Lucas Sim ’20 and Kiki Kim ’20 introduced Choate’s first music production club, “SoundBOARD” on February 7. With the support of Mr. Matt McLean, music teacher and director of Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble, Sim and Kim created the club to connect different types of musicians and to give students an idea of the complexity behind music production. Kim commented, “One of the benefits of working together and making music is the unique ideas people come up with. I think that is what makes our club so special. This club cannot function without participation because collaboration forms creativity. Music production is difficult to keep up with if you do not have people around you.”
Creating SoundBOARD came naturally to Sim and Kim. The idea originated when they first started collaborating and producing music together. Before the club’s creation, a number of students were already asking Sim to teach them how to produce music. “Lucas and I thought that this club would be the best way to teach Choate students how to produce music using the resources that we have on campus,” Kim said. Sim added, “We also want to show the arduous step-by-step processes producers have to go through. By making this club we want to familiarize the public with the efforts these music producers put into every song we listen to.”
When Sim first started producing music three years ago, he had a hard time creating material that he was satisfied with because he did not have a mentor who could guide him. As a result, his music often turned out differently from what he had in mind. He said, “I always gave up.” He continued, “It’s frustrating when you know that your music can be better but you don’t know how to make it better. I didn’t have someone who taught me how to make those changes. The only resources I had was the Internet and my ears. I did a lot of guessing and checking.”
SoundBOARD will meet once every week in the SAC. For the first few weeks, Sim and Kim will plan interactive lessons that will go over the basics of music production. They will specifically use Ableton, a digital audio workstation program, to teach individuals the basics of production. After every meeting, Sim and Kim will also send out links to interactive programs for those who wish to further develop their skills. Students will start making music after they are familiar with the basics. Depending on the meeting’s topic, SoundBOARD will meet in St. John or the PMAC recording studio.
Through SoundBOARD, Sim and Kim hope not only to guide those who might be struggling to learn music production, but also to produce wider varieties of music, including orchestral, EDM, hip-hop, video game music, and more. Kim emphasized, “You do not need previous experiences to join this club. If you love music, that is all you need. We hope that both experienced and inexperienced people come and explore music of all kinds and learn something new.” In the future, Kim and Sim envision creating a SoundBOARD SoundCloud full of student-produced albums.
