© Santuri East Africa
The music sector was one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic. With the cancellation of numerous live events and closing of music venues many practitioners within this sector found themselves stranded. In partnership with
Santuri East Africa, a training programme was developed to enable musicians to improve their technical skillset, venture into different music production methods and distribution possibilities. The aim was also for people in the music sector to better cope with a changing scene during times of a pandemic; and to use the knowledge and skills acquired in music production and distribution to access new markets and audiences, and to generate additional revenue through a diversified portfolio.
The
SEMA intermediate course, targeted new and upcoming music producers with basic production skills. It included modules on mixing and mastering, innovative music production techniques and performance skills, the cultural and sub-cultural contexts of electronic music, digital distribution, copyright, and career development.
Students could learn from both regionally and globally recognized educators and artists, in addition to accessing a wide array of cutting edge software and hardware, courtesy of tech companies such as Ableton, Native Instruments, ADAM Audio, Shure, Izotope and others.
The students also had the opportunity to take part in exciting extra-curricular activities which allowed them to showcase their skills and make meaningful connections of benefit to them long after completing the course.
The Advanced Electronic Music course was designed for advanced music producers. The course offered producers with a proven track record an opportunity to take their music to a new level – from experimental production techniques, building live performances, advanced mixing approaches and developing release strategies.
A third pillar of the programme was the ‘Train-the-Trainer’ which was dedicated to give music educators active in electronic music the skills and techniques to deliver even more impactful teaching. Artists who had not professionally taught before also gain essential skills for designing and delivering music education.
Participants built a toolbox of cutting-edge approaches that empowered their students to achieve better results and inspired them to greater levels of creativity and innovation.
The course was led by internationally recognized electronic music educators, working to develop an approach that was both globally relevant, and regionally contextualized.
As the project ran into its next phase, two additional beginners’ courses were introduced with each course incubating 20 participants that shared a passion for music and the desire to learn basic knowledge in electronic music production in a 4-week masterclass course.
They were introduced to music production, beat making, track deconstruction, recording and sampling, audio manipulation, basic mixing, song-writing and inspirations among other topics before concluding with a project work.
