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Sean E. Ruiz
04/06/14
CE Report
“The Electric Tempered Clavier”
Intro
Writing music is my passion so for my Culminating Experience I decided to produce an album
of instrumental electronic music. Music that I get inspiration from many different things such as my
surroundings, the people I meet, or my emotional state at that time. I’m an impressionist type of artist so
my goal is to have the listener get lost into their imagination when they listen to my music. I’m a believer
that music is a language of the world and I plan for the world to one day hear, understand, and enjoy my
music.
The Work
“The Electric Tempered Clavier” is the title of my debut EP which consists of 8 tracks. My
artist/DJ name is Sean000, (pronounced Sean Thousand). I composed all original tunes for the album.
One half with adrenaline pumped electronic/progressive house tracks, the other half smooth and chill
ambient hip hop beats. I released the album digitally on July 2nd in a span of four days, releasing two
tracks a day. I used this method so that listeners could carefully listen to the tracks, instead of listening
to them all at once.
On June 28th I performed a few of my tracks live at a venue in Valencia, Spain called Radio
City. Each track was pre sequenced in performance mode using Ableton Live 9. I triggered different
sections of the tracks using the Ableton Push, which I also used to control various effects. Along with
that I used another controller which was the Axiom 49 MIDI keyboard. I played chords and different
polyrhythmic sections of my tracks with this. The dominant genre of my performance were mainly
progressive house tracks, due to it being the more popular genre in Spain.
I collaborated with two of my MTI colleagues Will Clark and Timothy Shull Jr. during my
performance as well. They helped control the visuals and lighting effects for my show. Will Clark passed
out some cool shades to the audience for a trippy lighting experience. The plan was to take the listener
not only on a musical journey but a visual one to provoke the imagination of the audience.
Innovative Aspects
I’m a perfectionist when it comes to the music I make and since this was my debut
album into the music world my plan was to make it epic and very different from the usual, then give it to
the audience live. I wanted the work to be a new experience for the listener in every setting such as
partying, casual everyday use, lounging, etc.
The goal is to put the listener in a scenario that makes them feel some kind of emotion,
something they can relate too. For example a song starting off ambient and gradually building up too an
epic drop for the party atmosphere, or something with mellow jazzy chords for a lounging and groove
feel. I also like to incorporate alternate breakdowns in my songs such as mixtures of triphop, trap and
jungle beats to spice up the sound of Progressive House the way people never heard it before.
The work contributes to the profession by bringing a new sound to electronic music. I really like
the smoothness of jazzy/neosoul chord progressions which is typically different from the usual
electronic scene, kind of bringing like a disco feeling back but with much more adrenaline. Also, with my
classical piano background it helps me to create a large variation of syncopated and poly rhythms. I
believe my sound will be a new experience for the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) community.
New Skills
Stephen Webber’s DJing and Turntabalism class along with the knowledge obtained by the
Ableton Guru Ben Cantil’s Electronic Dance Production classes took my musicianship chops to a whole
new level. With Stephen I learned how to scratch, cue, and mix tracks with vinyl and the NS7. I will
now use this skill to help build and promote my artist name “Sean000” as a DJ/Producer.
Ben Cantil’s Ableton class was a major weapon for my arsonal. In my opinion its the best
production program out there and the more time I get experience with it and have it mastered I feel like
I will be unstoppable. These traits will help me progress as an artist and also help me generate new
ideas down the the path towards my career. I also learned how to use the Ableton Push which was a
major accomplishment because I never used a controller to perform live. It was an amazing experience
and I also plan on taking that to new heights.
Challenges
I came across a few challenges in my journey. One of them to start was the preparation of my
album. As I said earlier I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my music and kept becoming unpleased
with my tracks. So I would often go back and change them. I had to keep pushing back my release
dates until I was satisfied with all of my tracks.
Another challenge was trying to find a venue to perform at in the city of Valencia. Normally you
would have to book a performance two months in advance but with having to keep pushing my album
back I couldn’t do so. Luckily, I was able to get in with Will Clark’s “Slamtronix” at Radio City and
perform as my own act. This turned out to be perfect because it was a show basically given by the MTI
program.
Also during my performance there was a technical difficulty with my ⅛ inch laptop plugin fromt
the Mbox. I learned that I shouldn’t depend on that which it could be the worst thing to rely on during a
performance. This was an unexpected challenge and a lesson learned. With the help from one of
professors Ian Kagey, was able to continue with my show with no problem.
Future Plans
I plan to keep pushing and promoting this album online for the upcoming months in hopes of a
bigger audience. I will keep performing every chance I get in venues back in the states. Once I feel I’ve
adopted a large enough fan base I will begin start on a second album which will be larger, more like an
LP. The second album will be more experimental and less mainstream. In another year I plan on
mastering the Ableton program and the Push for complete dominance in my music. My sound will
become more precise and alive, my goal is to have an electronic but organic sound. Similar to one of my
favorite producers as known as “Flying Lotus”.
Conclusion
I want to conclude this paper by saying this was a phenomenal all around learning experience
for me. My main reason for applying for the Music Technology Innovation Program was to learn how to
establish myself as an artist, aside from being an engineer and it worked. I now know exactly what I
need to do progress as an artist in the Music Industry. I actually wish the program was two years so that
we didn’t have learn everything in such a cram. I am very grateful to represent the first class of Music
Technology Innovation as a scholar and will encourage others with similar interest about the program.
