You heard that right! A DJ Battle!
“Wait, that can’t be a proper course.”
Yes it is! And it even counts towards my Music Major!
“What?”
If you don’t believe me then check out the course website!
http://musi395s12.commons.yale.edu/live-dj-contest/
Welcome to the world of Music 395: Composition and Performance of Music, Multimedia Art and Technology taught by Prof. Kathryn Alexander. It is one of the many Music Technology classes offered by Yale’s Department of Music.
What exactly are we learning? Think Avicci, Tiesto, Deadmau5 and Skrillex.
The class is all about using Digital Audio Workstations (DAW’s) and synthesizers to create and perform live electronic music. We have the freedom to make any kind of music: House, Dubstep, and Drum’n’bass have been the most popular genres we have explored in class so far. My most recent computer lab section (where we split into smaller groups of 4 students for more hands on experience) was focused on making dubstep wobbles!
At the heart of the course is Ableton Live 8, a professional music production software designed to be interactive and flexible during live performance. This is the same software artists like Deadmau5, David Guetta and Paul Van Dyk use during their sets. We’re learning how to use integrated hardware, such as the Akai APC 40, to directly control Ableton during performance. Additionally, we’re also using ReWire to run the synthesizers from Reason 5 into our compositions.
The students in the class come from a variety of backgrounds including music majors, DJ’s and jazz musicians. It’s been so inspiring to see what other composers are creating. I’m currently working on a project with a sophomore, Alex Vourtsanis, who is Double Majoring in Mathematics and Music Composition. We’ll be collaborating on a dubstep piece for our midterm! Bow wow wow! (The dubstep “bow wow wow”)
As the course progresses, I will post some links of the cool electronica we are making!