TEACHERS
Erik Laar
One half of widely acclaimed Toronto turntable band iNSiDEaMiND and founder of Off Centre, Erik Laar was immersed in music since he was 5. He casually played guitar, violin, and studied vocals, but for him nothing matched up to the turntable. Since 1996 the turntable took centre stage and music production soon followed. Over the years his devotion to the arts has garnered world wide attention with invitations to unique shows such as the Nuit Blanche Festival, scoring films live at the Toronto's TIFF Lightbox, and flying back and forth doing performances in the UK and California. Having founded Off Centre in 2004 he noticed an opportunity to break through the restrictions that turned him off traditional music education environments. While sticking to basic principles, foundations, and theories that are essential in understanding music, above all else he pushes self expression and fun as the key ingredients.
eriklaar.com // live studio footage
eriklaar.com // live studio footage
SlowPitchSound
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Using the turntable creatively to explore sound has been the forefront of Cheldon Paterson’s entire adult life. Turntable composition, live performance and improvisation have been key elements whether performing solo, with culturally diverse classical musicians or scoring silent films with the turntable band he co-founded iNSiDEaMiND. Cheldon is a native of Toronto via Grenada, is a boundless sonic explorer of towering technical proficiency. He has been nominated for the K.M. Hunter Artist Award for Music and has received support from the Toronto, Ontario, and Canada Arts Councils. His unique style of turntable performance has made it’s way around the world touching down in such places as Sweden, Great Britain, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden and at esteemed festivals such as Mutek (Montreal), VIA Music & New Media Festival (Pittsburgh), Images Festival (Toronto) and the Guelph Jazz Festival. He has been featured in major media sources such as MusicWorks Magazine, IDN, Exclaim! (8/10 performance review), Toronto Star, BlogTO (breakout Toronto bands) and Chart Attack.
www.slowpitchsound.com // soundcloud.com/slowpitch-1 |
Jonathan Kawchuk
Jonathan Kawchuk is an award winning composer from Alberta. Eclectic in his work, Kawchuk has scored feature films
such as Memento Mori (National Film Board of Canada) and Clara (Serendipity Point Films), an award winning Norwegian documentary web series, “Fra Ungdommen”, and a video feature for Vogue Italia. Kawchuk has a great deal of experience writing, internationally, for multiple short films, theatre projects, and sound installations. As a technician, he has worked on albums for Nico Muhly and Ben Frost and he has worked as an assistant sound tech for the Philip Glass Ensemble (Music in 12 Parts, London). In addition to film and theatre, Kawchuk is signed to Paper Bag Records as a recording artist. For his debut album, he spent the last few years living and recording in natural environments across Europe, North America, and Asia. While he studied at multiple institutions, he completed his Bachelor of Arts (Honours, First Class) in Music at Paul McCartney’s university: the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. In addition to his formal education, Kawchuk held a recording internship in Iceland, learned gamelan in Indonesia, and studied wildlife field recording under Chris Watson (Frozen Planet, Nova) in England. Kawchuk has been nominated for and received numerous awards for his compositions. http://jonathankawchuk.com/ YouTube Producer Tutorial
such as Memento Mori (National Film Board of Canada) and Clara (Serendipity Point Films), an award winning Norwegian documentary web series, “Fra Ungdommen”, and a video feature for Vogue Italia. Kawchuk has a great deal of experience writing, internationally, for multiple short films, theatre projects, and sound installations. As a technician, he has worked on albums for Nico Muhly and Ben Frost and he has worked as an assistant sound tech for the Philip Glass Ensemble (Music in 12 Parts, London). In addition to film and theatre, Kawchuk is signed to Paper Bag Records as a recording artist. For his debut album, he spent the last few years living and recording in natural environments across Europe, North America, and Asia. While he studied at multiple institutions, he completed his Bachelor of Arts (Honours, First Class) in Music at Paul McCartney’s university: the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. In addition to his formal education, Kawchuk held a recording internship in Iceland, learned gamelan in Indonesia, and studied wildlife field recording under Chris Watson (Frozen Planet, Nova) in England. Kawchuk has been nominated for and received numerous awards for his compositions. http://jonathankawchuk.com/ YouTube Producer Tutorial
Stranjah
Having long ago cemented his storied place in Toronto beat making lore by being one of the first Canadian Drum & Bass artists to enjoy success on the international stage, seasoned production veteran Stranjah continues to add to what is an already legendary catalog of releases that includes records issued on seminal labels Metalheadz, Hospital Records, Renegade Hardware, and 31 Records. His sound is incredibly eclectic and essentially impossible to label under one umbrella. Often dark and minimal by nature, it boasts moody, atmospheric overtones with an emphasis on brooding sub bass and pulsating drum patterns. Constantly evolving his sound utilizing varying tempos and incorporating a wide array of musical influences, Stranjah has enjoyed a longevity within a Drum & Bass scene that at times seems preoccupied with finding it?s next big thing. Having also been an alumni at the Red Bull Music Academy 2007, Alan aka Stranjah possesses an intricate understanding of beat programming and electronic music composition, and now sees an opportunity to pass on this valued knowledge to inspire a new generation of producers through his teaching endeavours at Off Centre.
