Music 107A: Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music

MUS107 Syllabus –Spring 2014

Music 107a: Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music
Music Department, Brandeis University

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis
University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you
in this class, please see me immediately.

Professor - Eric Chasalow office hours, Th12:30-1:30; F10:40-11:00, or by appt.

Teaching Fellow – David Dominique

Assistant Director of BEAMS – James Praznik

Course Objectives

The emphasis in this course is on learning to think musically and learning to use the studio to compose. By the end of the semester, you should know something about the history of the medium – its important practitioners, masterworks, and studios. You should also understand the basic acoustical principles that musicians need in order to control their results when they work in the studio. You should be able to begin to use the studio to produce your own pieces.

This class is offered to the entire Brandeis community – beginner through advanced musician. This means that some of you may already know quite a lot about one aspect of our work (e.g. computers, music history, analysis, composition, or acoustics) and little about the others. Most likely, we also have quite a range of musical tastes. Because of this, the expectations of what you will take away from your semester of study will vary somewhat. You should be sure to discuss these expectations with me early in the semester to avoid any confusion about the assignments.

Assignments

Homework will include studio exercises, reading and listening assignments. There will be four quizzes, an analysis project, a collaborative project, a final project and an in-class final exam. Your grade will be calculated as follows:

Participation in Class and Discussion 5%
Three Short Exercises (Chasalow Projects 1,3,4) posted on time (ungraded) 5%
Three Quizzes 15%
Analysis Project (Chasalow Project 2) 10%
Collaborative Project 10%
Final Project 25%
Final Exam 30%

A word on grading. If you have any concerns about your performance in the course, you should discuss them with me as early in the semester as possible, or as soon as the concerns arise. I respond well to students who want to learn -- and not very well to those who dwell on grades. That said, I take grading very seriously and believe that superior efforts should be rewarded.

Attendance policy:

Four unexcused absences are permitted (roughly 10% of the class meetings). Five unexcused absences automatically lower your final grade by one full letter (A- to B-, etc.). Six or more unexcused absences and you will fail the course. Absences (beyond the four freebies) may be excused only for documented illness or family emergency (a family event, such as a wedding would not count as an emergency, nor would the need to catch an early flight to leave for holidays). All excuses requireproper documentation, such as a note from a doctor or a nurse on business (not personal) stationery. If this policy creates a hardship for you that I may not have foreseen, please see me immediately at the start of the term.

Recommended Texts and Materials:

USB drive is HIGHLY recommended! but a few thumb drives can work fine.

Adams, Robert Train. Electronic Music Composition for Beginners, second edition. Dubuque 1986.

Anderton, Craig. MIDI for Musicians. NY 1986.

Chadabe, Joel. Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music. NJ 1997.

Manning, Peter. Electronic and Computer Music, revised and expanded edition. Oxford, 2004.

Schrader, Barry. Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music. NJ 1982. (out of print, on reserve)

Computer Music Journal (MIT Press)
If you are serious about the field, it would be a good idea to subscribe.

Electronic Musician Magazine
A subscription to this is inexpensive and recommended for everyone (includes lots of pop music related information)

Important Work-Session Standards:

Attend all of your studio sessions. The best way to learn studio technique is to put in the time with the equipment. While you are expected to make every effort to attend, if you very occasionally cannot, let us know as much in advance as possible so that we can let someone else sign up for your time.
Log in and out of each session.
Follow the instructions for equipment start-up and power-down carefully. Treat equipment with care and respect (especially moving parts, keyboards, power switches, controls, etc.).
Keep all of your computer files in a folder with your name ON THE SERVER space. Do not save files to the desktop, other folders or directories.
NO FOOD AT ANY TIME – DRINKS PER LIBRARY RULES (CLOSED CONTAINER.
Be especially careful with the playback volume, both for the equipment and also to preserve your hearing. Headphones are deceptive. It is easy not to notice how loud the signal is.
BACK UP YOUR WORK FREQUENTLY. We recommend that you make two backups of your computer files as you work.
Respect software copyrights. No software may be brought in and installed on studio computer.
No re-patching of studio cables (except if instructed to do so). We are, however, always happy to have suggestions.
DO NOT DELETE ANY FILES THAT ARE NOT YOURS!!!

Bibliography

Here are some texts that we currently have in the Brandeis Creative Arts Library.

Appleton, Jon H. The Development and Practice of Electronic Music. NJ 1982

The Art of Electronic Music. NY 1984.
Dodge, Charles and Thomas A. Jerse. Computer Music: Synthesis Composition, and Performance. NY 1985
Holmes, Thomas B. Electronic and Experimental Music. NY 1985
Howe, Hubert S. Electronic Music Synthesis. NY 1975
The Language of Electroacoustic Music. NY 1986
Marcus Wallenberg Symposium. Structure and Perception of Electroacoustic Sound and Music. NY 1988
Moore, F. Richard. Elements of Computer Music. NJ 1990
Roads, Curtis and John Strawn. Foundations of Computer Music. Cambridge.
Cary, Tristram. Dictionary of Musical Technology. NY 1992.
Dobson, Richard. A Dictionary of Electronic and Computer Music Technology. NY 1992