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Dan Freeman
Position
Assistant Professor
Affiliated Departments
Faculty Bio E-Mail
Personal Websites
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Dan Freeman is a producer/bassist and music technologist based in Brooklyn, New York and an expert on the integration of live instruments with laptops using Ableton Live and future instrument technology.
Originally from Boston, he came to New York at age 23 and worked for years as a session bassist, playing and touring throughout NYC, Europe, and Latin America at venues from many underground Brooklyn parties to Carnegie Hall. He has performed and given workshops on electronic music production and performance at festivals, universities, and schools worldwide including at: SXSW, Harvard University, Berklee College of Music, Berghain (Berlin), DNA Music (Bogota), Argenlive (Buenos Aires), Universidad de Santiago (Chile), Teatro Rubén Dario (Nicaragua), and Sonar (Barcelona, Spain).
Currently, Freeman is also on the faculty of New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and the Juilliard School, where he designs and teaches courses on electronic music production, synthesis, and live performance with laptops. He also has a production space in Brooklyn where he produces and sound designs records and helps design live shows.
In 2015 he launched the Brooklyn Digital Conservatory, which over the past seven years has provided electronic music production workshops, courses, affordable software, and teacher training to students throughout Latin America including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
Career Highlights
- Ableton Certified Trainer, 2011–present
- Ableton Curriculum and Course Designer: designed the Producing Music with Software and MIDI courses at NYU's Clive Davis Institute, DJLab (San Jose, Costa Rica), and the Juilliard School's From the Studio to the Stage
- Live electronic music performances and workshops: Berghain (Berlin), Sonar (Barcelona), SXSW (Austin), Ström Festival (Copenhagen), Jazz Cafe (San Jose, Costa Rica), Teatro Rubén Darío (Managua, Nicaragua), Argenlive (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Centro Cultural de España (Mexico City, Mexico), Festival de la Imagen (Manizales, Colombia)
- Production/Ableton consultant and live set designer: work with Tunde Adembimpe (TV on the Radio), DJ Maseo (De La Soul), DJ Spinna, Honey Dijon, Rachel Z, Matthew Garrison, Ali Sethi, Russell Graham, and Jerry Barnes of Chic
- Bandleader: Comandante Zero. Appeared with: Xavier, the Brazilian Girls, the Juan MacLean, and Stellastarr*
- Session bassist NYC; studies with: Matthew Garrison, Lincoln Goines, and Richard Bona
- Session bassist/keyboardist NYC; performances: Broadway pit orchestras and tours, Peter Gabriel, Angélique Kidjo, B-52's, and Stellastarr*
Awards
- NYU Adjunct Faculty Grants 2016-2020
Education
- A.B., Harvard University, magna cum laude
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