On Wednesday night, NC State’s campus was alive with the sound of music production. Earlier this year, one of the most popular programs for music production, Ableton, embarked on a tour to universities across the country, and on Oct. 10, that tour made a stop at NC State’s own Hunt Library.
From start to finish, the event was packed with information, music and more. The day started with various workshops and other opportunities for students to advance their music production skills with certified Ableton trainers, and ended with an epic evening event, as Jason Evans Groth, a digital media librarian with NCSU Libraries, explained before the event.
“There were several artists there who [were] not only playing music but also showing the process for making it,” Groth said. “One of the local artists is a really talented woman named Kaanchee, who is actually a colleague of mine. She might tell her story which involves being inspired by the fact that the library had music rooms where people could make stuff. Ableton is a tool that she learned to use early on and got to practice with at the libraries, so now she helps other students learn how to use it.”
In addition to Kaanchee, a musician and visual artist based in Raleigh, a number of other artists were in attendance as well, such as Ben Casey and Sound Oracle. Sound Oracle is a producer and sound designer who has worked with many famous artists, such as Timbaland, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake.
This event was unique not only in the fact that it allowed different artists to talk about the different ways they use Ableton, but also in the fact that music production has not always been widely talked about at NC State, so there was a lot of new information for many students, according to Eli Padden, a second-year studying history.
“Music production is something that has always fascinated me,” Padden said. “[The Ableton University Tour] was awesome because it allowed me to kind of see the different processes that different people in music production use. Before this, I was only really familiar with GarageBand, so going to this event helped me branch out.”
The event inspired students to think and act more creatively in many aspects of life, but especially music production. NC State has many resources available for students interested in music, and hearing these successful artists share their stories of their experiences with Ableton can hopefully inspire students who are interested to go out and utilize the resources that the university provides for them to create something amazing. Regardless of whether or not students want to choose music production as a career path, this event will be interesting for anyone, as Groth mentioned.
“Hearing these stories of people succeeding with this program can inspire people to try something new, whether it be Ableton or something else,” Groth said. “It can inspire people to make some music or join a music group.”
The event was filled with a variety of fun and inspirational moments that students could both learn from and simply sit back and enjoy. Each student likely enjoyed many different aspects, but Padden made it clear that Sound Oracle was the highlight of his night.
“Getting to see [Sound Oracle] in action is an experience I will never forget,” Padden said. “I’m a huge Timbaland fan, so getting to learn about the style of sound design that probably went into some of those songs was awesome.”
Students interested in learning more about Ableton after attending or learning about this event can either go to the company’s website or inquire at one of the NCSU Libraries Ask Us desks for more information.
