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.

Hi guys, my name is Jocelyn and I’m a senior Information Science major. I’ve been trying to get into this course for some time now (yay for senior status!) because I love technology and I love music. I took classical piano lessons for twelve years and picked up guitar recently on my own (just simple chords and tabs), and I enjoy singing and writing and playing music. When my parents got a Mac computer while I was in high school, I discovered the wonders of Garageband and began to record my own music. I almost went to Belmont U in Nashville for songwriting, but I decided to keep music a hobby. I’m not an expert by any means, and my recordings tend to have flaws even after days of work, but I really enjoy creatively trying to figure out what “sounds good” in a song and (more so) in a multitrack recording. I tend to gravitate towards a coffeehouse / folk feel, but I truly enjoy almost every genre.

I would love to walk away from this class with some recordings I’m really proud of, and with the knowledge necessary to effectively use music software in the future. I am open to collaborate with other creatively minded people and trade skills if possible. I’m interested in potentially having cello, flute, mandolin, banjo, … really anything as the occasion arises 🙂 So, yeah hit me up if you need a pianist, and I’m excited to start hearing everyone’s work!

Hey everyone,

I’m Jenae. I mostly play saxophone and guitar at the moment, but I like to collect and learn how to play whatever I can get my hands on, including trumpet, oud, swarsangam, may, fife, bodhran, etc etc. I’ve been interested in music and sound all of my life. My first time around in college I majored in Mechanical Engineering and minored in Jazz Performance, and spent most of my career in acoustics and noise control engineering. Now I want to get back more to my creative side and study composition. I am still interested in the technical side of things, so this course seems like a great fit for me.

From this course I’m hoping to get started in composition, learning some of the skills that can help me more easily get all of the music that’s in my head into a form that other people can work with/appreciate. I’m also hoping to learn some tools that will let me automatically generate music. I’m very interested in the intersection between music, science, technology, and psychology, and I plan to build what I learn here into some ideas I have that would combine these fields.

As far as performance experience, I have played in concert, marching, and jazz bands at the high school and collegiate level, and have had side bands that make up music out of thin air (completely improvised), or span a wide variety of genres (such as the avant-blues-indie-funk-classical-jazz band I had in college). I’ve also performed in the Cornell Improvisation Ensemble. I’m definitely interested in collaborating with/jamming with others.

Hi all,

My name is Martin Mahoney and I’m junior music major in Arts and Sciences. Music has been a big part of my life since a started taking piano lessons when I was four. I don’t play the piano much anymore; since high school I’ve mostly been interested in singing and writing music. Here at Cornell I am studying classical vocal performance and am a member of the Glee Club. I’ve also recently started taking classes in classical composition. I’m taking this course because up to this point most of my musical experience has been “analog”- I play, write and sing mostly acoustic music- and I want to see what digital tools can add to that. I also hope to eventually work in music, and knowing how contemporary music is put together digitally seems pretty important to know! If anyone needs a bass/baritone vocalist for anything (even outside this class)  let me know, I’d be more than happy to help. I can play piano/ keyboard too if anyone needs it, but looking at the other posts I am a far less qualified pianist than a lot other people in this class. Anyway, looking forward to a great semester!

Hey, I’m David Cui. I’m a senior studying operations research in the school of engineering. I’m taking this class because I grew up with music, taking lessons in piano and violin at a young age and eventually teaching myself a very basic level of guitar, bass, and drums.

I’ve always liked expressing my creative side through music, but given the opportunity I would also like to make the quality of my music as best as possible. I’ve experimented around a bit with some recording software to record small things for school projects. I wouldn’t consider myself a composer or anything on that level, but I have done arrangements for my A Capella group here (Measureless) and have written songs for my own amusement. I’ve done some really, really rough multitracking, and I want to learn how I can create songs or tracks with multiple parts and voices.

Looking forward to working with you all and hearing your musical creations!

