De-Compressing Northwood’s first Music Production Club

THEORY+IS+KEY%3A+Music+Production+Club+founders+seniors+Satwik+Bondelepati+and+Howard+Wu+explain+functional+harmonies+and+their+uses+in+music.

Elle Chan

THEORY IS KEY: Music Production Club founders seniors Satwik Bondelepati and Howard Wu explain functional harmonies and their uses in music.

Noelle Escalante, A&E Editor

Avid music listeners may be in tune to the vibrating bass line of an R&B song, or the electronic waves that spike through an EDM. However, many may not be aware of the work that production entails for every song that is produced. With this knowledge, the Music Production Club was formed to bring music makers from all over Northwood together.

Music Production Club started in August 2022, where club founders and seniors Howard Wu and Satwik Bondelepati came together to bring awareness to music production and provide a space for individuals to learn and collaborate on various activities, such as production competitions, lessons on the basics of producing and more. 

“Our inspiration for starting a music production club on campus was to find a community of like-minded individuals who share our passion for music,” Wu said. “We wanted to create a space where people could come together to develop their skills in a collaborative and supportive environment.”

In order to achieve this goal, the club board reached out to various online communities on platforms like Discord and Reddit, where they connected with others who were interested in creating music.

“We plan to teach our members not only methods and tools in producing music, but mixing, audio engineering, and editing as well,” Bondelepati said. “We also plan to teach a lot of music theory, which we hope our members will incorporate into their works.” 

The approach to teaching music production is pure and inclusive, with the belief that music production is a diverse and multifaceted craft that can be approached in many different ways. Rather than having one person act as a teacher, the club encourages members to learn from each other and share their own experiences and knowledge.

“We believe that music production is a beautiful thing, and that it has the power to bring people together in profound and meaningful ways,” Wu said. “With our club, we hope to bring the whole orchestra and wind ensemble and electronic madness all inside the computer where anyone can sit down and figure it out. We are excited to get started at Northwood and to keep the music going for years to come!”