MUSI 339: Introduction to Music & Computers

Introduction to Music and Computers is an upper-level introductory course in music technology. Students gain theoretical, practical and historical knowledge of electronic and computer music. An emphasis is placed on creative hands-on experience composing computer music. Theoretical topics include acoustics, recording, digital audio, MIDI, sound synthesis and audio DSP. Students learn skills in soundfile editing, multitrack sound mixing, MIDI, and sound processing. This is a composition class and assignments are creative in nature.

Materials & Resources

There are two required texts for this course, available for purchase at the UVA Bookstore:

Digital Audio Workstation, Colby Leider [$27.96]

Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, Christoph Cox & Daniel Warner, editors [$24.95]

Recordings and supplementary texts will be available for download on the web, on Toolkit and/or on reserve in the Music Library. Readings will provide a foundation in the history of electronic and computer music, in-depth information on theoretical and technical topics, and views into current aesthetic and sociological issues in the field. Recordings will exemplify material under discussion and [we hope] inspire.

The following texts are recommended for continuing study:

Perry Cook, Music, Cognition, and Computerized Sound: An Introduction to Psychoacoustics [$31.55]

Charles Dodge & Thomas A. Jerse, Computer Music [$87.95]

Peter Manning, Electronic and Computer Music [$29.16]

Curtis Roads, The Computer Music Tutorial [$51.62]

Curtis Roads, Microsound [$28.50]

Todd Winkler, Composing Interactive Music: Techniques and Ideas Using Max [$31.45]

The following 3 CD + DVD set is one of the best historical anthologies of electronic & computer music currently available:

OHM+: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music Special Edition [$44.98]

All are available on reserve in the Music Library -- peruse before you buy. Cook's text is available as an online resource [through Virgo]. Prices are Amazon's as of August 19, 2007.

Music Software & Programming Languages:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ [free]

ChucK: http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/ [free]

Max/MSP: http://www.cycling74.com/

PD: http://puredata.info/ [free]

RTcmix: http://rtcmix.org/ [free]

SoundHack: http://www.soundhack.com/freeware.php

SuperCollider: http://supercollider.sourceforge.net/ [free]

All of these sites provide links to documentation, reference manuals, tutorials and other documentation. Most manuals for software used in this class can also be found on Toolkit. Audacity has a help center here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/documentation.

Hard copies of the Pro Tools Manual are available beside each Mac in the Music Library.

Other Useful, Interesting Software & Links [check back for updates]:

http://physics.mtsu.edu/~wmr/log_1.htm [logs]

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html [physics of sound]

http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos.html [acoustics]

To Sign Out Portable Recorders:

http://presto.music.virginia.edu/VCCM/signup/DAT/

Participation & Grading

Attendance & Participation 20%

Timely class attendance is required. Two unexcused absences will result in a grade lower. Two late presences count as one unexcused absence.

Please feel free to ask questions and participate in discussions!

Term Assignments 40%

Please see below for description of assignments.

Quizzes 20%

Three quizzes will cover material from lectures, readings and listening. The following dates are reserved for quizzes: October 2, October 25 and November 27.

Final Project 20%

Your final project will be a composition. It may significantly develop ideas you've explored in previous assignments, or you may strike out in some new direction. You may supplement fixed audio with other media such as video, live performers, &c. And/or you may work with interactivity. Your final submission will include an audio CD and a short text explaining your compositional design, and may include a score or documentation of supplementary media as necessary.

Imagination and exploration of new ideas are valued and appreciated!

Weekly Curriculum

Week 1 (8.28 & 8.30): Welcome & assignment 0.

