PreSonus Education

In this blog, we hear from PreSonus Artist Nikola Nikita Jeremić and his unique game design course at SAE Institute Belgrade!

If you have ever wondered how music for games is made, then SAE Institute in Belgrade, Serbia is the place to go! PreSonus and SAE Institute Belgrade have partnered together to bring the best audio tools for everyone who’s attending Nik’s course.

The person who will teach you about the exotic world of interactive game music, is none other than PreSonus artist, Nikola Nikita Jeremić. You may have read our interviews with him about his creative approaches to his soundtracks for Starpoint Gemini series of games, so Nikita decided to gather all of his vast experience on this subject and create two 2-month courses on how to compose game music from start to finish.

Nikita approached PreSonus on behalf of SAE Institute in Belgrade with desire to teach his lessons in Studio One, so we were more than happy to provide Studio One licenses for all of his students at the course so they can use them from the comfort of their home studios.

The course is divided in two parts, basic and advanced, and each one is two months long. The lessons are held online via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The basic course concentrates on basics of game music production and vertical layering, but also serves as the training course of basics of music production in Studio One and all of the benefits that Studio One offers to composers working in game and film industry. The course is based more around practical lessons than theoretical approach, so students have a hands-on experience on how to create their own interactive game soundtrack in its basic form and how to implement it via audio middleware.

The advanced course is expanding on the subject of the basic course and going really deep into the advanced techniques of how to create your own composing and mixing template in Studio One, specifically for game music production, with even more practical example on virtual orchestration and hybrid music composition and sound designed elements.

After each course, students are required to create their own compositions by using virtual and live instruments, edit the tracks, mix them and prepare them for implementation via audio middleware in order to get their licensed certificates from SAE Institute.

This is the first course of its kind at SAE Institute Belgrade, since June there are already 11 graduates of basic course, and now, starting from 17^th of September, there are 18 students attending the advanced course.

All of us at PreSonus are looking forward to more graduates from SAE Institute who will become game music professionals on Studio One, and we are happy to be a part of their education!

• a pdf with ”Getting Started” instructions
• pdf sheet music with standard notation and tab
• a recorded version of the tune
• the same tune ”minus 1” to use a s a backing track (see more later)
• a video where I explain the different steps in this particular lesson package

• 1. First I have selected a tune with a fairly simple melody that every one can play as long as they can read a tab.
• And everybody should learn how to play simple melodies with expression and phrasing. You can’t get enough of that in my book.
• 2. A simple strumming accompaniment
• 3. A more advanced strumming accompaniment
• 4. A finger picking or stylistically appropriate accompaniment
• 5. Improvisation, what notes you can use and why. Stylistic tips and trick. This ties in with music theory, knowing your scales and how chords are constructed, etc.

Here is an example of one lesson pack broken down! (Lesson Example Files: Click Here)

• Step 1: For example, I selected Freight Train in C. Simple melody enough for the beginner to get around but also a good base on which to start a discussion with the advanced students about phrasing and the importance of the pause and space.
• Step 2: It also a song that’s easy to strum around a camp fire when camping, so we introduce basic strumming.
• Step 3: I then created the backing track as a country tune which allows for some more advanced strumming.
• Step 4: This brings in comping in the style of Luther Perkins who was the guitar player with Johnny Cash for many years.
• Step 5:  This is unlimited in scope as there’s improvisation in the country context with stylistic elements like chicken picking, double stops, playing in sixths, and the importance of practice alternate picking.

Thanks again to Mats for contributing! For More on Mats Nermark, Visit his website at: www.nermark.com

Interested in submitting a guest blog? Contact us at musiced@presonus.com

During the COVID-19 Epidemic, we have seen the amount of video calling rise rapidly all over the world. While some may have the ability to have a dedicated space to work or teach, for some they may need to make it work in more confined spaces with others around. Enter the powerful and useful Eris HD10BT Headphones!

First, for those looking for a little peace and quiet, the onboard Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) offers the ability to bring the background noise down a bit, giving you the freedom to keep your focus on your work, lessons, and more!

Next, with the power of Bluetooth connectivity, you won’t have any more cables to worry about amongst your work area. Just connect up with your Bluetooth enabled device, and you can speak and hear with fantastic fidelity and no mess! You can even use them as a simple solution for moving around while teaching an instrument!

Last, don’t forget the main feature of the Eris HD10BT, that fantastic PreSonus sound! Whether you need to casually listen to your favorite new hit, listen to video lessons, or mix your next hit, the Eris HD10BT has you covered!

And don’t forget, you’ve got all of this while reducing the background noise with the Active Noise Cancellation!

With the rapid shift to online learning many educators are experiencing due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, many are scrambling to get their home office set up and ready to continue teaching their students. While working from the comfort of your home can seem great, it can often present challenges that you don’t see coming! Today we’ll take a look at a few considerations on setting up your home teaching space, so you can help to provide your students the best education possible!

Whether you already have a defined office space in your home, or you are just setting one up for the first time, there’s a few considerations to keep in mind:

• Does it provide you with enough space to fit all of your essential items?
• Is the space free of distractions to help you increase productivity?
• If you are going to be doing video learning, does area in your background look tidy, clean, and not reveal anything you don’t want your students, administrators, or the public seeing?
• Acoustically speaking, are you in an area that sounds fairly dry with minimal natural echo and in a quiet area of your home?

