Music Technology

Creating your own Electronic Music

In this series of lessons, we will:

I. Develop our ability to use ICT

II. Work effectively with a partner, contributing fairly and equally
III. Understand how Music Technology, Effects and the Structure of Music
works
You should follow this booklet through carefully as it will teach you the basic skills of
Mixcraft, allowing you to make the most of the programme.

Music won't play? Technical Problems? Go to the back of the booklet for a step-by-step
guide to getting the sound to play.
 S1 - Music Technology BHS 2015

Lesson 1
By the end of this lesson you will:

 Be able to open and use Mixcraft 7,adding and editing audio loops
 Have worked effectively with a partner, following this guide together
carefully and contributing equally to the project.

1.To launch Mixcraft 7, double-click the Mixcraft 7 icon on the desktop.

If this is the first time you have used Mixcraft 7, it will load a Demo - this will take 1-2
minutes. Once loaded, we will begin a new project.

2.Go to File -> New Project (Top left of screen)

You will see a new menu allowing you to start a new project.

3. Reduce the number of "instrument tracks" to 0, then press “OK” (This will make
things simpler later!)

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We’ll begin by dragging an audio clip of a bass line into the Main Window – that’s the big
grey grid - all audio clips will go here.

4.Click the Library tab at the bottom of the screen, then within the "Sort By" drop
down menu, select “Song Kit”.

5.You’ll see a list of song styles below; select 12-8 Blues.In the list of loops on the right,
you’ll see Bass 12 Bars. Click and drag this to bar 1 of the first Audio Track in the
empty grey grid.

Something extra to know: While hovering a loop over the grid in the Track View window,
you’ll notice two tiny white triangles; this is called the Caret.

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6.Click the green play arrow button in the transport section to hear the bass clip play;
click a second time to stop playback, or press the space bar to start or stop playback.
Note: If the clip begins playing somewhere in the middle, click the mouse near the number 1 in the
timeline (the numbered line at the top of the Main Grid window). This will relocate the Caret, thereby
changing the playback start.

7. Let's add some more audio. Back in the Library Tab, listen to ”Drums Ride 1” by
clicking the small green play arrow next to the name of the sound. Drag it into "Audio
Track 2" as shown.

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8.Now let's add an Electric Guitar sound. Still within the 12-8 blues library, select and add
“Guitar 1 12-bars” to "Audio Track 3"

Play your music so far by using the space bar or green arrow in the “transport” menu.

9.Add one more sound from the 12-8 Blues library - you can choose any you wish – Add
this to Audio track 4.

10. Let's make our music longer!There are different ways we can increase the length of
our loops and tracks.

I. Use the "+1" Loop button - Use this for "Audio Track 1 - Bass Guitar"

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 S1 - Music Technology BHS 2015

II. At the end of the loop, hover the mouse until you see a backwards and forwards
arrow ↔, click and drag to the desired length. - Use this for "Audio Track 2 -
Drum Kit" and "Audio Track 3 - Electric Guitar" until it is the same length as the
Bass Guitar Loop.

11. TheVolume of each track can be altered using two methods.

 To change the whole tracks volume, use the "Volume Slider" on the left hand
track panel - Use this to change the volume of "Audio Track 1 - Bass Guitar"

 To make gradual changes in volume, use the "automation" line running through
the centre of the track. Hover over the start of the track until you see the
crosshairs cursor. Clicking the mouse will add a "Pin". These can be dragged up
and down to increase or decrease the volume. See the picture below. Use this to
create a "fade-in" for "Audio track 2 - the drum kit" as shown.

12. Saving your work: It's time to save what you have done. Go to "File -> Save As" and
save your project in your server space (i.e. inside the "Pupils" folder located on the
desktop)

13. Finished before the lesson has ended?Explore the Library Tab in more detail. Try
searching through the menu for more suitable sounds which you could add to a piece of
music.

End of the Lesson: Please make sure you have...

I. Turned off your speakers

II. Plugged your speakers back into the MBox
III. The volume on the speakers and MBox is no higher than halfway
IV. Your computer area is tidy with your PC logged off.

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 S1 - Music Technology BHS 2015

Lesson 2
By the end of this lesson you will:

 Be able to make use of different effects and 'panning' within Mixcraft.

 Have worked effectively with a partner, following this guide together
carefully and contributing equally to the project.

