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Hi, my name is Andrew Huang. I’m a senior in Arts & Sciences majoring in China & Asia-Pacific Studies. I’m taking this course because I’d like to learn more about the techniques and software involved behind the art of creating music with computers. Not much of a music background other than a few years of piano lessons as a kid (which I suppose might be another reason why I’m interested in pursuing the computer as an instrument instead), but I have had many experiences with audio editing for projects and other assignments.

I’m a big fan of electronic / house music and enjoy songs with heavy sampling and mashups if they’re done right. I also enjoy listening to hip hop / jazz  and my creative agenda for this class is to try to understand and recreate the sounds from some of my favorite artists.

I also need this course to fulfill a Literature & Arts requirement to graduate, so that’s a plus.

I’m Kelvin, and I’m a junior studying Computer Science in Arts & Sciences. I’m taking this class because I’m interested in composing and producing music!

As far as experience goes, I played piano for about four years when I was really little (circa elementary school), and violin for five years, so I have some music theory background – though I haven’t had any formal education in music since then. I began writing music in 2008, and in 2010 started to create music for a game I was making (recall: I’m a CS major). The game didn’t get very far, but I’ve been continuing to write music up until now. Also, in the past year or so I’ve started using FL Studio as a production tool. I’m still learning, though.

I primarily enjoy listening to electronic music (esp. house, trance, liquid dubstep & dnb) and I’m a sucker for catchy melodies and complextro in particular.

I look forward to meeting you all, and learning more about making music with computers!! 🙂

Kelvin Jin

Hi,

my name is Michael Neborak and I’m a junior in the engineering school and I’m majoring in Computer Science.  I’ve played the piano since I was four, getting slightly competitive with it in middle and high school with NYSSMA, now I play for enjoyment.

My favorite music is by far EDM, specifically the electro and progressive house genres.  Looking back at all the music I’ve ever liked, I’ve realized that all the songs fall under the genre of electronic dance music in some way.  I have extensive experience using Logic Pro along with synthesizers like Sylenth1, Massive, and Nexus.  I love the EDM genre in general such as any house, dub step, trance, techno, complextro, etc. Due to my piano history I heavily appreciate classical music, but I’ll appreciate anything else, especially hip-hop and alternative rock.

Hi everyone,

I’m Brendan, a junior bioengineer. I am not in the class yet but my fingers are crossed! I like to listen to a wide variety of genres, but I mainly listen to Irish traditional. I’m not in a group, but I have been playing uilleann bagpipes (which are NOT the St. Paddy’s Day march-around-in-a-kilt species!) for over six years. Since bagpipes create several very distinct sounds out of a few different ends of the instrument, they are not trivial to record well. I’d like to master the art of recording the pipes, but I am also very interested in learning the ins and out of audio software and just creating some interesting sounds and rhythms.

I’d be willing to collaborate with anybody if people are looking for something a bit different this semester. I am sadly taking a pretty heavy courseload and I’m nervous about getting enough time for my own project, but this is my only chance to take the class because of engineering requirements senior year so I am very excited to see how it all goes!

My name is Valeryan Besselyanov, but I go by Val to most. I am a senior chemistry major who has been wanting to take this course for almost my entire time here. I have been playing guitar/bass for about 8 years, know a bit of piano, and am a decent singer. I have involved myself with many musical projects throughout the years, ranging from duos, to full-fledged bands with recordings and live shows, to solo creations. I have a few years of experience recording/mixing and composing music, both instrumental and electronic-based. My program of choice is Ableton Live. I am also a member of Cornell’s Improvisation Ensemble. I am extremely excited to be honing in on my interests  in a formal setting because I’ve basically been winging it this whole. Making music is my favorite thing to do in the world so I expect to broaden my skills and produce some wonderful new things, whether it is on my own or in collaboration with others.

Hey all,

My name is Sam Rosenberg and I’m a senior in ILR. I played jazz saxophone for 12 years and have a cursory knowledge of piano. I’ve always been interested in playing music and also wanted an opportunity to create and edit music. I’ve played around with garage band recently but want a better knowledge of how to mold music through more advanced programs. I’m also interested in how films are scored musically and how they create the sounds for the scenes and effects, so I hope to explore that in this class.

Sam Rosenberg

Hi all,

My name is Zhen, but most people know me by Vinny. I am a senior in the College of Engineering studying Materials Science and Engineering.

I wanted to take this course because I never had the opportunity to explore my interest in music before this semester. After reading some of your posts, I feel kind of like a fish out of water; unlike most of you, I don’t have much experience with music. Yes, I do love listening to all types of music, but I never played an instrument nor do I have a knack for singing or composing.

Regardless, I’m really excited, and a little nervous, for the semester, but I know that there is much to be learned that will only strengthen my appreciation for music and the musically talented.

Excited to embark on this musical journey with you all.

Best!

Hello!

My name is Danny, and I’m a junior undergrad in Computer Science. I’ve played saxophone through high school and I can play basic things on a piano, but I don’t consider either at performance quality. The main reason I’m taking this class is because I’ve never done any electronic music creation, and I’m hoping I can get introduced to some of the tools to give me a starting point. I also consider game design one of my interests, and I’m especially interested in music that changes dynamically based on actions taken by the player.

I’d also like to advertise a start-up I’ve worked with before, because some people in the class might be interested. Thinkplay creates programmable “ePedals” that can be linked with audio/video triggers and traded with others online (it’s better described on the website, I personally didn’t work on the hardware/audio part of the software). If that interests you, I think they’re currently looking for beta testers, and if you are a programmer I think they’re always looking for more people to work on the software.

Anyway, looking forward to taking the course and seeing what everyone creates!

Hello everyone!

I’m a senior MechE major. I used to play piano but nowadays my main instrument is the viola. I’ve played in a couple of the Cornell orchestras (CSO and CCO) in the past, but now I just play in a small string ensemble on campus called String Theory. You probably haven’t heard of us but we play some kind of non-traditional music for string players, like covers of pop songs and TV/movie/video game themes. For any Whovians in the class, here’s a video of us playing a medley of Doctor Who themes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEKigUI_6nI.

Since I started playing with String Theory I’ve been getting really into music arranging, using Sibelius and Noteflight. I’ve only done strings so far though. I’d really like to play around and see what other kinds of music I can make on the computer, so I’m pretty excited for this class.

Looking forward to a great semester!