Podcasts about berklee online

Dan Giffin and Brian Funk talk about new features in Ableton Live 12.2, including browser upgrades, bounce in place, Auto Filter updates, Expressive Chords, etc, and the growing role of AI in music production and education. Watch the video to follow along as they chat about these updates. Brian Funk is a songwriter, producer, and Ableton Certified Trainer from New York.  Brian hosts The Music Production Podcast and teaches music production for Berklee Online. Sounds from Brian's Ableton Live Packs are used by producers all over the world. He's also the author of The 5-Minute Music Producer: 365 Music-Making Activities, which gives songwriters and producers short activities to overcome writer's block and develop professional workflows.Follow Brian: brianfunk.com YouTube.com/brianfunkmusic instagram.com/brianfunkmusic Soundcloud.com/brianfunkQuickly grow your skills and learn with Abe, the Ableton AI Chatbot: ⁠https://www.liveproducersonline.com/ableton-chatbot⁠Join the newsletter to get free Ableton content + early episode access:⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.liveproducersonline.com/newsletter⁠

Chad Shank is a songwriting teacher and music producer. Chad teaches songwriting at Berklee Online and runs At Home Songwriting, where he helps students learn how to write songs in their own authentic style and voice. Chad's YouTube channel, At Home Songwriting, is filled with songwriting tips and exercises. Chad and I spoke in-depth about songwriting, lyric writing, and overcoming creative blocks. Chad shared techniques and strategies he uses in his music and teaches his students.  Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Links: At Home Songwriting YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@athomesongwriting At Home Songwriting Website - https://athomesongwriting.thinkific.com Chad's Pro Writer Group - https://athomesongwriting.thinkific.com/bundles/ProMembership Chad's Music - https://chadshankmusic.com Chad on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/northloopsongwriter Andrea Stolpe on the Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/blog/andrea-stolpe Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison - https://amzn.to/423Iyky Brian Funk Website - https://brianfunk.com Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc  5-Minute Music Producer - https://brianfunk.com/book Intro Music Made with 16-Bit Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/16-bit Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/podcast Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at my store with the code: PODCAST - https://brianfunk.com/store This episode was edited by Animus Invidious of PerforModule - https://performodule.com/ Thank you for listening.  Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider! And don't forget to visit my site https://BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk  

Welcome to part two of this two part episode with Brian Funk.Today's guest is Brian Funk, a New York-based musician, producer, and Ableton Certified Trainer. He hosts the Music Production Podcast. Brian teaches music production at Berklee Online. And, he is the author of 5-Minute Music Producer: 365 Music-Making Activities.Throughout this conversation we discuss: * The advantages of having a day job.* Thinking about the opinions of others.* The distinction between what you can and can't control.* How multiple projects can help you avoid burnout.* Why you should have your own website.* And, how Brian accidentally wrote a book.That's it for Part Two of this two part episode. Subscribe to ProducerHead wherever you are listening so that you don't miss out on future episodes. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with a friend.Three Things I Learned From This Conversation: 1. WHEN YOU'RE WORKING, WORK. WHEN YOU'RE RELAXING, RELAX.It's OK to take a break and watch Netflix. Don't ruin an episode of The Bachelor with guilt about how you “should be working right now.” Build relaxation and time away into your working routine to avoid burnout and create space for enjoyment. You and the quality of your work will thank you.2. MAKING GETTING STARTED EASIER.Once you are on the path, you will discover what exists on the path. Begin working and you'll find that you can reshape and edit according to what you experience during the process. Your vision will reveal itself along the way.I feel this one strongly. Here's the proof: “Do it on purpose and find out who you are.”3. HAVING A DAY JOB CAN BE AN ADVANTAGE.Day jobs are often seen as obstacles to living a creative life. Do not overlook the fact that your day job provides at least two powerful opportunities:* Constraints on your time: The decision on when to work is made for you. Embrace those windows with intention.* Creative Freedom: Without relying on the art as your livelihood, you're able to make what it is you want to make. Listen on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.Tap in with toru:Substack: Instagram: @torubeatYouTube: @torubeattiktok: @torubeatTap in with Brian Funk: Instagram: @brianfunkmusicBrian's Website: https://brianfunk.com/Conversation Timeline:00:00 Intro01:19 Burnout And Creating Small Wins04:06 Make Getting Started Easier08:45 Brian's values and approach to entrepreneurship11:37 How to use your day job to your creative advantage.13:50 Motivation15:15 Control16:27 Embracing Your Perspective and Finding Your Voice18:30 Video Creation19:40 The value of variety in projects22:00 Origin Story of Brian's book: 5-Minute Music Producer: 365 Music-Making Activities.25:10 My amazement at Brian's productivity and creation of his book.25:45 Evidence of the day job enhancing music projects27:00 Why you should have your own website30:45 Brian's Class on Sampling through Berklee Online32:03 Quick Hits42:35 Brian's Personal Encouragement43:50 OutroReferenced:Rick BeatoThanks for reading toru's Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit torubeat.substack.com

Welcome to part one of this two part episode with Brian Funk.Today's guest is Brian Funk, a New York-based musician, producer, and Ableton Certified Trainer. Brian hosts the Music Production Podcast, teaches music production at Berklee Online, and is the author of 5-Minute Music Producer: 365 Music-Making Activities.Throughout this conversation we talk about* The value of embracing structure in songwriting.* Decision making in the music production process.* How limitations in your production process are a good thing.* Working hard and not taking yourself too seriously.* And Brian teaches me about anaphora. Also, Brian brings us a mix of old and new for the ProducerHead Listening Room.That's it for Part One of this two part episode. Subscribe to ProducerHead wherever you are listening so that you don't miss out on Part 2. Don't forget to leave a review and share this episode with a friend.Don't miss Part 2 of this conversation with Brian Funk, where we will get into:* The advantages of having a day job.* Thinking about the opinions of others.* The distinction between what you can and can't control.* How multiple projects can help you avoid burnout.* And, how Brian accidentally wrote a book.Top 3 Gems From This Conversation:1. SELF-IMPOSED CONSTRAINTS AND LIMITATIONS LEAD TO FINISHING WORK.If you have a computer, you can do anything, and that's too much. Limit your options. Making decisions propels you forward.2. A VISION IS NOT REQUIRED TO BEGIN A PROJECT.Once you are on the path, you will discover what exists on the path. Begin working and you'll find that you can reshape and edit according to what you experience during the process. Your vision will reveal itself along the way.I love this one. Here's the proof: “Do it on purpose and find out who you are.”3. SHARE WHO YOU ARE.In Brian's case, he believed his musical identity should remain outside of school (he also teaches English). He has come to find that the two can live together. The world of education appreciates his musical talents and vice versa.Listen on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.Tap in with toru:Substack: Instagram: @torubeatYouTube: @torubeattiktok: @torubeatTap in with Brian Funk: Instagram: @brianfunkmusicBrian's Website: https://brianfunk.com/Conversation Timeline:00:00 Intro01:45 Track 1 And Discussion15:30 Track 2 And Discussion25:05 Track 3 And Discussion36:40 Drops In The Bucket42:28 Following Personal Interest And Excitement43:51 Becoming an Ableton Certified Trainer46:45 Separation Between Music and Professional Life47:50 Burnout (Episode 16 Preview)48:00 OutroReferenced:How To Write One SongThe World Within A SongAnaphoraThanks for reading toru's Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit torubeat.substack.com

You probably know Ed Helms from his unforgettable turns in The Hangover movies, The Office, and a laundry list of era-defining comedies, but what you might not know is that he shreds bluegrass music, too. (Actually, if you've seen The Office, you'll know about his impressive musicianship.) Helms has played in bluegrass bands since his college days, so he knows a thing or two about writing a great American roots song. And what's more American than getting too pissed off and ruining nice things?Helms joins Sean Watkins and Peter Harper for a writing session that centers on a paraphrased version of Abraham Maslow's law of the instrument: “When all you've got is a hammer, everything's a nail.” The trio use the phrase as a way to look at personal and societal inabilities to approach situations with “the right tool,” like nuance, patience, or grace. Instead, anger—the hammer—seems to be the only tool in our belts. That inevitably means we end up smashing stuff.Tune in to hear how this John Prine-inspired country tune takes shape—plus, don't miss the story of Sean's DMV blowup when he was just 16.This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

This time on Before Your Very Ears, hosts Sean Watkins and Peter Harper give love a chance. Helping them learn the ways of love is Nick Thune, comedian and musician, who spearheads the songwriting session—but not before sharing some of the best bird-related jokes you'll ever hear.The trio settles on a Steve Jobs-ish strategy of starting with the finished product, and working their way backwards. The end goal in this case? A love song, but a different kind of love song. The objective prompts interesting discussions: What's a typical love song, and therefore what will make for an atypical love song? Romantic ballads are usually filled with rose-colored reflections and sweet sentiment, and this one isn't too different, but there's one key thing missing: a love interest.That doesn't stop the song's protagonist, whose hunt for love unspools over a verse that eventually slows to a speak-singing 6/8 sway, and a radio-ready power-pop chorus. If you've ever wondered how to write a classic love song, well… look elsewhere. But if you're keen on figuring out how to write a memorable, distinct one, this is your episode.This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

Ever wondered how songwriters capture scenery and stories so vivid that they seem to jump out of the song and into real life? Cary Brothers can offer some insight. In addition to releasing three full-length solo albums, the Los Angeles-based musician's songs have been featured in dozens of film and TV productions, including Grey's Anatomy, ER, Scrubs, One Tree Hill, Smallville, 90210, Garden State, and more.Brothers moved to Los Angeles to work in film, but eventually turned to focus on writing music. His experiences in Hollywood gave Brothers a keen visual sense in music—and a deep appreciation for how sounds and visuals can augment one another. This time out on Before Your Very Ears, Brothers joins hosts Sean Watkins and Peter Harper to talk about how to balance the desires of both our eyes and ears while arranging tunes.The end result is a deliciously striking last-call serenade. It starts with a Pogues-esque keys motif, then blossoms into a Waits-meets-Springsteen, back-of-the-bar heartbreaker. The details get filled in as the writing session goes on—the local watering hole with its broken jukebox and laissez-faire doorman—and before long, the cinematic, lonesome ballad takes shape.This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

Mississippi-born, Los Angeles-based musician and songwriter Garrison Starr has been recording and releasing music since the early '90s. The veteran rocker is an expert on creative expression—but also on navigating the “ballsack of an industry” that is the professional music world.That includes the alienating experience of having to engage in a narrative—whether in song or in the press—that isn't real or true for you, maybe even one that cheapens your personhood. “How many times have I done that to myself?” Starr wonders. These are the things the commercial music industry foists upon its would-be stars.Along with Before Your Very Ears hosts Sean Watkins and Peter Harper, Starr hits on the key to writing great songs: Being honest creates more, and better, success. “The vulnerability is where the power is,” says Starr. Fueled by the experience of being outed in college, and then exiled from her evangelical community for being gay, Starr leads the trio on a songwriting expedition to examine the damage of having our stories ripped from us—and the potential of reclamation through song.This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

The first segment of this show originally aired on July 25, 2022. In today's edition of Bring It On!, hosts, Clarence Boone and Liz Mitchell spend the hour with Bryant Scott, the CEO of Tyscot Records, and John P. Kellogg, who is a Berklee Online music business instructor and the former assistant chair of the …

If you've been in any bar past last call, you've heard Dan Wilson's work. “Closing Time” launched his band Semisonic into the international pop-culture stratosphere in 1998, and since then, he's become an A-list cowriter with some of music's biggest names—including, perhaps, the biggest: Taylor Swift. The 62-year-old Minnesota native cowrote the Chicks' Grammy-winning anthem “Not Ready to Make Nice,” Adele's tear-jerker “Someone Like You,” and Chris Stapleton's “White Horse,” which took home the 2024 Grammy for best country song. Wilson insists that he rebels against any “role” foisted upon him in the studio—he's less “writer's block killer” and more “creative therapist,” digging for truth and emotion.Wilson's creative craft has brought us some of this century's most ubiquitous and popular songs, and on this episode of Before Your Very Ears, he applies it with hosts Sean Watkins and Peter Harper to write an alt-country tune in G major. The central idea? You're not your feelings, and sometimes it's only through the grace of those closest to us that we can pare down an overreaction: “It's a long-term solution to a short-term problem/When you're looking for answers, that's when everybody's got one,” the main hook calls.This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, the songwriters and musicians behind indie-folk favorites Milk Carton Kids, don't cut corners when it comes to songwriting. Everything gets held under the microscope; everything is subject to change. There's no ego in the room, just pure service of the song.Ryan and Pattengale join hosts Sean Watkins and Peter Harper to talk influences—what gets through into your songwriting, and what do you block out?—before digging into a downtempo plucker built around a timeless, folk-country melodic convention. Once the basic pieces are in place, though, things get interesting. The gang calls this “Burt Bacharach-ing it up;” lashing the essential elements tightly to the deck. Word choices are analyzed and tweaked, melodies are shifted ever so slightly, and chord progressions are optimized, note by note.The quartet settles on a simple, memorable lyrical composition (“An Orbison, one-nugget snapshot”), but that doesn't mean there isn't space for some Adam Sandler vocal influence to counterbalance the Nebraska-era Springsteen solemnity.This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

