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Sound Design 1
Fall '26

Who needs presets? Master sound design with Ableton Live and build your own basses, leads, and FX. Classes meet online weekly on Wednesdays @ 7pm CST for 12 weeks, starting October 21, 2026.

FORMAT

live instruction over zoom

START DATE

wednesday
10.21.26

DURATION

12 WEEKS
3 HRS / WEEK*

END DATE

wednesday
01.20.27

PRICE

$499 / MONTH

START TIME

7PM CST

*Class lengths may be reduced to 2 hours for very small class sizes.

we wrote the book on sound design, literally.

In this course, you will learn how the original synthesizer designs are still used today to create basses, leads, sound FX, percussion, and more.

The best way to find your own style is to make your own sounds! Take this course to make it happen.
Start building your own unique sound palette and stop relying on presets:
  • Craft bass, lead, and string sounds using analog modeled synthesis
  • Design metallic percussion, drums, and leads using FM Synthesis
  • Build your own complex. multi-instrument patches using Instrument Racks
  • Start making your own songs out of your own sounds!

Meet your instructor.

James Patrick (JP)

Ableton Live | Sound Design | Modular Synthesis

James Patrick is a sound artist, music producer, author and educator. He has been creating original electronic music works and events involving technology and live music since the 1990s. He is the co-founder and owner of Slam Academy, an Ableton Certified Training Center based in Minneapolis that teaches music production, DJing, and specialty music industry courses.

James was one of the first Ableton Certified Trainers in the world, helping pilot the trainer program in 2008, and has since been a leader among Ableton educators. His first 10 years of teaching sound design and audio production were at the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis, before moving onto Dubspot in New York City. Since starting Slam Academy in 2012, he has taken on private clients from around the world that range from beginners to some of the most prolific musicians of our time.

James has written two books: Sound Design for Electronic Music - Creating Original Sounds with Ableton Live: Part One - Essentials of Analog and FM Synthesis, and Sound Design for Electronic Music - Creating Original Sounds with Ableton Live: Part Two - Effects Processing, Sampling, and Advanced Digital Synthesis. Through his professional involvement in both academic and popular electronic realms, James curated the international Spark Festival of Electronic Music in collaboration with the University of Minnesota. James is also the recipient of the American Composer’s Forum MECA award, among other awards.

get the lesson plan.