Music production and DJing J-term

The main subject for today’s class was sampling. Sampling is a critical technique in the music industry, in which a clip from a sound recording is reused in a new song. This could involve taking the isolated beat, melody, or vocal of a song and using it in a new song, typically by first augmenting it. I arrived at school today, and we began watching a documentary on people’s differing perspectives on the morality of sampling. There were two extreme perspectives displayed in the documentary: First, was that sampling is morally or legally wrong because it is stealing people’s hard work as a shortcut to producing a song. It is said to be wrong because people are typically not credited or don’t have a royalty when their work is used. This means that even though the artist’s work might be popular when sampled in other songs, the artist could be struggling. The second perspective is that sampling is morally right and that people shouldn’t be sued for it, because it gives those who are not fi...

On day 5 of Music Production and DJing, we started the day by watching a documentary about Mark Ronson and his story of getting to be a famous producer. Mark Ronson is known as one of the greatest producers and DJs of the new generation of music, having produced many famous tracks, including "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars, "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse, "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" by Miley Cyrus, and many other notable songs. After the documentary, we worked on personal projects, such as DJing, mixing/making a song or beat. Also, after the documentary, Hiram came in and spoke with us, helping everyone a little bit.  In the afternoon, Hiram stayed and helped us with our project by helping figure out the software, or our personal projects, until he had to leave around 1:30. We continued working on our project for the rest of the day, and played a few of them on the big speaker at the end of the day to wrap the day up.

On our first outing of the term, we visited Sig's Lagoon and Cactus Records, then ate at the post. We were honored with a tour and history of Cactus Records, followed by extensive bin searching. We then went to get some food at the Post in downtown. Ryan and I prepared to devour the 2 separate meals we had bought from the Post. A loaded fries and a chop and block can do a number on a man. We then went to Sig's Lagoon for more crate digging. We then returned to the school to continue creating music and listening to our vinyls.

On Day 3 of Music Production and Djing, we began the day by watching a documentary on Quincy Jones. He is known as being the greatest music producer of all time, as well as a composer, conductor, and trumpeter. He produced some of music's most iconic songs, such as Michael Jackson's "Beat It," "Thriller," "Billie Jean," and many others. After watching the documentary, the students were given time to work on their personal projects, such as DJing, creating and Mixing Beats and Songs, and playing instruments.  In the afternoon, Hiram joined us to share more tips and tricks for DJing and Music production. He also shared with us a song he had recently been working on and gave us a quick lesson on how to change any song into a genre of your choice. Students were able to work individually with him and share their projects while receiving advice to better their work. After working on our projects all afternoon students shared their art to the class to wra...

We began by installing FL Studio on our computers and watching an intro on learning how to use FL Studio. Gio and I, the two students who knew how to use FL Studio, then helped to mentor everyone else, as we all experimented with different ways to use FL Studio and create beats. Mattthew wynne, a POHS alum, helped us as well, teaching us things Gio and I didn’t know. We had a great time creating our own beats! When Hiram came in the afternoon, he showed us how to make our own remixes of beats. We took vocals from another song and added our own drums and other instruments to finish our remixes. We shared them with the rest of the class. It was a new experience that we all thoroughly enjoyed.

  We started by getting straight to the basics: what is music, and what is music production? We all listed a definition of what music is, such as a storytelling art medium utilizing sound waves. To break the ice, we all talked about what made us fall in love with, as well as our first memory of music. Mine was playing a simple two-person version of “Heart and Soul” with my mom. Next, we differentiated a music engineer, a music producer, and a DJ. A quick video helped us understand the responsibilities of a producer past just giving their opinion on the music.  Much of our work was in the afternoon with our teacher, Hiram. He has been DJing for 15 years and producing music for 13. He showed us all how to use his controller, as well as some of the remixes he made and posted to Soundcloud. This was our first opportunity to get hands-on with the equipment. We all had the opportunity to use the controller and transition from song to song. We finished off the day by choosing four or...