PODCAST: Inside Berklee—Chrissy Tignor

Chrissy Tignor, assistant professor of contemporary writing and production, is a producer, engineer, songwriter, and remix artist, often producing in the pop/EDM genres under the name Data Child.

May 4, 2015

Chrissy Tignor, assistant professor of contemporary writing and production, describes herself as an artist who was "born in the DAW [Digital Audio Workstation]," commenting on the integral role technology plays in her creative process. In addition to her role at Berklee, she is a producer, engineer, songwriter, and remix artist, often producing in the pop/EDM (electronic dance music) genres under the name Data Child.

She takes her teaching role beyond Berklee class periods, offering students lots of opportunities to get more comfortable with the technology available to them as artists. In addition to hosting events and workshops by partnering with local studios, Tignor-Fisher cocreated a Women, Technology, and Creavitity symposium this past fall, with plans to bring the event back annually. Her Creativity and the DAW studio series has become so popular the waiting list is double the size of the number she's able to accommodate. This event is geared towards women only, and stems from Tignor's observation that women tend to be more timid when it came time to using the technology needed to produce their songs. "What I wanted to do was get women into the DAW as a creative device itself," she says, "and get them to create from within the software as opposed to outside of it."

In this episode, Tignor talks about the programs she's started at Berklee, the skills students need to keep up with an ever-changing technological landscape, and gives us a snippet of the new track "Master of My Monster," a song she produced in collaboration with British-based singer Corrina Taylor.

Producer: Bryan Parys
Engineer: Steve Xia
Recorded at the BIRN Studios

Listen to the full version of "Master of My Monster."