Unit information: Composition - Studio in 2015/16

Unit name	Composition - Studio
Unit code	MUSI10056
Credit points	10
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Kelcey Swain
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

A sub-title for the Studio component (weeks 1-12) might be: Music as Sound/Music as Data. Computers and recordings let us get to grips with the raw material of music (sound) and the ways in which we codify musical materials (data) in ways that could not be imagined previously. Although the unit is called Studio Composition, it is intended to give you insights into the stuff of music whether you are a composer, analyst, musicologist or performer.

Aims:

This unit offers hands-on introduction to musical uses of computers and recording technology, including the recording, editing and transformation of sound as the raw material for musical composition and the representation of music as abstract data, as in the MIDI protocol. The unit also introduces conventions underlying notation software.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful completion of this unit will enable students to:

• react constructively and critically to performances of compositions by other students

• discuss musical objectives and make constructive use of advice and experience

• demonstrate an ability to handle and manipulate a variety of sound sources electronically in both analytical and creative contexts

• understand and apply the operation of hardware, software applications, recording techniques.

Teaching Information

Weekly lecture (1 hr) and follow-up seminars.

Assessment Information

Two guided composition projects (weighted 60%: 40%).

Reading and References

• Smalley, D., "Spectromorphology: explaining sound shapes" in Organised Sound, 2(2) (1997), 107-26.

• Emmerson, S. (ed.), The Language of Electroacoustic Music. (London, 1986).

• Chadabe, J., Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music (Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996).

• Selected CD recordings to be determined by individual project areas

Prescribed scores, to be identified during the unit