Patrick Ermlich is a seasoned music industry professional hailing from Brooklyn, New York. Born into a musical family of opera singer-entrepreneurs, he inherited a unique combination of artistic and business acumen. He honed his skills through formal education, including studies at Northeastern University's music business program in Boston and The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Arizona. Starting as an engineer and producer at the renowned Cutting Room Recording Studios in New York City, Patrick rose through the ranks to eventually manage and develop the studio into one of the most successful in the city, collaborating with some of the biggest names in the music industry along the way. His entrepreneurial spirit led to the launch of an independent record label followed by a music publicity agency, Gramophone Media, where he served as Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager / head of A&R. With over 1000 artists in his portfolio and a reputation for insightful, direct, and thoughtful artist and business development, Patrick is a sought-after mentor, strategist, and collaborator. Patrick continues to leave his mark on the industry through his mentorship, speaking engagements, blogging, and his role as an educator at Berklee Online. www.moneymaestroblog.com/ep-72

On the second episode of Before Your Very Ears, west coast folk musician and songwriting powerhouse Madison Cunningham engages in some anger management.Along with hosts Sean Watkins and Peter Harper, Cunningham, whose 2022 record Revealer won the Grammy for Best Folk Album, digs into the nature of artistry and truth-telling: What are the social and professional costs of telling it like it is, or simply sticking to your artistic guns instead of appealing to the masses? Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot got them dropped from their label—then it went on to become their most celebrated record. Who's to say?Invoking her upbringing in the church and subsequent alienation from it, in part thanks to the ostracizing that came from questioning the rules, Cunningham leads the group on a writing session rooted in expressing anger and frustrating. “I write because I'm trying to hit something instead of someone,” Cunningham quips. What takes form is a folk-rock “rage song” about transmitters and receivers, about the incessant flow of information and the resonance, dissonance, and white noise that we're all hooked up to. It's also an expert lesson in subtlety and the expression of complex ideas: “Talk about the summer, passing the time/Your guess about Jesus is as good as mine,” Cunningham conjures on the verse.This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

While plenty of songwriters are happy to give a post-mortem review of how they write a song, the actual process happens behind closed doors. What goes through their heads while they decide on a specific word choice? Who hasn't wished to be a fly on the wall while professional musicians hack together the pieces that make our favorite songs?That's the experience of Before Your Very Ears, a new podcast hosted by guitarists Sean Watkins and Peter Harper. On each episode, Watkins and Harper are joined by a different guest musician, and together, the three of them have one goal before the mics stop rolling: They have to write an original song. Before Your Very Ears is a fun, insightful exploration of the mysterious, ever-elusive “Songwriting Process,” and a real-time demonstration of the twists and turns that result in the music we love.This debut episode features Vulfpeck founder and guitarist Theo Katzman. The trio starts with a gentle acoustic idea, envisioned as a sleepy-time lullaby. But as each player introduces their perspective on the concept, it soon turns into a profound, heart-felt meditation on death and grief, and what it means to lose someone.Step right up, and witness the creative brain in motion Before Your Very Ears!This episode is sponsored by Berklee Online: https://online.berklee.edu/Join our Patreon: http://patreon.com/beforeyourveryears

Music director and producer, recording and performing artist, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who has a new EP coming out this Friday, January 19th. She is also part of a duo act and the co-founder of Minx & Maestro Productions, which we will hear about today. In addition, she has held the position of Specialist of Vocal Casting and Music Production with Royal Caribbean Entertainment after music and vocal directing for them for almost nine years. She is also the creator of The Journey: A New Indie Musical, and has been an active performer in bands, piano bar, and theater for over 20 years. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Vocal Performance from Berklee College of Music and a Master's Degree in Music Production from Berklee Online, having graduated with a 4.0 GPA. She was the recipient of the award for Outstanding Graduate Student of the Class of 2022, as well as the iZotope Award, which honors innovation in music production.

In this special episode, Brian Funk and Dan review many of Ableton Live 12's new features. Watch the video with screen sharing on YouTube or Spotify.  Brian Funk is a songwriter, producer, and Ableton Certified Trainer from New York. Brian hosts The Music Production Podcast and teaches music production for Berklee Online. His Ableton Live Packs are used by producers all over the world, and Brian's new book, 5-Minute Music Producer: 365 Music-Making Activities gives songwriters and producers short activities to overcome writer's block and develop professional workflows. Episode Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 9:00 - Roar  13:35 - Meld  17:40 Granulator 2 19:35 New modulation behavior 21:20 Performance Pack 32:00 Browser history  34:14 Enhanced workflows 35:00 Keep Latency On 39:15 Stacked Detailed View 43:50 - Advanced Browser features - Tagging & organization 46:22 Similar Sounds 54:00 New MIDI clip features 1:01:40 - Scale Awareness and Scale Aware devices  1:02:30 - Arpeggiator  1:03:00 - Chord and Scale MIDI Effect 1:09:00 - Scala Files  1:11:00 - Round Robin feature in Sampler 1:15:00 - Preferences SPONSORED BY MAGIC MIND Magic Mind is a productivity drink. It gives you all the mental clarity and focus you need without the anxiety of chugging coffee or any other energy products out there that are bad for you. One shot gives you the perfect combo of nootropics, adaptogens, functional mushrooms, and matcha! Use discount code ABLETON20 for 20% off at: ⁠⁠www.magicmind.com⁠/ableton⁠ Follow Brian Funk: www.brianfunk.com www.YouTube.com/brianfunkmusic www.instagram.com/brianfunkmusic www.Soundcloud.com/brianfunk Join the newsletter to get free Ableton content + early episode access: www.liveproducersonline.com/newsletter

Chloe Echo is a singer/songwriter, producer, and educator originally from New Zealand and living in Los Angeles. She just released her new EP Past Life. Chloe teaches for Berklee Online. Chloe and I got a chance to reconnect after meeting and writing music together at the Monterey Songwriting Retreat. She spoke about how her past has brought her to where she is now as a person and artist. We reflected on our songwriting sessions together and the lessons we both learned about collaboration and making ourselves vulnerable to write music with new people.  Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google, YouTube Show Notes: Chloe Echo Website - https://chloeecho.com/ Past Life by Chloe Echo - https://open.spotify.com/artist/2jM0dpaor5joc69oZ5SB9I?si=0SHfHYVETqG7z1gv-Iu3sQ Chloe's SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/chloeecho Dissect Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/2b025hq3gJ17tQdxS3aV43?si=23b02a86aae643e3 Brian Funk Website - https://brianfunk.com Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc  5-Minute Music Producer - https://brianfunk.com/book Intro Music Made with 16-Bit Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/16-bit Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/podcast Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at my store with the code: PODCAST - https://brianfunk.com/store Thank you for listening.  Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider! And don't forget to visit my site https://BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

