Final Project Influences Workshop

Today’s class is designed to help you move from an early idea to a clear, focused proposal for your final project. By the end of the session, you’ll have researched your artistic influences, identified techniques you want to use, and shared your ideas with a small group.

This work directly supports the proposal that’s due Friday and will help you walk into the final weeks of the semester with direction and confidence.

What We’re Doing Today

Today is a hands-on workshop day. You’ll spend the class:

Finding and researching an artistic influence
Identifying how that influence creates their signature sound
Translating their methods into techniques you can use
Sharing your ideas with a small group for feedback

This session builds the core of your written proposal.

Step 1: Choose an Influence (5 minutes)

Start by choosing one or two musicians, producers, sound designers, films, games, or genres connected to your project idea. Think about who has shaped the direction you want to take.

Ask yourself:

Whose sound world inspires me?
What atmosphere, tone, or aesthetic am I trying to capture?
What artists or works feel connected to what I want to create?

Step 2: Research Their Sound (10–12 minutes)

Use the time to look up how your influence creates their work. Focus on production decisions, techniques, and sound-making strategies rather than biography.

Reverse-engineer your influence the way Kuhn and Hein deconstruct Future’s “Mask Off” in Electronic Music School. For each element you hear, ask:

Is that instrument sampled or synthesized?
Is the backbeat a snare or a clap?
Are the hi-hats hand-programmed, or generated with an arpeggiator or note repeat?
Is the bass a sampled 808 or a synth waveform?
What one trope makes this genre instantly recognizable?

Some study pairs from their book, to show what the analysis looks like:

Vaporwave: play Macintosh Plus’s “Floral Shoppe” next to its source, Diana Ross’s “It’s Your Move,” and name what the slowing and pitching changed.
Lo-fi hip-hop: J Dilla’s Donuts runs on swing, dusty EQ, and loop craft.
Trap: Travis Scott’s “SICKO MODE” is built from programmed sub-bass and note-repeat hats.
Future bass: Flume’s “Never Be Like You” leans on seventh chords and the pop drop.
House: Robin S’s “Show Me Love” is a 909 four-on-the-floor with an organ bassline.

Take notes on one or two techniques that stand out in your own influence.

Step 3: Connect Their Methods to Your Project (8–10 minutes)

Now translate that research into your own creative plan. Ask yourself:

How can I reinterpret this technique in a personal way?
What tools from our course could help me achieve something similar?
- Do I need to search for tools outside the course?
How might I adapt their idea so it fits my style and project concept?

Some examples of translation:

You love an artist’s washed-out ambient textures → you create your own field recordings and process them with modulation, EQ, and reverb.
You’re inspired by a producer’s glitchy percussion → you experiment with slicing, reversing, and reprocessing your own samples.
You admire a soundtrack’s sense of space → you experiment with layered reverbs and automation to create depth.

Write down a short plan: influence, then technique, then your adaptation.

Kuhn and Hein build every project from the same formula: a music concept plus a technology concept plus a fun hook. Your adaptation line should name all three, and the technology concept should come from this course: a Vital patch, a Sitala kit, REAPER routing or automation, or a field recording chain.

Gather with your assigned small group. Each person shares:

the influence you chose
one specific sound or method you discovered
how you plan to use or reinterpret that method
one challenge you might face

Group members respond with a suggestion, a question, or a resource. The goal is to help each other strengthen the proposal before Friday.

What You Should Leave With

By the end of class, you should have:

a clearer artistic direction
real techniques you can apply in your final project
a concrete angle for your proposal and your Friday mini-share

Today’s work is meant to give you momentum and clarity. Use your notes to refine your proposal before Friday, and bring any remaining questions to the end of class or email when needed.