Where to Begin?

The Visual World | The Aural World

There are many similaities between the Photomontage Unit and this Sound Montage Unit:

Bright vs. Dark
Contrast and Similarity
Repetition
Balance | Blend
Photographic Material vs. Synthesized Material

Sound Design

The basics of sound and music can be explored here:
- Learning Music learningmusic.ableton.com
- Basics of Synthesis learningsynths.ableton.com
Due to the nature of learning this year, we are going to use a software of your choice. Here are a few:

Band Lab - www.bandlab.com
- BandLab 101
- BandLab 101-B (including how to import a MIDI file)
- Bandlab 101-c (including automation, export, and GarageBand stuff)
- BandLab Help
Audio Tool - https://www.audiotool.com/
- Audiotool 101 - https://www.audiotool.com/help/tutorials

Audition 101
Loops for Audition

SoundTrap
Online Sequencer
Garage Band - In the Multimedia Lab
Incredibox - www.incredibox.com
PLINK.IN - https://plink.in/
- https://plink.in/r/tozier_time
Logic Audio - In the Multimedia Lab

You will have two options:

(1) Write a structured soundscape of your choice. Your soundscape should have at least three instruments / sounds.

(2) Write a free-flowing soundscape of your choice. Your soundscape should have at least three instruments / sounds.

The structure of your piece can either be: Rhythmic or Free Flowing

Rhythmic with a specific form - two forms that would be a good starting point are

Intro-A-A-B-A-Exit
Intro-A-B-A-B-C-A-Exit
Examples - Roots fall Out - State Line - Synchronicity - Mike's Jazz
Scion Examples 01 | 02 | 03 | 04

Free flowing - be careful here because even though there isn't a recognizable form there is usually some underlying sound, motif, or pattern that holds the piece together. Examples: FanAttic - Check this out! - Dripsody - An untitled work -NASH Scanning

Rhythmic Examples

Free Flowing Examples

Let's play with an online DAW!

Soundtrap was the first web-based, cross platform collaborative music recording studio to come on the scene. It’s a perfect introduction to the DAW experience that includes essential features of a typical recording setup.
Amped Studio is a unique online DAW made for producers to create quickly. Its ‘hum’ feature allows you to turn your singing and beatboxing into MIDI data.

Amped manual
Amped learning videos

Soundation is another great online DAW that utilizes their own sequencer. It contains many features available in expensive desktop applications. It features a whopping 700 royalty free loops, and five virtual synthesizers. Four sample players are also available, as well as 14 real time effects. Notable effects include: “Fakie” a side chain simulator, and “wubfilter” which allows filter automation with an LFO.
Audio Tool is an online DAW that takes on the world of modular. It’s a great environment if you want to learn the workflow of early electronic musicians. The modular workflow gives you full freedom to route, split or merge different synthesizers outputs. Audio Tool uses their community to grow their library of over 250,000 samples, and 50000 device presets. It also features an impressive amount of effects, synthesizers and drum machines.
Bandlab is a powerhouse of an online DAW, offering multi platform accessibility. It’s also the only online DAW that with its own proprietary hardware.
Audio Sauna is an online DAW with a variety of synthesizers and a heavy duty sampler. It doesn’t support audio, but is a great tool if you’re looking to learn different types of synthesis and sampling.
Autochords - build some cool chord progressioins
Learning Music - https://learningmusic.ableton.com/make-beats/make-beats.html

In these lessons, you'll learn the basics of music making. No prior experience or equipment is required; you'll do everything right here in your browser.