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Electronic Music School

Electronic Music School

A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH TO TEACHING

MUSICAL CREATIVITY

1

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries.

Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.

© Oxford University Press 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.

You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kuhn, Will, author. | Hein, Ethan, author.

Title: Electronic music school : a contemporary approach to teaching musical creativity / Will Kuhn, and Ethan Hein.

Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021008666 (print) | LCCN 2021008667 (ebook) | ISBN 9780190076641 (paperback) | ISBN 9780190076634 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190076665 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Computer music—Instruction and study. | Electronic music—Instruction and study. | Ableton Live.

Classification: LCC MT723 .K84 2021 (print) | LCC MT723 (ebook) | DDC 786.7/6—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008666

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008667

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190076634.001.0001

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Paperback printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America

Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America

CONTENTS

Foreword by Adam Neely • xv

Preface: The Music Class at the End of the World • xvii

Acknowledgments • xxi

To the Reader • xxv

To Public School Teachers • xxv

To Independent Music Teachers • xxv

To Everyone • xxvi

PART I WHAT YOU NEED TO START YOUR OWN ELECTRONIC MUSIC

SCHOOL • 1

1 Toward a Creative Music Curriculum • 3

1.1. The Creative Music Teacher • 3

1.2. Addressing Students Who Typically Don’t Take Music Classes (The Other Eighty Percent) • 5

1.3. How Music Technology Can Fit into a Broader Performing Arts Curriculum • 7

1.4. The Divide Between Music Teachers’ Definition of Music and Students’ Definition of Music • 8

2 An Art Class for Music • 12

2.1. Portfolio Creation • 12

2.2. Computer as Tool Versus Computer as Medium • 13

2.3. Songwriting and Sound Creation • 14

2.4. Remixing • 15

2.5. Sampling • 15

3 Understanding What a School Really Wants • 19

3.1. Who Makes Decisions About Curriculum? • 19

3.1.1. The Teacher • 19

3.1.2. Administrators • 19

3.2. Selling the Lab-Based Music Course • 20

3.2.1. Administrators and School Leaders • 20

3.2.2. Teachers • 21

3.2.3. Parents • 21

3.2.4. Students • 21

3.3. How Music Tech Benefits the Master Schedule • 22

3.4. How Music Tech Benefits the Music Department’s Profile • 22

3.5. Sweetening the Deal with Graduation Requirements • 23

3.6. Getting Funding and Staying Funded • 23

3.7. Protecting Your Investment • 24

3.8. Criticisms of a Nontraditional Music Class • 25

4 Tech You Will Need for Your Program • 27

4.1. The Computer • 27

4.2. Headphones • 28

4.3. MIDI Input Devices • 28

4.4. Getting a Space • 31

4.5. Possible Room Configurations • 32

4.6. Choosing Other Hardware for the Lab • 33

4.7. Setting Up an Individual Station • 34

4.8. Building on Existing Infrastructure • 34

4.9. Day- to-Day Considerations • 36

4.10. Maintenance and Cleaning • 37

5 Ableton Live and Push • 40

5.1. An Optimal Setup • 40

5.2. Why These Tools? • 41

5.3. Ableton Live Basics: Arrangement View and Session View • 41

5.4. Ableton Push Overview • 42

5.4.1. Do You Really Need One? • 43

5.4.2. Techniques Afforded by Push • 43

5.4.3. Drum Programming • 44

5.4.4. Chords and Melodies • 44

5.5. Comparisons to Other DAWs • 44

PART II CREATIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC PROJECTS FOR THE MASSES • 47

