Electronic Music Production & Mixing is for students with some musical background. Students learn to use a digital audio workstation (DAW), the software used to record, arrange, and mix music, to turn their ideas into complete electronic music pieces. Classes are split into G4–G8 and G9–G12 sections, and the course runs 35 weeks a year.

What Happens in Electronic Music Class

  • Arrangement: Starting from a motif, students build the structure of the sections and decide when the drums, bass, harmony, and lead melody each come in.
  • Timbre and synthesis: Students learn the basic parameters of a synthesizer. They see how the same melody can feel completely different with a different sound.
  • Sampling: Cutting, changing speed, and looping, to turn existing material into the student’s own sound.
  • Mixing: Basic use of level balance, panning (placing each sound from left to right), EQ, and compression, so that each part has its own place in the same track.
  • Finished output: Students complete a track that can be played as is, and learn how to export and share it.

How the Two Electronic Music Grade Bands Differ

G4–G8 focuses on learning the tools and finishing complete tracks, with relatively simple structures. G9–G12 adds more detailed mixing work and the study of styles. Students begin to deliberately imitate a particular style and create their own reworking of it.

What Background Electronic Music Requires

Students need some musical background, with a basic understanding of meter, pitch, and chords. Students with no background who are interested in sound should start with Sound Lab. Students who want to learn to write melody and harmony first should start with the Future Creators Composition Workshop.

How Many Areas One Electronic Music Seat Covers

Workshops use rolling short-term enrollment, so one seat covers 3 to 4 areas in a year. A common combination is to build listening sensitivity in Sound Lab first, then learn the tools in electronic music production, and finally use the finished tracks with short films from a film class.

Electronic Music Enrollment and Schedule

Creative workshops come in three enrollment units: full-year classes, term classes, and summer camps. This course runs as follows; dates follow the 2026-27 program guide.

  • Full-year class: 35 weeks, August 31, 2026 to May 30, 2027; once a week, 90 minutes per session.
  • Switching direction: a creative workshop seat can move between directions, so a child can try 3 to 4 areas in a year, with finished work shown and discussed with parents at the end of each stage. To switch, confirm the transfer timing with a course advisor.

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Electronic Music: Frequently Asked Questions

Does an Irvine student need a music background?

Yes. The course assumes some existing music background and builds production and mixing on top of it, so that a student's own ideas end up as a finished electronic track. The class meets in person in Irvine, with an online section running in parallel. Students with no background should start with Sound Lab, which requires none.

How does this compare with the composition workshop?

They differ in what a student ends up holding. The Composition Workshop works on melody, rhythm and harmony and ends in an original melody or short song. This course works on arrangement, production and mixing, and ends in an electronic piece.

How are Irvine sections grouped?

Into two sections, grades 4 to 8 and grades 9 to 12, across 35 weeks. Students work with peers close to their own age and stage, which keeps the pace workable for both groups, so enrolling by current grade is normally enough.

Which grades in Irvine can join?

Grades 4 through 12. Because the course asks for some music background, fit depends mainly on the training a student already has rather than on grade level alone. It is worth confirming a student's current level with the teacher before choosing a section, and the grade-by-grade guide gives a broader view.

Is a seat limited to this one subject?

No. Workshops enroll in rolling short terms, so a single seat lets a student rotate through 3 to 4 different domains over a year, with finished work at the end of each stage. Production can therefore be one interest among several rather than the whole year.