Music 219
Electronic Music
Jonathan Chenette, instructor
Blanche Johnson Professor of Music
(641) 269-3065, Bucksbaum 254
chenet@grinnell.edu
Catalog Description:
History and techniques of electronic and computer music. Topics include
compositional aesthetics, recording technology, digital and analog synthesis,
sampling, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), and computer-assisted
composition. Focuses on the creation of finished works to be presented
in public concert.
Specific Learning Goals:
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
1. understand and apply aesthetic principles for discussing and evaluating
qualities of electronic music compositions
2. use computers and electronic musical instruments to generate expressive,
well-crafted, short compositions
3. understand and explain MIDI, the protocol governing most communication
among instruments in the studio
4. record and edit digital audio for creative purposes
5. use creatively, understand, and explain differences among major types
of electronic music software and hardware
6. explain basic theories of synthesis and sampling and use them to
create musically useful sounds
7. understand and explain the aesthetic, historical, and technical background
underlying contemporary electronic musical practice
Class Requirements and Grade:
1. Homework, participation, attendance 20%
2. Exams 30%
3. Compositions 50%
Required Book and Materials:
Roads, Curtis. Computer Music Tutorial. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1996.
Blank DAT tape and CDR media.
Class Policies:
Save all computer work onto your own hard disk partition with a title
and location that clarifies the contents as much as possible. Keep back-ups
of all important work on floppy disks, Zip disks, DAT or Hi8 tapes,
CD's, or your Storageserver account, as appropriate.
Complete all reading and homework assignments by the day indicated on
the syllabus. For composition projects, students may request extensions
(due by 9:00 a.m two days later) by submitting work on the due date
demonstrating considerable progress toward the project's completion
and sending an e-mail to chenet@grinnell.edu
indicating what work remains to be done and why an extension is needed.
Except in cases of medical or other problems confirmed by a note from
the Health Center or Student Affairs, homework missed because of absences
or lateness may be made up only upon arrangement with the instructor
prior to the class missed. Absences or lateness, unless cleared in advance
with the instructor or excused by a note from Health Services or Student
Affairs, will reduce your participation/attendance grade by whatever
proportion of class sessions you miss.
The following questions will guide me in my evaluations of your music
this semester and might help you in critiquing your own work and discussing
the works of other composers:
1. Does the piece begin well? Does it have an interesting idea, well
stated, that captures the listener's attention?
2. Does the piece end well? Is there a sense of finality and completeness?
3. If there are contrasting musical ideas, do they seem fresh and interesting
and yet consistent with the original?
4. Are elements of contrast sufficient for the length of the composition?
Does the piece ever seem tedious and boring? Is it too long for its
material?
5. Are transitions compelling and effective? Do they ever seem forced
and arbitrary?
6. Are ideas developed adequately? Does the music ever seem to do too
many new things too often? Is the length appropriate for the number
of different musical ideas presented? Are ideas transformed inventively?
7. Are the notes/rhythms correct? Do they fit together coherently?
8. Are the sounds interesting? Do they fit together coherently?
9. Does the music demonstrate skillful use of the electronic medium?
Is its technical quality high?
10. Does the piece have character? Is it memorable? Does it avoid clichés?
11. Does the music fit the constraints of the assignment regarding length,
character, vocabulary, technique, etc.?
12. Would you want to hear this work again?
Course Outline:
Week 1, Monday, January 20, 2003
Goal: to understand important aesthetic issues and technical developments
in the history of analog electronic music, including early electronic
instruments, the tape recorder and "musique concrete," the
classic studio, and analog synthesizers.
Week 1, Wednesday, January 22
Reading Assignment: Read pages 30-54 and
112-116 from Thom Holmes's Electronic and Experimental Music and section
3, "Postwar Music and the Technoscientific Imaginary" from
Timothy Taylor's Strange Sounds: Music, Technology and Culture (pp.
41-71); both are on reserve at Burling.
Listening Assignment: CD1 from "Ohm:
The Early Gurus of Electronic Music," on reserve at the Burling
Listening Room, reading the jewel box insert notes for each piece. For
discussion, consider the relations between the pieces on this CD and
Russolo's vision of an "Art of Noise"?
Goal: to be able to recount the principal developments in the history
of digital electronic music and to explain basic digital electronic
music techniques and concepts including digital signal processing, MIDI,
sampling, algorithmic composition, and interactive music systems.
