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Music Producer Course Syllabus

Below is a basic syllabus for our “Become a Music Producer” students. Group Classes adhere primarily to the below syllabus, and “One on One” private classes can be tailored to specific needs in accordance with individual strengths and weaknesses of the student.

Getting to know your Artist

• Musical Genre
• Targeting Textures and Treatments for the Artists Sound
• Focusing Song and Artist Vision
• Understanding the Artist’s Audience
• Listening and Analyzing Comparable Artists

Song treatment

• Every Song is its Own Entity
• Explaining and developing Verse and chorus elements
• The beauty of repetitive themes
• The need for a Bridge if necessary
• Developing melody
• Setting up the Chorus
• Setting up the song to be a Journey
• The Breakdown
• The Climactic Ending

Instrumental Treatment

• Focusing Feel of the Song
• Percussion- Developing drum feel for the song
• Keeping it simple
• Leaving space for the song to develop-Everyone does not need to play All The Time
• Developing Hook lines Instrumentally
• Looking at your Artist ‘s peers Instrumentally

Vocal Performance

• Figuring out the best way to work with your Artist
• Choosing Microphones for your Artist.
• Setting up an Environment for your Artist Sonically and physically.
• Making sure you understand the Lyrics and meaning of the song and your ..input into the performance.
• Vocal Production Techniques
doubling, layering, time based effects, compression, tuning

Technical Subjects:

Studio Microphones & Pre-Amps

• Microphones: styles, types, sounds and applications
• Microphone pre-amps: the hidden magic
• Microphone placement

Equalizers

• How not to overuse
• Frequencies and ear training
• Understanding frequency placement for song arrangement
• Compression:
• What it is and when to use it
• Using it as a weapon

Studio Software – Understanding Pro Tools, Logic, etc…

• Digital audio
• I/0 and d/a
• Plug ins and uses
• Timing correction
• Tuning possibilities
• Recording and mixing “in the box”

Mixing

• What is it?
• Instruments and frequency ranges
• Levels, panning and spacing
• Using EQ, compression and time based effects to create the atmosphere
for your song.
• Learning the rules then breaking them.

Introduction to Audio Engineering, (Small Class, 55 Hours)

All of our audio engineering programs have similar course descriptions, though differ in their relative degrees and intensity of theory and application.

Course description:

This 55 hour option is our entry level program where the students work in small groups with the instructor and focus on various areas of audio engineering. Program enrollment includes Avid Pro Tools software and an Avid recording system interface, the 7th edition David Miles Huber “Recording Studio Handbook” and a “Pro Tools Official Courseware Manual”.

Program time allotment:

– (45) hours of intensive “one on one” instruction with the engineer/instructor in both Cue’s control rooms and studios. Included in this time is the recording and mixing of a “real recording artist”.

– (5) hours of Learning Lab time where the student practices and hones his or her new audio engineering skills. Assignments are given along with general experimentation of various audio processing, recording and mixing software.

– (5) hours of unassisted “mixdown” time in Studio “A”, “B” or The Red Room where the student commands the helm of the “driver’s seat”. Building confidence and fluency with their knowledge of engineering in the control room is achieved most effectively through repetitive implementation of their new skills.

Topics typically covered include:

Studio setup application and theory
Microphone selection and placement
Audio signal processors : Mic preamps, equalizers, compressors, limiters, and multi-effects generators – with an emphasis on both analog rack mount units and software “plug-ins”
Analog and digital recording systems
Recording, editing and mixing
Analog and digital mixing consoles
Studio monitors and the critical listening environment
Acoustics and waveforms
Studio psychology and managing client expectations

Additionally we facilitate discussions pertaining to industry related “job and career” requirements, peripheral knowledge and skills that accentuate the applicants credentials, and a mock-up job interview with the school’s director or course administrator.

Upon successful completion of the 55 hour program, Cue Studios’ Center for Audio Engineering awards a “Certificate of Completion” to the graduated student.

After the course, the student is encouraged to schedule an internship at Cue where he or she will observe and render tasks, while gaining first hand knowledge of the inner workings of a successful recording studio business.

Schedule a free interview

If you’re serious about your audio education, call our course adminstrator at 703 532 9033 to schedule a meeting with an instructor. You’ll meet in the studio/classroom and observe first-hand the environment and equipment used in your program.

If you would like to enroll in this program, click here for our online shopping cart.