soundcloud.com/stranjah // facebook
soundcloud.com/stranjah // facebook
Pursuit Grooves
Pursuit Grooves has been making music for over 15 years. Her sound can be described as "Electronic travels through Soul, Bass, House and Hip Hop." She is an alum of the acclaimed Redbull Music Academy (c/o 2008). She has released two albums on Tectonic Recordings (UK) as well as being featured on numerous other labels as well as providing official remixes for international artists such as The Knife and Planningtorock. PG has performed her music live with her trusty hardware sampler in Japan, Australia, and at festivals all over Europe. She has been featured and supported by major media sources such as SPIN, Fact Magazine, XLR8R, Now Magazine (Album of the Week), Exclaim
(9/10 album review), and The Grid (Breakout Musical Acts of 2013).
noddinggrand.com // facebook // soundcloud.com/pgrooves
(9/10 album review), and The Grid (Breakout Musical Acts of 2013).
noddinggrand.com // facebook // soundcloud.com/pgrooves
Trevor Chan
Trevor is a sound collagist from Vancouver. He is a founding member of No Luck Club, an instrumental hip hop band which combines turntable improvisation with sample-based rhythms. The group has released two critically acclaimed albums which has resulted in side projects in theatre and music commissions for documentary films, commercials and
even a video game.
His Ableton-powered rig has accompanied the group during opening sets for Jurassic Five, Kid Koala, M.I.A., DJ Krush, Z-Trip, A-Trak & Money Mark. He was never much of a keyboardist nor a finger drummer. So he gravitated towards alternative control devices such as touch screen displays (Jazzmutant Lemur and iPad) and grids of backlit buttons (monome) to manipulate his samples.
After moving no luck club to Toronto in 2010, he continues to work on new material for the band whilst collaborating on various projects including his highly sought after Steely Chan remix project. He’s looking forward to guiding curious minds on the journey that is Ableton Live.
even a video game.
His Ableton-powered rig has accompanied the group during opening sets for Jurassic Five, Kid Koala, M.I.A., DJ Krush, Z-Trip, A-Trak & Money Mark. He was never much of a keyboardist nor a finger drummer. So he gravitated towards alternative control devices such as touch screen displays (Jazzmutant Lemur and iPad) and grids of backlit buttons (monome) to manipulate his samples.
After moving no luck club to Toronto in 2010, he continues to work on new material for the band whilst collaborating on various projects including his highly sought after Steely Chan remix project. He’s looking forward to guiding curious minds on the journey that is Ableton Live.
Matt Chan
Matt Chan is one half of the Vancouver instrumental hip hop duo No Luck Club. Over the years the group has opened up for world renown acts such as Kid Koala, DJ Krush, DJ Z-Trip, Money Mark, Jurassic 5, Buck 65, and MIA. No Luck Club's unique performances have put them in front of folk festival audiences throughout Western Canada and has allowed them to tour throughout North America.
In addition to his duties with No Luck Club, Matt has been involved with college radio for over 15 years. His show Straight No Chaser has been broadcasting at CJSF on the Simon Fraser University campus since 1992. The show features an eclectic mix of hip hop, funk, afro-beat, jazz, and downtempo. Past shows can be heard on the CJSF station website (www.cjsf.ca).
In addition to his duties with No Luck Club, Matt has been involved with college radio for over 15 years. His show Straight No Chaser has been broadcasting at CJSF on the Simon Fraser University campus since 1992. The show features an eclectic mix of hip hop, funk, afro-beat, jazz, and downtempo. Past shows can be heard on the CJSF station website (www.cjsf.ca).
