Teenagers in high school today have more music production technology at their fingertips than the Beatles did at the height of their career. In those days, you would need recording studios to make music, but now you can make professional-sounding audio with a laptop, a good pair of headphones, and free software you can download in a few minutes.
Audio production can be a creative outlet for exploring sound and building skills that are broadly applicable in the art and media fields. This article outlines audio production project ideas that enable high school students to explore a range of audio production activities, including beat layering, podcast recording, and video sound effect creation. And the good news is you don't need to be a pro to get started.
Here are creative audio production projects to try in high school:
1. Remix a popular song into an entirely different genre (e.g. make a pop song lo-fi, make a rock song EDM)
2. Remix an old school song or pep rally chant into a beat.
3. Create a mashup between two unexpected songs.
4. Write an original song based on a personal experience.
5. Compose an original theme song for the graduating class.
6. Write song lyrics that address a contemporary social challenge.
7. Write background music for a short film.
8. Score a silent video with custom music that flows with the pacing.
9. Re-produce the soundtrack of a popular music video.
10. Write a jingle for the school cafeteria or sports team.
11. Record a commercial jingle for a made-up product or service.
12. Re-mix or modernize an old, familiar jingle.
13. Score a short documentary film about student life at school.
14. Sound design for a local history project or document.
15. Create music for a short environmental issue documentary about your local area.
16. Produce a retro-style radio drama, including music and sound effects.
17. Curate a student radio hour, each segment in a different genre.
18. Mix news, comedy skits, and music into a classic variety-style radio show.
19. Facilitate a live beat battle where students challenge one another, producing beats on the spot.
20. Create a beat swap challenge where each student finishes another student’s incomplete beat.
21. Produce beats with only 3 instruments or sound samples.
22. 23. Have students each produce a single part of a track and splice together.
24. Collaborate with the school choir or band to produce a modern remix.
25. Record and organize everyday sounds from around the school (lockers, hallways, bells).
26. Create a library of nature or city sounds to repurpose in videos.
27. Experiment with creating digital sound effects from scratch.
28. Produce a short mystery play with voice actors and sound effects.
29. Adapt a scene from a book into an audio-only production.
30. Write and record a comedic mini-drama set in the school experience.
31. Record personal essays or poems with original background music.
32. Produce "scary stories" accompanied by eerie sound design.
33. Create an audio diary project, recording the soundscape of a week in student life.
34. Rearrange a piece as a modern pop or jazz song.
35. Select a classical piece and rearrange it for electronic instruments.
36. Create an a cappella arrangement from layered vocal recordings.
37. Record a clean (acoustic or electronic) version of a well-known song.
38. Remix a classic song in a different style or tempo.
39. Record a mash-up of students covering a single song.
40. Compose a song using only piano or guitar.
41. Write an instrumental song for morning news announcements.
42. Create an instrumental song for meditation or relaxation.
43. Make a beat that only uses samples you recorded at school (desks, pencils, etc.)
44. Record a beat cipher where students freestyle over your beat, one by one.
45. Produce a beat inspired by your school’s culture or slang.
46. Produce an electronic dance music song that could be featured on a school dance playlist.
47. Make a synthwave song inspired by classic video games.
48. Create a “soundscape” made up of futuristic or experimental electronic sounds.
49. Record a stripped-down version of a song with only guitar and vocals.
50. Capture the natural sound of a choir or acoustic ensemble.
51. Record an unplugged version of an electronic song.
Cross-curricular STEAM audio project ideas combine audio recording and production with science, technology, engineering, art, and maths. Here are a few:
52. Math in Music Beats: Build beats that follow mathematical patterns such as Fibonacci sequences, symmetry, or fractions.
53. History and Sound Design: Create an audio documentary or soundscape that re-creates a historical event (moon landing, civil rights march, etc. ).
54. Environmental Sound Mapping: Collect and record sounds from nature or the school campus, map them to locations, and integrate the audio with environmental science lessons about ecosystems and habitats.
55. Coding with Sound: Program generative music or sound effects in Scratch or Python.
56. Biology of the Voice: Record voices and use editing software to analyze the various frequencies, ranges, and harmonics.
You’ve got the sound project ideas, now it’s time for the tools. Here’s the kit you need to know as a high school creator:
A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is your production playground. You record, edit, and mix in one place:
1. GarageBand: Included free with all Mac computers, GarageBand makes production easy for beginners. Record microphones, drop loops, and arrange a song without any extra steps. GarageBand is great for student producers who are just getting started.