Week 2, Monday, January 27
Listening and Writing Assignment: Listen
to CD2 from "Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music," on
reserve at the Burling Listening Room, reading the jewel box insert
notes for each piece. Write a short essay (up to three pages) that presents
a way of thinking about the relationships and differences among the
13 works on the CD by sorting them into two or three groups or along
a spectrum according to one aesthetic or technical criterion that seems
relevant to you. Possible criteria include the types of tools used in
creating each piece; the types of sounds that dominate (environmental
sounds, noise-like sounds, electronic sounds); whether rhythm, pitch,
or timbre seems predominant; whether the composer favors chance or control
in organizing the materials; specific emotional impressions or moods
the music seems designed to evoke; the degree to which the music seems
nostalgic (harkening back to older styles of music) versus revolutionary
for its time; the music's form or shape; etc. Give brief observations
about the pieces that clarify your reasons for categorizing them as
you do. Write in traditional essay form, organizing your paragraphs
and the overall structure of the essay to present a unified framework
for thinking about relationships and differences among these pieces
of music.
Goal: to understand the basic physics of sound and how the parameters
of sound are modelled in the electronic medium.
Week 2, Wednesday, January 29
Reading Assignment: Roads "Digital
Audio Concepts" (pp. 7-47) and "Psychoacoustics" (pp.
1051-1069).
Goal: 1. Understand frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude, and envelope
and apply basic formulas relating these parameters.
2. Understand and be able to interpret time- and frequency-domain graphs
of sound.
3. Describe the 4 main subjective characteristics of sound and understand
what they correspond to in time- and frequency-domain graphs.
4. Understand the concepts of harmonics, partials, beating and how complex
sounds can be broken down into harmonic or partial components.
Week 3, Monday, February 3
Reading Assignment: Roads "System
Interconnections" (pp. 1019-1048).
Listening and Writing Assignment: Listen to CD3 from "Ohm: The
Early Gurus of Electronic Music," on reserve at the Burling Listening
Room, reading the jewel box insert notes for each piece. Choose one
track to focus on. Listen to it repeatedly and critically, thinking
about its structural coherence, aesthetic values, expressive qualities,
and shape in terms suggested by the 12 questions for critiquing work
given above. Write your answers to the questions for the piece you selected,
supporting your answers with specific observations about the music.
You may organize these answers either as a numbered list or in traditional
essay format, but in either case please type. Some of the pieces may
not seem to fit well with the criteria suggested by the questions, because
the composers' aesthetic aims in those pieces were different. If you
choose such a piece, answer any questions that seem relevant and explain
why other questions from the list seem irrelevant to you for that piece.
Goal: to gain a basic understanding of entry procedures, how to route
audio signals, mixing, and effects processing in the Grinnell College
electronic music studio.
Week 3, Wednesday, February 5
Reading Assignment: Roads "Sound Mixing"
(pp. 349-385).
Studio Assignment: Also, enter and sign-in
on the EMS logbook. Set up the Yamaha O1V mixer, patch bays, and other
necessary devices to complete the following tasks:
* On the Korg N1 MIDI keyboard, press the [GLOBAL] and [UTILITY] keys
simultaneously to enter demo mode, use the cursor keys or [INC+][DEC-]
to select one of the two demo songs, and press [EDIT] to start the sequence
playing. Monitor the sound on the back pair of speakers to confirm that
you know how to use the mixer and patch bay to route sounds to speaker
destinations. When done, press [EXIT] to stop.
* use the Marantz CDR500 to play track 15 from the "Skipped Stones"
audio CD and write down what you hear.
* apply an 01v preset effect to the microphone signal. Then edit its
settings to something significantly different that you find interesting.
Save this new effect in the user program slot assigned to you. Refer
to the 01V manual pages 119-158 (Chapter 12: "Effects") as
necessary.
* record a single-sentence continuation of the story contained on the
"Class Work" DAT tape, which is located either in the DA-30
or on the shelf between the computer monitor and the mixer. First, listen
to the tape to hear the story so far, and position the counter at the
end of the recorded portion. Precede your continuation of the story
with your name, or incorporate your name somehow into the sentence you
add (examples of each in my first two sentences). Listen to what you've
recorded, and re-record, if necessary, until you are satisfied that
the recording is clear and fee of breath pops, clicks, or other noises.