I’m a sophomore AEM major. Ironically, one of my greatest fears is ending up in a cubicle doing nothing but crunching numbers all day or something of that nature. So I figured there’s a business aspect to practically every industry and recognizing my love for music, I’ve decided that if I’ll be crunching numbers it better be for something worthwhile. I’ve been playing around with various DAWs on my own for the past few months and though I’ve gotten better, there’s just a lot I can’t learn without formal instruction. I’m also very interesting in discovering new music so if any of you have a soundcloud feel free to drop the link. Help me not end up in a cubicle Professor Ernste!

Hi everyone,

My name is Harold, and I am a senior in chemical engineering. In high school, I played the cello all four years and was in an orchestra. Before that, I played a little bit of piano and violin. Nowadays, I dabble in electric guitar. For quite some time now I have been interested in writing my own music, making this class a great opportunity to explore this interest. I want to expose myself to writing in a variety of genres, with electronic music being a good start. I also welcome any chance for collaboration!

Hey all,

My name is Colin Barber and I am a junior in CALS studying microbiology. I have a decent background in music–I have been playing cello for 11 years now, I have been learning to play viola da gamba (a six-stringed instrument popular in the Renaissance), and I can play a limited amount of electric bass. In the past, I have played with the Cornell Symphony and I am currently involved with Cornell’s Viol Consort, a small ensemble for viola da gamba players. I love to listen to “classical” music of many forms, though I have a strong passion for large orchestral works, especially those of the early twentieth century. I have dabbled in amateur classical composition in the past, but that has never amounted to much. Here’s an example of something I wrote a little over 3 years ago. (The audio is totally synthetic and not the highest quality, but you get the picture) The point is, my musical experience has been, in a word, classical.

So why am I taking this course? In short, I would like to discover and foster an appreciation for electronic music (which a lot of you seem to have experience in already) and potentially create some of my own. Ideally, I will be able to combine my passion for classical music with some of the electronic techniques we’ll learn. I am absolutely interested in collaborating with other people; please contact me if I can be of some help!

Hi, my name is Yoon. I am a 3rd year architect working on a minor in music and business. I was a classical flutist by training until high school, and I picked up jazz and improvisation here at Cornell. Other than flute, I’ve fiddled around a bit with piano (just enough to play simple pieces), piccolo, recorder, ocarina, and a whole slew of other “flutey” instruments. I have performed solo, in tiny chamber groups, huge orchestras, wind ensembles, jazz bands, and jazz combos throughout high school, and in improvisation ensemble at Cornell.

I don’t have much to show for previous recording or composition experiences, but here is a short piece I made using a Zoom recorder and Audacity three years ago.

I am interested in this class because I am looking for ways to “extend” my instrument digitally. I love playing the flute, but often feel that flute alone feels a little bland. I am hoping that digital manipulations and extensions can add a bit of umph in my music.  I am interested in digital composition, but I would also like to be able to utilize what I learn in this class for live performances.

I love playing with other people, so feel free to contact me if you want to collaborate! I am also down for jams. I am actually still on the waitlist for this class but I hope I get to join everyone before add-drop ends. Wish me luck!

Hi everyone,

My name’s Amin Nikbin and I’m a fourth-year undergraduate linguistics and philosophy major with a math minor. I’m from a suburb called Richmond Hill up by Toronto in the Great White North. Musically, I have played the clarinet in ages past and long forgotten how to do so, touched a piano with furtive interest but never actually learnt how to play one (which remains an endless obsession), and bought my first electric guitar for my sixteenth birthday and since produced various noises with the strings, few of which I’d dare to call music. My tastes find themselves heavily restricted within the bounds of contemporary metal (I am no subgenre purist but I could list dozens for you), though they venture on occasion into varieties of electronic music, classical, and instrumentals. I’ve long wanted to compose, and often draw out lengthy improvisations in my head, but weakness in musical theory and training means all my mental experiments have so far been doomed to be forgotten before I could record them. This is one reason I want to take this course – to perhaps learn how I might actually begin composing music. I also feel the flexibility and independence afforded by producing with a computer would be very useful to have if I’m to make music as a hobby, which is my intention. I have a plethora of ideas, most ill-formed and unimpressive, all centred on creating something that can genuinely make me feel. I think I’d rather like to collaborate, if somebody else is interested.

Strictly speaking I’m not yet enrolled in the course, but at second on the waitlist I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Amin