2. Ableton Live: A favorite DAW for electronic music producers, Ableton has both “performance” and project modes. Trigger loops, build beats, and sample audio in real-time.
3. Logic Pro: Professional audio software as easy to use as GarageBand, but more advanced. Logic Pro packs powerful mixing, MIDI editing, and effects to go deep on a project. This is a great tool for taking your production projects to the next level.
4. FL Studio: A favorite DAW for hip-hop and EDM producers for its simple workflow. FL Studio has a colorful interface, a step sequencer, and many creative tools. Try this DAW if you're looking for a tool that makes beat-making both easy and powerful.
5. Pro Tools: A favorite DAW in professional music and film studios for its detail and precision. Pro Tools has robust recording and editing features, but it can be complex for beginners.
6. Soundtrap: This DAW lives in the cloud so that you can collaborate with others online in real-time. Record, edit, and share songs in your web browser without downloading software. Soundtrap is perfect for group student projects that demand easy accessibility.
7. Reaper: A powerful DAW with many professional features at an affordable price. Reaper is customizable and streamlined for recording, editing, and mixing efficiency. It’s a good choice for students, schools, and individual learners on any budget.
8. Cubase: Cubase is a digital audio workstation that offers a balance between powerful MIDI capabilities and advanced audio editing features. It’s a good option for students who are interested in learning about both composition and recording, as its workflow and tools are optimized for songwriting and arranging.
9. Studio One: Studio One is a digital audio workstation with a drag-and-drop workflow that makes creating music more intuitive. It has a range of advanced features, but its streamlined interface and project organization tools make it easy to get started.
10. BandLab: BandLab is an online, cloud-based digital audio workstation that’s free to use. It’s a social music creation platform that makes it easy for students to create tracks, remix songs, and share projects with friends and classmates.
11. Audacity: Audacity is a free, open-source audio editor that’s easy to use. It’s a great tool for students to edit audio files, add effects, and trim recordings. Audacity is an excellent entry-level option for those just starting out with audio editing and recording.
The best recordings are the result of the right equipment. Microphones, interfaces, and other tools help to deliver the highest-quality audio possible:
12. Audio interface: An audio interface is a device that helps to connect instruments and microphones to a computer or recording setup. Interfaces provide higher-quality sound capture and less latency or delay, leading to more professional recordings, even with less expensive microphones.
13. MIDI keyboard / MIDI controller: MIDI keyboards or controllers are electronic tools that students can use to trigger instruments within a DAW. These devices do not produce audio themselves, but instead allow students to access a nearly limitless supply of digital instruments with which to perform and compose.
14. USB microphone: USB mics are stand-alone and extremely easy to set up and use. They connect directly to a computer and are especially suited for recording vocals, voiceovers, and podcasts where an external audio interface may not be required.
15. Dynamic microphone: Dynamic microphones are generally more robust and less expensive. These mics are best-suited for loud sounds, such as drums or amplified vocals, and can also withstand heavy use in school environments while still providing quality recordings.
16. Condenser microphone: Condenser microphones are generally more sensitive than dynamic microphones, which allows them to pick up more detail and nuance. They’re commonly used for studio vocals and acoustic instruments, but many require phantom power to work.
17. Pop filter: A pop filter is a mesh screen that is commonly placed in front of a microphone when a vocalist is singing. Pop filters help eliminate plosive sounds when pronouncing letters like "p" or "b," which in turn results in clearer recordings and less time editing.
18. Audio cables: A pair of high-quality cables is needed to keep signals running cleanly from instruments, microphones, or monitors to your recording equipment. They’re the foundation of any recording rig, so reliable and durable connectors are key to getting repeatable results.
19. Computer/tablet: Every digital audio workstation requires some amount of processing power. A fast computer or tablet is needed to run your recording software efficiently and support larger projects with a lot of tracks, effects, and instruments.
20. Smartphone recording: A convenient and accessible way to capture an idea. When combined with a simple app, smartphones are capable of recording basic song demos, interviews, or even full audio projects.
21. Portable recorder: Portable recorders are compact, easy-to-use tools for capturing sound in the field outside of the classroom or studio. Students can use them to record nature sounds, urban environments, or live performances.
To mix and edit effectively, you need to hear details clearly. Monitoring equipment helps you assess balance, tone, and quality so your projects sound good everywhere:
22. Headphones: Normal headphones are fine for practice, but they can color the sound. They're great for students just starting out, but can't be relied on for mixing and mastering where accuracy is crucial.
23. Studio headphones: Crafted for accuracy, studio headphones deliver detail without exaggerating bass or treble. They’re critical for editing and mixing when students lack access to studio monitors or speakers.
