep slipping out of my hands and the paper doesn’t get soggy, metaphorically.
Assignment 0: Sishan Long
Hello everyone! My name is Sishan, and I’m a Ph.D. student in computer science. I began to play the violin since very young but less frequently after middle school. Music always companies my life and I love to listen. Recently I began to mashup songs, also start thinking about working on the Computer Music area in the future (which develops computer music and interactive performance technology to enhance human musical experience and creativity). To realize it, I need to learn more about Music, especially digital music, and the interaction between Music and Computer. So hope this class could be a good start 🙂 I’m totally open to collaboration.
Assignment 0: Lucas Petrello
Hello! my name is Lucas. I am a senior studying Environment and Sustainability Sciences and I was raised in New York City. Before college, my prominent musical experience was my involvement in a chorus called the Young Peoples Chorus of NYC (YPC). While unaffiliated with my old high school, YPC would have after school rehearsals for performances in competition as well as for large and small scale media events. Besides the chorus, I had a couple of years of piano lessons in like 4th grade. I am taking this course because I have had an interest in music production for quite a while. I have experience making beats and various musical pieces on FL studio every now and then for the last 5-6 years. I enjoy listening to and making all kinds of music: Hip-hop, EDM, Lo-Fi, R&B, Video game music, movie soundtracks, etc. I believe this course will be lots of fun, teach me lodes of useful skills and hopefully guide me on a clearer path for my future. I’m always willing to collab or help out with some unbiased feedback, just email me at lpetrello100@gmail.com!
Assignment 0: Spencer Torres
Hey everyone, I’m Spencer and I’m a senior studying chemical engineering. I’ve played the tuba in my school’s band growing up, however I haven’t had taken the opportunity to be involved with music since coming to Cornell. I’m taking this class because I want to better appreciate the area of digital music, and to learn how to produce my own music.
Assignment 0: Phoebe McKinley
Hello Intro to Computer Music class! My name is Phoebe and I am a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am a singer songwriter and accompany myself on both guitar and piano (I am by no means an expert). I know some basics about music production from a high school class focused around Protools, however, I would say I am pretty much a beginner, especially when it comes to producing music without physical instruments. I have been wanting to take this class since freshman year, but it fills up quick and I feel very lucky to have the chance to take it this year. I hope to learn skills that will allow me to produce my own songs and maybe release an EP (fingers crossed!). I am mainly a vocalist and would love to collaborate with others! Sharing music and ideas is the best part 🙂
Welcome (again)
This post discusses the blog and forum; and links to a summary of Week 0 (with a bit of commentary and definition of terms).
Thanks to those of you who have posted Assignment 0* – good to get to know you!
We know you’re navigating a difficult landscape with unusual pressures and unknowns. Thank you for carrying out this balancing act on campus and online. Regardless of modality, we’re here to introduce tools and the understanding to make music, and to share the results.
The forum
On the website, I’ve opened a discussion forum open only to members of the course. This can serve many functions – musical and acoustic concepts, software documentation, additional audio examples, a place to pose questions on any aspect of the course, and to try your hand in answering them. Topics will be added as we continue.
The blog
This blog, on the other hand, is publicly viewable. It is the outward face of the course, and presents announcements like this one.
These old-fashioned tools, the blog and discussion board-style forum, we feel, offer focused, text-based methods of communication and straightforward sharing of files and media. As we address other needs and interests, we may add other communication methods in line with the spirit of the course.
Summary of Week 0
As we transition from Week 0 to Week 1’s lecture tomorrow, covering the basics of digital audio, I’ve posted a document summarizing Prof. Ernste’s overview of this “maker course.” I’ve amplified a few points, including definitions of some terms you may find it useful to understand. This isn’t to give you yet another thing to do – instead, think of it as a distillation of the information you have already, with a few hints for getting started, which may help you in this first complete week of the course, and as we continue.
That text is here.
-EM
[*our blog’s font currently shows zero, lowercase-oh and capital-oh as: 0, o, O.]
Assignment 0: Zachary Vero
Hello! My name is Zack, and I’m a computer science major from Long Island. I don’t have much background in music other than playing viola in middle school. Although I don’t play much, I love to listen and experience. I frequently went to concerts and music festivals before the world kinda sorta stopped. I started as a big hip hop fan but have recently been listening to pretty, colorful sounding music. I hope to explore music in a more personal way this semester and play with different sounds. I’m totally open to collaboration.
Assignment 0: Brandon Feng
Hi everyone! I’m Brandon and I’m a senior studying Statistics. Before college, I played piano for 10 years and viola with my school orchestra for 8 years. I’m interested in this class because I enjoyed music composition and playing random tunes while in orchestra and I want to learn it in a new platform. I feel that electronic music is a little different from traditional instruments and I’m excited to be able to learn about it and utilize all the new equipment and software that is available to us. I don’t really have a creative agenda, just hope to have fun and play around with different sounds. I’m very open to collaboration and I’m excited to learn everyone else’s music styles this semester!
Assignment 0: Kyle Betts
Hello everyone. I’m Kyle, and I am a senior studying electrical and computer engineering. Growing up I never really played an instrument, but music has still been a big part of my life. I’ve always loved listening to music especially EDM which is what sparked my interest in this class. Some of my favourite artists include MK and Martin Garrix. I’ve played around with DJ equipment for many years as well. I would definitely be interested in collaboration during this class.