Sarah Belle Reid is a performer and composer. She plays trumpet, modular synthesizers, and a wide array of electronic gadgets. Sarah holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. She teaches music technology and modular synthesis at universities and her own online programs. Sarah spoke about how she combines her classical training with electronic music production and sound design. She explains how she keeps curiosity and joy central to her work. Sarah and I discussed the importance of mindset and perspective in the creative arts.  Sarah's Learning Sound and Synthesis Course opens again in August 2023! Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google, YouTube Show Notes: Sarah's Official Site - https://www.sarahbellereid.com/ Learning Sound and Synthesis Course - https://www.soundandsynthesis.com/ How to Design Your First Modular Synth Patch Free Course - https://www.soundandsynthesis.com/firstpatch2022 Sarah's Facebook featuring her Create with Courage posts - https://www.facebook.com/sarah.bellereid Now's by Sarah Belle Reid and David Rosenboom - https://reidrosenboom.bandcamp.com/album/nows Support Sarah on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/sarahbellereid Sarah's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@sarahbellereid No Input Mixer Tutorial - https://youtu.be/oUhfkaVUPY8 The Art of Is by Stephen Nachmanovitch - https://amzn.to/44rikXq Zen Mind Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki - https://amzn.to/44MSJIT Brian Funk Website - https://brianfunk.com Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc  5-Minute Music Producer - https://brianfunk.com/book Intro Music Made with 16-Bit Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/16-bit Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/podcast Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at my store with the code: PODCAST - https://brianfunk.com/store This episode was edited by Animus Invidious of PerforModule - https://performodule.com/ Thank you for listening.  Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider! And don't forget to visit my site https://BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Transcript: Brian Funk: Hello everybody. Welcome to the music production podcast. I'm your host, Brian Funk. On today's show I have Sarah Bell-Reed and Sarah is a performer, composer, trumpetist, modular, synthesis, that's hard to say. She makes a lot of really wide ranging music and one of the descriptions I really enjoyed was that it's graceful, danceful, silk falling through space and a pit full of centipedes. Which describes just how it goes from so many different extremes from more traditional classical sounds all the way to far out stretching the definition of music with noise and a lot of the electronic stuff that goes into it. She's a doctorate of music arts at California Institute of the Arts, teaches music tech and modular synthesis online. I've been watching the introduction to modular synth course, which is cool. Sarah, it's great to have you here. Thanks for taking the time. Sarah Belle Reid: Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here. Brian Funk: You have a very impressive resume of stuff you do and it's so wide ranging. I think it's really cool that you have this, it's like the nice place music is going, especially music education, where people are starting to take the traditional stuff and bring in some more new stuff, some of the more cutting edge stuff that's happening out there. And it's such a nice thing to see that you're bringing that to your performances, your music, and also your teaching. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, well, thank you. Brian Funk: Heh. Sarah Belle Reid: I think for me, you know, I have a very traditional background in my musical training. But I always had this feeling, even though I didn't quite know how to describe it or what it meant, but I always had this feeling that there was something more that I wanted to be able to explore in my music making. And so when I found and was introduced to these more experimental aspects of making music, like improvisation and just experimental electronics and all of that, it really felt like. all of the puzzle pieces were coming together. It wasn't a replacing of everything I had developed as a traditional or classically trained trumpet player. It was just like, oh, now this story makes sense. Now my Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: voice feels more complete. You know what I mean? So it's like it all came together. Brian Funk: Yeah, I've found that for myself too, just over time, the different things in your life that feel so separate from each other. Sometimes they start coming together into this one path and you need a little time to see that happen. At least I definitely did. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Brian Funk: And it's nice too because sometimes the music education departments are very steeped in tradition and kind of resist this stuff. They see it as something that they, you know, almost like a challenge to it, maybe. I'm not sure, but I've run into that myself occasionally with trying to bring in just I teach high school English as a day job and trying to bring in like music production, Ableton Live stuff Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: into it. Not everyone is interested. Some people in the music departments were really excited and other people were kind of like, that's not music. I kind Sarah Belle Reid: Oh. Brian Funk: of got that feeling. Do you encounter that ever, some of those different challenges and how people see it? Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, of course. Brian Funk: haha Sarah Belle Reid: Absolutely. Yes. Both in, you know, in educational spaces and just in the world, you know. with people having different musical experiences, different backgrounds, different perspectives, different things that they like. Sometimes the music that I'm really interested in and that I make is challenging to listen to. Sometimes it doesn't have a traditional obvious hook or even a repeatable rhythm that you can snap along to. Sometimes it's just very... kind of amorphous and more like... sound design. You know, a lot of the time people, some people will say, oh, your music is more almost like experimental sound design than it is quote unquote music. To me, in my opinion, it's all music. Like all sound is music. But yeah, people sometimes express all kinds of opinions. And I've definitely, I've had some challenging conversations with people who don't get it and don't want to get it. But I've also had some really exciting deep conversations that are more based in curiosity. People who don't get it and are like, okay, what is happening? You know, I don't know what I'm hearing. What am I hearing? Can Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: you tell me how to begin to listen to this? And I love those kinds of conversations. You don't have to get it right from the beginning. You know what I mean? In fact, I feel like that mentality of, you know, you have to get it when it comes to music actually can really perpetuate that siloed. way of thinking that you can find in some educational systems, like what I believe you were talking about, where it's like, this is classical music, this is jazz, this is pop music. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I feel like if we could give everyone a little more permission to not understand things and have that be okay, we would be Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: able to maybe blend a little bit more freely between all of these different modes of making music. Brian Funk: Right, yeah, that's cool you Sarah Belle Reid: It's Brian Funk: say Sarah Belle Reid: just Brian Funk: that. Sarah Belle Reid: a thought. It's just something I've been thinking about. Brian Funk: Well, I guess you probably get a lot of the, sorry you play your trumpet so nice, but these buttons and knobs. Sarah Belle Reid: Well, I even get, believe it or not, it depends on the concert and the audience, but I've even had people come up to me afterwards and say, do you, after a long performance on trumpet, be like, well, do you ever play a nice melody on that thing, on that horn, you know? Yes, in fact, I do. Thank you for asking. It's just a mix. You know, everyone has different backgrounds and perspectives that they're coming from, so. Brian Funk: Well, art, you know, especially when it's new, always challenges people and Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: it divides people. And that's part of what's nice. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And there's people, I don't know who it's credited to, but just kind of, it's better to have people love it and people hate it than just to have people, okay, I've heard Sarah Belle Reid: Right? Brian Funk: this before. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Have Brian Funk: more Sarah Belle Reid: people Brian Funk: of that Sarah Belle Reid: forget Brian Funk: again. Sarah Belle Reid: about it. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I once had a mentor tell me that early on and I'm so grateful that they shared that with me because it's really stuck with me. If you move someone with your music, even if you're moving them in a way that maybe feels slightly negative or they don't like it or they don't get it, you're still stirring something up within them. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: You're expanding their life in that moment. Your music changed them in some way. It made them question how they think about music. It made them hear new things. That's actually incredible. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And so from my perspective, it's not that I gave up, but I let go of the priority of trying to have everyone like my music many, many years ago, and now I'm focused on sharing really meaningful listening experiences with people as one of my primary goals in making music. Brian Funk: I imagine trumpet came first. Sarah Belle Reid: Yep, actually, well, piano way back and then trumpet and then electronics. Yeah. Brian Funk: How did you get introduced into that electronic world? What was it that, was it like somebody, a friend or? Sarah Belle Reid: I was in grad school in California, so it was pretty, you know, relatively late. I had been playing trumpeted music for many years at that point, but I had never even seen a synthesizer. I had no idea about this world at all. And for some reason, I decided to join a class called interface design, which is a class where you actually design and build your own. musical interfaces or interfaces for musical expression. So it could be something that has buttons and knobs on it, like an Ableton push, something that maybe is a MIDI controller, or it could be, you know. anything you could imagine that you might want to use to control sound. So people were building wearable sensor-based things that they would then give to dancers and the dancers would move around and that would give them data to turn into a synthesized sound or to control lighting. And I really wanted to build a gestural interface to go on my trumpet. That was kind of where it started. So I had never used Ableton. I had never used a synthesizer. I had never even used like an effects pedal, but I Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: was like, okay, I wanna do this because this sounds really cool. How can I turn my trumpet into some kind of controller for electronics and visual? At the time I was really interested in like coded visuals and stuff like that. I don't do a ton of that anymore. But so I started there. And then once that thing was built, I realized. you can't make electronic music without understanding how electronic instruments work. So then I started to work with modular synths and more in Ableton and different programs on my computer to kind of pull it all together. Brian Funk: Right, right, so that Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: pulled you right into that world. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly. It's kind of a strange introduction into the world of electronic music, but I'm grateful for it. So. Brian Funk: It's something that I really was interested in when I first started getting into computer-based music. I started on guitar, playing in rock bands, not trained or anything like you, but more grimy punk rock angle. Once I started finding out about MIDI controllers and that you can put them together and map them how you want, it really made me think about just instrument design in general. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Just how amazing it is that certain things like a trumpet or like a guitar or piano have stuck around for so long Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: and still seem almost like these unsolved puzzles that have so much left to give. And now... there's all these new kind of ways of looking at music. And it's a really fun time. There's always something new coming Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: out. That's a totally exciting new way to create music that Sarah Belle Reid: Yep. Brian Funk: sometimes relies on skills you have already. And sometimes it enables people that have no musical training at all to Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: create really interesting music. You have, um, can you describe what you did to your trumpet a little bit? Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I Brian Funk: I've Sarah Belle Reid: can... Brian Funk: seen some pictures and like, it's, it's kind of, it's like space age almost. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, so basically what it is, it's a little collection. So basically it's run with a microcontroller, an Arduino, which is a little tiny microcontroller that you can get for, I think, 20 or 30 bucks. And it allows you to attach different sensors to it and read the data from the sensors. And so I built this little enclosure that goes onto the trumpet and it detects the motion of the valves, so the pistons that you use to change to play different notes, and also the amount of pressure that you have, that your left hand has on the trumpet as you're holding it, and also the tilt. There's an accelerometer in it as well, so as you move the horn up and down or side to side, it will detect that as well. And then that Arduino, like I said, it just reads the data and allows you to transmit that data onto a computer. And from there, you have to get creative and figure out what you want to do with it. If you want to use it as MIDI to control a MIDI synth, or if you want to convert it to some other data format, which you can do and send it to another program and so on and so forth. But the real music making starts at the computer end of things. Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: And the device, which I call MIGSI, which is Minimally Invasive Gesture Sensing Interface, remember folks, I did this in grad school. It was very much my thesis, so it's super nerdy. I apologize. Brian Funk: That's cool though. Sarah Belle Reid: But yeah, that part is really just about sensor data capture, like gestural Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: data capture, yeah. Brian Funk: Right. And you have to then, like you're building the instrument, you're building this thing, and then you have to decide what all of that stuff does, which Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: can change for, I'm sure every performance. Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. And that's the most challenging and also the most rewarding part. I co-designed Migsie with someone named Ryan Gaston, who I was in school with at the time. And we, I remember we got to the point where all of the sensors were working. The data was flowing to the computer and we were just looked at each other and we're like, what the heck do we do now? Like, what do you do with seven streams of numbers? How do you turn that into music? It's a big challenge. But, um, you know, you just go to go piece by piece and you, you can, basically you can think, well, maybe this when this number goes up that means there's more reverb applied onto this sound or maybe when this number goes down maybe we divide this string of numbers into like three sections and we use each section to trigger a different sound and you start you start small like that and then the ideas start to kind of click as you go Brian Funk: Right, that's Sarah Belle Reid: yeah Brian Funk: pretty much the same advice I give people with Ableton Live and programming your MIDI controllers. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I do a class for Berklee Online, it's a sampling with Ableton Live, and there's a live performance portion, and I explain to the class, like, look, I'm not expecting something ready for prime time at Madison Square Garden or something like that. It's just build it small. Start with one little thing you wanna do. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and try that out because it's different than picking up any other instrument because you have to build the instrument and then you have to decide what it does and then you have to make music and perform Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: it. Sarah Belle Reid: And often what I've learned over and over and over again is that simpler is better when it comes to mapping things like mini controllers or anything. In my experience anyway, you often think, well, I have 10 fingers and I've got 34 buttons, like, let's use them all. But, and, you know, some people are really great at that kind of thing. For me, I've really realized that Less is more. Sometimes just three or five really meaningful controls can be more than enough to make an expressive piece of music. Because it's not all about triggering a sound, and then that's it. It's triggering a sound. Maybe it's loud this time and softer this time or different pitches and all of the different things you can do to the sound once you trigger it. I hope that makes sense. I feel Brian Funk: Definitely. Sarah Belle Reid: like I kind of went on a little. But less is more is the moral of the story. Brian Funk: It's the same thing I've done with my live performance set in Ableton. Um, it's the same set I created almost 15 years ago Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and it just gets save as save as, and you just change something. And it kind of started like slowly. It went up and I added things and then Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: it kind of got a little over complicated Sarah Belle Reid: Yup. Brian Funk: where I have these buttons might Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: as well make them do something. And my performances, when I listened back to them, sounded like somebody that was afraid the audience might think I'm only checking my email on my computer. So Sarah Belle Reid: I'm Brian Funk: I'm Sarah Belle Reid: sorry. Brian Funk: like overcompensating, doing way more. It didn't serve the song or the music, but it looked cool. You Sarah Belle Reid: Right, Brian Funk: know, Sarah Belle Reid: you were busy. You had your hands Brian Funk: I was Sarah Belle Reid: full. Brian Funk: busy. And by now it's tapered off a lot. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: nowhere near as complicated as it was at one point. Because, yeah, it's just... I agree with you a lot, the simple stuff is where it's at, used effectively. That's fun. You've done some really cool stuff recently. I wanted to talk to you about, it was one of the big things that got me to reach out to you with the creative, um, the create with courage Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: for 30 days or 30, maybe it's 31 days Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: you did just a post on Facebook is where I was seeing them. And just offering some wisdom information, some experiences from your past. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: What, what inspired you to start doing that? Sarah Belle Reid: Well, I was thinking a lot about... why I make music. It's a big question that I actually ask myself fairly often. I think it's just helpful to check in. And for the record, I don't think that there's any right or wrong answer for a person to have. I just think it's a nice exercise of self-reflection to be like, why am I doing this? What's meaningful about this to me? Because it will change as we grow as artists and go through life, I think. I was thinking a lot about this. A couple of the really big driving forces behind why I am an artist and why I dedicate my life to making music has to do with creating and sharing connections with people through sound, as I mentioned a little earlier on, and also joy. It's a really simple thing, but just being joyful and doing what I love and sharing that with other people. And in the last couple of years, as I've been doing more online teaching, I've also come to really, really value the pursuit of courage and creative courage. And in particular, one of the reasons why I teach is because I want to be able to help people make more music that they absolutely love with joy and courage. I want to help people make the kind of music that they will listen back to and be like, Yeah, like, heck yeah. Like, I did that Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: thing and that feels like a true expression of myself. And I am so excited to share that with the world. You know, like, I went for it. I didn't compromise along the way because I was nervous about what someone would think, which is something that I used to do a lot. And I'm sure many people can relate to. You know, I didn't, like, dim it down for fear that it wouldn't be accepted. I just did my thing. Loud Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: and... And so those were the values. It was this idea of connection, joy, and then courage. And I was just sort of chewing on it and thinking it over. And yeah, the idea of... walking the walk a little bit and just seeing, okay, well, what would it look like if every day I shared something that required me to be courageous Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: and myself and to be vulnerable and just open about what I've learned in life and what I've gone through that's helped me get to where I am today. Maybe that could help people bring a little bit more of that into their lives. And as an added bonus, I can connect with people along the way. you know, through the discussions in the comments and everything on the posts. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: So that's sort of how it came up. And, uh, it was an amazing experience. It was 30 days. And every single day I shared some kind of lesson, um, you know, or experience that I've had in life that has had, that is somehow related to being a musician or being a creative person. And, you know, going through sometimes very challenging times, sometimes really awesome times, and just everything that you learn from it, and how you grow with it. Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, there was definitely a lot of vulnerability shared, Sarah Belle Reid: Yes. Brian Funk: which I thought was really nice. Especially coming from someone with your background, you have a doctorate in music, right? So like, it's very, it's the kind of thing that I think a lot of people would feel like your past, right? Like you've, you've received the credentials, you're playing the festivals, you're doing all these things that... It's nice, it's refreshing. It's something I've Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: gotten doing this podcast as well is that I haven't had anyone tell me it's easy or that, yeah, I just make music, you know, just comes Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: out of me. Like anything, masterpiece after masterpiece, nobody says that. Even Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: people like you would have thought that really had it figured out, still have these struggles and vulnerabilities. Sarah Belle Reid: Well, and I think that's part of, that's another really big reason why I wanted to do this is because usually, it sounds like your podcast is an exception to that, which is great, but a lot of the time online, you see the perfect finished product, right? You see the album after months or years of work. You see the perfectly curated social media feed. You see everything going super well. And it can be baffling. Like it can be like, how are they doing this? What is wrong with me? Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: get that perfect schedule in my studio or make a track a week or whatever you're seeing someone else do. And I think that such a big part of the growth that I've been able to have over the years as a musician has come from being able to see into other people's real lives and see them working through... mindset struggles or insecurities or life being full of surprises or like, hey, I suck at this and like, I've got to go and practice really hard. And like getting to see that happen, like see people just go from really not having that skill to like a month later, really having that skill because they put three hours a day in the practice room and made it happen, you know. So I guess what I realized is that a lot of the time online, that's missing. You don't see that process-based aspect. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, you kind of get the flashy Sarah Belle Reid: You Brian Funk: finished Sarah Belle Reid: just get Brian Funk: product. Sarah Belle Reid: the, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, and then it really, and then it's easy for someone to be like, wow, I'm never gonna be there. Like, Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: I guess I'm not cut out for this. That's the sentence I hate hearing the most is, and it's something I once used to say to myself, I guess they have something I don't have, like some secret ability. Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: So I Brian Funk: like Sarah Belle Reid: kind of Brian Funk: some Sarah Belle Reid: felt Brian Funk: gifts. Sarah Belle Reid: like some gift, you know, and of course people have, we all have our own unique little gifts. All of us do. And, and anything is learnable and figure out a bowl and it just takes some grit and perseverance and, and courage, and you got to take action and do the thing, you know? Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: So I really wanted to share that with others and, be honest about how I got to where I am and also what I'm in every day still. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: Very much. Brian Funk: That's an important gift really, because you mentioned the joy of it, but this is the very thing that brings so much people so much frustration and Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: self-doubt. And I mean, it's funny when you mentioned also like, why do I make music? Like sometimes I get these feelings too. I'm like, what am I making these silly songs for? I'm like a grown-up now. You know, like, let's do something important with my time. Right. And... Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: I think about that and when it's not coming together, when it's not working out, then that's when I'm really vulnerable for that kind Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: of feeling. And there's no joy in that. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: And at least, and you said there's no right or wrong reason, which I think is so true too because I have a lot of friends that just have an acoustic guitar that they strum after work in the backyard. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: It's not to record anything. It's not to write a song. It's... maybe learning a riff or just because they like to hear the sound under Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: their fingers. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: And sometimes we lose that in this quest to whatever Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: it is, whether it's to make songs, finish things or get releases out. It is a real fast way to lose the joy of it. And Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I think with something like music where, especially if you're trying to make a career There's, there's so many safer bets for like careers that at least if you're going to do music, you should be having fun. You should be enjoying Sarah Belle Reid: It's Brian Funk: it. Sarah Belle Reid: so Brian Funk: Cause that's, Sarah Belle Reid: important. Brian Funk: that's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: the reason you would ever be crazy enough to do this. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, it's so important and yeah, it's something over the years that I have lost and found and lost and found again and what I've realized for myself is that... Joy is something I can come back to on purpose. I just have to be aware of it. I have to remember. I have to remember to be like, "'Okay, Sarah, how can this be fun?' It sounds like such a silly question, but when you're in the studio and things aren't working and you're like, ah, this sucks, ah, I suck. And then all of the stuff comes in, all of the thoughts and the, oh, Brian Funk: Damn opens, Sarah Belle Reid: no one's Brian Funk: yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: gonna Brian Funk: Heh. Sarah Belle Reid: listen anyway, and blah, which I call mind trash. That's what all of that is. It's like in that moment, it's not easy, but the most valuable thing you can do is just be like, okay, breaks. And then how can I make this fun right now? Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: And maybe the answer is pick up some random instrument that you haven't played in a while. Or maybe the answer is take your battery-powered synth out and sit in the backyard or whatever it is that just feels... fun and just come back to that joy and that reason why you're doing it. For me, a lot of the time it's like, I'm not going to do this right now. I'm just going to improvise. I'm just going to play because for me Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: that is fun. And when I start doing that, basically a hundred percent of the time. maybe 90% of the time, it just gets me out of my head. I'm gonna be real. And I reconnect to the sound and my breath and my body and my music and something clicks, you know? Brian Funk: Hmm. That's a great question to ask. What would this look like if it were fun? How could I make this into something fun? Sarah Belle Reid: How can this be more fun? Yeah. I also love the question, how could this be easy? That's a little bit of a side note, slightly different Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: question, but that's a bonus power move right there because we are so Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: good at over-complicating things. So I Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: love asking myself that one too. It's like, I've got a big project, I've got to get it done today or this week. How can this be easy? Brian Funk: Yeah, I had a really funny and silly one of those moments just like a week or two ago with this podcast where with the art, I finally have somebody helping me do some editing with the podcast. Animus, shout out to him, his help has been so great and tremendous. But sometimes I stick in episodes that are just me talking Sarah Belle Reid: Uh huh. Brian Funk: and I was getting really stressed out. I was like, oh, the art. is going to get all messed up because it's going to say like this number of episode and then mine's going to come. I'm like, oh, what am I? And I was like, why do I need the number on there? Sarah Belle Reid: How Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: can Brian Funk: I was Sarah Belle Reid: this Brian Funk: like, Sarah Belle Reid: be easy? Brian Funk: oh my God, this is a problem I don't need to have. But it just, it was the kind of feeling that made me like look at everything in my life and be like, what else am I doing this to? Sarah Belle Reid: Yes. Brian Funk: Where else am I trying to put Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, Brian Funk: numbers where they don't need to Sarah Belle Reid: right. Brian Funk: be? Sarah Belle Reid: That is some deep wisdom. That's good. Brian Funk: I'm sorry. Sarah Belle Reid: That's a funny example, but it's so true. If you're anything like me, if you hadn't noticed that, you could have agonized over that for like Brian Funk: I did. Oh, Sarah Belle Reid: some Brian Funk: I did. Sarah Belle Reid: time. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: There was like months, like two months. I was like stressing me out. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, well I'm really glad you came to that Brian Funk: Yeah, Sarah Belle Reid: realization. Brian Funk: simple thing. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: But it's such a good question. It reminds me, I don't know where I heard this because I would love to attribute this to somebody, but it was like, we say like, this brings me joy, this brings me joy. And then the person just turned around is like, no, you're taking joy in it. Take joy in it. So it makes that feeling of like having fun and like enjoying Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: something for what it is. more of an action than something that happens to you. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: And that again has been really helpful for me in Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: certain situations where I'm thinking like, music isn't bringing me any joy. I was like, well, I have to take joy in it. Like, Sarah Belle Reid: Uh-huh. Brian Funk: what is it about it that makes it fun? I guess it's another way to look at it. So. