Due to an increasing demand for original, computer-based, electronic music, BYU–Hawaii has chosen to offer an electronic music class to students during this summer semester.
Under the direction of Associate Music Professor Dr. Daniel Bradshaw, who also serves as chair of the Music and Theatre Arts Department, students are learning how to expand their creativity and computer skills to prepare to produce music for all kinds of possible venues in the music industry.
“Electronic music is of course difficult to be defined,” said Bradshaw. He said electronic composition means composing or writing music that people couldn’t write in any other way, so it usually deals with manipulating sounds on a computer.
For example, audio technicians may have someone speak into a microphone, and from there, the speaker’s voice can be manipulated. Bradshaw said computers can generate different sounds to be used in music, such as drums or whistles.
There are various purposes for this class, Bradshaw said, and he believes that fact alone could let students develop themselves in different and unique areas. He has seen many of the student projects and expressed his praise regarding the creativity of the class.
“That’s one of the fun things about electronic music. There are so many ways you can go. There are many different tools you can use to create various sounds through your operations.”
One of the hurdles with offering this class was the difficulty of not having a dedicated lab for electronic music. Bradshaw talked with Michelle Johanson about using the recording studio where employees do TV production for school devotionals for the class. They had some of the equipment such a class required.
“Those involved with the TV production were very accommodating and allowed students to have classes in the production studio for this Summer Term,” said Bradshaw.
Christopher Wiley, a junior studying music composition from Oregon, is taking the class this term. He said, “It’s imperative that we use the production studio because the whole purpose of the class is to help us be familiar with recording.”
Wiley said the class is needed because of the evolving world of music. “Lots of music majors are educated in the classical tradition, but we’re very uneducated with how the music industry is working around us today.”
According to Bradshaw, students are working with the software program called Pro-tools, an industry standard for sound production that focuses on audio production for mediums such as movies, TV commercials and CD production. Currently, he is teaching students how to work with large mixing boards.
William Walter Arnett III, a junior studying music from Arizona, is taking the class and said he feels the class is essential for music majors. “This is where music is at and where the future of it lies. It’s one of the only classes which really instructs us in a common, modern medium that we can make money through. We’re dealing with the business side of music.”
Arnett described the classwork as “very real-worldy.” He said, “Every week, we have two hours to work on our own projects and produce something.”
Bradshaw explained there are only seven students in the class and each were invited individually because “this is a really high level music class. I was very mindful of who I invited to participate. The production studio isn’t a large room. It is too small to fit many students into, so I had to adjust to limit a few students.”
According to the article “Six Machines that Changed the Music World,” electronic music was developed back in 1950. It became wildly used in 1960s. Since that point, its popularity has increased over the years.