Listening: Paul Koonce, Walkabout (1998)

Reading: John Cage, "The Future of Music: Credo" (1937) :: AC, 25-28

Pierre Schaeffer, "Acousmatics" (1966) :: AC, 76-81

Pauline Oliveros, "Some Sound Observations" (1968) :: AC 102-106

Week 2 (9.4 & 9.6): Recording, Soundfile Editing

>> assignment 0. DUE 9.4 in class

Listening: Pierre Schaeffer, Etudes aux Chemins de Fer (1948)

John Cage, Williams Mix (1952-3)

Pauline Oliveros, Bye Bye Butterfly (1965)

Reading: Holmes, chapters 1-3 [electronic music history], .pdf on Toolkit

DAW, 110-116 [file storage]

DAW, 307-326 [intro. to microphones and recording: 307-321 optional]

Week 3 (9.11 & 9.13): Envelopes, Basic Soundfile Manipulation, Acoustics I

>> assignment 1. DUE 9.14 by 6:00 PM -- GROUP to 30 SECONDS

Listening: Otto Luening, Fantasy in Space (1952)

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Studie II (1954)

Louis and Bebe Barron, Main Title from Forbidden Planet (1956)

Luciano Berio, Thema: Ommagio a Joyce (1958)

Vladimir Ussachevsky, Computer Piece no. 1 (1968)

Reading: Audacity 1.2 Documentation & Tutorials: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/

DAW, 127-147 [intro. to soundfile editors]

DAW, 53-67 [computer music history]

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html [physics of sound]

http://physics.mtsu.edu/~wmr/log_1.htm [logarithms]

Week 4 (9.18 & 9.20): Acoustics II, Transduction, Digitization

>> assignment 2. DUE 9.21 by 6:00 PM -- HYPEREDITED LINE

Listening: Edgard Varèse, Poem Électronique (1958)

Steve Reich, Come Out (1966)

James Tenney, For Ann (Rising) (1969)

Charles Dodge, He Destroyed Her Image (1972)

Reading: DAW, 1-46

"How Digital Audio Works" [Max/MSP Manual excerpt], .pdf on Toolkit

http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos.html [acoustics]

Week 5 (9.25 & 9.27): Multitrack Mixing, Layering Sound

Listening: The Beatles, vocal tracks from "Because" from Abbey Road (1969)

Pink Floyd, selections from Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Paul Dolden, L'Ivresse de la Vitesse (1992-3)

Pan Sonic, selections from Aaltopiiri (2001)

Reading: Pro Tools Manual [next to computers in Music Library]

Mackie 1604 Mixer Manual, .pdf on Toolkit

Week 6 (10.2 & 10.4): MIDI (with Intro. to Controllers & Interactivity), Sequencing, Plug-Ins . . .

>> 10.2 -- QUIZ 1.

Listening: Aphex Twin, "Bucephalus Bouncing Ball," Come to Daddy EP (1997)

Mu-Ziq, "Hasty Boom Alert" from Lunatic Harness (1997)

Squarepusher, "Come On My Selector" from Big Loada (1998)

Bjork, "Human Behavior" from Debut (1999)

Radiohead, "Idioteque" from Kid A (2000)

Reading: DAW, 189-238 [plug-ins] & 345-360 [MIDI]

Week 7 (10.9 & 10.11): Week 5 Topics Cont., Sound & Image

>> assignment 3. DUE 10.9 by 6:00 PM -- MUSIQUE CONCRETE / SOUNDSCAPE

Listening: Hildegard Westerkamp, Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989)

Jonty Harrison, Unsound Objects (1995)

Katherine Norman, Squeaky Reel (1996)

Francis Dhomont, En Cuerdas (1998)

Natasha Barrett, TBD

Reading: Katherine Norman, "Real-World Music as Composed Listening", Contemporary

Music Review, 1996, Vol. 15, Part 1, .pdf on Toolkit

Francisco Lopez, "Profound Listening and Environmental Sound Matter" (2000) ::

AC, 82-87

http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/intervs/westerk.html [Westerkamp interview]

Week 8 (10.16 & 10.18):

>> assignment 4. DUE 10.19 by 6:00 PM -- VIDEO

Listening: Michel Chion, Requiem (1973)

Phillip Glass, "The Grid," from Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Paul Lansky, ABC (2001)