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, it's valuable. The I don't sorry, I don't know if you want to change topics, but one other thing that popped into my mind is just that it gets to be fun. Like you have Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: permission, permission granted, even the most quote unquote, serious, professional, legitimate insert, whatever qualifying word you want musician. is allowed to have fun, Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: right? And like somehow I feel anyway, maybe I'm just speaking from my own, or I'm certainly speaking from my own experience, but. it almost felt, when I was in school at times, it almost felt like fun was a waste of time. Like fun was not focus, fun was Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: not the discipline that was needed. Fun was goofing around, you know, it wasn't valued Brian Funk: Kid Sarah Belle Reid: in Brian Funk: stuff. Sarah Belle Reid: the same way. Yeah, yeah, like you said a minute ago, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: like why am I, I'm an adult, why am I making Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: these funny songs or whatever? And I just think that, For me, realizing and embracing that when I have more fun, I make better music. It does Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: not mean all my music sounds cartoonish and goofy and like, ha ha, some of it does, but that's not the end result. It just means that I am more embodied in the process. I'm more present, I'm more joyful, and as a result, everything works better, right? Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Because I'm moving in flow with myself. I'm not fighting against myself. Brian Funk: Yeah, the play aspect, play music, you know, Sarah Belle Reid: play. Yeah. Brian Funk: play music. It's so important. We were saying we, having trouble remembering things on the spur of the moment, and I'm trying to think of a book now, but it was all about improvisation and it Sarah Belle Reid: Mm. Brian Funk: talked a lot about play. Oh, the art of is, the art of is, is what the book is called. I think, now I'm not sure. Sarah Belle Reid: Hahaha Brian Funk: I'll write it down, put it in the show notes, but it... It just struck me like that's where so much fun happens. And when you're, when you are a kid, suppose you're on like a playground or something, you're just making up rules. You're coming up with things on the fly. You're not trying to decide if it's acceptable or if it's, you know, smart enough or intelligent Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: enough, which is something I struggle with a lot with my music. I always feel like I'm not being clever enough. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: It's Sarah Belle Reid: You're Brian Funk: just. Sarah Belle Reid: not alone. Brian Funk: which spirals me out of Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: the joy of doing it. But that, when I get playful though, then I'll do something weird that I wouldn't normally do. That would be maybe a little unorthodox that might sound clever later on, right? But it was just because I was kinda being silly or just Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: letting go of things. Sarah Belle Reid: letting go. Exactly. You take risks when you're in a playful Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: state. You're curious. Curious is the magic word for me personally. When I'm playful, when I'm having fun, I get curious. I ask myself, what if? What, not in a bad way, not what if no one likes it, but what would happen if I did that? Ooh, what if Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I put those sounds together? Ooh, what if I map my controller in this way? Ooh, what if I do it all backwards? And that curiosity is, in my opinion, is where like... innovation comes from. It's the people who are like, oh, I wonder if I connect this and this way instead of that way. Oh, look, I just stumbled across this cool new technique that people will use for the next 40 years, you Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: know what I mean? Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And so I love that. And for me, that is like the magic mindset space. If I can get into a playful, curious space, I know I'll be okay. Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, it's helpful with other people too, especially Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: people you get along with that you're comfortable with. Sometimes that can help you get there Sarah Belle Reid: Oh Brian Funk: a Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, Brian Funk: bit. Sarah Belle Reid: for sure. Yeah. Brian Funk: In watching some of your videos, I came across one that I thought was really, I mean, there were a lot, but the one that stuck out to me was when you were playing with mixers to create Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: feedback. So it was like, I forget what you title it, but basically you're plugging the outputs of the mixer back into the inputs and creating all these. stuff you're not supposed to do. Like you're not allowed to do that, Sarah Belle Reid: I'm Brian Funk: right? Sarah Belle Reid: sorry. Brian Funk: If you went into a studio and started doing that, they'd throw you out. What are you doing? You're going to break something. It's going to, but you were taking that noise really, feedback and just interesting, well, things people wouldn't think is interesting that would normally think was wrong, but that was something you were using then to create something interesting. Sarah Belle Reid: I'm right. Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: that's a playful thing. That's the kind of thing you might If you let a kid that didn't know what they were doing, just start connecting things they would Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: come up with. But a trained professional would never think to do that. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, the technique that you're referring to is called no input mixing. And yeah, exactly. It's a feedback based technique where you patch the outputs of a device back into its own inputs. And by doing that. you are creating a feedback loop and it will start to self-oscillate, which means it will start to produce its own tones. And they are inherently super chaotic and unpredictable. And something that's so fascinating about working with feedback is, in my opinion, is that you, because of the chaotic nature of the feedback loop that you've created, you're trying to do. So for example on a mixer, you know some mixers have the three band EQ like high, mid, low EQ knobs for example. You could turn the mids up and you'd expect the mids to be boosted but it might actually cause the sound to go from a steady tone to like a choppy, sputtery sound. Or you could turn the volume knob up and instead of it getting louder the pitch will go down strange nonlinear interactions because of the way that you have it self-patched. And I love that. I find it delightful and super intriguing because it it's like an invitation to listen in a really deep way. Again a really curious way because you don't know what's gonna happen. And this instrument, this object that is like usually has a very specific role in your on your desk all of a duo partner and Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: it's like jamming with you. You know and you can do this kind of feedback patching with synthesizers too. It's one of my favorite techniques to use on a modular or any kind of synth. It's not just mixers that you can do it with if anyone's curious. Brian Funk: So you would just patch those outputs. That was a famous thing people did with the Minimoog. They would put the, I think it was like the headphones back into the external Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah! Brian Funk: input. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, the only thing just for anyone who's trying for the first time, um, it's just really important that you have your main outputs should, should always have a volume control attached Brian Funk: All right, Sarah Belle Reid: to them. Don't Brian Funk: maybe Sarah Belle Reid: use those Brian Funk: a limiter. Sarah Belle Reid: in the feedback loop. And, and I recommend never using headphones if it's your very first time doing feedback based patching, because the volume is very unpredictable. So Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: just make sure you've got some kind of master volume control. And I've been doing this now, feedback patching for, you know, well over a decade. and I have not broken anything, and a signal is a signal, and it's all gonna be okay inside the instrument. The main thing you have to worry about potentially damaging are your ears and your speakers. So just keep your volume low. Use a limiter, it's a great idea, and you'll be fine. Everything will be groovy, and you'll make some cool sounds. Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, yeah, I can definitely agree with that advice. I've had that situation where maybe I'm trying to record the band and somewhere along the way, I routed something the wrong way and everyone's headphones just starts squealing. Sarah Belle Reid: He, oh no. Brian Funk: People falling out of their chairs. It can Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: be horrifying and scary when it happens. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, when you're not expecting it for sure. Brian Funk: But it's that unpredictability. It's almost like a collaborator Sarah Belle Reid: That's right. Brian Funk: when you get that kind of stuff. My first exposure to feedback was with electric guitars and turning up the distortion, putting them in front of the amp. And you get these overtones. And you can almost get melodies depending on what guitar you have. You get different things screeching out of it. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And it becomes an art in how Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: to. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, and it's beautiful. I mean, there's so much music throughout history that, you know, it's a short, relatively short history of electronic music so far, but so many people exploring feedback in such beautiful ways. And it's not always crazy. you know, blasting noise. Like you said, sometimes it's delicate, ghostly tones and Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: little chirps. Like it can be very beautiful and tender even. It's just all about how you kind of dial it in, you know, which just comes down to making small movements, turning knobs slowly Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: and listening. Brian Funk: I've sampled feedback a long time ago off my guitar and I was gonna make an instrument out of it inside a sampler in Ableton Live. And I was really surprised at how soft it came out because it's not that way when you're doing it live, especially through a guitar amp. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I'm sure you probably have family members that are very understanding of strange noises coming out of wherever Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, Brian Funk: you're Sarah Belle Reid: well... Brian Funk: working. I have the same thing and my wife is... totally cool about me making any kind of noise. But a year or two ago, I was recording an album and I decided I wanted all these guitar feedback tracks going on, so I had this little amp and just cranked it up. And I was just sampling it, because I was like, I'm going to also make a collection of these so I can have Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: them. And that was the one time she came down. She's Sarah Belle Reid: I'm sorry. Brian Funk: like, what's going on in here? Because to just be squealing and squeaking away, she probably thought like Sarah Belle Reid: That's Brian Funk: I Sarah Belle Reid: so Brian Funk: blew Sarah Belle Reid: funny. Brian Funk: up or something. Sarah Belle Reid: that. Yeah. Yeah, my family's put up with a lot. Brian Funk: I think anybody that's making music, even if you're just in a traditional thing without experiments you're looping the same thing over and over and over and over just to tweak things so people around you get used to you just incessantly. It's a really nice way to think though with that sound and useful sound for music can kind of just come from anywhere. There's really nothing that's off limits after a while when you start thinking in that way. Sarah Belle Reid: Totally. I'm working on a piece right now and we... I just spent, this was a couple of weeks ago, but I spent the day at an old, abandoned sawmill, like a cedar sawmill, sampling the big, they have these incredible big saw blades, huge, like six feet wide, and when you hit them, strike them with different things, they just sound incredible, and they ring for like, some of them 15 seconds, like a long decay ring. Just gorgeous. cedar logs that hadn't been cut into boards yet. And they're all different thicknesses and different lengths. And so if you whack them with like a stick, they're like, like different, they're like giant woodblocks, but like low, like base Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: woodblocks. And they all have different pitches. It's beautiful. And so I've been using all of those types of sounds as like percussion for this piece, as opposed to using, you know, real drums. It's all Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: just clanging metal from, you know, from the sawmill and pots and pans are my favorite. I mean, your kitchen is the ultimate sample playground. I'm sure you've told people that a million times, but like open up the cupboards, get the pots Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: and pans. Yeah. Brian Funk: And the kitchens usually have a cool reverb to them. Maybe they're like, it's not like carpeting usually in kitchens, Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: so they kind of have like this room sound. We do an assignment with the Berkeley class where you just go through your day and just find sounds. Your normal routine, but like listen, pay attention. And so many people never get past breakfast, Sarah Belle Reid: I'm sorry. Brian Funk: you know, because the kitchen is just loaded with appliances Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, Brian Funk: and different Sarah Belle Reid: I love Brian Funk: pots Sarah Belle Reid: that. Brian Funk: and pans and jugs. It's really cool. And everyone's is different. You would think after a while that everyone's song would sound the same, or everyone's just sampling their kitchen. But every, that's like what I think is some of the beauty of it too, is that just everyone's atmosphere is unique, especially when you start adding up all the individual pieces. Maybe Sarah Belle Reid: course. Brian Funk: we have a pot and pan that sounds similar, but once we start opening cabinets and drawers and then we got a whole new palette. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. And also how you, you know, what you do to those samples, right? Like, do Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: you use the slam of the cabinet door as like a little percussive hit or do you time stretch it or do you, you know, speed it up so it's this like really high little piccolo sound, you know? That's where it gets really... really individualistic. Some people, some person might hear a melody in the way that the doors close and make a whole piece about that and someone else might not hear that and instead they might hear like a really awesome rhythm and they might run with that. So I think yeah music is everywhere. Anything is an instrument. It all comes back to curiosity to me. It's just a big loop. It's Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: a big feedback loop. Yeah. Brian Funk: Positive feedback loop. Do you use any particular gear to do this? Do you have like some giant rig with furry microphone windscreens? Sarah Belle Reid: Honestly, it depends if I'm in my, so when I can, I bring things into my studio just so that I can record in a more acoustically dampened space, but often if I'm out and about, I'm just using a simple Zoom field recorder, nothing fancy. It does, it could certainly be a fancier setup, but I. I haven't upgraded anything yet and it's actually been years and it works well. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: Most important thing to get, which I didn't get early on, is like a good wind sock of some kind or windscreen, because that's the Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: one thing that will really rain on your parade when you're trying to record outside is the KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Brian Funk: Yeah, just that low rumble of the wind. Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: It's more, in my opinion, it's more important to get the sounds and like, be creative with them than it is to get the most perfect, Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: high quality, pristine recording. Um, Brian Funk: I say the same exact thing. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: You're better off to have it. And you have a Sarah Belle Reid: I, Brian Funk: phone probably Sarah Belle Reid: that's what Brian Funk: on Sarah Belle Reid: I was Brian Funk: you. Sarah Belle Reid: just about to say is I've even, I've even recorded samples on my phone. I don't do that anymore because I have this zoom recorder, which is great, but that's how I started was just using my computer mic, like a built-in mic and my phone and just voice memo and everything. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And. It's fine. It's a place to start. Brian Funk: I was doing a class a week ago with Berkeley. And I was like, oh, I'm going to do this. I was trying to sample my voice through this microphone, but for whatever reason, my interface wasn't connecting with my Sarah Belle Reid: Mm. Brian Funk: computer. So I had those Apple AirPod, not Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: these ones, but the ones with the wire. So they were old ones when they still had the eighth inch jack. So however long Sarah Belle Reid: Hmm. Brian Funk: ago that was. And I just sampled my voice through it to make an instrument that I could put inside a sampler. And I loved the quality of that cheap mic. In some ways, I almost like the bad mic better. Because once you start stretching it, repitching Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: it, weird things happen that aren't in the clean recording Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: that you can get, Sarah Belle Reid: totally. Yeah, I think it's Brian Funk: it's Sarah Belle Reid: all Brian Funk: important Sarah Belle Reid: just. Brian Funk: to just Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: get it. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly. It's just get it make start making things you can always upgrade like your gear later if you want to but start making stuff now. And you never know like you're to your point, you might end up liking it even better. You're not the first person I've heard you say who says that it's like, there's just some kind of magical quality about that. You know, kind of quote unquote crappy quality, bad recording. It's like actually Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: got some life to it, you know? Brian Funk: I find sometimes in the context of a recording, that quality helps the sound kind of stick out Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: where it doesn't get lost in all the other really nice recordings. It's got its own little texture, its own little Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: space in the mix that you can really dial in. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: So you've got a course that's about to start up, you said, Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: learning sound and synthesis. Sarah Belle Reid: that's right. Brian Funk: So that sounds like fun after we've been talking a little bit about some of Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: your philosophies in there, I'm sure. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah. Yeah. That is, it's a, so it's next round is starting in late August and it opens every year, twice a year. But it's, as the name suggests, learning sound and synthesis. It's a class that's all about sound design and making music with modular synths and You know, that could be to do sound design for video games, or you could, you know, take the class to make your own music, your own electronic music, dance music, experimental music. A lot of folks are in the class with a focus on film scoring. Basically, what I teach is a very, very comprehensive how-to and synthesis technique. course that focuses on universal synthesis concepts rather than specific instruments because I'm really interested in giving people you know, the technique and the knowledge that they need to use any instrument they want, whether it's a virtual synth that runs on their computer or the synth inside of Ableton or some Moog desktop synth or a keyboard synth or whatever. And I don't want to, you know, lock people out of the class by saying, sorry, if you don't have this one particular Euro Rack, you can't come and learn. So I teach using VCV Rack, which is a really amazing free modular synth. program that runs on your computer. And I really, really love it. And yeah, we start there and people go a million directions Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: from, excuse me, from there. Brian Funk: Well, that's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: cool because so much of it is based off these building blocks. Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: And that's something I didn't know when I first tried to play a synthesizer. I didn't understand that there were these commonalities Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: between all of them. They all looked like different spaceships to me. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And I felt like I had to learn every single one, but soon you start to see the pieces and how they Sarah Belle Reid: That's Brian Funk: come together. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly, that's the thing that all of my students say and it's so exciting when they get to that point. Usually a month or a month and a half into the class, people start saying. oh wow, like I just realized how this instrument that I've had over here collecting dust on my desk works. Like I get it now because, you know, we basically, the philosophy behind the class is kind of like the under the hood approach to learning synthesis. So instead of learning how the... you know, the Moog Matriarch works or how any of those instruments work on the top level, you're learning how each individual component works, like really deeply what's up with oscillators. Not just, yeah, we know they drone, but like, did you know that you can, you know, use oscillators for 50, 100 different things, and then they can be chaotic and noisy and, and droney and all of this and like what's up with LFOs and how can we use as them as sound sources and how can we use them as control sources and all of that. So by the time you go through that, you not only know how VCV rack works and how modular synths work, but you go back to your various other instruments that you have and it all starts to click because you're like, wait a second. I get it. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: it's an oscillator, it's an LFO, I know how those things work, that's a filter, and you're able to make more music with them than you were able to before, which is really exciting. Brian Funk: Hmm. Yeah, you just start to see the Sarah Belle Reid: You Brian Funk: kind Sarah Belle Reid: start Brian Funk: of main Sarah Belle Reid: to see Brian Funk: idea. Sarah Belle Reid: all the connections, yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Right. Do you have a favorite synthesizer? I mean, Sarah Belle Reid: Ooh, Brian Funk: I would say you'd probably Sarah Belle Reid: I don't Brian Funk: go Sarah Belle Reid: know. Brian Funk: modular stuff, but I don't Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: know. Sarah Belle Reid: I am a big fan of modular and in particular, I mean the reason why I love modular is because of the flexibility. I also love, you know, I have a Hydra synth, which is a keyboard based poly synth, I love it. But the reason why I love it is because of all of the flexibility that I learned on my modular that I can bring into how I patch it and how I customize Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: the sounds Brian Funk: gotcha. Sarah Belle Reid: on the HydroSynth because it's very flexible. These days, what I've been really enjoying are very small modular synths. I, you know, very limited. I've put together, I don't know the exact size, but just a tiny little case, two rows, fits in a backpack. And I'm just living with it as though it is a fixed. signal path synth, or not fixed signal path, but like those are the modules. They're not swappable. Brian Funk: of the component. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: and Brian Funk: right. Sarah Belle Reid: you do, of course, make your own patches within them, but I'm not changing them out every couple weeks, which is something that some folks do a lot of in the Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: modular world. And I've really enjoyed that because it feels more like my trumpet or like a keyboard where it's an instrument that I can really get to know on a really deep level that's not constantly changing. And I like the smallness of it because it forces me to be really creative and limitations, you know, are my best friend in the studio is just reduce the limitations, again, less is more. And I find that by, you know, giving yourself fewer options, you have to make better creative decisions and you try things that you probably wouldn't try otherwise. Brian Funk: Yeah, I think that is what creativity is. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: making do with what you have. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: you're in this box. Not necessarily in the module, but Sarah Belle Reid: That's the trouble Brian Funk: I don't Sarah Belle Reid: with Brian Funk: f- Sarah Belle Reid: modular synths, though, is that you can always grab another one, right? So Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I always try to encourage people to keep it small and just see what you can get out of that, because there's always something you haven't tried before. Guaranteed. Brian Funk: Yeah, I don't feel particularly creative when I'm scrolling through 9,000 kick drum samples, trying to find the one I'm going to use in my song. And I can imagine what modular it's, I've not gone too far down that road, mostly out of fear of getting carried away. Sarah Belle Reid: Um, yeah. Brian Funk: Because I've been in front of walls of them. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: it kind of like, what? And then to just know that you can always get a new one and swap it out. It's, I don't know. I think I'd go bankrupt real fast. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, that's why I mean in like, I totally hear you and you're not alone. Brian Funk: Hehehe Sarah Belle Reid: But that is a big reason why like the class that I teach and the community around it, the learning sound synthesis community is it's really, we're really focused on like making music first Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: and foremost. It's not so much about the gear. Of course, the gear is a big part of the discussion because we're learning how it all works and, and people need advice on what, Music is always the number one goal, and I think that really helps. For one, it feels more inclusive. It feels more welcoming. It's like you don't need the big sprawling synth in order to make awesome music with modular synths. You can open up your phone and get like a modular synth app and like, that's fantastic. Start with that. It's perfect. VCV Rack's free. I love it. It sounds really great. There's actually a ton of VCV Rack modules that are direct emulations of digital modules that you can get in Euro Rack format. And they run the same code. and they Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: sound fantastic. So it's a perfect place to start and for many people it's not just a starting point, it's the perfect setup for them, you know, for years. I use VCVRC all the time, especially when I'm on the road. I Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: just don't want to travel with like a massive, you know, rig. Brian Funk: Yeah, that's a big consideration when you're playing out and touring especially. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Like what are you carrying around with you? I know for myself, like a lot of times I'm going alone too. And if I'm going into like New York city and Brooklyn, I want to be able to carry everything in one trip Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: because I'm lucky if I park a half a mile away from the club. And I don't want to leave half my gear in the club and Sarah Belle Reid: No. Brian Funk: half in the car. So I've made it that that's been a really helpful limitation for me. Like what can I fit on this table and what can I carry? Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Because for a little while I was getting interested in it was wasn't modular, but it was modular ask with MIDI controllers because you're kind of. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, lots of pieces. Brian Funk: You got all your little pieces together, so you keep adding to that next thing you know, like you're out of control real fast. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I understand. Brian Funk: Yeah, I'm sure it's so I'm guessing having that kind of limited space is practical as well as great for creativity. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, exactly. I honestly think it's a win-win. I mean, some of the best shows I've ever played have been the ones that I've been forced to. really, really re rethink things because I'm like, okay, I'm flying. It needs to fit in the overhead. I also have a trumpet, so I'm really limited, right? It's like my trumpet case has to come on the plane. So then I'm like, what can I slide into that carry on, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: you know, or into my backpack or something like that? But again, it just. It gets you thinking in a creative way. It gets you looking for sound everywhere in a more resourceful way. And I've found it really liberating. Brian Funk: Yeah, I agree. I've gone to almost no guitar pedals. You know, just really a tuner and a little bit of a noise gate. And it's just so nice. I used to rely on the delay pedal and the reverb and all these other things to make my parts interesting, but taking that away forces you to really pay attention to what you're playing Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and the music much Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: more than... pressing buttons. Sarah Belle Reid: We like pressing buttons too though, it's okay. Brian Funk: It's fun. Sarah Belle Reid: Ha ha Brian Funk: There it Sarah Belle Reid: ha. Brian Funk: is. It's, there's nothing like it, but it, it's such a slippery slope. I think for myself, um, I avoid the like pain of trying to create by adding gear and then complicating things, you know, maybe pain's not the right word, but like, kind of like the fear of. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I don't know if I'm going to make anything good. So if I can kind of just fiddle with stuff, Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: I'm a little off the hook. Sarah Belle Reid: I can relate to that for sure. You can make something great though. Brian Funk: I will Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: try. Sarah Belle Reid: you got it. Brian Funk: Yeah. So where can people sign up for the course? You also have a free one we should mention too. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah! Brian Funk: That was really cool. I've been watching a little bit of that. You have great energy too. I think that's a nice, you know, reason why people should come to you is that you're excited about it. And you transmit that really well over the videos. Just, hey, this is really cool everyone. You should check it out. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, well, I teach because I am genuinely passionate about teaching and about this topic. Like, I am all fully in and in love with what I teach. And so, yeah, I'm happy to hear that comes through. Yeah, I really do it. I do it because I love it. I'm also really passionate about helping people get started in electronic music and not only get started, but go deep into electronic music and make awesome music. Who... who for whatever reason feel like they're not cut out for it. That's a big kind of personal mission. If you, for whatever reason, just feel like you're not smart enough, or you feel like, oh, I'm the least techie person in the room. I've heard that so many times. Or they've got it and I don't have it. Maybe you believe in yourself, but you're just. intimidated, super normal, super common. And modular synthesis is an intimidating thing to get into because there are a million options and it can just be daunting, right? Like where do Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: I start? What do I need first? But at the same time