6 Designing Creative Music Projects • 49

6.1. Working with Beginners • 49

6.2. Philosophy • 50

6.3. Process Versus Product • 51

6.4. Customization and Aesthetic Opportunities • 53

6.5. Pacing • 53

6.6. Listening to and Observing Students • 54

6.6.1. Techniques for Pop- Cultural Ethnographic Observation • 54

6.6.2. Tips for Incorporating a New Trend in Your Teaching • 55

6.7. The Project Formula • 56

6.8. Technical and Aesthetic Goals • 57

6.9. Deconstructing a Genre • 59

6.10. Universal Techniques • 59

6.10.1. Provide Default Tracks and Presets • 59

6.10.2. Add Variety Through MIDI Manipulation • 59

6.10.3. Scenes as Form • 59

6.10.4. Recording to Arrangement View • 60

6.10.5. Eight-bar Phrases • 60

6.10.6. Song Structure • 60

6.10.7. Fuzzy Boundaries and Fill Bars • 60

6.10.8. Making Songs End Gracefully • 60

6.11. The Prime Directive • 60

7 Teaching Recording and Sampling with Audio Projects • 62

7.1. Designing Projects Centered on Audio • 62

7.1.1. Play, Stop, Record • 62

7.1.2. The Timeline • 62

7.1.3. Recorded Audio • 63

7.1.4. Basic Editing Skills • 64

7.1.5. Loops • 66

7.1.6. Ableton Live’s Session View • 67

7.1.7. Ableton Live’s Arrangement View • 67

7.2. Project Example: Arranging Clips • 69

7.2.1. Project Duration • 69

7.2.2. Technical Goals • 69

7.2.3. Creative Goals • 69

7.2.4. Listening Examples • 69

7.2.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 69

7.2.6. Project Design • 70

7.2.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 70

7.2.8. Troubleshooting • 73

7.2.9. Differentiated Instruction • 73

7.2.10. During Work Time • 74

7.2.11. Assessment Strategies • 74

7.3. Project Example: Unreliable Product Ad • 74

7.3.1. Project Duration • 74

7.3.2. Technical Goals • 75

7.3.3. Creative Goals • 75

7.3.4. Listening Examples • 75

7.3.5. Materials Needed • 75

7.3.6. Before Teaching This Lesson • 75

7.3.7. Project Design • 75

7.3.8. Day-by-Day Plan • 76

7.3.9. One-Hour Version • 78

7.3.10. Troubleshooting • 78

7.3.11. Differentiated Instruction • 79

7.3.12. During Work Time • 80

7.3.13. Assessment Strategies • 80

7.3.14. The Comedy Pyramid • 80

7.4. Project Example: Simple Remix • 82

7.4.1. Project Duration • 82

7.4.2. Technical Goals • 82

7.4.3. Creative Goals • 82

7.4.4. Listening Examples • 82

7.4.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 82

7.4.6. Project Design • 84

7.4.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 86

7.4.8. Troubleshooting • 88

7.4.9. Differentiated Instruction • 89

7.4.10. During Work Time • 89

7.4.11. Assessment Strategies • 89

7.4.12. Making This Project Your Own • 89

7.5. Project Example: Picking Apart a Multitrack • 90

7.5.1. Project Duration • 90

7.5.2. Technical Goals • 90

7.5.3. Creative Goals • 90

7.5.4. Listening Examples • 90

7.5.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 91

7.5.6. Project Design • 92

7.5.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 93

7.5.8. Troubleshooting • 94

7.5.9. Differentiated Instruction • 94

7.5.10. During Work Time • 95

7.5.11. Assessment Strategies • 95

7.5.12. Making This Project Your Own • 95

7.6. Project Example: Custom Cover Song • 96

7.6.1. Project Duration • 96

7.6.2. Technical Goals • 96

7.6.3. Creative Goals • 96

7.6.4. Listening Examples • 96

7.6.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 96

7.6.6. Overview of the Technique • 97

7.6.7. Syncing the Guide Track Using Ableton Live • 98

7.6.8. Cultural Considerations • 100

7.7. Project Example: Movie Soundtrack • 101

7.7.1. Project Duration • 101

7.7.2. Technical Goals • 101

7.7.3. Creative Goals • 101

7.7.4. Examples • 102

7.7.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 102

7.7.6. Project Design • 103

7.7.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 103

7.7.8. Troubleshooting • 107

7.7.9. Differentiated Instruction • 109

7.7.10. During Work Time • 110

7.7.11. Assessment Strategies • 110

7.7.12. Making This Project Your Own • 111

8 Teaching Songwriting with MIDI Projects • 112

8.1. Software Instruments Versus MIDI • 112

8.1.1. Drums Versus Not-Drums, Step Time Versus Real Time • 113

