Introduction to Electronic Music

Overview

Making Electronic Music: Your Sound, Your Way

This weekly in-person course introduces students to a range of music technologies for composing electronic music. It aims to offer less conventional approaches to creating music and sound. No prior musical ability is required — students need only bring their ideas and a willingness to explore different methods of making music.

Throughout the course, students will work with digital audio workstations, software controllers, and various music technology devices. Rather than being prescriptive or steering students toward a specific style of electronic music, the course encourages experimentation with diverse music-making methods and supports students in bringing their musical ideas to life.

By the end of the course students will have learned to:

• Demonstrate a working knowledge of digital audio workstations and their core functions for composing electronic music.
• Operate software controllers and various music technology devices to create and manipulate sound.
• Apply a range of unconventional methods and techniques to produce original music and soundscapes.
• Explore and experiment with multiple styles and approaches to electronic music composition.
• Develop and realise original musical ideas using appropriate music technologies.
• Evaluate and reflect on your creative process, demonstrating an understanding of how different tools and methods shape musical outcomes.

At the outset of the course, the tutor will hold an initial one-to-one consultation with each student to discuss their musical aspirations, prior experience, and reasons for enrolling. Based on this information, the tutor will work with each student to develop an individualised learning plan that aligns their personal creative goals with the course objectives and learning outcomes.

The course is delivered through weekly two-hour contact sessions with the tutor. Each session follows a structured yet flexible format divided into three key phases:

• The tutor will deliver a demonstration or lecture introducing a specific method, technique, or piece of music technology, such as working within a digital audio workstation, using software controllers, or experimenting with other music technology devices.
• Students will be given guided practical time to explore and experiment with the tools and techniques covered in the session.
• Students will be encouraged to apply what they have learned directly to their own musical projects, working towards realising their individual creative ideas.

Why This Course?

This course stands apart from existing electronic music provision in Scotland in several important ways.

Most competing courses tend to be built around specific software platforms such as Ableton Live or Pro Tools, or are geared towards particular career paths like sound production. While these are valuable programmes in their own right, they often require students to fit into a predetermined curriculum and work towards standardised outcomes.

Rather than prescribing a specific style of electronic music or locking students into a single platform, we introduce a broad range of music technologies — including digital audio workstations, software controllers, and various music technology devices — and empower students to explore the methods that best suit their own creative vision.

In a landscape where most Scottish electronic music courses are either highly structured college programmes with formal entry requirements, software-specific training academies, or short-term workshop series, our course occupies a distinctive position. It offers sustained, weekly engagement with a dedicated tutor, genuine personalisation, and the creative freedom to explore electronic music making without boundaries — a combination that is, based on current provision, unique in Scotland.

Find out more here: Electronic Music: Your Sound, Your Way

Courses you may be interested in

• Making Music: Film and Video Games

We run a variety of different courses throughout the year, and update our programme regularly – you can find all courses by clicking here.

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Contact us
If you have any questions about this course before you book it, please get in touch with us at shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk.