• Learn how to compose music with the industry’s leading score-creation software.
• Explore the performance possibilities with NOTION’s extraordinary playback and comprehensive library of percussion instruments.
• With additional features like NTempo and EvenTempo, you’ll learn how NOTION can give you complete control over your sound. (www.notionmusic.com)

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Analysis and transcriptions of game scores, a discussion of composition techniques for games.
Presented by Filippo Beck Peccoz and the Video Game Music Club at Berklee (vgmcberklee.org)
and Jeanine Cowen, Assistant Vice President of Curriculum and experienced game sound developer.

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Presented by Video Game Music Club (vgmcberklee.org) members Filippo Beck Peccoz, Drew Krassowski and Shota Nakama, the first half of the forum covered transcriptions and composition techniques in the games God of War, Beyond Good and Evil, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and others. Filippo discuss game composition dilemmas that do not occur in film music, such as variable transitions due to the interactivity of games. Shota discussed chordal harmonies and progressions typical in game music.

In the second half, Jeanine Cowen discussed the classic point-and-click game Grim Fandango (1998), with sound design and game cut sequences done by Berklee Alum Andy Martin, and composed by Peter McConnell. For Grim Fandango, Lucas Arts pioneered the first interactive music streaming engine, the iMUSE. It was the first tool for composers to map out branching and looping music, changing the landscape of interactive music development. She then played music from Halo 3, showing the use of the modern orchestra in game music. The forum ushered in Berklee College of Music's first Video Game Music summer program.

An in-depth presentation of all types of modulation effects including chorus, flange, phase, vibrato, tremolo, ring modulation and more!

Effects Series Part 2
Modulation
Waveform variations
Tuesday, June 17th
6:00pm - 8:00pm Media Lab

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In this part 2 of our series on effects, we took a close look at modulation and how it can be applied. At its most basic, modulation is to affect a change in something. By using LFOs (low frequency oscillators) and envelopes, we used modulation to affect a signal's amplitude (volume), frequency (pitch) and phase among other things. Through the course of the forum we looked at tremolo, vibrato, chorus, flange, phase, filters, amplitude modulation (or ring modulation) and frequency modulation.

Effects Series Part 1
Reverb & Delay
Tuesday, June 10th
6:00pm - 8:00pm Media Lab

technical explanation
analog vs. digital
common parameters
signal routing

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For those of you that were there, thank you for attending part 1 of our 2 part Effects Series forum. In the forum we covered the basics of reverb and delay, how they work, how they've been used, and gave some tips on how they can be used creatively and practically in your music productions. We listened to Neko Case for examples of plate reverb, Dick Dale for spring reverb, and Lee "Scratch" Perry for tape delay.

Check out these resources:
Free collection of sampled impulse responses for use with convolution reverb plug-ins like Logic Pro's Space Designer
Music Tech magazine is packed with great articles. Check out their online forum.
Wikipedia has two great articles on reverb and delay.

From analog tape loops to digital software, we will share some ideas to incorporate looping into your own music.
Tuesday, June 3rd
6:00pm - 8:00pm Media Lab

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The first forum of the summer started off with a bang. Blair Pershyn led off with an in-depth look at the history of looping, from the invention of analog and the development of reel-to-reel recording systems, through inovations by Bing Crosby, Les Paul and the Beatles, to analog sequencers and developments by Robert Moog, right up through turntable techniques pioneered by Grand Master Flash and others to hardware and software systems of today. Chris Fitzgerald showed how to process an audio file with Recycle, a program for making Dr. Rex files by Propellerheads, and techniques for manipulating loops in Reason. To finish the forum off, upper-semester synth student Tony Lim demonstrated Ableton Live, arguably the premiere software platform for loop based audio manipulation. He showed processing audio files for tempo changes, creating glitch effects through chopping up small portions of audio and reversing, and pitch and volume automation. Next he shared a loop processing patch he created using Max/MSP.

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Resources:
DirectX 9 Exposed Interactive Audio Development by Todd Fay
Music for New Media Composing for Videogames, Web Sites, presentations and other interactive media by Paul Hoffert
Sound & Music for Multimedia Audio Effects for Games and Interactive Software by David Javelosa
fmod.org
iasig.org

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Downloads
Forum Agenda
Technical Overview

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Former Berklee faculty member Executive VP of Product Development Jack Jarrett was on-hand last Thursday, April 3rd giving an in-depth demo of Notion. Used in Berklee conducting classes, Notion is a notation program with an intuitive interface, and realistic playback using the sounds of the London Philharmonic Symphony. Dr. Jarrett also introduced Notion's 2nd annual Realize Music challenge, a composition contest where you could have a composition recorded by the London Philharmonic Symphony.
Click here for the contest details.

NOTION software automatically plays samples from the London Symphony Orchestra, correctly interpreting all articulations and dynamics, using it's integrated score editor. Experience the NEW NOTION Conducting, which is currently being used in Berklee's Conducting Program. Jack began developing this program while he was teaching at Berklee and was able to incorporate feedback and expertise from Berklee's very own professors and students!

