Where can I study electronic music?

February 7, 2009 2:28 PM

Over the last few years I've become very passionate about the pursuit of electronic music, and I'd like to become very proficient at sampling/remixing/dj-ing etc. Having been inspired by artists such as Daft Punk, Justice, the Twelves, etc., I would love to be able to do what they do, but many of their production techniques are completely beyond me. Are there any schools/programs out there that can teach me the skills to become a professional-level electronica artist? Ideally I would like to find a degree program in electronic music, rather than a diploma or certificate.
posted by CarrotAdventure to education (16 comments total)

You could apply for the Red Bull Music Academy.
posted by dydecker at 2:38 PM on February 7, 2009

I asked a very similar question recently. I, like you, had only a vague idea of production techniques used. If you have a solid background in music theory you should be able to pick up on this fairly quickly. I recently showed my setup (MPD, software) to a friend with a master's degree in music. He was able to pick up on things that took me weeks to figure out, he had no experience with electronic music but was able to very quickly start making music. From this I gather that electronic music is not incredibly specialized as to make all music theory up to this point moot, on the contrary it is just another way to make music.
posted by geoff. at 2:51 PM on February 7, 2009

Brown has an undergraduate and graduate program in electronic music.
posted by greta simone at 3:21 PM on February 7, 2009

See also
I also knew someone that studied at CalArts

Seriously though, just google around and read up.
posted by greta simone at 3:30 PM on February 7, 2009

I have similar aspirations, though I'm interested in a great degree of improvisation than Daft Punk et al incorporate. I can't help you with schools, but I doubt there are many that can teach you much about the electronic/digital side of things. If you're serious, inquire at several conservatories and ask about whether they have professors doing that sort of work. I've heard UC Davis (I think it was Davis, definately in the UC system) mentioned a lot, and IRCAM is certainly well renowned.

My background is skewed heavily technical. I've been programming since grade school, and did simple sound sound engineering during high school. I played the clarinet from fourth through 8th grade, and tapped my fingers compulsively from a young age, but other than that don't have much of a music background.

Here is what I'm doing, in no particular order:

• Listen to the greats. For me Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Luke Vibert, and Autechre are some of the most adept artists in crafting novel sounds and using them in artistic and non-gimmicky ways. In any case, listen to lots of different music, electronic and otherwise - don't let your listening stagnate around a few artists or styles. Listen to the classical music of different cultures. The western cannon will teach you traditional tonality, but branch out to things like Javanese gamelan, Tuvan throat singing, and Hindi carnatic music. If you find a sound you like, figure out who they were drawing from. When you listen to a cut, reverse engineer it. If it's an electronic track, try to recreate the sound. Never hear something, think its cool, and forget about it - figure out how they did it.
• Learn to play some musical "interfaces". I decided the best training for understanding and improvising rhythm was the play drum kit, there is a preconceptual understanding you get out of this that I think informs even the most knob-twiddling composers. I live in a dorm now so I use a practice pad and pedal. For tonality, I think the piano-action keyboard has yet to be surpassed in terms of versatility and ergonomics, and is most easily directed to a computer. Try to get access to real one, and buy a MIDI keyboard with a real action when you can afford it (they're pricey, I still don't have one). The turntable is another interface I've decided to learn, and if you're interested in the sound of early hip hop or anything involving that sort of temporal manipulation, I'd reccomend it. I don't actually think it's the best way to mix records together, but it has a certain cultural cachet, which probably makes it worth learning if you want to perform in club style venues (counter-example: Girl Talk). In any case, use timecode vinyl, because it's cheaper and allows for all sorts of experimental craziness. Practice with a metronome. Play with others.
• Learn music theory. You need to know at least as much as someone who plays traditional sound generators. Because you're working with a computer, you've got an effectively unlimited timbral, temporal, and tonal pallet. So it's all the more important that you understand why and what traditional theory is. Read about the physiology of the ear.
• Ear Training! It's not just for singers. Google it. Buy a chromatic pitch pipe and carry it around, blow on it and ingrain the sounds of intervals. Learn to transcribe. This is a great way to get started.
• Learn general use programming languages, and audio specific ones, along with the basics of digital audio and signal theory (how computers record, represent, and play sound). Max/MSP is sadly proprietary and becoming increasingly common. It's open source sibling is puredata. I'm personally not a fan of that "visually connect the modules" interface, but it's certainly easier to start. I think Supercollider is bloody amazing. Professor David Cottle (d dot cottle at utah dot edu) has written an amazing introduction to synthesis with the language that assumes very little background knowledge. Email him and he'll send you a PDF (I'm told he prefers to know who is reading it and why so you might want to give a bit of background. He asks that you not redistribute it).
• Check out lots of different environments and software. Don't become a fanboy of one tool. I like Ubuntu Studio. I would avoid Windows, espescially for live perfomance - Mac OSX or Linux are the way to go. The Linux route is not for the faint of heart, but I'm very fond of it.
• Make lots of music, have a good time. Don't expect any recognition, and don't take other people's opinions of it too seriously. There are almost certainly people worse than you with fans, and a lot of them are on the top 40.

