College application intensive
Learn composition and Logic together: turn a brief into musical constraints, build rhythm, harmony, melody, texture, form, expression, and a clear mix, then deliver a reproducible project and stems.
Completed outcome
Required common orientation / 75 minutes
A reusable orientation to the habits that keep creative projects reproducible, reviewable, accessible, and safe to hand off.
Complete the shared foundationGuided sequence
Module 1 / 3 hours
Learn the Logic workspace while converting audience, dramatic function, duration, and delivery constraints into a playable musical plan.
Module 2 / 3.5 hours
Create a rhythmic identity using subdivision, accent, pattern, velocity, timing, variation, and silence rather than relying on an unchanged loop.
Module 3 / 4 hours
Build tonal or modal relationships from scale, chord, bass, contour, motif, tension, and voice leading, using Logic editors as musical tools.
Module 4 / 3.5 hours
Turn promising loops and phrases into a complete piece by controlling formal proportion, register, density, timbre, transition, and return.
Module 5 / 3.5 hours
Replace static MIDI playback with intentional articulation, dynamics, phrasing, recorded gesture, automation, and selective sound design.
Module 6 / 3 hours plus capstone work
Create a balanced stereo presentation, export reconstructable stems, verify the files, and document how the composition answers its brief.
Standardized coursework pack
Narrative brief, reference mood words, timing map, optional field recordings, percussion one-shots, motif cards, delivery specification, and rights record. Approximately 3 GB including optional audio resources and rendered stems.
Media access: the downloadable files define the required rights-cleared pack, checks, and evidence. Large application media must be distributed by the institution through its licensed learning or storage system.
Why this application
Logic Pro ships with a large library of instruments and loops, which is its strength and the trap this course is built around. Writing to a preset produces music sounding like the preset, and the shortest route to a finished piece is rarely the route to one worth finishing. The modules work on arrangement decisions: what the section before a chorus has to do, where to take something away rather than add, and how a part earns its place. Logic's own tooling supports this well once you stop treating it as a sound browser. You will use the scoring and automation sides of the application to serve an arrangement you decided on first, rather than letting the library decide for you.
Portfolio assessment
Compose a 2-3 minute original work that moves from uncertainty to resolved forward motion using a limited palette and a clearly audible formal transformation.
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Creative and editorial judgment | 25 |
| Technical execution | 25 |
| Workflow organization | 15 |
| Application fluency | 15 |
| Delivery and quality control | 15 |
| Documentation and reflection | 5 |
What counts as strong evidence under each criterion, and what sends it back for revision, is set out in full on the shared foundation. The same wording ships with this course as rubric.csv.
Read 21 September 2026
The vendor documents below were read. The course teaches menus and shortcuts, and software changes them between versions, so confirm a menu path against the vendor's current documentation before you rely on it. For the software documents only the title, version and date were read.
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