Our Programme

The New School’s Music Technology programme focuses on practical, inexpensive music technology tuition for musicians, teachers and students. With the rapid development of affordable (or free) music software, technology is changing the face of music by putting more and more music-making capability – from composition to performance to recording and production – into the hands of creative musicians and educators:

• The availability of low-cost or even free music technology software now makes it cheaper for individual musicians and groups to invest in professional microphones and software to work on material in their own space – and at their own pace – than to pay expensive studio rates.
• Amateur musicians and songwriters with nothing but a computer and sound card can write, play, record and notate music in their own homes.
• Young composers unable to afford live musicians can now hear realistic ‘performances’ of complex works and create their own scores and parts without resorting to expensive music typesetters.
• Renowned film composer and winner of an Academy Award, three Grammy Awards and two Golden Globes, Hans Zimmer has used computers and music technology to write and produce the music for over a hundred films.
• Professional musicians working in genres ranging from rock to trad to jazz are extending their live performance capabilities through technology.
• Educational and recording/production software allows primary and post-primary music teachers to greatly enhance their music appreciation and theory instruction.
• Instrumental and singing students can now use ‘intelligent accompaniment’ software that listens as they play or sing and responds to spontaneous tempo changes.

Subjects

In addition to group courses and workshops in music technology, we also offer private (one-to-one), partner (two-person) and one-off  ‘Intensive’ lessons in a range of subjects and software, including:

Audio Interfaces
Audio Mastering
Audio/Video Synchronisation
DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations)
Editing
Effects
Equalisation
Leaving Cert. Music Technology
Microphones & Recording
MIDI & MIDI Controllers
Mixing
Music Notation
Music Production for Games
Programming
Sampling
Sequencing
Soundscape Composition
Synthesis & Sound Design

DAWs • Software

Ableton Live
Cubase
GarageBand
Pro Tools
Reaper
Reason
Waveform 11

In-School & Online Tuition

We offer both in-school and online music technology tuition. In-school tuition takes place in the New School’s Music Technology Lab, and online tuition takes place in your own home.

In-School Tuition

The health and safety of both students and staff at the New School is of the utmost importance to us, and we have made a number of changes to the school, its equipment and our policies to make in-school tuition safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include:

• Perspex screens in every classroom.
• Installation of HEPA air filtration/purification units where necessary.
• Antiseptic dispensers available throughout the school.
• Cleaning and disinfection of both classroom instruments and furniture between lessons and classes.
• Regular cleaning of public spaces.

See our COVID-19 Safety Policy page for more information on what we have done, as well as the protocols we expect all in-school students and visitors to follow.

Online Tuition

For online music technology tuition, you will need:

1. An internet-connected computer or laptop with either an integrated or separate webcam and microphone, as well as these minimum system requirements:
   Operating System: Windows 10 or macOS X (10.12 or above)
   RAM: 4GB (8GB recommended)
   Disk Space: 15GB
2. Headphones or earbuds.
3. The hardware and/or software you wish to study.
4. Free Zoom software.*

*   If you haven’t learned music with Zoom before, please see our printable Zoom for Students information sheet for information on how to download and use Zoom for music tuition.

See our Online Tuition page for more information on Online tuition with the New School, as well as the instruments, subjects and courses we offer online.

Tuition Options

We offer the following music technology online tuition options with the New School:

• Private, Partner and Intensive Lessons in a range of music technology subjects.
• Introducing Music Technology, an inexpensive, practical, hands‐on course designed to teach absolute beginners how a computer/laptop and free music production software can be used to produce professional-­quality recordings at home.
• Summer Music Technology Essentials, a shorter summer version of our Introducing Music Technology course.
• Ableton Live Basics, an introduction to one of the fastest, most fluid and most flexible DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) available.
• Music Technology for Teens, a one-day, hands-on workshop that introduces teens the myriad applications of music technology.
• Leaving Cert. Music Technology, a workshop that covers all of the requirements of the Music Technology core activity (‘demonstrating an ability to understand and to use micro-technology music-making systems’) at Higher Level. We can also prepare individual students for this activity through private, partner or Intensive lessons.
• Songwriting & Music Production outreach workshops for both primary and post-primary schools that teach and make extensive use of music technology and production techniques.

Your Feedback

Have you studied – or are you studying – music technology with the New School? We would appreciate it if you could take a few moments to give us your feedback in a brief online questionnaire about your experience.

FEEDBACK

We would also appreciate your Google review, which will help to spread the word about the quality of our tuition.

GOOGLE REVIEWS