I’ve taught a Pro Tools: Editing and Mixing class at Cincinnati State for a few years now, and it really gets me thinking about how people approach audio. Each of my students learns and thinks a little differently, and so I find myself constantly approaching a subject from a different angle… which is great! It forces me to think about concepts in a way I wouldn’t ordinarily. Once I go through the shifting of perspective necessary to get a student to understand something, I find I understand it better myself, and am able to fluently work and improvise on those ideas. It increases my speed and the quality of my work.
I’ve long believed any complex subject could be learned by anybody, as long as the steps were small enough. Any time I’ve gotten confused about something it’s been because I was missing a step… either I had made an incorrect assumption, or the teacher (whether in school, or in a book, or on YouTube) had left something out. It’s a very discouraging feeling when you can’t connect the dots, especially when it’s something you’re really passionate about. Music, woodworking, coding, photography… I’m sure we’d all love to make our art faster and easier.
So although it’s pretty geeky, I find myself thinking more and more about charts, graphs, and even – Lord help me – flowcharts. Anything that helps me avoid missing any steps as I teach and work is a fascinating subject to me. I’ll spend more time than I thought possible writing a paper on digital audio theory, or putting together a Pro Tools session that demonstrates how to do seamless looping, or rearranging a flowchart that steps through the audio processing decision tree. Usually I wind up adapting or refining my approach in some small way as the concepts rearrange themselves into an ever more logical order. I haven’t found the grand unified theory that unites all students, but it’s getting there.
I’m sure some of my students (and readers!) would say that audio theory (or any theory!) can be pretty dry, but that’s only when you stop thinking of it as existing for a reason. Why do I make all these charts and graphs about EQ or compression or reverb? Because when I have what I think is a great melodic idea, but it’s not coming out SOUNDING like a great idea, I have to figure out how to make it sound like it sounds in my head. Will some reverb smooth out that sample? Can I cut out some midrange frequencies with equalization to clear out the mud? Does the choir need a little compression to push it through the mix?
So I’m beginning to see that the theoretical actually stems from the practical; I made something and now I want to make it better, so I must think about it and make some decisions on what to do based on my understanding of the problem. The more ways you have to think about a problem, the more avenues present themselves as a path to a solution. Not just a theoretical solution, but that moment when you hit play (or compile, or press the shutter button) and your genius blasts you in the face. Or something like that.
In that vein, I’ve been toying with the idea of doing some videos on my process. I’ve thought about it before, but who wants to watch people writing music? It’s mostly bad ideas and goofing around until something catches. But then I happened upon a really talented composer’s YT channel where he shows his results and talks a bit about the decisions and choices he made. It’s not watching him write in real time – thank goodness – but rather breaking down what went into the final product, and it’s fascinating. So I think I’d like to try something like that soon. I even have a piece picked out that might be of interest to some gamers.
Thanks for listening!
Very interesting post, as always! It really demonstrates how you never stop learning…truly inspiring. Trying to teach a lesson from different perspectives must be difficult, but it must make teaching more interactive and enjoyable!
My high school’s marching band season will be starting soon, and I’m going to be the pit/front ensemble section leader for a second year. One problem that I had last year was trying to teach everyone the same concept even though everyone learns differently. My goal this year is to be a more effective teacher, so I was wondering what usually works best for you when trying to teach groups of people.
~Brandon 🙂
Thanks Brandon!
Teaching a groups of people is always tricky – since as you say everyone learns differently. I try to empower my students to try to express their understanding in their own terms… a student today was making the analogy between digital audio and digital video concepts, and in addition to helping himself understand better, I also saw some other heads nodding in agreement. Sometimes asking a question of the class isn’t so you can get the answer (hopefully you already know the answer,) but to make them put the concepts together. I’m often surprised at the direction some students approach problems from… I’d never have thought of it, and sometimes it’s just a good way to conceptualize the subject, so I’ll “borrow” the approach in future lessons.
And sometimes, the approach just doesn’t work, but it’s good for everyone to go through the process and see WHY it doesn’t work. (-;
Congratulations on making section leader! My high school didn’t have a marching band, which killed me because I’ve always loved the power and discipline of the ensemble. Plus, my parents met in marching band, so I always thought it was my destiny: I actually went with them to an alumni marching band rehearsal when I was maybe 8 (guess they couldn’t find a sitter!) It was my first real experience inside a large musical ensemble, and I was HOOKED.
Let us know how it goes!
n