8.2. Functional Music Theory • 114

8.3. Elements of Music • 115

8.4. Sound Design • 116

8.5. Genre Deconstruction • 117

8.6. Project Example: Drum Programming • 117

8.6.1. Project Duration • 117

8.6.2. Technical Goals • 117

8.6.3. Creative Goals • 117

8.6.4. Listening Examples • 118

8.6.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 118

8.6.6. Project Design • 118

8.6.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 118

8.6.8. Troubleshooting • 125

8.6.9. Differentiated Instruction • 125

8.6.10. During Work Time • 126

8.6.11. Assessment Strategies • 126

8.7. Project Example: Beatmaking • 127

8.7.1. Project Duration • 127

8.7.2. Technical Goals • 127

8.7.3. Creative Goals • 127

8.7.4. Listening Examples • 127

8.7.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 127

8.7.6. Project Design • 128

8.7.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 129

8.7.8. Troubleshooting • 132

8.7.9. Differentiated Instruction • 133

8.7.10. During Work Time • 133

8.7.11. Assessment Strategies • 133

8.8. Project Example: Slow Jam • 134

8.8.1. Project Duration • 134

8.8.2. Technical Goals • 134

8.8.3. Creative Goals • 134

8.8.4. Listening Examples • 134

8.8.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 134

8.8.6. Project Design • 135

8.8.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 136

8.8.8. Troubleshooting • 145

8.8.9. Differentiated Instruction • 146

8.8.10. During Work Time • 146

8.8.11. Assessment Strategies • 146

8.9. Project Example: Future Bass • 147

8.9.1. Project Duration • 147

8.9.2. Technical Goals • 147

8.9.3. Creative Goals • 147

8.9.4. Listening Examples • 147

8.9.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 148

8.9.6. Project Design • 148

8.9.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 149

8.9.8. Troubleshooting • 156

8.9.9. Differentiated Instruction • 157

8.9.10. During Work Time • 157

8.9.11. Assessment Strategies • 157

8.10. Project Example: House Music • 158

8.10.1. Project Duration • 158

8.10.2. Technical Goals • 158

8.10.3. Creative Goals • 158

8.10.4. Listening Examples • 158

8.10.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 158

8.10.6. Project Design • 158

8.10.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 159

8.10.8. Troubleshooting • 164

8.10.9. Differentiated Instruction • 165

8.10.10. During Work Time • 166

8.10.11. Assessment Strategies • 166

8.11. Project Example: Trap Beats • 166

8.11.1. Project Duration • 166

8.11.2. Technical Goals • 166

8.11.3. Creative Goals • 167

8.11.4. Listening Examples • 167

8.11.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 167

8.11.6. Project Design • 168

8.11.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 168

8.11.8. Troubleshooting • 171

8.11.9. Differentiated Instruction • 173

8.11.10. During Work Time • 173

8.11.11. Assessment Strategies • 173

9 Teaching Creativity with Outside-the-Box Projects • 175

9.1. Designing Projects to Teach Originality • 175

9.2. Irreverence • 176

9.3. Repurposing Ideas That Exist Already • 177

9.4. Finding Your Voice • 177

9.5. Project Example: Soundscape • 178

9.5.1. Project Duration • 178

9.5.2. Technical Goals • 178

9.5.3. Creative Goals • 178

9.5.4. Listening Examples • 179

9.5.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 179

9.5.6. Project Design • 179

9.5.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 179

9.5.8. Troubleshooting • 184

9.5.9. Differentiated Instruction • 184

9.5.10. During Work Time • 185

9.5.11. Assessment Strategies • 185

9.6. Project Example: Vaporwave and Lo-Fi Hip-Hop • 186

9.6.1. Project Duration • 186

9.6.2. Technical Goals • 186

9.6.3. Creative Goals • 186

9.6.4. Listening Examples • 186

9.6.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 186

9.6.6. Project Design • 187

9.6.7. Day-by-Day Plan • 187

9.6.8. Troubleshooting • 193

9.6.9. Differentiated Instruction • 193

9.6.10. During Work Time • 193

9.6.11. Assessment Strategies • 194

9.7. Project Example: Video Beatboxing • 194

9.7.1. Project Duration • 194

9.7.2. Technical Goals • 194

9.7.3. Creative Goals • 195

