Welcome! This course is part of my "Composer Roadmaps" Series, which are courses that focus on the more elementary, beginner-to-intermediate end of the skill spectrum. Like the term "roadmaps" suggest, these courses are also broader in focus and are intended to take you from where you are today to the next point in your composing journey quickly.   

The material for this course was taken from the second part of my larger, 15-hour "How to Compose with MIDI and Virtual Instruments" course that I first released in 2019 (and have since updated with newer software and hardware thoughts and recommendations). Given the gargantuan size of that course, it made sense to offer the individual course sections on their own for those composers who were not looking for the entire breadth of content... at least not all at once.

In this introductory-level course you will learn:

  • Universal basics common to all DAWs, like
    • Recording and editing MIDI
    • track routing
    • FX usage
    • How to build, manage, and balance a template

  • Common ways of controlling Virtual Instrument Sample Libraries
    • velocty
    • CC
    • Automation
    • Keyswitches

  • How to understand and use different common articulation types:
    • Sustains + long articulations
    • Legatos
    • Short Articulations (note attacks, etc)
    • FX patches

  • Misc. other Concepts and Techniques
    • Handing Phrasing with samples
    • Loops and time-stretching
    • Tempo Track
    • The Grid
    • Approaches to Quantizing
    • Etc.
 
You will also have access to some MIDI files of mine to load into your own system and study in depth. 
 
Who is this course for (Prerequisites)?
  • TECH-SAVVY LEVEL: We will be doing basic software management. If you are familiar with any types of focused applications (particularly pro-level ones) like video editors, Excel, or similar, then this will likely be pretty straightforward stuff for you. 
  • MUSICIAN SAVVY-LEVEL: You do not need to be an experienced music. You do not even need to know how to read music, as we are not working in a notation-based environment.
 
 
Having shared some of what this course IS, I should probably share some about what this course is NOT.

  • It's not about software or hardware recommendations (I have a course for that)
  • It's not teaching composition (hey, I have a course for that too!)
  • It's not about microphones, pro audio recording, or notation software (I DON'T have a course for that!)
  • It's not for advanced, already-working composers (you already know this stuff)
 
 
With all that said, let's jump into it!

LESSON ASSIGNMENT: Familiarize yourself with the course architecture and interface.