Digital Music Production

Our Digital Music Program, which we call The Rec Room, is a comprehensive set of courses for anyone looking to work in digital music production. Instructor Milen Petzelt has crafted a broad range of workshops, sessions and ongoing training for anyone looking to make their own songs, write for TV, movies, or videogames, and anything in between! We are proud to offer this program using the absolute latest in technology, techniques and know-how.

The Rec Room program aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools to record, orchestrate, mix, master, and finally release their very own finished song. We go step by step through each part of the process so that students gain a deep understanding of the fundamental concepts and practices of every stage of digital production.

Students start with learning how to navigate the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) in both a PC or Mac environment, proper workflow, and tips and tricks to keep the student from getting lost in the overwhelming options. Then we move onto the recording stage of production.

At this stage, composers work on digital orchestration techniques such as using sample libraries, the fundamentals of MIDI sequencing, expression and timbre modulation, and most importantly: making your orchestra sound like a real orchestra!

We also cover techniques found in contemporary music, such as sampling and remixing a song, programming drums and synths, using modular synthesis, and sonic effects.

The program also covers the basics of live audio recording such as microphone types and their uses, proper flow of an audio signal chain, proper gain staging to ensure headroom, and other topics related to the recording of a real instrument.

We also cover basic mixing techniques where students learn how to make their songs crisp, clear, and really pop. Here students will learn about equalization, limiting, compression, parallel compression gating, side-chaining, and many other useful techniques to give the mix that final polish.

Finally we release the student’s song to the world! Students can learn how to publish and distribute their songs online through Toronto Music Alliance’s label, or how to publish under their very own independent label!