9.7.4. Video Examples • 195

9.7.5. Audio Examples of Found Sounds in the Drum Parts • 195

9.7.6. Before Teaching This Lesson • 195

9.7.7. Project Design • 195

9.7.8. Day-by-Day Plan • 196

9.7.9. Troubleshooting • 199

9.7.10. Differentiated Instruction • 200

9.7.11. During Work Time • 200

9.7.12. Assessment Strategies • 200

9.8. Project Example: Sampling • 201

9.8.1. Project Duration • 201

9.8.2. Technical Goals • 201

9.8.3. Creative Goals • 201

9.8.4. Listening Examples • 201

9.8.5. Before Teaching This Lesson • 202

9.8.6. A Crash Course in Musical Intellectual Property • 202

9.8.7. Project Design • 203

9.8.8. Day-by-Day Plan • 203

9.8.9. Troubleshooting • 208

9.8.10. Differentiated Instruction • 209

9.8.11. During Work Time • 210

9.8.12. Assessment Strategies • 210

9.9. The Final Project • 211

9.9.1. Project Duration • 211

9.9.2. Goals • 211

9.9.3. Project Design • 211

9.9.4. Day-by-Day Plan • 212

9.9.5. Troubleshooting • 214

9.9.6. During Work Time • 215

9.9.7. Assessment Strategies • 215

10 Common Issues in Music Lab Lessons • 217

10.1. Weak Student Engagement • 217

10.2. Projects Take Too Long • 217

10.2.1. Strategy One: Real Artists Ship • 218

10.2.2. Strategy Two: More One-on-One Help • 218

10.2.3. Strategy Three: Pencils Down • 218

10.3. Projects End Too Quickly • 218

10.4. Students Are Afraid to Show Their Projects • 219

10.5. I Can’t Think of Ideas for Projects • 220

10.6. Staying Relevant • 220

10.7. I Went to School for Music. How (or Why) Should I Manage a Computer Class? • 221

10.8. Students Are Trying Hard, But They Always Seem Lost • 222

11 Assessing Music Lab Projects • 223

11.1. Intrinsic Motivation • 223

11.2. Critical Listening • 224

11.3. Practical Considerations • 224

12 Future-proofing the Electronic Music School • 226

12.1. Refreshing Old Projects • 226

12.1.1. Strategy 1: Update the Elements of a Project That Involves Choices • 227

12.1.2. Strategy 2: Acknowledge Defeat and Make Fun of Your Past Self • 227

12.2. Outlasting a Graduating Class • 227

12.3. Maintaining Skills Between Old and New Projects • 228

12.4. Adapting to New Teaching Formats • 229

12.5. Committing to a Platform (or Not) • 230

PART III COMMUNITY MUSIC CULTURE AND EXTRACURRICULARS

• 233

13 Live Performing and Afterschool Groups • 235

13.1. Preparing Students for a Musical Life Outside of School • 235

13.2. Model One: Recording Club • 235

13.3. Model Two: The House Band • 236

13.4. Model Three: Electronic Music Group • 237

13.4.1. The Birth of the Electronic Music Group • 237

13.4.2. Equipment • 238

13.4.3. A Student Perspective on EMG • 244

13.4.4. The Live Set • 245

14 Understanding Student-Led Groups • 247

14.1. The Teacher’s Role (Hint: Very Different) • 247

14.2. Remember the Prime Directive • 248

14.3. Building Creative Teams • 248

14.4. The Whiteboard Session • 249

14.5. Giving and Taking Criticism • 251

14.6. Refining Ideas Before They Get Made • 253

14.7. Facilitating, or “What Can You Do That They Can’t?” • 253

14.8. How Ideas from Student-Led Groups Benefit Lab-Based Courses • 256

14.9. The Core Values • 256

14.10. Going Beyond Music: Film, TV Shows, Other Content, and Media Production • 256

15 Virtual Electronic Music School • 260

15.1. Burn It All Down • 260

15.2. Change Everything • 260

15.3. Moving the Electronic Music School Online • 261

15.3.1. Smaller Group or Individual Meetings • 262

15.3.2. Synchronous Class Meeting That Breaks into Smaller Groups • 262

15.3.3. Asynchronous Online Class • 262

15.3.4. Live- Streaming Sessions • 263

15.4. Rebuilding • 264

16 A Rising Tide • 265

16.1. Maximum Reach and Demographics • 265

16.2. How Traditional Music Groups Thrive Because of Project-Based Courses • 266

16.3. A Performing Arts Program That Truly Elevates Culture • 267

16.4. Critical Popular Music Studies • 267

16.5. Producing and Consuming Audio • 268

16.6. Educational Goals and Social Impact • 269

16.7. The Racial Politics of Music Education • 269

16.8. Music Creation as Personal Development • 270

16.9. Building for Musical Lifetimes • 271

Index • 275

FOREWORD

“There is no ought- to-know-how, there is only the uncovering of ourselves when we sit at the polishing stone.”

W. A. Matthieu

Hey all! Let me share a story.

I first learned the basics of music production from watching Tom Cosm and Mr. Bill Ableton Live tutorials on YouTube. The year was 2011, dubstep was big, everything was sidechained, FM synthesis reigned supreme, and I wanted more than anything in the world to figure out how to make my computer go WUB. Who didn’t?

I was getting my master’s in jazz composition at the time, and so I also really wanted to figure out how to make jazz big bands go WUB, too. I showed some Skrillex to my mentor, the brilliant arranger/composer Jim McNeely, and he replied with an enthusiastic, “Whoa, cool stuff, let’s figure this out!” We went on to work out some sick low trombone voicings that had a certain timbral crunchiness that really did sound like a WUB, and in that moment I felt that delirious joy of self-discovery and confidence that comes from being able to express my truth through sound.

This book is a practical guide to teaching that joy.

Will Kuhn and Ethan Hein have written this book with the philosophy that the music tech teacher’s job is to follow the Prime Directive of giving guidance and feedback in a way that doesn’t interfere with the creative intentions of their students, and ultimately letting the students express their truths through sound through self-discovery. The “uncovering of ourselves as we sit at the polishing stone.”

Will and Ethan are both long- time popular music educators who are acutely aware of challenges facing both their fellow music educators and their music students, which have all culminated in Electronic Music School. It’s a book about teaching music with the empathetic embrace of students’ musical tastes and backgrounds. It’s also a book about how to embrace these tastes while at the same time setting the constraints and limitations necessary for creative work. It’s a book not only about teaching things like drum programming, MIDI sequencing, and working with Session View in Ableton Live, but also on how to teach the use of those tools in the creation of meaningful music that students are proud of.

Ya know, getting people to make beats that . . . slap.

Music students of all levels of experience and all backgrounds already have a deep lived experience in the music that they love. Since popular musical styles change so quickly, it’s the responsibility of the teacher to stay up to date and to keep their “ears to the street” to understand the same sonic language their students have internalized. Electronic Music School gives a blueprint on how to identify the genre “tropes” of the sonic language of the student body, and how to create projects based on novel musical expressions, whatever they may be in the future.

Music is both deeply personal and a shared cultural experience, and a good teacher will share in that story with their students. Jim McNeely played in Stan Getz’s band for many years, but he also embraced the compositional aesthetic of Skrillex because he wanted to share in my story, as distant as it was from his own.

Will and Ethan have written a book that I think will go a long way in helping teachers share in their student’s stories, whatever they might be, and wherever those students come from, through the craft of electronic music production.

WUB WUB, everybody. WUB WUB.

Adam Neely

(YouTuber, bassist/etc. of Sungazer, lover of music and learning)

PREFACE: THE MUSIC CLASS AT THE END OF THE WORLD

What would music education be if we had to start over?

Imagine a world with no band, no choir, and no orchestra, a world without marching contests, solo festivals, or music theory. No formal music education at all. If we burnt it all down and started over, would we do it the same way?

We would surely have music itself. Music is found in every world culture and is one of the first brain functions to develop in humans. The same evolutionary process that allows human hearing to sense the complex subtleties of language also demands musical stimulation. Humans think in music. Our routines have rhythm and our emotions have tone.

