So “Music Tech” is an umbrella term and essentially describes the technology behind modern music which is why it’s a relatively new degree course. My first year involved quite a bit of maths, hardware electronics and electronics theory alongside computer programming. It doesn’t sound too musical at all but it’s useful to know if you have an interest in understanding how the inside of a guitar pedal works or how to model the behaviour of a violin string using a computer.
All of that aside, the best bit about studying Music Tech is getting in the recording studio and creating a track. Currently, I’m working on a drum recording exercise as part of my course which looks at the different ways of using microphones creatively to capture the drum kit. We have to submit a composition using recorded material by the end of term, so I’m going for a classic disco/funk sound inspired by the likes of Chic, Gwen McCrae & Funkadelic.
I think that there is a slight stereotype associated with Music Tech students but it’s probably because we are creatively-minded people. Yes, many of us use Apple Macs, but it’s not simply because they look cool – some types of industry-standard music software only exist on OSX. Equally, if your passion is music, you’re likely to know a lot about different genres due to studying techniques used by recording artists. Does it therefore make you a hipster if you like listening to recordings of 1940s jazz standards in order to better understand and appreciate the recording techniques of the time? I don’t think so.
I make Indie Dance/Nu Disco music under the alias of L&NER (pronounced landt-ner) so studying Music Tech has definitely helped me to understand what makes a good mix and how to be creative when it comes to recording music. I’m working on an EP at the moment which will be released at the end of November on my soundcloud (l-ner), and this term I’m DJing for the ‘Warmup to Kuda’ and ‘Warmup to Tokyo’ at University Radio York.
My ideal career would be to have a home studio, create music and travel around the world. Realistically though, you have to be very lucky to make a career out of music. Therefore, I’m looking to get a day job somewhere within the music industry, maybe even creating electronic music-related products such as hi-fi speakers/drum machines/synthesisers. I would still want to continue with my music production as a side project and who knows – maybe one day it will become my day job!
Excellent read, wish I’d considered doing something like this.