Learning Objectives

We offer one-day workshops and 12 week programs:

 

The one day workshop offers an overview of creating music online. Students will learn how to create songs using loops and by the end of the day will have the skills to create an instrumental.

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The 12 week program will give students the tools to create songs (instrumentals and lyrics) from scratch and learn how to cultivate a healthy relationship with their completed projects. The program begins with basic knowledge of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) and how to use them to arrange songs and play virtual instruments using the computer's keyboard. 

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At the end of the 12 week program, students will have learned how to make entire songs from scratch. They will be guided from conceptualization, through musical and lyric arrangements and finally brought to see how to finish a song and make it sound professional.

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We will primarily learn how to use Bandlab, which is a free DAW online and also a mobile app.

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Youth then learns how to acquire and legally use royalty free loops (short sounds that people record and upload to the internet for people to use for free) which speeds up the beat making process.

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They then learn song writing techniques using the knowledge of legendary teacher Pat Pattinson, who's literature is central to the songwriting element of the Academy.

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The youth will learn to articulate what kind of sounds they like the best - their favourite genres, instruments and inspirations will come into play when sculpting their signature sound.

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With a foundational understanding of songcrafting, we then begin to get more specific skills such as:

 

Mixing (adjusting the levels of the different sounds in the song to hear each element properly) 

 

Improvising (jamming with others and coming up with words on the spot) and 

 

Collaborating (learning how to co-create while maintaining strong relationships and creative flow).

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Once the youth have the foundational knowledge to create music they'll enjoy, they begin working on songs with guidance from teachers who have completed loads of songs and have both local and global music experience.

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They will be taught how to finish songs and be guided on how to interact with their completed works. 

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At the end of the program, they will have been taught how to make instrumentals, write lyrics and release music.