I had the pleasure of doing a Q&A session with Kyle
Guttmann, who spent 4 years at Manhattanville College studying music
production. You can read his thoughtful responses below.
TT: What made you decide to become a music production major?
KG: My skill set was the deciding factor. I originally
thought I would major in computer science since I've always been fairly decent
at using computers, and being a blind person who has experience inaccessible
software before, I'd be able to make a difference. And indeed lower level
programming still interests me, but in order to really be good at it the math
required is beyond me. So when I realized that I was tired of memorizing
formulas instead of really understanding what was going on in their math
program, and when I discovered that Manhattanville has a digital music
production major, it made perfect sense. I was born with perfect pitch and a
small dose of musical talent, and best of all, this music can be made by using
a computer! I can be behind the scenes, I don't have to perform.
TT: What kind of projects did you work on during your time
at Manhattanville?
KG: Many of the projects were free form since music is a
subjective medium of artistic expression, but of course they would have to meet
minimum requirements on time, number of tracks, and sounding, well, musical. I
personally stayed in the rap beat and electronic production realm, but there
were other assignments as well, like creating a soundtrack to an already
narrated poem.
TT: What was the most valuable thing you learned in the
major?
KG: The most valuable thing this major's taught me is that
versatility is important in this field.
I used to be a believer in that if you stick to the genre you're best
at, your very best work will eventually happen. However, we are in a golden age
of DAWs, (digital audio workstations,) music is easier to produce than ever
before whereas twenty years ago when computers weren't as fast it was a much
harder process. Needless to say that there is a lot of content, a lot of
competition out there. It's better to be able to score TV shows and movies,
churn out some EDM for the clubs, and also produce rap beats than just being
good and trying to improve at only one.
TT: What would you say is the most important thing to
consider before choosing this major?
KG: Are you going into this to try and achieve your 15
minutes of fame or are you really passionate about it? Nothing is a guarantee,
and you'd have almost just as much luck with succeeding trying to teach
yourself with Internet resources. Take these courses at MVille and be prepared
to learn about music theory, dissecting and analyzing symphonies chord by
chord, and also about audio engineering, e.g. the proper microphones to use in
different situations, the way your room should be set up while recording, no
parallel walls to avoid standing waves.
TT: How do you hope to use the skills you gained in the
future?
KG: Making music, putting it out there as well as freelancing
my services to help produce music for other artists.
If you’re into quality music production, be sure to check
out Get Off My Lawn Records, a co-op of artists pooling their resources to make
cool stuff! Get 10% off anything in their catalog by using the code ninja1.
No comments:
Post a Comment