Electronic Music Performance Techniques

Electronic Music Performance Techniques

This course is part of Electronic Music Production Specialization

Instructor: Rishabh Rajan

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Assessments

8 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Electronic Music Production Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 5 modules in this course

From the Moog analog synthesizers in the 1960s to the contemporary usage of computers, performance controllers, and mobile devices, Electronic Digital Instruments (EDIs) have long been capable of offering artists a new range of musical expression. In this one-of-a-kind course, you’ll learn the essential skills you need to perform on an EDI.

Your instructor is EDI musician and Berklee College of Music associate professor Rishabh Rajan. He will take you through the basics of EDI performance and give you pointers on how to build an arrangement on your EDI. Whether you have just ordered your first pad-controller or have already been experimenting with electronic music, you’ll learn the basics of performing and arranging on the EDI. You will start by building drum beats and reading drum notation. Then you will create bass lines and harmonic accompaniment. Finally, you will learn how to live loop all of these elements and perform an arrangement for a live audience.

Welcome to the course! Here we will cover all the details about the course and what you'll need to know to get the most out of your experience.

What's included

3 videos6 readings1 assignment

3 videosTotal 5 minutes

Course Overview1 minutePreview module
Setting Up Your EDI0 minutes
Launch Quantization and Session View3 minutes

6 readingsTotal 55 minutes

Welcome!10 minutes
Connect with Your Classmates5 minutes
Earn A Course Certificate10 minutes
Submitting Your Projects10 minutes
Course Resources10 minutes
Latency10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

What Are Your Goals?30 minutes

In this first lesson, we will practice several basic drum patterns as well as look at how to create more complex drum tracks for your original songs. We will also discuss how you can program a song into your EDI to discover new ideas. Finally, we will learn how to live loop drum patterns using Ableton Live.

What's included

6 videos2 assignments1 discussion prompt

6 videosTotal 16 minutes

What You'll Learn in Lesson 10 minutesPreview module
Set-Up in Ableton Live2 minutes
Basic Drum Patterns4 minutes
Complex Drum Patterns2 minutes
Sampling and Slicing Sounds2 minutes
Performing and Looping Drum Patterns3 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 30 minutes

Drum Patterns15 minutes
SELF-ASSESSMENT: Create Your Own Drum Pattern15 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Create Your Own Drum Pattern10 minutes

In this second lesson, we will look at how to play harmonic accompaniment on the EDI. We will play through several basic chord progressions and learn to play extended chords such as 7th's and 9th's. Finally, we will practice recording and looping harmonic parts.

What's included

6 videos1 reading2 assignments1 discussion prompt

6 videosTotal 19 minutes

What You'll Learn in Lesson 20 minutesPreview module
Set-Up3 minutes
Playing Chords with the Ableton Push5 minutes
Performing 7th Chords3 minutes
Performing 9th Chords4 minutes
Live Looping on the Ableton Push1 minute

1 readingTotal 5 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 45 minutes

Harmonic Accompaniment15 minutes
SELF-ASSESSMENT: Create Your Own Harmonic Accompaniment30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Create Your Own Harmonic Accompaniment10 minutes

Now that we have learned some basics on the EDI, it is time to start building a composition. In this lesson we will discuss how to develop an interesting bass line as well as how to improvise melodies using the Minor Blues Scale. By the end of the lesson, you will be able to create your own bass line for your original composition and practice improvising melodies on top of it.

What's included

4 videos2 assignments1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 11 minutes

What You'll Learn in Lesson 30 minutesPreview module
Developing Bass Parts5 minutes
Developing Melodies with an EDI2 minutes
Improvising Using the Minor Blues Scale3 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 25 minutes

Melody and Bass Line15 minutes
SELF-ASSESSMENT: Create Your Own Melody and Bass Lines10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Create Your Own Melody and Bass Line10 minutes

In this lesson we will put together everything we have learned so far to create an arrangement to perform in front of an audience. We will discuss how to create our own sounds on Ableton and we will practice creating arrangements that build and entertain our audience. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to perform your own arrangement.