Dr. E. MICHAEL HARRINGTON: composer, musician, consultant, professor, is a course author and professor at Berklee Online.  Harrington served as expert at the U.S. Copyright Office and World Intellectual Property Organization's symposium “Copyright in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” at the Library of Congress on February 5, 2020.  He created the Coursera / Berklee College of Music Copyright Law In The Music Business class/MOOC which has been taken by students from 171 countries from Afghanistan to Malaysia to Zimbabwe, the Berklee Online Music Business Capstone course, and  the Berklee Online Graduate Music Business Law class.  He  has taught courses in music business law, music entrepreneurship, licensing, music business capstone and the future of the music industry at Berklee Online (2012-present).  He was Music Business Program Faculty Chair at SAE Institute Nashville from 2014-2017.  He taught intellectual property law and courses in music, music and entertainment industry, social media and technology at William Paterson University (2008-2012).  He was Professor of Entertainment & Music Business in The Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University (2000-2008), and Professor of Music Theory, Composition & Ethnomusicology in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (1985-2000) at Belmont University.  He was the 1995 Jemison Distinguished Professor of The Humanities at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, an endowed chair funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Jemison Family and UAB.  He is a member of the Leadership Music Class of 2007 and has also taught at the University of Miami, the University of Pittsburgh and The Ohio State University.  Eight (8) interviews of Harrington were selected as Shockwaves NME Awards 2010 Videos and are posted and streamed from NME.com.On January 25, 2019 at the 2019 NAMM in Anaheim, he served as an Expert Witness for both defendants and plaintiffs in two trials:  Marvin Gaye “Let's Get It On” v. Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud” and Radiohead “Creep” v. Lana Del Rey “Get Free” with superstar attorneys Mark Rifkin (Happy Birthday; We Shall Overcome) and Bill Loaf (Lucasfilms) interrogating him.  Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen), Andrew Scheps (Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Czarina Russell (Hans Zimmer) served as judges.Host - Trey Mitchelltreymitchellphotography IGfeeding_the_senses_unsensored on IGtrey mitchell: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074368084848Sponsorship Information or submitting for interviews -  ftsunashville@gmail.comTheme Song - Damien HorneTake It From Me @damienhorne

