Music Producing & Engineering
Course 4: Music Fundamentals 2

In classic musical notation, time is expressed in musical units of measures and bars. Also known as meter, time signatures such as 4/4, 6/8, and 5/4, greatly influence the character, feel, and mood of a piece of music. Different notes have different values which communicate how long to hold or play each note.

From the fundamentals of musical notation in classical score format, you’ll delve into MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and notation in numerical values through the playback counter of the DAW. Such fundamentals are at the core of your knowledge base as a music producer, so dig in and absorb all you can.

You’ll learn how to define terms used to describe music, analyze music and how it works, and discuss different music formats and how they affect the sound. This course will cover beats, time signatures, meters, rests, and other musical notations. These are all foundational elements of how music is created.

Your assignment for course 4 will be to adjust the grid, time signature, and tempo of a session. You’ll create an 8-bar sequence by setting the grid parameters, bringing in instruments, and using the MIDI editor in your DAW. There will also be the usual course review, blog entry, quiz, and prep for the next session.

Objectives:

• Be able to define terms used to describe music.
• Be able to explain how music works.
• Be able to demonstrate his knowledge of music.
• Be able to analyze music by the end of the course.
• Be able to explain music formats.