1. Load your work: To ensure you can successfully load your work, you should use the same
computer as you did in Lesson 1 and the same person should log-on.
Open Mixcraft 7 and Go to "File -> Open Project". Alternatively, you can quickly find
your project within "File -> Recent Projects"

2. Using Effects:

 On Audio Track 1 (Bass 12 Bars) select the "fx" button.

 Within the pop-up menu, click the <select an effect> menu to see a full
range of effects within Mixcraft. We will be using some of the Acoustica
effects today.

 Select "Acoustica Reverb" - Under the Preset Tab, you can now choose
different settings for Reverb. Try selecting "Canyon" and play your music.
What did the "Canyon" reverb do?
Note: If you select the Solo button on the audio track toolbar, you will only
hear this track until you deselect again.

Reverb: Rooms and spaces all have

a different Reverb due to how
sound echoes and behaves in that
space. This is reproduced using a
computer.

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 Let's add some Distortion to our Guitar Track (Track 3) - Select track 3 fx
-> Acoustica Distortion and select a preset.
Don't forget to un-solo track 1 if required and solo track 3. What is
distortion?

Distortion: The volume of music is

created until the sound becomes
'damaged' or distorted affecting the
sound. Popular with electric guitars.

 Let's add Delay to our Drum Track (Track 2) - Select track 2 fx ->
Acoustica Delay and select a preset.
Don't forget to un-solo track 3 if required and solo track 2. What is delay?

Delay: The volume of music is

recorded and played back after a
short period of time either once or
several times. Can therefore be used
to create an echo effect.

 Any of these effects can be turned off again by going into the "fx" menu
and un-checking the effects box.

3. Panning: Panning means how much of a sound should come out of each speaker. The best
way to understand panning is to try it!

 Select the 3 blue dots within Track 1's toolbar. This means "Automation"

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 From the drop down menu , Select "Track Pan"

 You will see a new grey track below our Bass guitar. This is where we will
'draw' our Panning. Click on the line within the grey track to create a blue
'pin', drag the pin higher or lower to change the speaker the sound will
come out of - Aim to draw something like below...

Note: If it is difficult to hear the change between the speakers, try 'Solo-ing' the track
and using headphones.

Panning: This technique is used to help create

"Surround Sound" - Film companies will spend a
lot of time carefully working with panning to
create effects such as a helicopter flying over
your head for cinemas.

4. Finished before the lesson has ended? Explore the Effects in more detail. Try some of the
different presets and effects. What do you think they all do?

End of the Lesson: Please make sure you have...

I. Saved your work

II. Turned off your speakers
III. Plugged your speakers back into the MBox
IV. The volume on the speakers and MBox is no higher than halfway
V. Your computer area is tidy with your PC logged off

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 S1 - Music Technology BHS 2015

Lesson 3
By the end of this lesson you will:

 Demonstrate your knowledge and ability to use Mixcraft

 Have worked effectively with a partner, contributing equally to the
project and overcoming differences of opinion

Over to you!
In pairs you will create your own piece of music to play to the rest of the class.

Success Criteria:

 Create something between 30s and 1 minute in length

 Use at least 3 different audio loops
 Try to use a range of effects (fx), panning and changes of volume

Handy Hints:

1. Sometimes it is better to use fewer loops and repeat them

2. Put different loops onto different tracks - you will have more control over their volumes
and effects etc. To add a track, click the "+Track" button and select "Insert and audio track".

3. Mixcraft has an "Undo" button!

4. To check how long your music is, change the main grid to represent time instead of beats

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Lesson 4
By the end of this lesson you will:

 Perform your own Mixcraft Composition

 Evaluate your own and others work, sharing your ideas freely

How well did you work with

a partner? Did you both
contribute equally?

What did you enjoy about

this project?

Did you complete the

success criteria?

What do you like about

your music? What worked
well? Sounds? Effects?
Volume?

What would you do

differently or add in next
time?

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 S1 - Music Technology BHS 2015

I Can't Get My Sound To Work!

Try these in order, seeing if the sound works after each:

1. Are your speakers turned on? Is the volume turned up?

2. Is the sound on the computer on?

3. Are your speakers plugged into the headphones output of the MBox? Is the volume up?
4. Is the "Direct / USB" control set to USB?
5. Is the main volume turned up?

6. Restart the computer.

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