Undergraduate Course: Creative Music Technology (MUSI08057)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Creative Music Technology explores creative engagements with digital musical technologies, particularly composing with audio files, sampling, and creating and patching digital synthesisers. |
| Course description |
In this course, you will engage with the creative potential of digital technologies. The focus is on working with recorded audio (that you may make yourself, or that you may sample from elsewhere), and on designing sound from scratch with synthesis processes. Alongside your own creative investigations of these technologies, you will explore the history of these practices, and existing musical work that engages with specific technologies.
In addition to weekly 2-hour sessions, there will be tutorial sessions in smaller groups every two weeks.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed
Sound Recording (MUSI08054)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Students will be given the given a list of apps that they may purchase (at their own costs) for use with their own IOS or Android smartphone in the practical sync sessions. Participation using smartphones is not mandatory but recommended. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 52 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
A creative sound work consisting of processed samples of a length of 2 minutes, submitted as a wav or mp3 file, plus a short 500-word report submitted as a PDF. (20%)
A substantial creative sound work arranged and produced using techniques learnt in class of a length of 5 minutes (submitted as a wav or mp3) and a written report of 2,000 words (as a pdf). (80%).
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| Feedback |
Feedback is given through submission of the coursework during the semester. Feedback is also given through tutorials and group presentation of works-in-progress during the lectures. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Creatively engage with recorded audio to develop new sound pieces.
- Creatively engage with a range of audio processing techniques.
- Understand and build modular synthesis patches for compositional purposes.
- Discuss and engage with aesthetic concerns relating to musical technologies.
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Reading List
Reading List:
- Playing with Something that Runs, Mark Butler. Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Hildegard Westerkamp and the Ecology of Sound as Experience. Notes on Beneath the Forest Floor. Duhautpas and Solomos, The Journal of Acoustic Ecology vol. 13 no. 1, 2014.
- Appropriation, Additive Approaches and Accidents: The sampler as a compositional tool and recording dislocation, Paul Harkins, Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 1(1), 1-19, 2010.
- Real-World Music as Composed Listening. Katharine Norman, Contemporary Music Review, Vol 15, No 1-2, 1996.
- Ghosts of Futures Past: Sampling, Hauntology and Mash-ups Simon Reynolds, chapter 10 in Retromania, , Faber and Faber, 2010.
- Pink Noises, Tara Rodgers, Duke University Press, 2010. (see particularly the chapters on Eliane Radigue, Jessica Rylan, Pamela Z and Pauline Oliveros)
Listening List:
- Vicki Bennet - 25 Years of People Like Us (2019)
- John Chowning - Stria (1977)
- Linda O Keeffe - Silent Spring (2019)
- Macintosh Plus - Floral Shoppe (2011)
- John Oswald - Plunderphonics (1988)
- Eliane Radigue - Triptych (1975)
- Chris Watson - Stepping into the Dark (2014)
- Hildegard Westerkamp - A Walk Through The City (1981)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
11x weekly 2-hour sessions (a mixture of lectures and practical sessions), plus dedicated tutorial slots on even-numbered weeks that focus exclusively on hands on practical work. |
| Keywords | Music Technology; Electroacoustic Composition; Recording; Sound Processing |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Tom Mudd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2808
Email: tmudd@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Hugh Black
Tel: (0131 6)51 5926
Email: hugh.black@ed.ac.uk |
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