&bull more info...
&bull Notion Music

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For our second mixing forum of the semester, we will mix the version of Devil May Care that was recorded in the previous weeks recording forum.

general considerations

• where to start
• technical considerations
• stylistic considerations

techniques

• critical listening
• dynamics (compression vs. limiting)
• frequency control (EQ)

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On April 4th we had our second Guerilla Mixing Techniques forum. Presented by MP&E and film scoring student Livia Lin, and Learning Center staff Blair Pershyn and Chris Fitzgerald, we discussed mixing concepts, plug-ins, how they work and general uses. We explored mixing techniques and critical listening concepts.

Resources:
Here are 4 great articles from Music Tech magazine in pdf format
Secrets of Compression
Mixing a Five-Piece Band: Part 1 Drums, Bass and Guitar
Mixing a Five-Piece Band: Part 2 Keyboard and Vocals
Mixing and Equalization

We discussed about microphones, audio interfaces, cables, and stereo miking techniques and recorded a small ensemble including acoustic piano, drums, guitar, and vocals. We also tried out our new SE Electronics small diaphragm condenser mics, available to Berklee students at a discount through the vendor offers.

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An evening of film, focused on the music.
Berklee students show film projects they have scored, discussing the process.

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With our Learning Center Film Scoring contest in full swing, we took the opportunity to showcase some films that had been scored by students from Berklee. First on the program was "Boxing Behind Bars", a documentary for the National Geographic Channel about female boxers in the Thai prison system with music by Teo Wei Yong a native of Singapore. Next, Diego Ricco from Switzerland shared a short film he had scored titled "Quel Maledetto Pomeriggio"(A Very Bad Afternoon). "The Winter Men" a psychological thriller with live string and woodwind ensemble score and "Pancakes" a dramatic short with ambient music, both had music composed by Dave Gonzalez.

We invited faculty member Bill Elliott to present a behind the scenes look at recent arranging session he worked on. Movie's Rock, a major television event celebrating music and film, premiered December 7th, 2007 on CBS.

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Special guest Bill Elliott, faculty member and leader of the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra discussed his recent work for the live television special "Movies Rock" which aired in December on CBS. The concept behind the show was to celebrate a selection of music from classic films while revamping them with contemporary performers and complimentary arrangements. Bill was asked to arrange "Somewhere over the Rainbow" from the Wizard of OZ for Beyonce and to also write a version of "White Christmas" from the film of the same title, for Tony Bennett. Both of these arrangements were for large ensemble, rhythm section, woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion. Time was tight, the celebrity performers each had their own special requirements, pieces were constantly being updated and there were a host of technical issues to contend with before show time. Everything came together well in the end and the result was impressive. Many thanks to Bill for sharing his experiences with us and we look forward to having him back in the future.

Marc DeGeorge, Account Specialist from Notion gave a demo on their new software Progression. Aimed at guitarists, Progression is a tablature notation program with multiple built-in virtual instruments and amp effects.

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In support of our 4th Annual Film Scoring Contest we were pleased to once again have MOTU product specialist Dave Roberts on hand, this time to demo the film scoring functions in Digital Performer. Long used by professionals in sound for picture applications, DP has a whole host of features that make it an ideal work environment for film scoring. Dave spent time discussing different digital video formats you may encounter, locking the sequence start time to a SMPTE time, using multiple chunks in one session file, setting markers, changing time signatures, and finding tempo from markers. Thanks!

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Training Coordinator Chris Fitzgerald kicked off the 4th annual Film Scoring Contest. He previewed a trailer of the new film "H2NO!", discussed the contest, showed previous contest winning entries, and demonstrated film scoring techniques. Missed the Film Scoring Introduction Forum? Don't worry, you can get all the information here. Starting Friday, February 22, come here to download the film clip, rules and regulations for the contest. Questions? e-mail Chris Fitzgerald at cfitzgerald@berklee.edu.

Check out the contest details and the movie trailer here!

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On February 14th we had our second Guerilla Mixing Techniques forum. Presented by MP&E and film scoring student Livia Lin, and Learning Center staff Blair Pershyn and Chris Fitzgerald, we discussed mixing concepts, plug-ins, how they work and general uses. We explored mixing techniques and critical listening concepts. If you missed the forum, we have another Guerilla Recording and Mixing series on March 26 and April 2.

general considerations

• where to start
• technical considerations
• stylistic considerations

techniques

• critical listening
• dynamics (compression vs. limiting)
• frequency control (EQ)

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Blair Pershyn of the Learning Center, and Jazz Composition alumnus, gave an in-depth presentation on guerilla recording techniques. The idea behind the forum is to get the best possible recordings using just a laptop and some inexpensive gear. Blair discussed different types of microphones and audio interfaces, explaining polar patterns, frequency response, and why different mics are good for different instruments. On hand to record were musicians Richard Chen on drums, Robin Cho on piano, Roston Kirk on bass, and Yi Chou on guitar.

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Reason 4 is now available for Berklee students, and it's an amazing upgrade!

On Tuesday January 29, the Learning Center kicked off its first forum of the year with an in-depth look at Reason 4 new features. A beloved sampling, synth, effects processing and music workstation software program, Reason has made some significant improvements since version 3. Training Coordinator Chris Fitzgerald, walked through using the new Thor polysonic synthesizer and RPG-8 arpeggiator, as well as demonstrating the new Regroove mixer, and some amazing new editing features in the sequencer. If you missed the forum, don't worry. We have a dozen Reason classes covering all aspects of the program. Click here to see what we offer.

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