posted by phrontist at 3:36 PM on February 7, 2009 [9 favorites]

(I decided to get a degree in electrical engineering instead. It worked for Herbie Hancock.)
posted by phrontist at 3:37 PM on February 7, 2009

Oberlin College had a pretty fantastic program 10ish years ago.
posted by modernpoverty at 3:53 PM on February 7, 2009

Regarding degree programs... I did a bachelor's in electronic music at Oberlin Conservatory's TIMARA studio. It was almost entirely amazingly awesome. phrontist mentions theory — 4 semesters of music theory is part of the core curriculum, so that'll get drilled in to you...

The two strong points of Oberlin's program are (1) a very solid grounding in audio technique and technology, including excellent support for going off on your own and concentrating on particular methods (I did a couple semesters of private study in algorithmic music implementation, which was 1-on-1 with the department head) and (2) a strong general emphasis on musicianship, including stuff like recitals and group criticism which is key. From my and probably your point of view (given the Daft Punk and whatnot), there is (or was 8ish years ago) a very hyper-cynical student culture that was very sycophantically postmodern and very reflexively disdainful of pop and especially popular electronica. The faculty were also all from an academic composition sort of background so there was no love for phat beats from them either. That said, there were several kids that were totally into beats. Shout out to Raja for introducing me to Boards of Canada, and to whoever gave me that Matmos rip. So that's what Oberlin was like.

I have a fairly similar impression of other arts schools' electronic music programs, like CalArts and so on. One nice thing about applying to these programs is that they tend to be really small and enthusiastic, and you can really get a feel for them by communicating with the profs and meeting some students. Any of these programs will also be very happy to let you sit in on a class or attend concerts/recitals if you want to get a real feel for the scene.

Disclaimer: I chucked it all and am now a sofware dev. :D
posted by mindsound at 4:50 PM on February 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

WARNING: Do not click phrontist's "music theory" link. Going to that site found an exploit in Firefox and ended up trying to run a file in my C:\Windows\System32 directory. Symantec was able to pick it up and block it.
posted by miasma at 5:05 PM on February 7, 2009

miasma, the pirate bay shouldn't have any malware/whatever. although the ads on the site are questionable.
posted by majikstreet at 5:45 PM on February 7, 2009

@majikstreet I think I mouseovered an ad and it tried to exploit something in Firefox. Still, a warning to others feels kind of warranted.
posted by miasma at 6:28 PM on February 7, 2009

I applied to Oberlin's TIMARA program (and the regular college) and got waitlisted. It was my number one choice. I got into the regular school and everyone told me to go to Oberlin College and just reapply while I'm there. But after thinking about it, I realized that just like mindsound, I'd probably end up just being a software dev in the end. I could probably teach myself how to do some pretty interesting things with the knowledge I already have of computers and music theory.

So now I just make music for fun while working getting my degree in Computer Engineering (from a far cheaper state school). It's working out so far.

My notes:
-Really all you have to do is spend a lot of time tinkering with hardware and software. You're bound to make cool sounds eventually.
-Getting a degree in writing electronic music isn't necessarily going to elevate you to the status of Daft Punk and Justice. After all, they didn't get degrees in electronic music. They just learned how to operate their machinery well.
-If what you're worried about is learning music theory. There are tons of resources for learning it online! You don't have to pay someone to teach you the basic theory that pop music uses.
-Most of the professors at programs like these are probably more interested in people who are going to write weird avante garde "art music," which doesn't necessarily have the house beats that you're used to. Once again, you don't need a degree to write popular music.
posted by azarbayejani at 6:43 PM on February 7, 2009

1. Take piano lessons (or keep taking piano lessons)

2. Get started at Tweakheadz Lab (see "The Guide").

3. Save the $200,000 you'd spend going to Oberlin for 4 years.
posted by nanojath at 8:54 PM on February 7, 2009

The artists you mention are mainly sampling records and stiching the samples together. This is not so much about music theory or making weird sounds but digging for obscure records and an ear for parts you can borrow and putting drums on them.

This is not as easy as one may think. Finding stuff that works well together and all the cutting and looping takes a lot of time. A huge music collection is a plus.

Check out the following two youtube videos where you can see where some of the Justice and Daft punk samples come from.

Daft Punk

Justice
posted by ilike at 4:50 AM on February 8, 2009

An even more thorough listing of Daft Punk samples.
posted by phrontist at 9:29 PM on February 8, 2009

Take it from me, there is only one way to really learn this stuff:

teach. yourself.

I'm serious.
posted by 5imian at 10:31 AM on February 28, 2009