Landings

• OFFICE HOURS: Covered an overview of the upcoming songwriting class format — six weeks of generative writing exercises, peer feedback, and working toward a completed piece. Walked through the Chordal ear training app in a live demo, including the interval identification game, chord density exercises, and a new harmony wheel mode in development. Discussed interval ambiguity, specifically why major and minor sixths are consistently the most misidentified intervals, with reference to tournament data collected from recent playtesting.
• THEORY-GYM: Worked through interval ear training using the Beat Kitchen chord quiz tool, focusing on how to hear and identify intervals within a chord context. Covered the characteristic sounds of major and minor thirds, fourths, fifths, tritones, major and minor sixths, and major sevenths. Introduced the concept of interval inversion and how it affects perceived quality.
• OFFICE HOURS: Covered a range of topics including video editing workflows in Logic Pro, stereo microphone technique for acoustic guitar, microphone selection philosophy (bright vs. dark mics, large vs. small diaphragm), and a live walkthrough of the Cordal app's multiplayer chord-identification game. Also worked through chord voicing options for a student's song project, including a Montuno-style bass line demonstration.
• OFFICE HOURS: Covered the songwriting process from multiple angles, including working from musical ideas versus lyrics-first approaches, and how to treat early lyric fragments as rhythmic and melodic raw material rather than finished writing. Demonstrated a harmonic resynthesizer plugin — showing its partial manipulation, re-synthesis from audio input, and LFO-driven freeze/playback mechanics. Also reviewed a student's original recording and discussed vocal doubling in the style of Elliott Smith.
• WEEKLY-BEAT-CHALLENGE: We worked through songwriting process and philosophy — specifically how to handle self-editing, generate raw material, and push past the "where do I go from here?" problem. We also spent time on harmonic ear training app updates and a deep dive into a custom additive/harmonic synthesis engine with granular-style looping, inharmonicity controls, and envelope-as-LFO modulation.
• PRODUCTION-GYM: We did a deep-dive stem analysis of Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle," isolating individual tracks — drums and bass, organ, guitar, synthesizers, and vocals — to examine how each element contributes to the song's overall sound. Key discussion points included the role of the Hammond B3 organ with Leslie speaker in creating the song's harmonic movement, the use of a tape-loop echo unit on arpeggiated synth passages, and the production history behind the track's "happy accident" ending. We also looked at the song's unconventional structure, which grew out of years of live jamming rather than composed arrangement.
• THEORY-GYM: We worked through the chord progressions in Matthew Wilder's "Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride," using it as a case study in a song that sounds simpler than it is — specifically focusing on the Eb minor 6 chord in the verse, how it functions as both a minor 6 chord and a half-diminished chord depending on context, and how the song navigates two distinct key centers (Bb and F) across its verse and chorus. We also dug into interval analysis of a four-note chord, identifying all six possible intervals within it and connecting that to ear training in the chord recognition app.
• WEEKLY-BEAT-CHALLENGE: Reviewed member-submitted beats and works-in-progress, with feedback covering rhythm, guitar tone, arrangement balance, and lyrical concept. Discussed the tension between drum programming and melodic development when a song outgrows its original rhythmic foundation, and touched on mixing philosophy — specifically the value of separating writing, arrangement, and mixing as distinct stages. Closed with a brief creative writing exercise asking participants to write a note to their younger musical self.
• OFFICE HOURS: Covered video export workflows in DaVinci Resolve for social media, focusing on resolving resolution mismatches between vertical and horizontal footage when posting to Instagram. Also discussed project organization strategies and ADHD-related focus and productivity resources, including a task management app demo and a book recommendation.
• PRODUCTION-GYM: Covered the full import, routing, editing, and initial mix workflow for a live string orchestra session recorded onto a solo piano track. Walked through grouping stereo room mics and spot mics onto separate buses, applying reverb via a post-fader send using 7th Heaven Professional, timing edits across three string passes, and basic piano EQ. Discussed mic placement strategy for the recording session itself, including ORTF pairs, a Decca tree, and a wide room pair, along with the cost breakdown and logistical considerations of hiring a string octet versus a quartet.

Show more… Learn more about Residency

• 
  Production Gym: Jam
  Aug. 04,
• 
  Office Hours: Kallie
  Aug. 04,
• 
  Instrument Gym: Nathan
  Aug. 04,
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  Ear Training: Nathan
  Aug. 05,
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  Weekly Beat Challenge: Nathan
  Aug. 05,
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  Office Hours: Cato Zane
  Aug. 06,

Learn more about Residency

• Aug 12, 2026 Songwriting Incubator
• Sep 01, 2026 Comprehensive Program
• Sep 1, 2026 DAW Core Skills
• Sep 21, 2026 Beat Building Jam
• Oct 6, 2026 Hardware & Recording Primer
• Oct 21, 2026 Mixing: Effects, Synths & Tools
• Nov 10, 2026 Mixing: Effects, Synths & Tools
• Nov 29, 2026 Mixing: Effects, Synths & Tools

See All Courses