Music Technology

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of music technology geared toward the needs of today’s professional musician, providing hands-on experience with the essential tools of modern music production. Through practical projects, students will explore how computers, software, and hardware integrate within the production process. Current technologies will be explored to help students adapt and make informed choices in an ever-changing music tech landscape. Emphasis will be placed on developing both creative and technical fluency, providing students with the foundational knowledge needed to work across a wide range of contemporary music and production environments.

This course is an accelerated version of MTEC-111 Introduction to Music Technology. The course covers music technology geared to the needs of today's professional musicians and music producers. One of the most significant challenges facing musicians today is mastering the skills required to continually adapt to a changing technology base. Musicians must understand and be prepared for the fact that this technology base is moving more rapidly than it can be assimilated. Course topics in music production using Logic Pro will focus on aspects of current technology to enable students to make intelligent decisions when creating music productions. 

Students who have been producing music previous to Berklee, who test between 65 and 80 points on the MTEC-111 test out exam, will be required to take this course. 

This course introduces the foundational principles of music technology through the lens of Ableton Live, geared specifically toward the needs of today's professional electronic and digital instrument (EDI) musician.

One of the most significant challenges facing contemporary artists is mastering the skills required to continually adapt to a rapidly changing technology base. This course addresses this challenge by leveraging Ableton Live as the primary hub for composition, asset creation, and electronic performance.

Course topics will provide an essential overview of modern music technology concepts, including MIDI, audio engineering, signal flow, and sampling, in a practical context of Ableton Live. A key component is the integration of electronic performance techniques using controllers, looping, and session view live arrangement.

The primary goal is to empower students to make informed decisions in evaluating future technological needs, ensuring they not only can utilize current Ableton Live workflows, but also can adapt these core skills as the technology evolves.

This course is designed to introduce beginner to intermediate producers to the fundamentals of music production using FL Studio, a versatile digital audio workstation (DAW) widely used in electronic and hip-hop music production. Students will learn how to navigate the software, create beats, compose melodies, record and edit audio, arrange songs, and apply mixing and mastering techniques to produce a complete track. Through hands-on projects, they will explore FL Studio’s powerful tools, including the step sequencer, piano roll, mixer, and native plugins, to bring their musical ideas to life. Additionally, students will be introduced to interactive visual design using FL Studio’s ZGame Editor engine, allowing them to create custom visualizations that enhance their music. By the end of the course, students will have a solid foundation in FL Studio, empowering them to produce music and experiment with creative sound and visual techniques.

This course explores techniques used for recording and reinforcing music on location. Topics include commonly encountered acoustical problems and an investigation of equipment and techniques used to overcome them. The class will include visits to Berklee venues with live sound reinforcement. This class is a prerequisite for the hands-on Sound Reinforcement Lab (MTEC-320).

This course focuses on developing core sound-synthesis skills that can be applied to various types of synthesizers used in modern music production. Students will start exploring synthesis using the modular systems in electronic production and design lab B51, and apply those skills to commonly used software instruments. A variety of synthesis techniques will be covered, including subtractive, FM, and sampling. Students will be able to create and modify sounds they can use in their own productions. 

Students in this course will develop techniques for effectively using sampled material in their productions and performance practice. They will explore the technical skills and aesthetic considerations needed to use and produce sample packs of original and preexisting source material while examining the cultural context that gave rise to these techniques and methods of working. 

This course provides students with the basic conceptual and practical skills needed to design and produce sound for film, animation and video games. Students will gain an understanding of the types of sound used in these productions and their role in storytelling. Resources used in the class will include synthesized and sampled sounds, commercial sound effect libraries, and original field recordings. Common editing and effect processing techniques will be used to adapt these sources to the specific needs of a project, as well as to create new and original sounds and effects. Projects will include video clips, animation, animated logos, and video game play.

This course is a hybrid theory and practice workshop in critical game design. Students will play, analyze, research, and design games through the lens of the current socio-political environment. Video games will be the primary focus, but board games, card games, and even playground games will be studied as well. The course will take students through the fundamental “grammar” of game design (rules, actions, and interactions) all the way through advanced topics including narrative elements, systems design, ethnography, and games for change (games based on real-world issues like climate changes, racism, and mass incarceration). Students will also walk away with analysis skills and strategies for creating a game design document. While the primary mode of learning will be through “play” and class discussion, students will also be reading and discussing current literature in the field of critical game design, presenting original analyses on a game of their choice, and practicing game design skills in a workshop setting. Ultimately students will leave this course with a broad understanding of the field of game design, critical analysis skills, as well as a game design document and prototype of an original game.