Music to Programming with Ernesto Santos

Julian Perry

September 15, 2020 in Success Stories

Music to Programming with Ernesto Santos

Hello everyone and welcome to another Learner Success Story! Today we are joined by Ernesto Santos, a music producer with 15 years of experience who is pursuing new and exciting projects with Unity!

We’re excited to have you here, Ernesto! To begin, as someone with 15 years of experience with music production, what got you interested in Unity and programming?

I started to feel that the music industry was going through a cost-reduction transition where eventually a lot of music production services were going to soon be replaced by stock music libraries. I have been producing and selling music libraries and content for a while now. Early last year I started to look into the gaming industry towards game audio implementation. I started by learning audio middleware with a program called Wwise before pursuing programming in Unity, mainly because I couldn’t find game studios wanting to outsource audio related services. I figured that if I wanted to showcase my full creative skillset beyond my music production capabilities and interests, I would have to go deeper and become a software developer myself.

We love how you’re choosing to innovate with the industry. Could you tell us a bit more about how you’ve been exploring new ways to create interactive experiences for users?

My plan is to design and develop interactive experiences for the entertainment, marketing, advertisement, architecture, and education industries, based on my experiences in creating engaging and emotional experiences with music and audio. I’m currently expanding my basic Unity development skills with Zenva’s extensive course library, including topics related to animation, AI, 3D modeling, AR, and VR.

Portfolio for Ernesto

Transitioning to programming from music production is a big step. How has this transition been for you, and how have your past experiences possibly influenced it?

I’ve always been an avid learner, having very recently finished my master’s degree, all while I was still teaching college-level music production and audio engineering. I taught for a full 10 years (which was a learning experience in itself), but once I decided to stop teaching and focus on my own company full-time, I realized I was settling into a comfort zone. Because of that, I decided to combine my learning and research and implement it into my company’s philosophy and mantra. When I began to not feel as motivated to continue learning about music production and the music industry in general, I realized that the world of programming and software technology was a better fit for my personality and mindset which needs to stay curious and challenged to stay motivated. I’ve always been a geek at heart, so I decided to switch to an industry of like-minded people.

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects we may expect to see in the near future?

I’m currently developing an educational rhythm game designed to teach the player the foundations of traditional Colombian music.

We can’t wait to see the project, and we’re glad to know our courses have helped. Can you expand on how the courses at Zenva have played a role in your development process?

Zenva’s course library allows me to pick which subjects I’d like to learn as I continue making progress with my development. I’ve recently started the Ed-Tech Mini-Degree, which I feel has enhanced my understanding of those subjects further. I also plan on developing video tutorials and courses, specifically related to music, sound design, and their implementation into Unity. Developing tutorials allows me to go deeper into my new areas of interest while still taking advantage of my expertise in the field of music, audio, and my extensive experience in education.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of our questions today. One final question before we go, though! What advice would you give to other students who are perhaps looking to begin changing their career path or gain skills in a new industry?

It’s never too late to change career paths (I’m in my early forties), let alone to learn new skills that can help you or progress your current skillset. Always be on the lookout for new ways to gain new skills and constantly dig deeper into your areas of interest.

This concludes our interview today! We want to thank Ernesto for taking the time to share his experiences with us and offering tips for other students looking to begin learning something new.

You can learn more about Ernesto’s work here on his website.

Listen to songs produced by Ernesto’s company here on his his Soundcloud.

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