"Hawkeye" Music Producer speaks to Ohdela students 

by Alesaundra Curry, Student Reporter

On January 15, 2022, the “Extended Learning” course card invited award-winning music producer, Brent Daniels to teach students at Ohdela the basics of music technology. 

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Brent Daniels’ Projects
You may not have known it, but you could have been watching your favorite Marvel movie or even playing your favorite game and noticed an interesting song and/or sound effect. That song or effect could have been one of the many works of Brent Daniels. Especially if it came from one of Marvel's new movies.

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Equipment Needed

Throughout the meeting, Brent Daniels made sure to teach us the equipment he was using to get a certain sound. Starting with a sampler all the way to a synthesizer. Daniels made sure

that if anyone in the audience had an interest in starting a career in music technology that they would log out of the meeting knowing what supplies they would need. 

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Sampler
A sampler is used to play any sound you want. Not by itself though, to get a sound onto the complex keyboard, you will need sound design. If sound design is not used the keys on the sampler will be silent until a sound is used. Once the sound is coded into your sampler it is time to play the keys it was added to make new sounds. Samplers can be used to slow down, speed up, or even reverse sounds, and so much more.

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Drum Machine

A drum machine is a machine that can make the sound of almost every single drum. A drum machine eliminates all of the types of drums you would need individually. At the press of a key, you have the sound of a bongo. The drum machine is greatly appreciated in the music technology world for its easy use and ability to blend with other instruments. 

 

Synthesizer
 A synthesizer is amazing for making robotic sound effects. Every sound programmed into this machine is made to sound as if it came straight from a video game. You can also transform your own sounds to sound this way on this machine.

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Alternatives
Daniels knew that most if not all students attending the event did not have any of the machinery he presented to us. So, he made sure at the end of the meeting to let us know how else we can create and customize award-winning sounds. Believe it or not, he said the devices we use every day such as phones, tablets, and especially laptops, can be used as an instrument. Using music technology software people who do not have access to expensive machinery can be able to make music themselves. Apple users can use a free app called Garageband, to do the same. 

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What Helped Daniels Get to This Point
Like many career paths, you don't just wake up one day with the amount of skill needed for it. Daniels reminded us of this when he told us the years of preparation he needed before he could make music for franchises like Marvel. Starting off with elementary school, when he practiced piano. Then, he went off to high school where he played in his school's band. Finally, he entered college where he got a degree in Composition Music Theory. Even after all of those years he still had to practice almost every day to build up knowledge. Unlike Daniels though, we have apps like Garageband, Simply Guitar, and many others to help us practice.

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You can learn more about Brent Daniels and his music at:  https://www.brentdanielsmusic.com/