A Mentorship Program

The Berlin School of Sound offers an education in sound art, sound design, music composition, audio production and other related skills through courses given at different times throughout the year. Many of our teachers are experienced professors and renowned artists from the incredibly vibrant Berlin culture landscape. We can give you the training you need in media and artistic production in sound in order to reach your goals whatever your background, produce work you love, and have an inspiring exchange of ideas along the way. We can also help you gain the knowledge and make connections you need to enter a professional career track without cumbersome academic rigamarole.

Workshops, Seminars and Courses on a practice-based Program

Our 1 to 2-week workshops and seminars and our intensive 8-week courses run throughout most of the year, primarily with classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. Key skill areas include basic tools of sound, sound art and sound studies, analog synthesis, programming and digital processing, AI music, spatial and site-specific audio, composition, audio production and transcultural sound practices.

Monthly performance showcases in the Acud Club

During the month(s) in which you are enrolled in a workshop, seminar or intensive course, you can present your work alongside that of other participants and our mentors in one of our monthly showcase evenings in the renowned Acud Club here in Berlin, Mitte. This is the core feature of our practice-based philosophy: make work you love as the focus of the courses, and perform/exhibit it for the public as soon as possible and regularly, in order to learn and grow artistically while part of a supportive community.

Studio Project Course and Diploma

After completing 42 workshop/seminar units (usually equals 21 weeks of study, and equivalent to a year of graduate work) you can sign up for our Studio Project Course utilizing our professional recording studio. Final work on the Studio Project Course is the criteria for the completion of our Diploma. In exceptional cases this structure may be changed to accommodate the experience level  or needs of a particular student. Please contact us to inquire.

The Studio Project Course includes private instruction with a mentor, the creation of your own artistic support group, project work in our professional recording studio and performances/installations in the Acud Club Room. Your work can also be showcased at an event at the Errant Sound art gallery and you can have the opportunity to produce a show for our radio program with Colaboradio on FRBB 88.4. The Studio Project Course is designed to launch your artistic career by gaining access to prestigious institutions with an impressive portfolio.

Since we have relationships with other university, residency, performance and art institutions in Berlin and beyond, both our class-based or individual-based tuition can be specifically geared towards goals like getting you ready for application tests at institutions like the UdK Berlin, or a funded Ph.D. program in the USA, or alternatively by giving you the know-how you require to apply for internships at galleries, project spaces, recording studios, production houses or participation in important festivals like Club Transmediale or others.

Ensembles

Currently in development, Ensembles will be inclusive with certain courses but open (after an interview and acceptance process) to participants from inside or outside the workshops, seminars and courses.

Courses 2024 Courses 2024 Courses 2024 Courses 2024 Courses 2024 Courses 2024 Courses 2024

Generative Music Production in Max and Max-for-Live

June 24th – August 2nd

Modular Synthesis for Live Performance and Sound Design

May 5th – June 30th

Interdisciplinary Audio Production: Professional Sound in Context,
March 4th – May 5th

AI Music with Ktonal and hexorcismos AKA Moisés Horta Valenzuela, October 23rd – November 18th [will repeat in 2024]

Ktonal is: Antoine Daurat, Bjoern Erlach, Roberto Fausti, Genoël von Lilienstern and Dohi Moon

Our program of workshops, seminars and courses are currently in the process of getting an update but are organized into the following tracks:

Sound Tools: Mics, Amps Mixers and basic Software

Sounding Art
June 5th – July 30th

Programming: Sound and Music Design

Transdisciplinary Audio Production

Analog Sound and Modular Synthesis

Composition Through Performance

Transcultural Sound Practices

Site-specific and Spatial Audio

Workshops and Seminars Workshops and Seminars Workshops and Seminars Workshops and Seminars Workshops and Seminars

• Performance
• Workshop

22. April 2024 – 15. June 2024

Sonic Borderlines Listening Series

(sponsored by Initiative Neue Musik) How Do the Smallest Units of Sound Relate…? In the case of music from differing cultures, approaches and disciplines playing together, how can musicians use underlying metaphors to bring fundamental differences of technique and sound into meaningful aesthetic relationships with one another? Furthermore, what technical studies and (if applicable) new notational approaches for melody, rhythm, timbre, and interaction derived from these metaphors can best facilitate this goal?

• Course
• Workshop

6. May 2024 – 30. June 2024, 15:00

Modular Synthesis for Live Performance and Sound Design

This course teaches you the main basics and also covers advanced settings for live performance considerations in a setup specifically based on modular synthesizers! You will develop your own musical aesthetics, performance or production setup and dive deep into your own life performance workflow. At the end you can present your work at the legendary Acud Macht Neu Club!

• Course
• Workshop

24. June 2024 – 2. August 2024, 18:00

Generative Music Production in Max and Max-for-Live

Explore the limitless possibilities of generative music production using the dynamic duo of Max and Max-for-Live! This course is designed for artists, musicians, producers, and sound enthusiasts looking to push the boundaries of creativity and harness the potential of generative musical techniques in their art.

Ensembles and Clubs Ensembles and Clubs Ensembles and Clubs Ensembles and Clubs Ensembles and Clubs

Individual Tutorials

Enroll for a semester of individual tuition with these, and other scholars and artists:

Sound Art and Sound Studies

Brandon LaBelle

Psychoacoustics, Intonation and Composition

Marc Sabat

Sound Art, Music Theory and Composition

Jeremy Woodruff

Sound Synthesis and Spatial Art

Katharina Bévand

more faculty