Undergraduate Course: Creative Coding for Sound (MUSI10100)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | In this course you will explore the use of code to engage with, make, and modify sounds to creative ends, developing sonic projects that take advantage of the medium of code. You will develop skills in a high-level programming language alongside an awareness of how these skills relate to contemporary issues in sound and music computing. Topics covered are also relevant to other areas such as sonification, product and prototype design. |
| Course description |
This course introduces creative approaches to the use of computers and code in sonic contexts. Lectures cover a range of areas based on the development of software systems for parsing, analysing, manipulating, sampling and synthesising sound. You will investigate these aspects and apply them through coding your own projects, using an accessible software programming language.
You will attend weekly 2-hour lectures, including a mixture of lectures and practical sessions, plus dedicated weekly one hour tutorial slots that focus on practical work.
You will work on projects to create new output and prepare reports that explain your use of code through appropriate documentation using written report and multimedia. The two submissions of Software project and then the more substantial Audio project provide a structure that allows you to acquire and develop your skills progressively in a supportive learning environment.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
160 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has two assessment components:
- Software project, 40%, weeks 5-7.
- Audio project, 60%, Exam diet.
Software project. A single digital submission of creative sonic coding that combines code, audio examples and other appropriate documentation to communicate your aims, approach and output.
Audio project. A single digital submission that presents, documents and reports on the aims, approach and output of a more substantial audio project. As with the Software Project, the submission will include code, audio examples and other documentation. |
| Feedback |
Formative feedback. You will receive regular verbal feedback on your formative work from teaching staff in tutorials, both before and after the first component of assessment.
Summative feedback. You will receive written feedback from teaching staff on both the first and second components of assessment. Feedback from the first assignment supports your work on the final assignment. Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Use an accessible computer programming language to create and communicate engaging audio-based code concepts.
- Devise and translate original design ideas into a final sound-based project.
- Articulate a critical understanding of aesthetic questions surrounding digital audio and code, through practical and written work.
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Reading List
Bronner, Kai, and Rainer Hirt. (2009). Audio Branding: Brands, Sound and Communication. 1st ed. Fischer (Reinhard)
Cipriani, Alessandro and Maurizio Giri. (2010). Electronic music and sound design: theory and practice with MaxMSP. Contemponet
Dean, Roger and Alex McLean. (2019). The Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music. Oxford University Press.
Farnell, Andy. (2007). An Introduction to Procedural Audio and Its Application in Computer Games, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/versions?doi=10.1.1.531.2707.
Roads, Curtis. (1996). 'The Computer Music Tutorial. Cambridge', Mass: MIT Press.
Rodgers, Tara. (2010). Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound. Durham NC: Duke University Press. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry.
The course provides you with an opportunity to acquire knowledge and information that supports you to work independently and creatively. Coding practices are flexible so that what is learnt in one domain can be applicable to others: e.g. visual art practices, design, performance, installation, media art, software development, and so on. In learning how to extend and consolidate your competency and knowledge in the significant domain of coding, you will have gained highly transferable skills that will help you to develop and implement original and creative responses in other domains.
Personal and intellectual autonomy.
Through the learning and assessment activities of creative coding which are part of this course, you have the chance to gain skills in personal and intellectual autonomy that will help you become more adaptable, resourceful, and reflective. As part of the course, you will gain experience in decision-making, exercising initiative, and managing your time.
Communication.
An appreciation of the collaborative and integrative nature of projects that involve creative coding can help you to become more effective and responsible in how you communicate about your work. The course gives you the opportunity to understand and assess solutions to design issues, and to confidently and effectively present and communicate original work and ideas to peers and a range of audiences. |
| Keywords | Creative coding,generative music,sonic art,sound installation,live performance,algorithmic music |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Tom Mudd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2808
Email: tmudd@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Laura Duff
Tel:
Email: lduff4@ed.ac.uk |
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