In this episode with Brian Funk, we discuss the many strategies from his book 5-Minute Music Producer and ideas for overcoming writer's block. Brian Funk is a songwriter, producer, and Ableton Certified Trainer from New York. Brian hosts The Music Production Podcast and teaches music production for Berklee Online. His Ableton Live Packs are used by producers all over the world, and Brian's new book, 5-Minute Music Producer: 365 Music-Making Activities gives songwriters and producers short activities to overcome writer's block and develop professional workflows. Follow Brian Below: brianfunk.com YouTube.com/brianfunkmusic instagram.com/brianfunkmusic Soundcloud.com/brianfunk Purchase Brian's new book on Amazon HERE. Join the newsletter to get early episode access + free Ableton Live downloads: https://www.liveproducersonline.com/newsletter

Matt Jones is a musician, producer, and songwriter. I got to know Matt while he was taking my Ableton Live Sampling class at Berklee Online. Late this summer, he organized and participated in the Monterey Songwriting and Production Retreat. Several musicians of various backgrounds (and strangers to each other) gathered at his home to write and produce music together. In this episode, I speak with Matt about the songwriting retreat, how he helped foster a creative spirit, and the lessons he learned along the way. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, or watch on YouTube Show Notes: Bo Burnham Inside - https://www.netflix.com/title/81289483 Brian Funk Website - https://brianfunk.com Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc  Intro Music Made with 16-Bit Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/16-bit 5-Minute Music Producer - https://brianfunk.com/blog/5minute Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/podcast Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at my store with the code: PODCAST - https://brianfunk.com/store Thank you for listening.  Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider! And don't forget to visit my site https://BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

The transcript for this episode is available here. About Molly Joyce Composer and performer Molly Joyce has been deemed one of the "most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome" by The Washington Post. Her music has additionally been described as "serene power" (New York Times), written to "superb effect" (The Wire), and "unwavering" and "enveloping" (Vulture). Her work is concerned with disability as a creative source. She has an impaired left hand from a previous car accident. The primary vehicle in her pursuit is her electric vintage toy organ, an instrument she bought on eBay that suits her body and engages her disability on a compositional and performative level. Her debut full-length album, Breaking and Entering, featuring toy organ, voice, and electronic sampling of both sources was released in June 2020 on New Amsterdam Records, and has been praised by New Sounds as "a powerful response to something (namely, physical disability of any kind) that is still too often stigmatized, but that Joyce has used as a creative prompt." Molly is a graduate of The Juilliard School (graduating with scholastic distinction), Royal Conservatory in The Hague (recipient of the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund Grant), and Yale School of Music. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Disability Studies from CUNY School of Professional Studies and is an alumnus of the National YoungArts Foundation. She has studied with Samuel Adler, Martin Bresnick, Guus Janssen, David Lang, Missy Mazzoli, Martijn Padding, Christopher Theofanidis, and has served on the composition faculty of New York University, Wagner College, and Berklee Online, teaching subjects including Disability and the Arts, Music Technology, Music Theory, and Orchestration. She is currently a Dean's Doctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia, focusing on Composition and Computer Technologies. Related Links: Molly's Website "Perspective" Album on Bandcamp Molly Joyce on Spotify Molly Joyce on Apple Music RAMPD: Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities This episode's Ask Judy question came from @otto_types on Instagram. If you'd like to submit a question for Ask Judy, send it to media@judithheumann.com or DM Judy on Instagram or Twitter. Check out the video version of this episode on Judy's YouTube channel.  Intro music by Lachi. Outro music by Gaelynn Lea.

Brian breaks down the process and intentions behind arranging and orchestrating Neil Diamond's catalog for the stage. If you are listening to this on Apple Podcast, we'd love it if you could share your love in a review! ABOUT BRIAN USIFER Brian Usifer is a New York City based music director, pianist, orchestrator/arranger, producer and composer. Most recently, he was the Music Director of Disney's Frozen on Broadway. He is currently the Associate Music Supervisor of The Book of Mormon on Broadway. Prior to that he was the Music Director of Kinky Boots on Broadway, which won 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Orchestrations. The cast recording won the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album and the West End production won an Olivier Award for Best Musical. He was the Associate Music Supervisor as well for Kinky Boots on Tour, London and in Toronto. Brian has played in the Broadway and off-Broadway orchestras of …Spelling Bee, Avenue Q, Altar Boyz and The Book of Mormon. Other theatre credits also include Chess at the Kennedy Center and more than 5 years of regional theatre including Follies at Barrington Stage Co. Concerts include Bobby and Kristen Lopez: American Songbook at Lincoln Center and Clay Aiken “Tried and True DVD,” for PBS. As an orchestrator, Brian's projects have included The Heart of Rock and Roll featuring the catalog of Huey Lewis at the Old Globe, Swept Away with music by the Avett Brothers at Berkeley Rep, Mr. Chickee's Funny Money with music by Motown legend Lamont Dozier at The Atlantic Theatre, May We All featuring the music of Florida Georgia Line and other country stars, Into the Wild by Niko Tsakalakos and Janet Allard, A View From The River by Will Van Dyke and Jeff Talbott, Fantasy Football: the Musical?, by David Ingber, Pool Boy by Niko Tsakalakos and Janet Allard, The UnCivil War by Rick Kunzi, Barnstormer by Douglas Cohen and The First Snow by Niko Tsakalakos. Shows in development include Hearts Beat Loud featuring music by Niko Tsakalakos with a book by Ngozi Anyanwu, Galileo featuring music by Zoe Sarnak and Michael Weiner with a book by Danny Strong, and A Beautiful Noise featuring the catalog of Neil Diamond opening on Broadway in December 2022 On TV, he wrote additional orchestrations for NBC's Annie Live, The Wiz Live, and can be heard as a pianist on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon. As a composer, Brian's latest project is a songwriting collaboration with Colin Donnell called The Nineteen Twenty. Their album, Chaos + Cocktails, is available for sale on iTunes and everywhere music streams. As a producer: The First Snow, Archetype, Chaos + Cocktails, May We All He holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from SUNY Fredonia and a Masters degree in Collaborative Piano from NYU and a Specialist Certificate in Orchestration from Berklee Online. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: A Beautiful Noise on Instagram: instagram.com/abeautifulnoisemusical A Beautiful Noise on Facebook: facebook.com/ABeautifulNoiseMusical Get Your Tickets: abeautifulnoisethemusical.com brianusifer.com @thenineteentwenty --- Come say hi to us! Facebook: @PageToStagePodcast @BroadwayPodcastNetwork Instagram: @PageToStagePodcast @TheMaryDina @BrianSedita @BroadwayPodcastNetwork Twitter: @TheMaryDina @BwayPodNetwork YouTube: @PageToStagePodcast @BroadwayPodcastNetwork #PageToStagePodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Molly Joyce has been deemed one of the “most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome” by The Washington Post. Her work is concerned with disability as a creative source. She has an impaired left hand from a previous car accident, and the primary vehicle in her pursuit is her electric vintage toy organ, an instrument she bought on eBay which engages her disability on a compositional and performative level. Molly's creative projects have been presented and commissioned by Carnegie Hall, TEDxMidAtlantic, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Bang on a Can Marathon, Danspace Project, Americans for the Arts, National Sawdust, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, National Gallery of Art, Classical:NEXT, and in Pitchfork, Red Bull Radio, and WNYC's New Sounds. She is a graduate of Juilliard, Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Yale, and alumnus of the YoungArts Foundation. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Disability Studies from City University of New York, and is a doctoral student at the University of Virginia in Composition and Computer Technologies. She has served on the composition faculties of New York University, Wagner College, and Berklee Online.

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Suzanne Hanse.  The Founding Chair Emerita and Professor of Music Therapy at Berklee College of Music. She is President of the International Association for Music & Medicine and Past President of the World Federation for Music Therapy and the American Music Therapy Association. She teaches a course for Berklee Online, Music Therapy Techniques for Wellness:  https://online.berklee.edu/courses/music-therapy-techniques-for-wellnessYou can find her blog: Music Strategies for Wellbeing on  http://www.suzannehanser.com/And singer songwriter Heather Woods.  Heather is a music therapist that has served oncology patients for nearly 10 years. Heather is passionate about sharing the power of the arts to facilitate mindfulness, self-compassion, and joy, and offers evidence-based creative programs to encourage empowered and authentic self-care.  http://www.heatherwoodsmusic.comThe power of vulverabilityWriting what you care aboutHolding space for other peopleQuestions to ask a patient or cowriterhttps://www.scarletkeys.comhttps://www.instagram.com/skeys2021/https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Songwriting-Music-Meaning-Emotion/dp/0876391927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PP55NU6E9ST6&keywords=the+craft+of+songwriting&qid=1659573139&sprefix=the+craft+of+songwritin%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1Engineer: Peter Sykes https://www.petersykesmusic.comThe show's theme song "What's in a Song" was co-written with Otto GrossRecorded and performed by Otto Gross: @OttoGrossProduction (instagram)@OttoGrossMusic (Youtube, facebook, TikTok)https://biglink.to/ottogrossmusic

Today’s program is a rebroadcast from July 25, 2022. In today's edition of Bring It On!, hosts, Clarence Boone and Liz Mitchell spend the hour with Bryant Scott, the CEO of Tyscot Records, and John P. Kellogg, who is a Berklee Online music business instructor and the former assistant chair of the Music Business/Management Department …

Producer Erin Barra is the director of popular music at Arizona State University and course developer for Berklee Online. She reflects on her journey through the music industry, explains what led her to start Beats By Girlz, and explains why she relies on Focusrite on stage and in the studio.