Once you’ve taken things into consideration and have chosen and refined your space, let’s next consider a couple additional factors:

• If doing video, is your space lit in a way that brings light to your face, allowing you to be the focus and not your background?
  • Consider looking at a simple USB led light panel, or a led “ring” light if you need to brighten up things
• Is your webcam providing good quality video, and at an angle that appears professional?
  • Consider looking at purchasing an external webcam, allowing you better quality video, and a better viewing angle. Options such as the Logitech C920 or Razer Kiyo are great options.
• Most importantly (especially to us at PreSonus!), do you have a high quality audio solution?
  • For flexibility, simple solutions like our AudioBox USB 96 Studio Bundle or AudioBox iTwo Studio Bundle offer high quality, flexible combined audio hardware and software solutions. They include all of the cables and elements you need for capturing, editing, and listening to quality audio.

AudioBox 96 Studio Bundle

Last, let’s focus on your students!

• Are they learning to edit audio as part of their process? If so, did you know there is a FREE resource available to them?
  • It’s Studio One Prime, the version of Studio One that always FREE, and available here: https://www.presonus.com/products/Studio-One
• Are they getting the most from you as an educator?
  • Ask them how they are doing!
  • Ask them if your video or audio quality is meeting their needs!
  • Most importantly, be their champion and show them what a rockstar educator you are!

Studio One Prime

For more blog content, be sure to check back here at: edu.presonus.com

A longtime staple and early resource of online music education, MusicTheory.net has grown over time to allow teachers to find a myriad of simple and free teaching tools for teaching the basics of music theory. It often ranks in the top 5 online resources for music teachers, and every year sees updates to keep their content relevant to the ever changing environment. From Lesson Plans, to Tools, MusicTheory.net is a great launching pad for many educators across the globe.

A Sample of the Lessons available at MusicTheory.net

Be sure to check them out, and check back next week for another Friday Find!

Sometimes we come across cool things worth sharing, and we felt this was certainly worth sharing!

Check out the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Education Page, features TONS of great resources for all ages. With built in search filtering for age groups and decades, an educator is sure to find some great tools for their classroom!

Do you have a cool “find” that you want us to highlight? Shoot us a message at musiced@presonus.com and we’ll check it out!

With the StudioLive AR and ARc mixers being popular with music teachers across the globe, the current shift to online streaming as a means for teaching is rapidly growing due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our friend Gregor has put together this fantastic video showing you how to put together a simple livestream utilizing OBS and a StudioLive AR or ARc Series Hybrid Mixer/Interface!

If you are a Notion 6 user or educator looking for content to use for your classes, you should totally be taking advantage of a powerful FREE resource available to you. It’s the Notion Score Library! There’s 200 public domain scores to explore, and even to perform in real time using the NTempo tapping feature!

To download the Notion Score Library:

• 1. Login to your my.presonus account
• 2. Navigate to “My Products” and Select the “Software Tab”
• 3. Select Notion 6

• 4. Scroll Down to “Downloads” and Select the “Misc” tab.

• 5. Download the Notion Score Library .zip File, and Enjoy!!!

For more information on Notion 6, visit: https://www.presonus.com/products/Notion

It’s the winter, which means WGI Indoor Marching Percussion season is in full swing! PreSonus Education Market Manager Evan Brown happened to be at the 2020 WGI Dayton Regional Finals, and was able to catch a few Independent World Class Ensembles with their PreSonus equipment in action!

Inov8 Winter Percussion, one of the newest ensembles to be rocking PreSonus gear, showed off their 2020 program, “All I Ever Wanted”, which featured the music of the very popular Billie Eilish. Inov8’s setup consisted of ULT10, ULT15, and ULT18 Loudspeakers coupled with a StudioLive 32R Rack mixer.

Veritas Percussion performed their unique 2020 Program, “The Art of This”, utilizing their wall to wall setup of ULT15 & ULT18 Loudspeakers, and a duo of StudioLive 32R and 24R Rack Mixers.

Perennial Finalist Cap City Percussion from Columbus, Ohio brought their innovative 2020 program, “On the Outside Looking In”, making great use of their massive ULT10, ULT15, and ULT18 Speaker Setup, coupled with a StudioLive 32SX Mixing Console.

Last, Regional Independent World Champion, and longtime PreSonus users Music City Mystique from Nashville, Tennessee brought their CDL speaker rig to play with their 2020 Program: “SOL”.

PreSonus remains a dominant force in the marching arts, stay tuned here to the blog for more WGI 2020 coverage feature a wide range of ensembles using PreSonus!

Situated in Downtown Madison, Wisconsin, the Hamel Music Center is a new and vibrant addition to the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin Madison. This beautiful new space contains state of the art performance and production spaces to show case not only the University’s events, but also plays host to outside events.

With the help of our friends from Full Compass Systems, PreSonus stepped in to help outfit this space with 2 StudioLive Series III mixing consoles, a StudioLive 32 at Front of House, and a StudioLive 24 in the venues recital hall space. Coupled with a series of NSB Network Stageboxes, the Hamel Music Center has a flexible solution that is adaptable for their needs. We hear from facilities manager Brian Heller about what made StudioLive the ultimate fit for their facility.

For More Information of the Hamel Music Center, Click Here.