Paul Lansky et al, The Dust Bunny (2004)

Reading: Walter Murch @ http://www.transom.org/guests/review/200504.review.murch.html

Michel Chion, "Projections of Sound on Image," from Film and Theory: An Anthology, ed. Robert Stam and Toby Miller, .pdf on Toolkit

http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/ [iMovie help & tutorials]

http://www.filmsound.org/ [glossaries & good place to explore]

Week 9 (10.23 & 10.25): Oscillators & More Oscillators: AM, RM, FM, LFOs

>> proposal for assignment 5. DUE 10.23 in class

>> 10.25 -- QUIZ 2.

Listening: Morton Subotnick, Silver Apples of the Moon, Part I [excerpt] (1968)

Jean-Claude Risset, Mutations (1969)

Laurie Spiegel, Appalachian Grove 1 (1974)

John Chowning, Stria (1977)

The Beatles, "Because," from Abbey Road (1969)

Reading: Curtis Roads, "Modulation Synthesis" in CMT, 213-262, .pdf on Toolkit

Week 10 (10.30 & 11.1): Subtractive Synthesis, Filters, Granular Synthesis

Listening: Barry Truax, Riverrun (1986)

Oval, Delft (1993)

Ryoji Ikeda, Headphonics 0/0 (1995)

Yoshidhide, Cathode #4 (1999)

Reading: DAW, 120-127 [filters]

Curtis Roads, [introductory chapter from Microsound], .pdf on Toolkit

Kim Cascone, "The Aesthetics of Failure," .pdf on Toolkit

Week 11 (11.6 & 11.8): Introduction to Frequency Domain DSP -- Phase Vocoding, Convolution, &c.

>> assignment 5. DUE 11.9 by 6:00 PM -- INDIVIDUAL PROJECT

Listening: Trevor Wishart, Vox-5 (1986)

Paul Koonce, Breath and the Machine (1999)

Paul Koonce, Free Reeds (ca. 2003)

Eric Lyon, Ex Cathedra (2002) CD11707

Reading: SoundHack Manual, .pdf on Toolkit

>> Friday, 11.9: TechnoSonics VIII @ Live Arts (attendance required)

Week 12 (11.13 & 11.15): More on Controllers & Interactivity, Installation

>> proposal for final project DUE 11.15 in class

Listening: Newton Armstrong, selected improvisation (2001-2007)

Troika Ranch, Future of Memory (2003)

Dan Trueman, Curtis Bahn & Tomie Hahn, TBD

Troy Rogers, PercusBots (2007)

Reading: Interactivity Reading TBD

Week 13 (11.20): Advanced Topics TBD / Thanksgiving Recess

Listening: TBD

Reading: TBD

Week 14 (11.27 & 11.29): Review & Discussion of Projects, Collective Project

>> 11.27 -- QUIZ 3.

Listening: TBD

Reading: TBD

Week 15 (12.4 & 12.6): Review & Discussion of Projects

>> final project draft. DUE 12.7 by 6:00 PM

>> final project DUE 12.10 by 9:00 AM

Final Concert Date & Time TBD

Recap of Important Dates:

9.4 assignment 0. DUE in class

9.14 assignment 1. DUE by 6:00 PM

9.21 assignment 2. DUE by 6:00 PM

10.2 Quiz 1.

10.9 assignment 3. DUE by 6:00 PM

10.19 assignment 4. DUE by 6:00 PM

10.23 proposal for assignment 5. DUE in class

10.25 Quiz 2.

11.9 assignment 5. DUE by 6:00 PM

11.9 required attendance at TechnoSonics, Live Arts [downtown], 8:00 PM

11.15 proposal for final project DUE in class

11.27 Quiz 3.

12.7 final project draft. DUE by 6:00 PM

A concert of our final projects will serve as our 'final' -- Date & Time TBD

Assignments

assignment 0. -- DUE 9.4

Listen to Paul Koonce's 'Walkabout' (1998) -- preferably on headphones, preferably more than once. [MP3 available on Toolkit; CD on reserve in the Music Library.] Have you heard anything that sounds like this before? What? Or what's closest? How does the piece seem to deal with pitch? Rhythm? Dynamics? Timbre? Form? Are you naturally drawn to imagine the 'source' of each sound you hear? To what extent can you? Do you have any idea how this music was made? Do you want to? What most interests you about the piece? What interests you least? Write a typed one-page response to these and/or your own questions and submit it in class.

