After-School Programming Never Sounded So Good - Portland Mercury

"The “lightbulb” moment behind Electronic Music Club (EMC) started when Erik Carlson, founder of EMC and a piano teacher of 12 years at the time, was in the middle of a lesson when his student announced that he was “sick of piano” and would rather be making techno instead."

"Years later, Electronic Music Club offers hour-long after-school lessons on site at over 30 schools in the Portland area, and continues expanding throughout Portland, Beaverton, and Eugene. Instructors provide laptops preloaded with Ableton, a popular music production software, and walk students through the basics of the program before giving them time to experiment on their own."

"Projects each term range from making beats to creating a producer tag to scripting and recording fictional radio broadcast ads, each lesson teaching new functions within the program. At the end of the term, students take home a flash drive loaded with everything they've created."

"Electronic Music Club allows kids to suspend music theory for a little while and have fun with questions like “does this sound cool?” Over the five years he's run the program, Carlson has received feedback from kids and parents alike about how EMC was the highlight of the school year, and how it helped with difficult transitions."

Electronic Music Club began when a piano student said he was sick of piano and wanted to make techno. The program now runs hour-long after-school lessons at more than 30 schools across the Portland area and continues expanding into Portland, Beaverton, and Eugene. Instructors bring laptops preloaded with Ableton and guide students through core functions before allowing independent experimentation. Term projects range from beatmaking and creating producer tags to scripting and recording fictional radio broadcast ads. The program emphasizes experimentation over prescribed music theory paths, using questions like whether sounds are cool. Students take home a flash drive containing everything they created, and families report it as a highlight of the school year and helpful during difficult transitions.

Read at Portland Mercury