So what would music education look like if we had to invent it from scratch? In a sense, we really must ask this question. As this book is being written, the coronavirus pandemic has forced school systems around the world to suspend large-group gatherings, which has shut down much of the music education infrastructure. Nevertheless, technology has made it possible for students to create their own rich and engaging music, at school and at home. How should we teach in such a world? Will educators become walking instruction manuals for the latest software and hardware? How can we keep pace with the rapid evolution of popular styles and the technological tools used to create them?

When Will was eight years old, his dad gave him a CD by The Art of Noise. The opening track, “Dan Dare,” sounded like nothing else he had heard before: a cluttered collage of noises, 1980’s drums, and orchestral loops. It put the feelings and emotions into its instrumental track, without any lyrics to distract from them. It was the first time he can remember really deeply thinking about music, and it was his first exposure to electronic music. Ethan remembers when “Pump Up the Volume” by M|A|R|R|S began playing on the radio in 1987— the recording was a disorienting collage of sonic fragments over a futuristic soundscape. And both Will and Ethan were drawn to electronic artists like Daft Punk, The Prodigy, and The Chemical Brothers and to hip-hop producers like The Bomb Squad and Pete Rock. They branched out into more experimental and ambient sounds like Squarepusher, Photek, Future Sound of London, and Aphex Twin. Few of their peers knew this music, but they could sense its urgent creativity.

Will had no idea how to make electronic music when he got his degree in music education, and his college was of little help. He learned a great deal about clarinet fingerings, wind ensemble repertoire, conducting, writing marching band drill, Schenkerian reduction, counterpoint, sight singing, and Western art music history. He learned little about the process and culture of electronic music creation aside from music notation software. These omissions persist in many music education schools.

Ethan spent a decade teaching himself production through trial and error, with information and guidance from friends, from magazines, and eventually, from the internet. He did not attend a formal music technology class until he entered New York University’s Music Technology Master’s Program in his thirties. The program taught him cutting-edge signal processing and synthesis techniques, but not the pedagogy of electronic music

creativity. When he began teaching music tech to music education students at NYU and elsewhere, he had to develop his curricula through the same trial-and-error process he had used to learn production.

After a brief stint as a junior high band director, Will was offered the opportunity to pilot a music technology course at his high school. The first year, he learned along with the students. He vividly remembers watching GarageBand video tutorials with his classes in 2006. As he designed the lessons beyond the basics, he drew upon his past for inspiration. He remembered his Daft Punk albums with their four-on- the-floor drum beats and thought, “I can teach drum programming with this.” He remembered the chopped up vinyl samples from DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing . . . (1996) and thought,“I could teach sampling with this!” He remembered the distorted haze of ISDN by Future Sound of London (1994) and thought, “We could make abstract soundscapes like this!”

The authors realize now that they had stumbled upon a new frontier in music education. Teaching students how to make “noncanonical” music that may or may not become historically relevant proved to be both controversial with the authors’ peers in music education and highly appealing to their students. The authors were unsure how to articulate it, but they felt like they were onto something profound. They shared the students’ excitement as they struggled to recreate the music they loved and to invent their own new sounds. And, in the same way that they had learned to make their own electronic music in their bedrooms, the authors experienced a similar thrill from inventing a new pedagogy. The challenge and the fun have been to continually rework and refine the approach in response to the students’ needs and ideas.

Over the past several years, Will and Ethan have developed and refined systems that work well for them in the training and programming of creative electronic music curricula. Their continual goal has been to offer authentic experiences in making electronic and pop music for their students. If the pedagogical advice given in this book seems anecdotal or specific to their situation, it is. Just as they have had to make it up as they went along, so will you have to adapt methods to your own musical journey. The authors have observed many fine music technology programs across the United States that focus on hip-hop, rock, and even formal classical styles, all of which have created a creative feedback loop with their students.

Will and Ethan choose to teach music technology through popular and dance styles because these styles feel most authentically native to the medium. They do this for the same reason that piano teachers use Beethoven, that wind bands use Sousa marches, and that choirs use gospel songs. Samplers “want” to create collage-like techno and hiphop. The TB-303 “wants” to make Acid House. The TR-808 “wants” to make trap beats. Ableton Live “wants” to make nonlinear semi-improvised music. These tools are rarely taught in music degree programs. As the authors began institutionalizing these wild and amateur-driven creative forms, they wanted to preserve the sense of play and discovery that the early house and rap producers felt. This is not just an ideological stance; since many students have no previous musical experience, a sense of discovery is a practical necessity as well.