04/06/14
CE Report
“The Electric Tempered Clavier”
Intro
Writing music is my passion so for my Culminating Experience I decided to produce an album
of instrumental electronic music. Music that I get inspiration from many different things such as my
surroundings, the people I meet, or my emotional state at that time. I’m an impressionist type of artist so
my goal is to have the listener get lost into their imagination when they listen to my music. I’m a believer
that music is a language of the world and I plan for the world to one day hear, understand, and enjoy my
music.
The Work
“The Electric Tempered Clavier” is the title of my debut EP which consists of 8 tracks. My
artist/DJ name is Sean000, (pronounced Sean Thousand). I composed all original tunes for the album.
One half with adrenaline pumped electronic/progressive house tracks, the other half smooth and chill
ambient hip hop beats. I released the album digitally on July 2nd in a span of four days, releasing two
tracks a day. I used this method so that listeners could carefully listen to the tracks, instead of listening
to them all at once.
On June 28th I performed a few of my tracks live at a venue in Valencia, Spain called Radio
City. Each track was pre sequenced in performance mode using Ableton Live 9. I triggered different
sections of the tracks using the Ableton Push, which I also used to control various effects. Along with
that I used another controller which was the Axiom 49 MIDI keyboard. I played chords and different
polyrhythmic sections of my tracks with this. The dominant genre of my performance were mainly
progressive house tracks, due to it being the more popular genre in Spain.
I collaborated with two of my MTI colleagues Will Clark and Timothy Shull Jr. during my
performance as well. They helped control the visuals and lighting effects for my show. Will Clark passed
out some cool shades to the audience for a trippy lighting experience. The plan was to take the listener
not only on a musical journey but a visual one to provoke the imagination of the audience.
Innovative Aspects
I’m a perfectionist when it comes to the music I make and since this was my debut
album into the music world my plan was to make it epic and very different from the usual, then give it to
the audience live. I wanted the work to be a new experience for the listener in every setting such as
partying, casual everyday use, lounging, etc.
The goal is to put the listener in a scenario that makes them feel some kind of emotion,
something they can relate too. For example a song starting off ambient and gradually building up too an
epic drop for the party atmosphere, or something with mellow jazzy chords for a lounging and groove
feel. I also like to incorporate alternate breakdowns in my songs such as mixtures of triphop, trap and
jungle beats to spice up the sound of Progressive House the way people never heard it before.
The work contributes to the profession by bringing a new sound to electronic music. I really like
the smoothness of jazzy/neosoul chord progressions which is typically different from the usual
electronic scene, kind of bringing like a disco feeling back but with much more adrenaline. Also, with my
classical piano background it helps me to create a large variation of syncopated and poly rhythms. I
believe my sound will be a new experience for the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) community.
New Skills
Stephen Webber’s DJing and Turntabalism class along with the knowledge obtained by the
Ableton Guru Ben Cantil’s Electronic Dance Production classes took my musicianship chops to a whole
new level. With Stephen I learned how to scratch, cue, and mix tracks with vinyl and the NS7. I will
now use this skill to help build and promote my artist name “Sean000” as a DJ/Producer.
Ben Cantil’s Ableton class was a major weapon for my arsonal. In my opinion its the best
production program out there and the more time I get experience with it and have it mastered I feel like
I will be unstoppable. These traits will help me progress as an artist and also help me generate new
ideas down the the path towards my career. I also learned how to use the Ableton Push which was a
major accomplishment because I never used a controller to perform live. It was an amazing experience
and I also plan on taking that to new heights.
Challenges
I came across a few challenges in my journey. One of them to start was the preparation of my
album. As I said earlier I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my music and kept becoming unpleased
with my tracks. So I would often go back and change them. I had to keep pushing back my release
dates until I was satisfied with all of my tracks.
Another challenge was trying to find a venue to perform at in the city of Valencia. Normally you
would have to book a performance two months in advance but with having to keep pushing my album
back I couldn’t do so. Luckily, I was able to get in with Will Clark’s “Slamtronix” at Radio City and
perform as my own act. This turned out to be perfect because it was a show basically given by the MTI
program.
Also during my performance there was a technical difficulty with my ⅛ inch laptop plugin fromt
the Mbox. I learned that I shouldn’t depend on that which it could be the worst thing to rely on during a
performance. This was an unexpected challenge and a lesson learned. With the help from one of
professors Ian Kagey, was able to continue with my show with no problem.
Future Plans
I plan to keep pushing and promoting this album online for the upcoming months in hopes of a
bigger audience. I will keep performing every chance I get in venues back in the states. Once I feel I’ve
adopted a large enough fan base I will begin start on a second album which will be larger, more like an
LP. The second album will be more experimental and less mainstream. In another year I plan on
mastering the Ableton program and the Push for complete dominance in my music. My sound will
become more precise and alive, my goal is to have an electronic but organic sound. Similar to one of my
favorite producers as known as “Flying Lotus”.
Conclusion
I want to conclude this paper by saying this was a phenomenal all around learning experience
for me. My main reason for applying for the Music Technology Innovation Program was to learn how to
establish myself as an artist, aside from being an engineer and it worked. I now know exactly what I
need to do progress as an artist in the Music Industry. I actually wish the program was two years so that
we didn’t have learn everything in such a cram. I am very grateful to represent the first class of Music
Technology Innovation as a scholar and will encourage others with similar interest about the program.
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