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M-Audio Gear Helps Make Epicentre’s One-Stop Shop Music Program a True Proving Ground for Aspiring Musicians
M-Audio Gear Helps Make Epicentre’s One-Stop Shop Music Program a True Proving Ground for Aspiring Musicians
Step-by-step introduction to the music business gives youths hands-on experience in songwriting, audio production and more
Step-by-step introduction to the music business gives youths hands-on experience in songwriting, audio production and more
Do you have what it takes to be in the music business? Young adults explore the answer to this question at the Epicentre’s One-Stop Shop Music Program (OSSMP), an intensive step-by-step guide to the world of music and record production. The Epicentre, a San Diego Regional Teen Center, started offering the innovative music training curriculum to youths between 12 and 24 in June of this year.
Made possible by a grant from the Waitt Foundation, the One-Stop Shop Music Program boasts qualified musical instructors, a digital multi-track audio recording studio and professional industry-standard equipment, like M-Audio’s Radium49 and Oxygen8 keyboards.
“Being a musician myself, I know that making music depends a lot on having the right tools,” said Jim Diez, Epicentre’s music director. “We wanted to carry the type of equipment other musicians use to produce the highest quality music. Our electronic music instructor, Julio Cesar Andujar, used M-Audio equipment in his home studio and felt the Radium49 was one of the most user-friendly keyboards/MIDI interfaces out there. So we knew that was what we wanted.”
M-Audio’s industry-standard equipment helped each OSSMP student create the music they had always wanted to, but didn’t have to resources to produce on their own. “The style of music that we perform requires making beats,” explained Stephen Sluyter of the Go Project, a faith-based hip hop group. “We previously had only used other musician’s beats with our own lyrics, but now we not only have the ability to make our own beats but also to enhance the sounds and produce on CD the music exactly the way we hear it in our heads.”
One-Stop Shop Music Program youths participate in a series of two-hour classes and trainings once a week for three months. Class topics include songwriting, beginning and advanced concert production, studio and live audio engineering, music journalism and more. During these sessions, OSSMP students receive instruction from qualified experts and hands-on experience with professional-quality recording equipment. By the time each student “graduates,” they’ve learned to identify successful song structure, have received professional analysis of their music and learned to produce and record their own songs.
“The One-Stop Shop Music Program is capable of providing our students with an inside look into the music business currently not offered through traditional school curriculums,” said David Proulx, Epicentre’s program director. “With the industry’s best studio-grade equipment and software at our students’ disposal, there is virtually no limit to what we can offer in terms of studio recording to our OSSMP participants. “The only limits are those they place on themselves.”
At the end of each program, each student will have made a studio recording and produced a CD with at least two tracks. Participants will also perform a concert and learn to promote their music.
Nine students participated in the beta version of the OSSMP, which ends with a benefit concert at the Epicentre September 18, 2005. Each OSSMP student will perform their unique musical styles at the concert, from Go Project’s faith-based hip hop to indie rock to mood music. The Go Project will also perform at the San Diego House of Blues (a long-standing Epicentre partner), acting as ambassadors for the One-Stop Shop Music Program.
“Through this program, I have learned not only about scale formulas, dynamics, and song structure, but I’ve also learned to rehearse with my band more effectively, what goes into recording a demo, how to design a CD cover and band poster, what the mixing process entails, and so much more,” raved Doreen Laoang, a OSSMP participant who heads the experimental group, War and Cinema. “I would definitely recommend this program to anybody who loves and is serious about their music.”
The next OSSMP kicks off Monday, September 19, 2005. Each session can hold up to 60 participants. The program is fee-based, but scholarships are available for those who qualify. All youth with a serious interest in music are invited to attend. Contact Jim Diez at 858-271-4000 or visit www.epicentre.org for information and an application.
Made possible by a grant from the Waitt Foundation, the One-Stop Shop Music Program boasts qualified musical instructors, a digital multi-track audio recording studio and professional industry-standard equipment, like M-Audio’s Radium49 and Oxygen8 keyboards.
“Being a musician myself, I know that making music depends a lot on having the right tools,” said Jim Diez, Epicentre’s music director. “We wanted to carry the type of equipment other musicians use to produce the highest quality music. Our electronic music instructor, Julio Cesar Andujar, used M-Audio equipment in his home studio and felt the Radium49 was one of the most user-friendly keyboards/MIDI interfaces out there. So we knew that was what we wanted.”
M-Audio’s industry-standard equipment helped each OSSMP student create the music they had always wanted to, but didn’t have to resources to produce on their own. “The style of music that we perform requires making beats,” explained Stephen Sluyter of the Go Project, a faith-based hip hop group. “We previously had only used other musician’s beats with our own lyrics, but now we not only have the ability to make our own beats but also to enhance the sounds and produce on CD the music exactly the way we hear it in our heads.”
One-Stop Shop Music Program youths participate in a series of two-hour classes and trainings once a week for three months. Class topics include songwriting, beginning and advanced concert production, studio and live audio engineering, music journalism and more. During these sessions, OSSMP students receive instruction from qualified experts and hands-on experience with professional-quality recording equipment. By the time each student “graduates,” they’ve learned to identify successful song structure, have received professional analysis of their music and learned to produce and record their own songs.
“The One-Stop Shop Music Program is capable of providing our students with an inside look into the music business currently not offered through traditional school curriculums,” said David Proulx, Epicentre’s program director. “With the industry’s best studio-grade equipment and software at our students’ disposal, there is virtually no limit to what we can offer in terms of studio recording to our OSSMP participants. “The only limits are those they place on themselves.”
At the end of each program, each student will have made a studio recording and produced a CD with at least two tracks. Participants will also perform a concert and learn to promote their music.
Nine students participated in the beta version of the OSSMP, which ends with a benefit concert at the Epicentre September 18, 2005. Each OSSMP student will perform their unique musical styles at the concert, from Go Project’s faith-based hip hop to indie rock to mood music. The Go Project will also perform at the San Diego House of Blues (a long-standing Epicentre partner), acting as ambassadors for the One-Stop Shop Music Program.
“Through this program, I have learned not only about scale formulas, dynamics, and song structure, but I’ve also learned to rehearse with my band more effectively, what goes into recording a demo, how to design a CD cover and band poster, what the mixing process entails, and so much more,” raved Doreen Laoang, a OSSMP participant who heads the experimental group, War and Cinema. “I would definitely recommend this program to anybody who loves and is serious about their music.”
The next OSSMP kicks off Monday, September 19, 2005. Each session can hold up to 60 participants. The program is fee-based, but scholarships are available for those who qualify. All youth with a serious interest in music are invited to attend. Contact Jim Diez at 858-271-4000 or visit www.epicentre.org for information and an application.