The story of music technology is a story of musicians finding unexpected uses for the tools at hand, like Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000). Furthermore, many of the technological tools of music were invented and devised not by musicians, but by engineers. For example, pitch- correction software evolved from tools originally designed for finding oil

Preface: The Music Class at the End of

underground and for encrypting military communications. And music tools don’t always get used for their intended purpose. When Roland developed the TB-303, they thought they were making a rehearsal and songwriting aid, not the basis for a surreal new dance music. Musical styles and technologies are always changing, but the process of decoding and adapting tools to our needs and environment is natural to humans. Thanks to the Covid pandemic, our profession finds itself on a desert island, and we must make the best of the tools at hand. We are all improvising our way through this together. The authors hope that this book helps to make your improvisation easier, and more fun.

Will and Ethan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Will Kuhn:

This book represents a great deal of my work from the past 15 years at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Ohio, none of which would have been possible without my students. I give my deepest thanks to all of my students over the years who trusted me enough to come along on this journey. A special thanks to all of the Electronic Music Group students who have helped change the world of music education, and who inspire me daily with their never-ending supply of creative ideas. It has been an honor getting to work with all of you. Of course, I also thank my adult colleagues at Lebanon City Schools, who gave me the freedom to create something truly new.

To my colleague members of TI:ME (Technology in Music Education), thank you for providing support to me and so many others who have have started their own music technology programs. You made me feel welcome and connected when I thought I was the only one out there teaching this way. A special thanks to TI:ME executive director Mike Lawson for keeping the torch alight for music tech education all of these years, and to Barbara Freedman for accepting me as a peer even though she really didn’t need to.

This book would not be possible without the help of all my friends at Ableton. Thank you for your support and guidance over the years. The deep conversations we have had about educational philosophy have given a great deal of depth and meaning to the experience of hundreds of my students each year. Thanks to Leonard Boehm, Dennis DeSantis, Dennis Fischer, Ben Casey, and so many more for mentoring me through this project, and for helping bring music education to so many young people in need.

Thank you to Billie Eilish for giving my teenage daughter and me lots to talk about regarding music production as this book was being written. Thank you to director Rian Johnson for making polished movies that inspire me to finish my own work. Discussing the finer points of The Last Jedi with my son helped me see that “the greatest teacher, failure is” (a helpful lesson during the proposal stage of this book).

Thank you to Ramona Xavier (Vektroid/Macintosh Plus) for creative tips found in Chapter 9, and thank you to Jason Theodor for his gracious contributions and insights on creativity found in Chapter 14.

Thank you to Josh Chal for mentoring me through my first semester at University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music (CCM) and for reminding me to slow down and to take a deep breath every once in a while. Thank you to David Iannelli and Andrew Sersion for keeping my classes alive during the pandemic.

Thank you to our editor Norm Hirschy, for seeking out and sharpening this project with steel, and to V. J. Manzo, who helped me during the very early stages of this project and is a constant source of camaraderie and inspiration.

Of course, thank you to Ethan Hein for being the chillest co-author a guy could ask for and a relentless editor of my sloppy writing. I am so grateful that you decided to take on this project with me.

To the most important people in my life, my family: Jen, Annelise, and Ethan— thank you for the sacrifices you all made to help me write this book. I promise it will have been worth it.

Finally, thank you to my father Bill Kuhn, who passed away in late 2019. He is the person most responsible for my love of electronic music, and the one who taught me how to thrive outside of the box. I wish you could see the finished product.

From Ethan Hein:

Thank you to NYU Steinhardt’s Music Education program, the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, and the Contemporary Music Department at the New School’s Eugene Lang College, where I developed and refined many of the ideas and approaches in this book. Thanks especially to all the students that I’ve had the privilege of teaching at these fine institutions—I’ve learned at least as much from you as you have from me.

Thank you to Alex Ruthmann, John Gilbert, Adam Bell, David Elliott, Colleen Larson, Ken Aigen, Luke Dubois, Paul Geluso, Matt Thibeault, Toni Blackman, Martin Urbach, Brandon Bennett, and Jamie Ehrenfeld for all of your teaching mentorship and inspiration.

