Hello, I am a sophomore studying Computer Science in the College of Engineering. Although I have set myself on a direct course to a future of laptop screens, coding, and finger cramps, I’ve decided to do my best to keep music in my life. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a composer, seeing as though everything I’ve written was before having any kind of formal instruction in music theory. Recently it’s been hard to find the time to write anything and I’m afraid I’m losing my creativity to the black hole of math courses and other work that occupies my thoughts. I’ve been playing the piano, viola, and mallet percussion for years, though I haven’t touched the latter two since high school. The last piece I wrote was for a small string ensemble back in high school, and currently I’m trying to gravitate away from traditional music, and from tonal music for that matter. I’ve recently become enthralled by Brian Eno and the far away world that is ambient music. I may or may not need to write some background music for a possible job that I’m in too deep with… so there’s that too.
I’m taking this course because I’m trying to do less thinking and more doing. I don’t know the first thing about recording music in a studio, nor do I know a great deal about music theory. But I’m hoping to learn from and collaborate with everyone else here (it is evident that we’re a pretty diverse crowd) and get my hands on some tech so I can realize some of the ideas floating through my brain. My goal for this class is to get familiar with making music in front of a computer screen, maybe get some finger cramps, meet a bunch of people with similar interests, and keep my musical side from escaping. Now all that’s left to do is get off the wait list.