Music Technology Students featured on BBC Radio1

Each semester, students in the Advanced Principles of Music Technology learn about the history of innovation in music technology and utilize the tools available to today's artists, including industry standard music software applications such as ProTools, Reason, Finale and Ableton Live.  For many students, this class is their first time composing and recording their own music.  Each week they create songs, notate music, score to picture, craft remixes and learn useful audio production and recording techniques.  They also receive plenty of practical advice about a career in the music business from various high-profile guests that lecture throughout the semester.

During the 2009 spring semester, the Advanced Principles of Music Technology class went through the entire process of becoming an electronic music artist, from creating a body of work, releasing and promoting the album, and then performing it live.   Each student created a four song EP, designed their own album art, and produced a concert set to be performed at a record release party at the end of the semester.  In addition, students had the opportunity to create their own record label in the process, “Advanced Tech Music”.

Prior to the release party, Justin Boreta (from the Glitch Mob) visited class on the same evening that a mix of his music was featured on BBC Radio1.  The class listened to the program with Justin and then discussed the intricacies of being a professional musician. He revealed his composition and performance secrets, discussed the business side (and importance) of web 2.0 tools for promotion, and demonstrated the latest high-tech music gadgets.  After visiting class, Boreta emailed influential BBC Radio1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs to let her know about his experience with the Advanced Principles of Music Technology students, and that they also listened to her show during class.  Mary Anne was quite impressed, and gave an on-the-air “shout out” promoting their upcoming record release party.  She then went to the individual students' Myspace pages created for the class, listened to their songs, and reached out to students to send her their music.

At the end of the semester, students transformed Crean Orchestral Recital Hall into a fully-functioning nightclub, complete with custom-built light show, lasers, fog machine and multiple screens for live video projections.  During the four hour event, composers performed back-to-back 15-minute sets of their albums for a packed house, experiencing firsthand what it takes to pull off a live show.  Chapman film major and fellow classmate Matthew Sullivan captured everything on video and created a compilation video from the Advanced Music Tech Record Release Party:

During the last class of the semester, Mary Anne Hobbs dedicated a segment of her show to highlighting Chapman’s Advanced Principles of Music Technology class.  During the program, Mary Anne interviewed Conservatory of Music adjunct faculty member Steve Nalepa, and played songs live on BBC Radio1 by the student composers: “Virtual Boy” by Preston Walker and Henry Allen, “St. Andrew” by Andrew Swanson, and “Jones Jones” by Michael Jones. (Audio Link)

Later that evening, the class deconstructed their release party performances and listened to their music being played live on the radio… a fitting end to an incredible semester that couldn't have been scripted any better.

In September 2009, Mary Anne Hobbs will be touring the Los Angeles area and plans to be a guest in the music technology class.  For more information on Mary Anne Hobbs, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/maryannehobbs/