24. Studio monitors: Unlike consumer speakers, studio monitors deliver a flat, uncolored sound. They help students create accurate mixes that will translate well across any system, be it car stereos, earbuds, or laptops.
Not every project needs to follow traditional recording workflows. The following digital tools support creative discovery and learning through coding and playful experiences:
25. Makey Makey: A playful invention kit that allows you to use everyday objects as touchpads. With this, you can trigger sounds or instruments with bananas, foil, playdough, and other items.
26. Max/MSP: A visual programming language for audio, video, and multimedia. Here, you can create your own instruments, effects, or experimental sound art pieces.
27. Python programming: With libraries such as PyDub or PyAudio, students can write code to manipulate and process audio data. It’s a great way to combine programming and music for tech-savvy learners interested in exploring sound.
28. Scratch coding: A simple visual coding platform, Scratch allows students to code interactive audio projects. They can create basic music games, sound-triggered animations, or other creative coding projects that combine sound and visuals.
Before jumping into projects, it’s important to understand what skills and techniques make your work sound professional:
1. Recording Techniques: Learn how to use microphones and preamps, set levels, and eliminate noise to ensure that the raw tracks you record sound as clean and professional as possible before mixing even starts.
2. Mixing Fundamentals: Mixing involves balancing volumes, panning instruments, and applying EQ to ensure that all of the individual sounds in a mix fit together harmoniously. Think of it like arranging puzzle pieces to avoid any pieces clashing.
3. Audio Mastering: Mastering completes a mix by tuning it to achieve uniform loudness and clarity that works consistently on both earbuds, classroom projectors, or car speakers.
4. MIDI Programming: MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is used to control software instruments within a digital audio workstation (DAW). MIDI programming involves creating notes, chords, and rhythms to make full arrangements without needing physical access to every instrument.
5. Audio Editing: Editing is all about ‘cleaning things up’. Cutting mistakes, tightening timing, and smoothing fades are essential parts of the process to ensure recordings sound as good as possible.
6. Sampling: Sampling is about reimagining and reinventing sounds. You might take a small audio clip and flip it backward, stretch it into a new melody, or otherwise play with it. Sampling is a fun skill that encourages creativity.
7. Collaboration Skills: Collaboration skills are key when you need to articulate concepts and ideas, share files, and respect others' roles and responsibilities. Whether you are working with musicians, podcasters, or classmates testing ideas out together, you need to be able to clearly communicate your goals and expectations and to embrace other people’s ideas.
8. Music Arrangement: Arrangement involves learning to map out the structure of a track, when to place verses, choruses, intros, outros, breaks, and more to create a flow that will keep your audience engaged without getting confused or bored.
9. Sound Layering: Layering is the practice of building depth by stacking different sounds together. A snare might be layered with three or four different snare samples for more impact, or an ambient texture might be layered underneath vocals for depth. When done well, layering creates a richer, fuller production.
10. Tempo Matching: Matching tempos is crucial for a polished mix. You’ll learn how to keep beats per minute (BPM) consistent across loops, samples, and live instruments, without them drifting out of time with each other.
11. Key Matching: When multiple sounds are in the same key, they play together more seamlessly. Key matching will help you avoid notes that clash with each other to create more musical remixes, mashups, or original songs.
Before recording and showcasing your music production project ideas, think about authorship, copyright, and integrity:
Audio production requires you to learn about copyright laws, especially if you intend to share your project with the wider public beyond your classroom. If the songs and lyrics you are using were created by someone else, you must obtain permission from the rights owners; otherwise, you may risk a lawsuit. To obtain permissions, you must contact the rights owner or consult the website Copyright Clearance Centre, where you can buy licences for copyrighted material online.
It's important to note that while some sample libraries provide loops that are free to use, there are some that will charge or have licensing terms that prohibit using these tracks for educational, portfolio, or commercial projects. Review licensing terms with sample packs before you start adding them to your work, or use copyright-free material provided by the Creative Commons Search Portal as an alternative.
Recording classmates or any other person without asking first could create serious problems. Getting consent before recording interviews, conversations, or performances is both ethically sound and often legally required. Create a form to be signed by those who feature and contribute to your audio production project, where you explain how the recording will be used.
Generative AI has become the norm in music production. It can make creating beats, voices, or full tracks incredibly easy, but it’s important to use these tools responsibly. Be transparent about what parts of your work are AI-generated and make sure that any tools you use are not infringe copyrighted work. While using AI can be helpful, it’s also important to balance that with your own input and creativity, so that your work still sounds like you.