Thank you to Alex Ruthmann, Kevin Irlen, Matthew Kaney, Diana Castro, Adam November, Marijke Jorritsma, Sumanth Srinivasan, Willie Payne, and everyone else at the NYU Music Experience Design Lab who helped to make the Groove Pizza a reality.

Thank you to Dennis DeSantis, Jack Schaedler, and all the other folks at Ableton for making such excellent music creation and teaching tools.

Thank you Will for being the coolest music teacher in America, and for inviting me along on this ride.

And above all, thanks to Anna, Milo, and Bernadetta, for whom I do all of this.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Will Kuhn serves as instructor of music technology at the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music and as Music Department Coordinator at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Ohio. He is also an Ableton Certified Trainer. In 2006, he designed an innovative high school music tech curriculum focused on amateur music production that involves over 300 students annually. His lab-based courses and student projects are regularly featured at regional music education events. He was named TI:ME (Technology in Music Education) Teacher of the Year in 2015, and currently he serves as the organization’s national president. Interactive Composition: Strategies Using Ableton Live and Max for Live (by V. J. Manzo and Will Kuhn) is widely used by producers and instructors who are working to incorporate Max for Live into electronic music styles. Nationally, he gives clinics and workshops on revitalizing school music programs for the 21st century.

Ethan Hein is a Doctoral Fellow in Music Education at New York University and an adjunct professor at NYU and The New School. As a founding member of the NYU Music Experience Design Lab (musedlab.org), Ethan has led the development of various technologies for music learning and expression, most notably the Groove Pizza. He maintains an influential blog (ethanhein.com), and he has written for publications like NewMusicBox, Slate, and Quartz. He leads professional development sessions for schools across the United States on music technology, creativity, and decolonizing the curriculum, and his writing is assigned in college syllabi around the world.

TO THE READER

If you are reading this book, we assume you are a music educator of some kind. Maybe you went to a conservatory and studied classical music like Will, or maybe you self- taught in the wilds of pop and rock like Ethan. Maybe you teach in a school, in a community organization, or in a private studio. Maybe you are the leader of a nonprofit that brings music production lessons to urban schools, or maybe you’re a band director looking to replace a boring music history class with something new. Or maybe you are just teaching yourself and your friends. We have met hundreds of educators of different backgrounds and experiences at our schools, at conferences, and online. We think of them in two broad categories: public school music teachers and independent music teachers. We address each group in turn.

To Public School Teachers

Like Will, you probably obtained your bachelor’s degree in music education. You were probably drawn to the profession by your success in a performing group like band or orchestra. Perhaps you teach general music classes, or perhaps you identify as a “director” of some kind. Either way, your experience in college and public teaching prepared you to rehearse and to perform with a large ensemble, or to lecture as an expert in a music theory or history class at the secondary level. You also probably have some experience with elementary general music. And you may currently be well outside your comfort zone. If you are looking to start a music tech program, you will face the challenge of serving a different population of students than you are used to. Music tech classes are diverse, unruly, and unpredictable compared to your top band or select choir. You will have selfidentified nonmusicians alongside “alternative” musicians like DJs, beatmakers, and singer- songwriters, and they will vary widely in their knowledge and experience. The nonmusicians in particular will be taking a personal risk by signing up for a music class, and they will need lots of encouragement and a feeling of safety. If you can find a way to connect with all the members of this motley crew, you can provide a great creative experience for each of them. Even if you are not familiar with every style or genre your students are interested in, your deep musical background has given you the tools to figure it out, and to provide insights they would not be able to find elsewhere.

To Independent Music Teachers

Like Ethan, you may not have an undergrad degree in music education, or in any musicrelated field. You probably don’t see your students every day for a full class period. You are likely to be working with a limited set of equipment, with uncertain funding, and with chaotic attendance. On the upside, you are probably an artist yourself, and students find you relatable and credible. Public school music teachers struggle to attain the cultural legitimacy that you possess effortlessly. Your circumstances may not permit full-fledged versions of all the projects in this book, so we encourage you to pick and choose. The