Berkleemusic, the online continuing education division of Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music, has updated its online Ableton Live curriculum (including Advanced Music Production with Ableton Live) to Live 8. The Advanced Music Production with Ableton Live course offers a progressive approach to recording, editing, mixing and mastering using the Live 8 software. The program emphasizes exploration and experimentation, culminating with a final project in which students create a full-length song or a live performance tool.
“Basically, Ableton 8 is building on how much fun it is to use Live, which is my program of choice for composing and creating sound design,” says course author and instructor Loudon Stearns (pictured). Stearns is known for composition and live sound production, as well as music for radio jingles, and scores for industrial and independent films. “Live is a great tool for trying out new ideas. Because it was designed as a performance tool you can play with ideas and variations until it fits the client’s needs perfectly. In the course, I teach the processes that I use when composing, processes that are unique to Live.”
In addition to personalized chats and interaction in the virtual classroom, Advanced Music Production with Ableton Live offers many hours of instructional videos and a wide selection of screenshots. The Berkleemusic staff also designed new computerized interactive tools resembling Google maps with zoom features and pop-up captions similar to those used by VH1.
“It’s fun and today’s online student is already experienced with these interactive functions,” adds Stearns. “They want something that is dramatically different from the traditional classroom.”
Loudon Stearns has a new Berkleemusic blog, new videos on the Berklee YouTube Channel, and a sample lesson from the course, “Ableton Live 8: Quantizing Audio.”
To learn more, visit www.berkleemusic.com.
