RIYADH: A leading international sound engineer is set to hold a three-day course “Music Production: From Zero to Hero,” in Riyadh from Nov. 28, aimed at developing budding talent in the country.
The course is being offered as part of the XP Music Futures conference. “I feel a huge sense of pride, it’s very rewarding and I know it is going to be extremely rewarding for me to be able to share this information with young talent in the region,” said Marcela Rada, who is also the organizer of the conference.
Rada said that with the right tools and education students would be able to fulfil their dreams. “I believe this is going to be huge in empowering artists in the areas (where they) may have not had the opportunity to access this kind of information and tools,” she added.
Rada will lead the six-session educational initiative course along with El Fuego, the DJ and artist. Rada said it would be the first time that she offers such a course in Saudi Arabia, which would cover basics including music production and audio engineering.
Students would be able to get enough knowledge to set up their own operations at home, where they can further develop their skills. “It’s designed for beginners so it’s designed to introduce the tools whether they are hardware or software for them to continue learning on their own afterward,” Rada explained.
The three-day course is divided into two sessions a day, with the first day focusing on “the art” of recording with an introduction to techniques, Rada said.
“We are going to go over a home studio environment and what you are going to need for hardware and software. We are going to touch upon the different types of microphones and microphone techniques,” she said.
The second session of day one will then take students through music production using digital instruments and creating beats.
The first session of the second day will take participants through technical ear training, audio processors, and how to approach mixing music and processing sound.
“That is a session that is going to provide them with the tools to know what to focus on, what to research and how to train their ears so that they can approach mixing in a creative and professional way,” she said.
“The session is designed to give them the basics of hardware and how to treat the analog signal.”
The second session on day two will delve deeper into the specific processors that are available to modify sound.
“The goal of those sessions is to help the students find ways of finding their signature sound. The tools are out there, we will talk about specific ones that they may be unfamiliar with, how to research them, which ones they can use, and which ones are free and available,” Rada said.
Session one of day three would go into depth on immersive audio. “I have been doing research on immersive, or special audio, for the past three years or so and I think we have all seen the boom regarding spatial audio in music production.”
The session would also show how a songwriter, producer, or content creator could take their music to the next level.
“The last session of the last day will be about collaboration. I want to leave them with an opportunity to collaborate with each other, to explore how different talents can collaborate with each other to create something good,” she said.
“They will be able to collaborate and produce a beat and then they will receive feedback from me and their classmates and we will be able to showcase something by the end of the course.”
During her visit last year to the XP music festival as a speaker, Rada said she was approached by several individuals who were eager to learn more about music production.
“This is what inspired the course, I saw the need and eagerness to learn in the area,” she said.
“I would describe it (the Saudi music industry) as (having) very, very talented individuals that are (using) their culture and what they know from their musical influences in the region, as well as what they have been exposed to with international talent. I think that there is a combination of this very local talent influenced by local customs and tradition,” she said.
