Here in the Mmmmaven Project labs, we have developed a series of youth initiatives: after-school classes and an upcoming Summer Camp this July (The “Beat Academy”). Co-Director David Day was asked to share his thoughts on the new programs
For young people music is critically important in their educational development. Music helps establish a world built on logical beauty: certain combinations lead to certain creations. The patterns of music can assist in math, science, technology, engineering. STEM itself could be boosted by music.
But how to teach this new generation about music? Are they interested in guitars or pianos? Surely instruments are important to learning music but what technologies are available to educate young people about music?
Inside the Mmmmaven Project and Beat Academy, we teach programs that youth not only enjoy, but love. The innovations of this software leave young people enraptured: push a button, make a sound; turn a dial, make a mix.
As a community, we’ve come to acknowledge the impact technology has had on the young, and, in some part, humankind as a whole. Inside the Mmmmaven Project, we teach two state-of-the-art music programs: Serato and Ableton.
Serato allows students to mix music, to “DJ.” In our rapidly-advancing world, curation is creation. With enough content that is in the digital sphere, to curate, to mix–to collage–is itself an act of creation. Serato is the most advanced software that does this with music. Different tempos, different genres, all styles, Serato allows people to create their own musical worlds to live in, share and enjoy.
Ableton is much more powerful. Ableton lets you actually create music from the ground up. Whether it is plugging in and recording instruments or creating melodies within the program, Ableton can digitally transform the sound into something more familiar or as alien as the music-maker would like. Music remains at the forefront of the digital revolution and Ableton is the program that controls this new digital world. Its power is almost hard to explain.
By teaching these technologies to the community, we are empowering it. Learning the language of music gives a foundation to learn other systems, software and languages. Educating the young in the ways and means of music is critically important.
We’ve developed programs for this exact reason.
If you are interested in having your young person take our courses, reach out to Sarah Hoffman: sarah@mmmmaven.com
More info on the Beat Academy