In today's edition of Bring It On!, hosts, Clarence Boone and Liz Mitchell spend the hour with Bryant Scott, the CEO of Tyscot Records, and John P. Kellogg, who is a Berklee Online music business instructor and the former assistant chair of the Music Business/Management Department at Berklee. Bryant and John are here to educate …

ENDO on the Virtual Sessions presented by The DJ Sessions 6/27/22 About ENDO - There are individuals who are early adopters, then there are those who are innovators. Mike Henderson aka ENDO falls into the latter category. A ubiquitous figure in electronic dance music for going on two decades, ENDO is a musician, a DJ, a teacher, an inventor, and a visionary. A graduate of Berklee College of Music with a degree in electronic music production and music synthesis and a lifelong drummer, ENDO's technical know-how is an inherent gift.  He serves as a product specialist for the always innovative audio technology company iZotope and as an online DJ instructor for his alma mater, Berklee Online. He has an ongoing relationship with Native Instruments as a certified Native specialist, having trained the likes of Carl Cox, Grandmaster Flash, Danny Tenaglia, and David Morales on Traktor. He has contributed greatly to the accuracy of Mixed In Key's algorithm.    He is also the co-founder of the evolutionary mapping platform, MIDI Monsters, and the booking platform, AGNT. “My sets are all harmonic progression,” says ENDO. “Every song is in key, or intentionally out of key, modulated harmonically. You can subliminally play with people's emotions with harmonic mixing. There's all this tension, then you give them the harmonic release. You have to tell your story. You have to find the songs that speak to you. That's the art form, the intuition of a good DJ.”  ENDO has unleashed his patented brand of harmonic mixing at events across the globe including: Pacha, Marquee, and Cielo in New York, Sound in Los Angeles, Guvernment and Coda in Toronto, Stereo in Montreal, Spybar in Chicago, Heart in Miami, Sands in Ibiza, Club Vertigo in Costa Rica, as well as BPM Festival in Mexico and Electric Festival in Aruba. He has played alongside John Digweed, DJ Craze, Roc Raida, Victor Calderone, Danny Tenaglia, Carl Cox, Chus & Ceballos, Eric Prydz, to name just a few, and perhaps given them a much-sought-after technical tip or two in the process. About The DJ Sessions - “The DJ Sessions” is a Twitch/Mixcloud "Featured Partner” live streaming/podcast series featuring electronic music DJ's/Producers via live mixes/interviews and streamed/distributed to a global audience. TheDJSessions.com The series constantly places in the “Top Ten” on Twitch Music and the “Top Five” in the “Electronic Music", “DJ", "Dance Music" categories. TDJS is rated in the Top 0.11% of live streaming shows on Twitch out of millions of live streamers. It has also been recognized by Apple twice as a "New and Noteworthy” podcast and featured three times in the Apple Music Store video podcast section. UStream and Livestream have also listed the series as a "Featured" stream on their platforms since its inception.  The series is also streamed live to multiple other platforms and hosted on several podcast sites. It has a combined live streaming/podcast audience is over 125,000 viewers per week. With over 2,300 episodes produced over the last 12 years "The DJ Sessions" has featured international artists such as: BT, Youngr, Sevenn, John Tejada, EDNO, Miri Ben-Ari, Plastik Funk, Arty/Alpha 9, Party Shirt, Superstar DJ Keoki, Swedish Egil, Robert Babicz, Jens Lissat, Martin Eyerer, Alex Bau, Elohim, Hausman, Yves V, Ayokay, Leandro Da Silva, Jerry Davila, Shlomi Aber, The Space Brothers, Dave Winnel, Cuebrick, Protoculture, Chris Drifter, Artento Divini, Jarod Glawe, Camo & Crooked, ANG, Amon Tobin, Voicians, Bingo Players, Coke Beats, Mimosa, Yves LaRock, Ray Okpara, Lindsey Stirling, Mako, Still Life, Saint Kidyaki, Distinct, Sarah Main, Piem, Tocadisco, Nakadia, Sebastian Bronk, Toronto is Broken, Teddy Cream, Mizeyesis, Simon Patterson, Morgan Page, Jes, Cut Chemist, The Him, Judge Jules, Patricia Baloge, DubFX, Thievery Corporation, SNBRN, Bjorn Akesson, Alchimyst, Sander Van Dorn, Rudosa, Hollaphonic, DJs From Mars, GAWP, Somna, David Morales, Roxanne, JB & Scooba, Kissy Sell Out, Khag3, Massimo Vivona, Moullinex, Futuristic Polar Bears, ManyFew, Joe Stone, Reboot, Truncate, Scotty Boy, Doctor Nieman, DJ Ruby, Jody Wisternoff, Thousand Fingers, Benny Bennasi, Dance Loud, Christopher Lawrence, Oliver Twizt, Ricardo Torres, Alex Harrington, 4 Strings, Sunshine Jones, Elite Force, Revolvr, Kenneth Thomas, Paul Oakenfold, George Acosta, Reid Speed, TyDi, Donald Glaude, Jimbo, Ricardo Torres, Hotel Garuda, Bryn Liedl, Rodg, Kems, Mr. Sam, Steve Aoki, Funtcase, Dirtyloud, Marco Bailey, Dirtmonkey, The Crystal Method, Beltek, Dyro, Andy Caldwell, Darin Epsilon, Kyau & Albert, Kutski, Vaski, Moguai, Blackliquid, Sunny Lax, Matt Darey, and many more. In addition to featuring international artists TDJS focuses on local talent based on the US West Coast. Hundreds of local DJ's have been featured on the show along with top industry professionals. We have recently launched v3.1 our website that now features our current live streams/past episodes in a much more user-friendly mobile/social environment. In addition to the new site, there is a mobile app (Apple/Android) and VR Nightclubs (Oculus). About The DJ Sessions Event Services - TDJSES is a WA State Non-profit charitable organization that's main purpose is to provide music, art, fashion, dance, and entertainment to local and regional communities via events and video production programming distributed via live and archival viewing. For all press inquiries regarding “The DJ Sessions”, or to schedule an interview with Darran Bruce, please contact us at info@thedjsessions.

Andrea Stolpe is a Los Angeles-based songwriter, author, performing artist, and educator. She has worked as a staff writer for EMI, Almo-Irving, and Universal Music Publishing, with songs recorded by artists such as: Faith Hill, Julianne Hough, Daniel Lee Martin, Jimmy Wayne, and others. Andrea teaches Songwriting at the University of California's Thornton School of Music, and is the author and instructor of Berklee College of Music's online course Commercial Songwriting Techniques. For the past 10 years Andrea has taught melody, harmony, and lyric writing courses for Berklee Online.

Well its finally done! I have been pursuing a course in music theory and composition from Berklee Online and it has been an amazing learning experience. After 11 weeks, we were required to use everything we learnt to compose a score for the opening two minutes of the movie "Last time i saw Paris". While past assignments have been a lot easier to handle, this one has been the first proper test of knowledge and skill. Navigating through several constraints and figuring out the problems encountered on the way was not easy but now that I'm on the other side, I see the purpose of this assignment and i love the fact that they insist that you figure out the problem by yourself and we are here incase you need any help. So here is what i came up with and i do hope you like it. Do consider giving us a rating on the podcast platform of your choice. Cheers.

Arooj Aftab began getting notice with a viral cover of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah” more than 15 years ago, but with two Grammy nominations, she has finally arrived (and quit her day job at Genius.com). Her 2021 “Vulture Prince” album is a stunning work that frequently reaches transcendence. In this wide ranging interview, she discusses playing White Stripes covers, how she composed some of her most poignant music, and taking classes with Berklee Online.

I had a great conversation with David Franz about performing on stage and in the studio, how young artists can connect with their audience and mixing tracks. Please go find him on social media and thank him for sharing his knowledge today. https://youtu.be/DKDef3ulpe8 David FranzMusic Producer, Content Manager, Record Label Presidentwww.undergroundsun.comwww.undergroundsol.comwww.davidfranz.com https://www.instagram.com/davidfranzmusic/ https://twitter.com/DavidFranzmusic https://www.facebook.com/davidfranzmusic https://www.youtube.com/user/UndergroundSunVenice https://soundcloud.com/davidfranzmusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/3nDTXCTuKVI0jTYjFCIcLb?si=Jlrhh1BGRhCVlwXiB4pJRw&dl_branch=1 David Franz is a California-based music business entrepreneur, producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, and educator. He is the founder of the record label Underground Sun and co-founder of Underground Sol record label. David writes, produces and engineers music for a wide range of artists in the Soul, Rock, Electronic, Pop, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Americana genres. His music has been heard in prime time TV shows, multi-million dollar movies, advertisements for Fortune 500 companies, and through speakers around the world. He also hosts “Underground Sun Live with David Franz,” a monthly music-based live stream variety show and docu-series, and “The Mixdown,” a web series about music production and music business. Author of Producing in the Home Studio with Pro Tools (the first book about using Pro Tools), he has written other books, articles, and online courses for Berklee Online and Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning) about Pro Tools and music production. A graduate of Virginia Tech and Berklee College of Music, David's passion for music and education has led him to become the Content Manager for Audio+Music for Lynda.com and LinkedIn, where he worked with musicians and audio professionals to create world-class online training courses on digital audio workstations, music production, songwriting, music business, and many other audio and music-related topics. He has expanded his skill set and is now applying his content management skills in the areas of Video and Motion Graphics for Lynda/LinkedIn Learning.

Calvin West is a musician and producer who specializes in music lyric videos. Calvin creates lyric videos for artists and labels that capture the artistic vision of the music. He also offers music mastering services. Calvin and I had a great conversation about the evolution of album art and how there are new digital extensions available to musicians. We got into how musicians can give their fans more material to delve deeper into "the world" of their release. Calvin and I also explored the challenges around music production in general. Listen on Apple or Stitcher or Google or Spotify; watch on YouTube Support the Podcast on Patreon and get exclusive mini-episodes - https://www.patreon.com/brianfunk Show Notes: Calvin West Website - https://calvinwest.com Calvin's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/calvin.west/ Keaton Hanson - https://keatonhenson.com Spotify Canvas - https://canvas.spotify.com/en-us EQ or Compress First Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/blog/eq-or-compressor-first Loudon Stearns of Berklee Online - https://college.berklee.edu/people/loudon-stearns Brian Funk Links: Website - https://brianfunk.com Intro Music Made with Juno 106 Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/juno-106 Ableton Live Pack Archive - https://brianfunk.com/blog/ableton-live-pack-archive Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/podcast Support the Podcast on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/brianfunk Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at my store with the code: PODCAST - https://brianfunk.com/store Thank you for listening.  Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider! And don't forget to visit my site https://BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

Descubriendo Bandas (Jose Luís Lapas Navarro @lapasmusic S01 E016) Con más de 20 años de experiencia, nuestro invitado de hoy ha sido nominado al Grammy y Grammy Latino, ha participado en más de 500 producciones de artistas, entre ellos: Susana Zabaleta, Genitallica, Mamady Keita, Los Claxons, Celso Piña, Plastilina Mosh, Banda Machos y muchos más. Asi como también con bandas independientes importantes como: Quiero Club, 60 Tigres, Mississippi Queens, Niña, Young Tender, entre muchos otros. Estudió Producción e Ingeniería en Audio en SAE London y en Berklee Online, es un gusto poder platicar hoy con José Luis Navarro, mejor conocido como Lapas.¡Disfruten! Tendremos episodios en inglés y español, invitados compositores, productores, músicos y creadores de tracks que cuentan historias que inspiran. ¡Gracias por ser parte de El Composer Podcast! Encuentranos también en Instagram en @elcomposerpodcastEste episodio está patrocinado por El Luchador Audio, empresa productora de beautifully crafted loops, samples, tools y contenido exclusivo para la creación de música y con enfoque en la promoción del talento musical latino.Gracias, thank you por estar con nosotros, gracias por hacer, escuchar y/o apoyar música, si todo bien no se les olvide suscribirse y nos escuchamos en el que sigue. m.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/elcomposerpodcast/donations

A music business entrepreneur, producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, and educator. He's releasing his first solo album in September and is the founder of the record label Underground Sun and co-founder of Underground Sol record label. He writes, produces and engineers music for a wide range of artists across numerous genres, with his music having been heard in prime-time TV shows, multi-million dollar movies, and advertisements for Fortune 500 companies. He also hosts a monthly music-based live stream variety show and docu-series, and a Web series about music production and music business. He is the author of Producing in the Home Studio with Pro Tools (the first book about using Pro Tools) and has written other books, articles, and online courses for Berklee Online and Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning) about Pro Tools and music production. His passion for music and education has led him to become the Content Manager for Audio+Music for Lynda.com and LinkedIn.

