Music Production Weekend Course For Women & Femmes

• When: Sat 24 + Sun 25 July, 10am - 5pm
• Where: two/fiftyseven, level 2, 57 Willis St, Wellington + Sandbox Studio, Wellington

A brand new course tackling the lack of gender diversity in the electronic music scene has sold out in less than 24 hours. The music production intensive is specifically for women and femmes to learn how to make their own original music from scratch. Women are flying to Wellington from around the country just for the course, including DJs such as Mamadafunk.

With music production currently dominated by men, gender diverse line-ups are often sadly lacking in Aotearoa’s music festivals and gigs. The purpose of the two-day course is to get more women producing their own tracks, which will ultimately change who’s getting booked for these events – especially headline acts who must write their own original music.

The gender diversity issues within the club/DJ scene continue to be problematic, as highlighted by reports such as the Amplify Aotearoa: NZ Music Community Diversity Survey. This study revealed 70.1% of women in music had experienced bias, disadvantage or discrimination based on their gender.

The in-depth course provides an excellent foundation in making electronic music, beeps, bloops and all, in a supportive and welcoming learning environment. It will get women and femmes started with creating their own music, teaches crucial sound concepts and theory, how to use music software to edit and write tracks, and use studio tools to record live music at Sandbox Studio. Delving into deeper sound design, the tutors will take students through creating drums, bass and melodies.

The three expert tutors are Paige Julia, Ed Zuccollo and Will Marshall, all highly experienced producers, musicians and DJs. Julia, Zuccollo and Marshall all have 10-20 years of experience in the field, and play many gigs and festivals around Aotearoa.

Electronic artist and lead course collaborator Paige Julia is keen to get new acts the kick start they need, saying, “For the ten years I’ve been involved in electronic music, we have talked about gender imbalance. My hope is that this work sets up the next generation of women to have the tools they need to express themselves and thrive.”

With thanks to the Wellington City Council Creative Communities Scheme for the funding, which has made this course possible.

Who or what are The Sensonauts?

The Sensonauts make unique, beautiful experiences through the senses, music, dance and more. From running DJ workshops, music-based experiences or programming music lineups, they bring a focus on sound and are passionate about changing sector diversity.

© Scoop Media