Miramonte Music Production Class Clears the Road for Kids’ Creativity

    Computers and music will be combined when Miramonte becomes the first school in the Acalanes district to offer a Digital Music Production (DMP) class.
    After seeing that students’ love for music wasn’t reflected in enrollment for the existing choir and band classes, Carl Oser, Miramonte’s music instructor, wanted to offer a music class accessible to everyone.
    “Our hope is that it’s a class that people look at and say, ‘Hey, I could be a part of that’,” said Oser.
    Popular artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Steve Lacy use computer-based technology and editing techniques like loop, chop and reverse, which students will study. DMP is meant to serve as a student-centric environment where students can learn from the artists they’re interested in.
    “When students are behind the computer, their confidence goes up, and they get to do creative things in a low-stakes environment,” said Oser.
    Molly Stout, a junior at Miramonte, is thrilled to take an accessible music class that doesn’t require any previous skills.
    “I’ve always loved music, but I don’t know how to play any instruments,” she said. “I hope to learn some basic DJing skills and have a better understanding of the function and creation of music in the 21st century.”
    Stout isn’t the only one pumped to try the new class.
    Vincent Yu, an AP music theory student and Miramonte junior, believes DMP will be the perfect way to explore music through a different lens.
    “As someone who has played an instrument for over 12 years, it gets boring having to perform the works of other people – I’ve always wanted to try making something of my own,” said Yu.
    Oser plans to maximize students’ learning potential – like Stout and Yu’s – by teaching them with Soundtrap.
    Soundtrap was acquired by Spotify eight years ago and is a software that helps people produce powerful cloud-based music.
    “Once you use Soundtrap, anything you learn in Soundtrap can be applied to other ways of making music,” said Oser.
    A project Oser can’t wait to show students is the last unit of the DMP curriculum: Make-Your-Own Song Exploder Podcast.
    Students will reflect on interviews with artists, and they will create their own podcast episode exploring their inspiration for the music they’ve created on Soundtrap.
    “That metacognitive endeavor of them thinking about their process is really exciting,” Oser said. “And for students to see themselves as artists is really exciting.”
    Oser also envisions implementing new material and collaborations between DMP and his other music classes as the program grows. Recently, music theory and jazz band worked together for Miramonte’s musical.
    “With recorded music, there are no limits to what that collaboration can look like,” Oser said.
    Open to all grades, backgrounds and musical experiences, Oser looks forward to getting students passionate about learning from music.
    “I would love to create opportunities where people can connect with music,” he said, “because really powerful things happen when people feel like they can be who they are.”