As the doors open to the band room, senior Megan Voight walks in not ready to play an instrument, but instead prepared to make music on the computer. Voight is enrolled in Music Tech, a class taught by Andrew Perkins about the industry standard for audio production.
“Music Technology provides a curriculum that covers the basics of Digital Audio Workstations, Music Notation Software and DAW applications in sound engineering and film scoring,” Perkins said. “We do many small projects in a variety of areas within music production.”
There are no prerequisites to take Music Tech, but a background in band, choir or piano is helpful.
In the past, there have been three sections to accommodate the demand for the course, however this year because vocal music teacher Brad Wright is teaching at the middle school, there is not enough schedule room, so there is only one music tech class offered.
Although the class lasts just one year, Perkins attempts to prepare the small number of students for a career in audio production.
“The goal is to introduce students to the hardware and software that is industry standard in the field of audio production and post-production, and familiarize them with the kind of projects and skill necessary to succeed in that field.”
In addition to regular assignments, students enrolled take part in various projects, such as a Halloween soundscape, that allows them to showcase their musical talent using technology.
“The most memorable project I can think of would be the Halloween soundscape,” Voight said. “It was a fun project to make and it was fun to listen to everyone’s projects. Some cool experiences were just learning how to us all of the different software to make music.”
After a couple of months in the class, participants undertake the task of collectively making a movie in the band room and editing the sound using Garageband, Logic and Sibelius.
“I took this class because I want to go into audio production as a career, so I hoped that it would help me get closer to that goal,” Voight said. “I have learned more that I thought I could. There are so many softwares involved in the field, this has helped me understand them.”