It was such an honor to get to interview the CEO of Berklee Online, Debbie Cavalier! Debbie has been in the online education industry for 18+ years and has a true passion for integration technology with the music education world. In this episode we discuss the future of the Elearning world and the huge opportunity that it present for online music teachers. Enjoy! Special Berklee Online Discount As a part of this episode, Berklee Online is offering a 10% discount to their online courses. https://welcome.online.berklee.edu/teachmusiconline-partner-courses.html (Click here to learn more and sample courses! ) Have you left a review? Please take a moment to review this podcast on iTunes, your reviews mean so much to me! Your reviews also help other teachers find the podcast and know that it's one that can benefit their business as well. Click the link below to review the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/teach-music-online/id1522634913 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/teach-music-online/id1522634913) Don't forget to watch my free masterclass! Learn how to DOUBLE your studio income without wasting a cent on ads! If you're looking for serious studio growth, help with social media, and studio branding then you need to watch my free class. It won't be available much longer! Click the link below to check it out. https://www.teachmusic.online/training (https://www.teachmusic.online/training)

EPISODE 60! After this past year, any episode that ends in zero is reason to celebrate for me. My guest today is Nashville based music supervisor, Hannah Madison Taylor. She's doing what she loves, but her journey has been far from a straight line. A self-described, "accidental actress," Hannah moved to LA for work in the music biz, but found herself cast in all kinds of acting roles. Besides playing parts in Pitch Perfect and Cowgirl Up, she was also a hand double for Kelly Clarkson in a Nokia Lumia commercial. During her time in LA, Hannah also worked as the Director of Creative Licensing at Redshift Entertainment, and since moving to Nashville, she finds her work in music supervision and licensing. Throughout the course of our conversation, we chat about Hannah's childhood work as a ballerina and what it was like growing up on a farm in Texas. She also talks about her first sync placement, and we get a detailed description of all the different roles a music supervisor plays when working on a film, television show, or commercial. There's not much in the entertainment industry that HMT hasn't dipped her toes in. To add to the already lengthy resume, she's currently taking classes in copyright law through Berklee Online. If you enjoy the podcast, please let others know, subscribe or write a review. 5 star ratings and reviews on Apple Music as well as subscribing to our YouTube Channel help us out the most!! IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST IN A MONETARY WAY, I'M NOW ON PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/andysydow You can support my artist career and this podcast for as little as $3 per month. The price of one cup of coffee helps keep this podcast on its feet. Any and every contribution is greatly appreciated! Guest Links: HMT Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatgirlhmt/ Twitter: @ThatGirlHMT Episode Music: Theme: “Secret Rodeo” by Andy Sydow Theme 2: "Theme 2" by Andy Sydow Sponsor Music: "Wicked Dreams" by Andy Sydow Interview Outro Music: “Who I Want To Be” by Andy Sydow Sponsors: A huge thanks to our sponsors, PQ Mastering and Narrator RF. For any sponsorship inquiries, shoot me an email at middleclassrockstar@gmail.com http://pqmastering.com https://narratorrf.com

NEWS The audio legend Rupert Neve passes away Record labels de-emphasizing radio promo as music consumption drops GUEST Producer/multi-instrumentalist and educator David Franz Check out Underground Sun Producer/multi-instrumentalist and educator David Franz wrote the very first book on Pro Tools as well as creating online courses for both Berklee Online and Lynda.com.  Besides running his label Underground Sun and EDM artist development and even production company Underground Sol, David is also the content manager for Lynda.com and LinkedIn Learning, where he works with creative professionals to create courses (including yours truly) to create courses on the platform. During the interview we spoke about writing the first book on Pro Tools, doing a deep analysis of John Coltrane, his Airstream trailer-based studio, the technique of melding electronic and live musicians together, recording an album remotely, and much more. On the intro I’ll take a look at the passing of the great Rupert Neve, and how labels are changing their emphasis away from radio promotion. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epGuid: 'https://bobbyoinnercircle.com/?p=2759', rssUrl: 'https://bobbyoinnercircle.com/feed/podcast/', backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

Our guest this week is producer, songwriter, tech educator, entrepreneur, and activist Erin Barra. Currently Erin is the Director of Popular Music at Arizona State University. Prior to that she wrote multiple courses for Berklee Online and worked as an associate professor at their campus in Boston for several years. We discuss the importance of being a lifelong learner, understanding your personal narrative, and how learning music can be the skeleton key to unlocking your full potential. She is passionate about empowering her students through music and technology and fights to be sure that all people have equal access to the opportunity to learn. In this episode, we'll dig in on... Transitioning from artist to educator by accident Understanding your Personal Narrative Creating musical moments from chaos The anti-todo list Life-Long Learning Technology Justice In person vs online learning Ableton Live Learn More About Erin Barra... Website: www.mammabarra.com,  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinbarra (https://www.instagram.com/erinbarra) Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErinBarra (https://twitter.com/ErinBarra) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinbarramusic (https://www.facebook.com/erinbarramusic)  Beats By Girlz: www.beatsbygirlz.org Intro to Ableton Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/ableton-live (Here) ASU Popular Music Program: https://music.asu.edu/degree-programs/popular-music?dept=392823&id=1 (Here) Our Sponsors: Sign Up for Complete Producer Network https://www.completeproducer.net/share/z_LJhc8M_GtKZ1OX?utm_source=manual (HERE)! Get on the Waitlist for The Beats Accelerator Process https://knowledge.completeproducer.pro/bapwaitlist (HERE)! Get on the Waitlist for The Mix Accelerator Process http://mixaccelerator.com/ (HERE)! Other Links: https://www.travisference.com/coffeecup (Give Me a Coffee Cup!) Support Progressions on https://www.patreon.com/progressionspod (Patreon)! Sign up for the https://mailchi.mp/87a95bbfe666/progressionspod (Progressions Mailing List) https://kit.co/travisference (Gear and Recommended Reading List) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/progressionspod/ (https://www.instagram.com/progressionspod/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProgressionsPod/ (https://www.facebook.com/ProgressionsPod/) Twitter: https://twitter.com/progressionspod (https://twitter.com/progressionspod) Learn more about Travis: https://www.travisference.com/ (https://www.travisference.com/) Credits: Guest: Erin Barra Host: Travis Ference Editor: Travis Ference Theme Music: inter.ference

I'm so honoured to be featuring Pat Pattison on todays podcast. He is a professor at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches lyric writing and poetry. In addition to his four books—Songwriting without Boundaries, Writing Better Lyrics, The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, and The Essential Guide to Rhyming, —Pattison has developed five online courses for Berklee Online: three on lyric writing, one on poetry, and one on creative writing, all available through Berklee's online college. He's worked with hundreds of Grammy award winning songwriters including Gillian Welch and John Mayer with a passion for music and philosophy he has a lot of deep and insightful thoughts around music and songwriting. If your wanting to work on your songwriting at any level this podcast has something for everyone. In this podcast he blesses the listeners with a special gift... make sure you get your blessing on Songwriting and listen now! :) Featured topics from this podcast: Berklee College - Pat Pattison Passenger | Let Her Go (Official Video) Anything Goes - Cole Porter John Mayer - Your Body Is A Wonderland The Unanswered Question 1973b YouTube Berklee College - Songwriting Course Get in contact with Pat: Website Facebook Pat's Store (books and more)

With a wide ranging skill set as a music and tech educator, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist, entrepreneur, and activist, Erin Barra has been a key player in many projects.An authoritative voice in music, tech, and education, Barra is the Director of Popular Music at Arizona State University, Executive Director of Beats By Girlz, course developer for Berklee Online and former Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She has a wide breadth of experience developing and teaching curriculums at the open-source, K-12, and collegiate levels, several of which are the most popular and highest rated courses on their respective platforms.As a community organizer, she has the ability to mobilize and build from the ground level up, creating and funding several organizations and efforts at the intersection of art, technology, education, and equity. She currently sits on the board of Women in Music, and has spearheaded research regarding women in the music industry in partnership with Berklee's Institute of Creative Entrepreneurship, which won the Innovation award at SIM São Paulo.Specializing in composition, performance, and creative music technology application, she has worked with and represented companies such as Ableton, ROLI, MusicTech, Moog and iZotope. She has presented at Loop, NAMM, SXSW, Moogfest, Gearfest, KIEM, Future of Music Coalition, Yale's EXPOL, and Re-Mixed Media Festival. Check out Barra's work as an artist on all platforms, and catch her live electronic performances on YouTube or right here.Learn more about Lyte.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A chip inside your head that charges your credit card every time you think of a song? A return to serfdom in a capitalist society? A fun and free-for-all approach where communities join together to make music? What is the future of online crowdfunding for music? We answer that in Episode 5 of this five-part podcast from Berklee Online, and we also answer how our artists did with their campaigns.

Who on this podcast is going it alone? Who has a little help from their friends? In Episode 4 of this five-part podcast from Berklee Online, the four artists we're profiling get closer to the ends of their campaigns, and reveal who is totally Do-It-Yourself, who works with managers, who works with consultants, who works with publicists, and who works with a hip-hop version of the Power Rangers.

What will you offer to make your crowdfunding campaign successful? A vial of your own blood? A skydiving excursion in diapers? A chance for your fans to sign your nude body? Answer: As you'll see from the artists we're following, you'll do whatever gets your fans to fund your Kickstarter, PledgeMusic, or Indiegogo campaign! In Episode 3 of this five-part podcast from Berklee Online, it's all about the perks. 

Meet the artists as they kick off their crowdfunding campaigns, tell their stories, sell their music, and get ready for their close-ups in their intro videos. In Episode 2 of this five-part podcast from Berklee Online, we'll get into why they think they deserve your money and get to the bottom of why they chose the platforms they did: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or PledgeMusic.

Ride shotgun through the history of crowdfunding with those who made that history, including Mark Kelly from Marillion, Ted Leo, Molly Neuman from Kickstarter, Jayce Varden from PledgeMusic, Brian Camelio from ArtistShare, John Trigonis from Indiegogo, and more! In Episode 1 of this five-part podcast from Berklee Online we'll get into the controversial who did what when of online music crowdfunding, and introduce you to our four featured artists.

 Article: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/04/the-art-of-using-cover-songs-to-grow-your-audience.html   Dave Kusek is the founder of the New Artist Model, an online music business school for independent musicians, performers, recording artists, producers, managers, and songwriters. He is also the founder of Berklee Online, co-author of The Future of Music, and a member of the team who brought midi to the market.   In this episode Mike and Blasko explore the points laid out by Dave Kusek in his article “The Art of Using Cover Songs to Grow Your Audience”. He writes:   Many artists may have conflicted feelings about cover songs, for although they can be fun to play and offer an easy way to connect with your audience, it can also be irritating when cover songs are all an audience wants, or when they get more attention than original compositions. Here we look at the best way to make cover songs work for you.   1. Make it Your Own Best way to get people who hear your covers into your original music? Put your own unique spin on every song you cover. That means bending the songs stylistically to fit with the kind of music you play and write.    2. Subscribers Over Views There's this fascination with “viral” videos in the music industry. But a ton of views on a cover aren't worth much on YouTube unless you can get in touch with those people again. We've seen a lot of musicians hit it with a crazy viral video only to release an original music video on deaf ears.   So instead of thinking, “How can I get 10,000 views,” get yourself in the mindset of, “How can I get as many viewers as possible to subscribe?”   Setting up suggested videos or playlists on your YouTube channel can be a great way to get people to continue watching, which increases the chance they'll actually subscribe.   Don't Be Afraid to Use Call to Actions  And that leads us into the next point – utilizing call to actions. So what exactly is a call to action? It's basically just you directly asking your viewers or listeners to take some further action. Maybe it's watching another video, or subscribing to your channel, or entering your contest, or clicking the link in your description box.   If you're releasing covers on YouTube, you can easily use “cards” to suggest other videos your viewers can watch next. As you upload your video, you'll be able to add cards in the “Cards” tab across the top of the upload screen. Use cards to suggest other cover songs or even original songs when people reach the end of your videos.    We encourage you to email any questions or comments to askblasko@gmail.com Find Blasko on Twitter and Instagram: @blasko1313 Find Mike Mowery on Twitter and Instagram: @mikeoloop Missed out on Mike's 60 Days to Signable course? Head over to www.outerloopcoaching.com to stay on top of the latest courses and news from Outerloop Coaching. Get $30 your next order at ArtistFlags.com using the code: mentalflag ManageMental is part of the Jabberjaw Media Network. www.jabberjawmedia.com      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Article: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/03/how-to-run-a-successful-crowdfunding-campaign-10-tips.html   Author: Leah Waldo is the Curriculum Manager for massive open online courses at Berklee Online. She is a Berklee College of Music alumna and received her Master's in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.    We're digging in to the subject of crowd funding and tips on how to successfully run one. Mike most recently had great success with the Darkest Hour crowdfund campaign and we explore Leah Waldo's article “10 Tips to Run a Successful Crowd Funding Campaign” with the following points laid out in the article:     Grow Your Email List and Social Media FollowersSet a Realistic GoalIdentify Potential Donors Outside of Your Email List and Social Media FollowersMake a Compelling Video That Tells your StoryDon't Sell Yourself ShortDon't Give Too Many OptionsMake Your Fans Feel Like They Are on the Journey with YouKeep in TouchBe GratefulIf at First You Don't Succeed, Try and Try Again    We encourage you to email any questions or comments to askblasko@gmail.com Find Blasko on Twitter and Instagram: @blasko1313 Find Mike Mowery on Twitter and Instagram: @mikeoloop   Mike is opening his knowledge base of the business to aspiring musicians! Join his webinar “Sixty Days To Signable” at signup.outerloopcoaching.com   Get $30 your next order at ArtistFlags.com using the code: mentalflag Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast, Kevin interviews Mike King, instructor and CMO of the Berklee Online school of music.  Mike has written and teaches four courses for Berklee Online:... So what's it take to be Indie anywho? www.cdbabypodcast.com