Beat Making: Songwriting, Recording & Production

Welcome to Enrichment Week 2026!

"Have you always wanted to know how songs and beats are recorded produced? Are you making beats already? This week-long experience will introduce you to the fundamentals of beat making, digital audio workstations (DAWs) like GarageBand & Logic Pro X, and studio production. If you’re already making beats we’ll take them to the next level! Through hands-on projects, you’ll will learn how to create original tracks while exploring rhythm, sound design, sampling, and mixing techniques. This week we will emphasize creativity and collaboration, giving students the tools to produce, edit, and share their own digital music by the end of the week. We will tap into all musical aspects of recording, production, songwriting and performance. We will take a trip to a local professional studio, and take in a live performance of a working artist at a local venue. Get ready to build a relationship with your fellow peers to form different songs that highlight musical genres such as: Pop, Rock, and Hip Hop. By the end of the week, we’ll showcase our work to the world!"

I am really excited for this week! We have a small but mighty group of eight 9th & 10th graders this year, and we're gonna have a ball! We'll spend the first three days learning the basics of Digital Audio Workstations & how to compose, record and finalize your own song on your computer or iPad.

Bring a lunch for Tuesday-Thursday

Friday we'll visit legendary producer Narāda Michael Walden (producer for Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Frankiln and many more!) at his personal studio, Tarpan , in San Rafael.

Saturday we'll gather at Yoshi's Oakland to hear Eric Roberson, an artist and composer who has made a name for himself by starting exactly as we are doing this week.

My goal is that this exploration of Digital Audio and Composition can eventually become a regular course at Saint Mary's, and it will be THIS set of students who get it started!

Mr. Ellis