No Step
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Fabio Neves aka NO STEP has been making music since 1995, and his first instrument was an old PC running DOS. His first releases were distributed on floppy disks among friends, then through IRC channels on the early days of the Internet. He founded Gerador Zero in 1999 and quickly gained respect in the Brazilian electronic scene. In 2003 Gerador Zero played Tim Festival - the biggest alternative/eclectic festival in Brazil by then - on the same night and stage as Coldcut and Front 242.
Fabio started NO STEP after moving to Toronto in 2010, mainly because no English speaker can pronounce Gerador Zero. It's a continuation of Fabio's production work, building clever grooves with a healthy dose of house, dub, electro, synths, field recordings and an ever-present pop sensibility. NO STEP doesn't subscribe to any given style, going easily from bedroom chillout to intense breakbeats. https://nostep.ca/ YouTube Producer tutorial |
Matt Thibideau
For the last 20 years, Matt Thibideau has been involved in making electronic music. He started off with his Moog Prodigy, a 4 track, and a drum machine. Matt dove into making electronic, industrial pop songs in 1989-1990. His basement soon became the place where he and his twin brother Mark would start their first project called the Waxbean Orchard. This was all in a small town called “Wallaceburg” Ontario (located close the American border not far from Detroit). Over time Matt?s interest in electronic music grew and he relocated to Toronto where his chances of releasing records & performing grew. He dove into making ambient and techno music after experiencing some of the local underground parties. This lead to several releases on Blue Recordings in the mid to late 90?s. Matt?s monikor at the time was “Altitude”. This started a chain reaction of working with other local labels such as Chair and Cynosure Recordings. Matt was also performing with the likes of Jeremy Caulfield, Mike Shannon, Adam Marshal, Jeff Milligan, Mike Huckaby, Ritchie Hawtin, Akufen and Peter Grove. He and Mark started working on a new project called “Repair” in 2001. It was dedicated to all of the old broken synthesizers that they had in their studio. This was quickly signed to both Sub-Static records (Germany) as “V-Wreck” and Dumb-Unit records (Canada at that time) as “Blackline Display”. Matt followed up this project with solo releases on Cynosure and Sub-Static records around 2003. He has performed live at several venues and festivals and does not use a laptop to do so. Venues such as Mutek (Montreal), C.O. pop festival (Cologne), Observatori (Valencia), Bunker (NYC), Break & Enter (Toronto), Tempo (Toronto), Watergate & Suicide Circus, (Berlin) and Oslo (Detroit) have welcomed his live performances. Matt has started a small label called “Obsolete Components” based on using his old synthsesizers and recording equipment. And recently was featured in the documentary “I Dream Of Wires” Obsolete Components has released a new Repair EP and video along with several of Matt?s Archived unreleased recordings, A Modular Project with Brother Mark Thibideau, and the Upcoming Ambient “Reclusion” record that will be released with Echospace Detroit this year. These synthesizers are his inspiration for new sounds and ideas. His love for these vintage instruments gets incorporated into all of his projects. COURSE DETAILS.
HPrizm
HPrizm is known for "Evoking images of Sun Ra and Afrika Bambatta at once" (Jesse Sewer - XL8R magazine). As the founding member of the critically acclaimed Antipop Consortium, Prizm has consistently challenged the boundaries of traditional hiphop, winning the praise of taste makers across the globe. In the course of his career, spanning nearly a decade, With over 100,000 records sold, Prizm has shared the stages with a wide array of artists ranging from The Roots to Radiohead ,Mos Def and others. As a composer his pieces have been installed in the Whitney Biennial (NYC) as well as the Mazzoli Gallery (ITALY) Prizm's personal study and appreciation of audio synthesis have allowed him to provide innovate presets and sound design for several keyboard and software manufacturers including KORG, Propellerheads and Native Instruments- Currently, Hprizm is currently touring and performing his recent collaboration with French conceptual artist Loris Greaud and Award winning film director David Lynch entitled "Snorks".
http://hprizm.bandcamp.com/
COURSE DETAILS.
http://hprizm.bandcamp.com/
COURSE DETAILS.
Val-Inc
Haitian electronic music composer/percussionist/turntablist, Val Jeanty evokes the musical esoteric realms of the creative subconscious. She incorporates her African Haitian Musical traditions into the present and beyond, combining acoustics with electronics and the archaic with the postmodern. Her "Afro-Electronica" installations have been showcased in New York City at the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Village Vanguard and internationally at SaalFelden Music Festival in Austria, Stanser Musiktage in Switzerland, Jazz à la Villette in France, and the Biennale Di Venezia Museum in Italy.
COURSE DETAILS.
COURSE DETAILS.
