Heyo.  I'm Ben -- 4th year CS.  Besides playing classical piano since I was 6, I've moved more into jazz and electronic music since entering college.  I took private digital music lessons with Eric Feinstein my freshman year.  He got me into playing with Ableton Live, Reason, and other awesome tools.

For me, music is more self expression and fun than anything academic.  I like to spend time improving and jamming with my friends -- and I hope digital music will help me add to that experience.  That might include integrating recorded / synthesized tracks into a live performance, using digital and analog effects along side traditional instruments (sound, midi, or even vocoding vocals). 

I'm also looking to learn drums -- or working with anybody who knows drums especially (although any instrument is good).  

My name is Andre and I’m a fifth year Architecture student. I’ve been playing electric/acoustic guitar for several years. Recently I bought logic and M-Audio firewire solo recording interface to start composing and recording.

The main reason that I’m taking this class, other than being interested in composing and recording music, is to integrate sound/music design into my thesis. It’s a multi-disciplinary project that would result in a responsive “architectural material” like a brick for the future. The integration of sound/music could be as simple as a sonic signage or a way-finding strategy within the larger scale of a building. But I think the potential is limitless; sound has already been used as a weapon and recently as a way to customize advertisement in supermarkets and shopping malls.

I hope this course will give me an in-depth understanding of sound/music and ways to create and compose them and enable me to add a new level of depth to my thesis project.  

 

This site is a resource for students to interact beyond the lectures and labs.  Students are encouraged to post their ideas in progress to be commented upon attaching sounds, tracks, patches, or software-specific files for others to listen to, look at, and learn from.  If attachment/upload is not feasible (because of file size or other constraints) feel free to tell us where we can listen (machine, folder, etc) or where else the work might be available.

Please direct any questions about studio functionality troubles (software, hardware, etc) as well as formal assingments to the forums.  This space is intended to be an informal outlet where musical ideas and experiences can be discussed.

If you wish, you can "subscribe" to this page via RSS and track changes and additions by other students.  In Firefox of Safari jus click the RSS feed button (orange radio button on Firefox, Blue "RSS" button in address bar in Safari).  There are many other ways to view and manage RSS subscriptions.  If you are unfamiliar with RSS ("RDF Site Summary", formerly "Rich Site Summary", sometimes called "Really Simple Syndication") please read this explanation:

• RSS Usage (wikipedia)

Hi I'm Trevor Sell, a recent graduate from cornell majoring in biology and chemistry.  I'm hoping to explore some music production in my year-off before grad school so this class seems like a perfect way to kick it off.  I have some experience making medlies for dance performances on garage band, but am now trying to branch out and write my own stuff rather than simply sampling.  I recently bought logic pro 8 and am just starting to play around with it.  I also have an M-Audio Firewire Solo interface for guitar and mic and an M-Audio Axiom 49 keyboard controller (same as the ones in the library lab but with more keys). I've played piano on and off for maybe 10 years, but never did pick up sight reading.  I've also played guitar for about 6 years and used to play bass for a band in highschool as well.  I have a Fender Stratocaster and a Rickenbacker bass up here at the moment. I need a new acoustic electric as well if anyone has any recommendations.  As for my music preferences, I grew up on the Beatles and Led Zeppelin but have been into techno and dance lately (like Daft Punk) and the CD in my car features M.I.A, Mickey Avalon, and Team Facelift which i guess are essetially hip-hop.  Can't wait to start producing!

I don't think I've ever been this stoked for a class here at Cornell. I guess its because I have a true passion for music. I spend more time playing guitar, composing, recording and mixing than I study for classes (this class won't be a problem). I listen to mostly classic rock, blues, and metal, all of which fascinate me to no end. I can sit infront of my speakers and just listen to bands like Zeppelin and Sabbath (Ozzy) for hours and hours in complete awe.

At home I have Cubase and a Line 6 PodXT, basically an interface and amp/effects modeller for guitar, to record my music. After about a year of fooling around, I've familiarized myself with the basics of digital recording, but with Music 1421 I feel like I can take my digital recording techniques to the next level.

My name's Will Goto and the next three weeks of my life are going to be pretty awesome.

Hey,

I'm Bryant Williams. I'm a junior in the Engineering School. Major: Computer Science. Minor: Engineering Management.

I started playing percussion back in fourth grade. In high school, I played in jazz bands, wind ensembles, a little marching band, a little pep band. I've played a semester with the Wind Symphony at Cornell. In the past few years I've worked with piano and recently been learning to play guitar. I will listen to absolutely any genre of music, but if I had to pick a favorite it'd be between older rock and trance.

My focus in the past has been on composition using software like Myriad's Melody Assistant. I want to learn more about recording/mastering. I really wish we had more than three weeks to put everything from this class together, but I'm really looking forward to learning a lot in the next few weeks and being able to use all of that knowledge to continue recording afterwards.

My name is Phil Kim, and I am currently (2008) enrolled in the 3 week summer course formerly known as Music 120.

I've always had a huge interest in music. Just check my facebook under 'interests'! I personally play the guitar (4 years) and violin(8 years), and I am on expert level on the drum set on Rockband right now. :) I also dance to music and am part of the breakdance crew (absolute Zero) on campus, so chances are if you see me, I have a headphone around my neck ready to pump out all types of music.

My experience with digital music has been limited to rudimentary editing/mixing using soundforge. I've made many mixes for performances and practice sessions but never fully got to understand the software. Nevertheless, I enjoy mixing music on the computer and I still do it pretty frequently as a hobby.

I hope to gain a broad and deep knowledge about digital music editing, mixing, and composition over the next 3 weeks. I am excited to learn about MIDI and new computer software/hardware related to the manipulation of sound. All the cool equipment in the studio excites me because I'm quite the tech-nerd... but what guys aren't?

anyways, that's it for my first blog entry. Peace!

 Hello - I'm Vic Miller, a senior mechanical engineer taking music 1421 (formerly known as music 120) during the 2008 summer session.  During my senior year of high-school, I took 'Introduction to Electronic Music', where I learned a bit about reel to reel recording, synthesizer basics, and midi mixing and recording.  I enjoyed that course and am excited to take another - especially since this one seems to be much more technical and in-depth.

 I played piano for two years during grade school, and played percussion and drum set throughout middle school.  I picked up drum set again during the end of my senior year of high-school, but since then, I haven't been playing seriously or regularly.  Hopefully I can put some of my (limited) musical talent to work during the next 3 weeks.

The site has a new look, and several added features. It also cleans us several annoyances like the awkwardness of attaching images to posts, like so (now trivial...click the little tree in the post editor):

All data and user accounts was transfered but please do let me know if you have any trouble with functionality. Use the site Contact or post in the Troubleshooting Forum for your class.

Enjoy!

My name is Joseph (my official first name is heesung, but i go by my middle name) and i'm a senior majoring in economics. I played violin for seven years and was in orchestra during high school years. i don't have much experience with digital sound editting/creating, but i've used Audacity for recording purposes while taking a Chinese class. I hope to be able to create music of my own style without too much constraint by taking this class.