assignment 1. -- DUE 9.14

In groups of three, use a portable recorder checked out from the Music Library to make a collection of 'field' recordings of various local environments, found and performed sounds. Still working as a group, use Audacity or a similar application to edit out three minutes of particularly interesting material. [NOTE: please try to be finished with this part by 9.7.] Next, working alone, whittle your group's three minutes down to 30 seconds. Most likely this will consist of a collection of great moments -- rather than simply a contiguous selection from the three-minute soundfile. [And obviously, your collection should differ from that of others in your group!] Submit both your group's soundfile and your own by 6:00 PM on 9.14. You will use your 30-second file as the sole source of material for assignment 2.

assignment 2. -- DUE 9.21

From your 30-second soundfile, select and make discrete edits of seven or fewer sounds, 10 milliseconds to 3 seconds apiece. Use them to compose a 'hyper-edited line', approximately 30 seconds in duration. This piece is to be realized using Audacity or similar. No effects are permitted -- aside from amplitude envelopes & panning. Submit your composition by 6:00 PM on 9.21.

assignment 3. -- DUE 10.19

Using your raw field recordings, Sound FX and foley CDs, and optional supplemental recordings, use Audacity & Pro Tools to make a musique concrète or 'soundscape' composition of two to four minutes in duration. Try to achieve an invented sound ecology -- with both natural and synthetic sounds. Consider musique concréte and 'soundscape' compositions as models. You may choose to add a voiceover [as Hildegard Westerkamp sometimes does], and/or periodically allow rhythm into the texture. Submit your composition by 6:00 PM on 10.9.

assignment 4. -- DUE 10.19

Select a clip of video of one minute or less. You may use documentary footage, obscure anime, last summer's family barbeque, &c. Use Pro Tools & anything else you choose to produce a synced audio track that artfully addresses the video's content. This may include music, foley, sound effects and voice. Submit a .mov or .mp4 file of your project by 6:00 PM on 10.19.

assignment 5. -- DUE 11.9 [proposal DUE 10.23 in class]

Individual Concentration Project determined by your needs and interests, in preparation for your Final Project. This might be a time to shore up your understanding of / get deeper into something covered earlier in the term by doing it some more; or you might design a study for yourself that focuses on some technology we've covered only tangentially, so you can use it with confidence in your final project. Or anything else. Duration is up to you. Due by 6:00 on 11.9.

Final Project -- ready to present in class by 12.7 [proposal DUE 11.15 in class]; final version due by 9:00 AM on 12.10.

Your final project will be a composition. It may significantly develop ideas you've explored in previous assignments, or you may strike out in some new direction. You may supplement fixed audio with other media such as video, live performers, &c. You may make an installation. And/or you may work with interactivity. Duration is up to you. Your final submission will include an audio CD and a short text explaining your compositional design, and may include a score or documentation of supplementary media as necessary.

NOTE: unless otherwise directed, you will submit assignments by copying them into the global MUSI-339 folder from any of the computers in the Music Library. We will show you how to do this. There is a strict protocol for naming files. If I were submitting assignment 5, I would name it like this: ejc3q_a5.aif -- that is, lowercase UVA computing ID, underscore, 'a' with assignment number appended, period, and file type suffix. [Other file type suffixes include .doc, .rtf, .txt, .pdf, .wav, .mp3, .mov, .mp4, &c.]

Final Exam scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, 9:00 AM -- Noon