David Mash and Greg Badolato of Berklee had a master class on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 presented by The Berklee City Music Network Site East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. The class discussed creating music with the tools of modern technology including its uses in practice, ear training and improvisation.

David Mash is Senior Vice President for Innovation, Strategy, and Technology at Berklee College of Music. David was the founding chair of the music synthesis department, the first degree-program in MIDI and music synthesis in the United States. He also played a leading role in the development of the Berklee City Music Network – a consortium of community based organizations providing after-school music education to youth from under-served communities at no cost to them, currently in 32 cities across the US. He also helped develop the Berklee PULSE music method.

Greg Badolato is the Assistant Vice President for International Programs and is the former chair of Berklee’s Ear Training Department. He has traveled extensively for the college as a musical and educational representative to various parts of the world.

David Mash’s thoughts after conducting this masterclass at East Bay…

What was the theme of your masterclass?
It was a class about using technology in music making and learning.

How do you think this masterclass would benefit other sites?
This is useful information for all students of music.

How did you and Greg prepare and tweak your repertoire for the masterclass/performance?
We chose music to play that illustrated the points we made in the slides and in our discussion.

How much support did you get from the Network site?
The site was great, and provided us with a sound system and video projection systems for high-quality A/V support

What do you hope students took away from this masterclass?
That technology has changed the way we compose/produce, perform, and learn music.

Here’s a student’s response to attending this Master Class:

Hi my name is John Dandan, I am currently a freshman at San Jose State University in California, studying piano jazz studies. I am also a part of the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, a Berklee City Music Network partner. On January 24, 2012, Berklee gave a special presentation at Easy Bay Center regarding music technology and its history. This presentation meant a lot to me because not only did I learn how far music technology has developed through the years, but also some effective practice techniques. It was quite a unique experience and what put it over the top was  when I got a one on one with one of the presenters. He answered all my questions about Berklee auditions and more. I am also thankful for everything, this presentation, and especially East Bay Center; if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what I’d do and what direction to take with my music career.