Here are the different ways you can present your audio production:
School exhibitions are the perfect way to share any audio production projects. These could include anything from sound design experiments, music theory applications, to multimedia projects that were tied to your schoolwork. Sharing your audio project in this way allows you to have a live audience and to get immediate feedback from those around you.
A personal website is one of the best ways to professionally present and share your work. Websites allow you to upload audio files, as well as behind-the-scenes notes, reflections on your projects, and more. A well-curated site offers further benefits, as it can enhance internships and college applications.
Social media platforms allow you to share your content right away. Because of this, they are the perfect way to share small, catchy projects that immediately grab attention. This may include beat snippets, remixes, or any other audio experiments that can instantly engage listeners. Social media also provides the benefit of quick feedback, as well as building up your visibility and connecting with other like-minded creators and potential collaborators.
Submitting your project to creative art competitions or student showcases can be a great way to give visibility to your project. If you have ambitious projects, show them off at a competition. Judges are often able to give feedback, and an award or special recognition can be great for your portfolio. Even if you don’t win, getting into a contest or completing a submission shows off your initiative and creativity.
Sharing your audio work at local community events or festivals is a great way to expose your work to audiences outside of school. This setting not only allows you to showcase your skills in a public setting but also provides valuable exposure and recognition. The best type of music production projects to share in this context would be those that have cultural, local, or collaborative themes. What about soundscapes inspired by your community?
Publishing your project as a podcast episode or uploading it to online streaming services can make your work available to global listeners. From soundscapes and documentaries to music tracks, uploading and publishing online is a great way to give your work more professionalism. Podcast platforms also offer the ability to read listener comments and statistics, giving you a better idea of who is listening and how your work is being received.
You can also put your audio work on YouTube or with a video. This adds an extra layer of polish and helps to capture and contextualize the audio with animations or slides. You can also make videos of the creation process for projects or create a YouTube channel where you save and archive your work and audio production project ideas over time.
Impressive audio works can be good project ideas for college or university admission. Submitting your audio project as part of a college application is another effective way to showcase your talent, creativity, and skillset. College admissions officers will not only see your creative and technical abilities, but also your willingness to take on complex, time-intensive projects. Audio portfolios can be included as part of an arts portfolio submission or as additional supplemental materials.
Music production equipment can be expensive, but you don't need to be well-off to start producing. Here's how you can start:
Free doesn’t mean low quality. And paid doesn’t always mean necessary. See the difference below.
Why pay for sounds when so many royalty-free libraries are out there? Sites like Splice (with a free trial) or FreeSound can provide you with loops, drums, and FX. The best part about these libraries is that you can experiment without fear of infringement.
Can’t afford a studio microphone? Don’t worry. A good recording is still possible using a smartphone or a budget USB microphone. And with some careful editing, those raw takes can sound deceptively clean.
Do your friends have studio monitors, and do you have a microphone? Split access and work together. Not only will both of you save money, but you'll get faster development working together, and new audio project ideas will flow.
Some developers offer good-quality plugins that are completely free to use. Load these plugins into your DAW, and you’ve got an entire arsenal of tools for immediate use.
To improve your music and audio skills, you could use these top learning tools and programs:
Soundtrap for Education is a cloud-based DAW designed specifically for students. With Soundtrap, students can record, edit, and collaborate on audio production projects in the cloud.
Apple Education supports music learning through the Apple Music student subscription, available to eligible students at a reduced price, and via the Apple Education website. The GarageBand resources section on the Apple Education website includes the Everyone Can Create Music guide for using GarageBand in the classroom.
Yamaha Music Education offers workshops, online lessons, and instructional resources for budding musicians and producers. Their offerings range from instrument lessons to more advanced music technology and can provide students with a guided curriculum to further develop their audio production skills.
The Music Educators Journal is a publication that features articles, research, and best practices on the teaching and learning of music. It can be a useful resource for students to learn about audio production in educational settings or discover new techniques, pedagogy, and music technology innovations.
TSA is a collection of competitions, workshops, and projects that provide students with audio and technical experience through hands-on, creative and real-world application of technical audio skills.
At Indigo Research, we offer a range of programs, including intensive ones like the IRIS program, that will enable you to take your creativity and turn it into an ambitious project. You'll be matched with an expert mentor who will guide you and support your project from its early stages to completion.
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At Indigo Research, we offer a range of programs, including intensive ones like the IRIS program, that will enable you to take your creativity and turn it into an ambitious project. You'll be matched with an expert mentor who will guide you and support your project from its early stages to completion.