Be careful not to erase the other students' contributions.Setup for
listening to keyboard:
* 01v: faders 1/2 and Stereo/Master up
Monitor Out level up (or Phones level up if monitoring over headphones)
* N1: check that volume slider is up; start playbackSetup for listening
from CD:
* DigiPatch Source 6 to Target 3 (or choose Program 03)
* 01v: HOME faders 13/14 and Stereo/Master up
Monitor Out level up (or Phones level up if monitoring over headphones)
* CDR500: press playSetup for listening from DAT:
* DigiPatch Source 2 to Target 3 (or choose Program 00)
* 01v: HOME faders 13/14 and Stereo/Master up
Monitor Out level up (or Phones level up if monitoring over headphones)
* DA-30: Cue tape to desired position; press playSetup for recording
to DAT:
* DigiPatch Source 3 to Target 2 (or choose Program 01)
* DA-30: position tape at end of current recorded portion
Check that Input switch is set to "Digital" and Digital Input
to "Coaxial"
Press and hold Record followed by Pause until both light up
First time recording?: Press "Auto ID" and check to see Auto
ID lights in display
Redo recording?: Press "Auto ID" to turn it off so as not
to write another start index #
* 01v: fader 13/14 and Monitor Out knob down to avoid feedback
Raise faders 12 and Stereo/Master while speaking into mic until meter
readings on DA-30 peak at somewhere above -12 but less than 0 dB. You
may need to adjust the gain on 01v input 12 to boost the signal, but
check 01v HOME page 1 to make sure the gain is low enough to prevent
clipping.
* To listen to your recording, remember to turn fader 13/14 and Monitor
Out level up
Goal: to be able to import audio from a CD into ProTool, process digital
audio data within ProTools, and apply basic ProTools editing techniques
for regions, volume, and panning.
Week 4, Monday, February 10
Reading Assignment: Chapter 5 "Non-Narrative
Formal Systems" from Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson, Film
Art: An Introduction (New York: McGraw, 1996); and Roads "Basic
Concepts of Signal Processing" (pp. 390-450), "Sound Spatialization"
(pp. 451-458), and "Reverberation" (pp. 472-476).
Studio Assignment: Spend one hour in the
studio beginning work on a one- to two-minute long ProTools session
based on a "remix" of one of the first 7 tracks from the CD
recording of Skipped Stones, read by the suthor Harvey Hess. Create
a new ProTools session, save it on your hard drive partition, import
one track from tracks 1 to 7 on the CD (see below for procedure), and
begin creating regions and arranging them in audio tracks and editing
them with ProTools. Use the region editing, volume, and pan features;
any of the commands from the Edit menu; and/or the following plug-ins
from the AudioSuite menu: Normalize, Reverse, Time Compression Expansion,
or Pitch Shift. Feel free to use as little or as much of the source
CD track as you desire. Refer to Basic
ProTools Techniques for a cue sheet on on accomplishing some basic
functions.
Video Project Assignment: View experimental
short films shown on the Cultural Film Series in ARH 302 at any of the
following times: 8 p.m. Fri or Sat or 2 p.m. Sun. View the film Koyaanisqatsi,
on reserve under Will Pergl's name at the Burling Listening Room.
There will be an extra meeting with the Sculpture class this week to
discuss the aesthetics of film.
Procedure for importing audio from a CD into ProTools:
Movie --> Import Audio From Other Movie
Maneuver to "Audio CD 1" and select desired track number
Click Convert
In Save dialog box, click Options and set SR=44100, Size=16bit, Use=
Stereo, OK
Specify name and destination (current session's "Audio Files"
folder)
Track Import Window: click OK to confirm tracks to import
Create audio tracks and drag one of the regions from Audio Regions List
pop-up to track
Goal: to understand effects, equalization, and dynamics processing and
know how to use ProTools plug-ins and automation to implement them.
Week 4, Wednesday, February 12
Studio Assignment: Make a version of your
Skipped Stones remix using at least one plug-in whose values change
under automated control. Record a version of the result into a separate
ProTools stereo track, and make a back-up copy of the result on a DAT
tape.Procedure for using plug-in inserts in ProTools (manual p. 358):
• Display --> Edit Window Shows Inserts View
• Select plug-in insert from pop-up menu appearing when you click
on an insert bullet
• Operations --> Loop Playback
• Start playback (transport window > or Spacebar) and edit
insert settings as desired
• From the down-arrow next to the plug-in's pop-up window, select
"Save Settings As" and name
• Edit settings further and "Save" to alter current
preset or "Save Settings As" to create a new preset. Switch
between presets by calling them up from the pop-up menu.
• Work with various settings until you think you understand the
impact of each editable parameter
Automation (manual p. 283)
Windows --> Show Automation Enable window
Highlight desired item(s) to enable (red text with white button)
Deselect other items
Select Automation Mode from track's pop-up menu: off, read, touch, latch,
write
Click play and edit desired automated parameter
Alternatively: Select automation type from pop-up window at bottom L
of track display
Write automation data with pencil or grabber tool
Procedure for recording onto a new stereo track in ProTools
Procedure for recroding from ProTools to DAT
Goal: to understand how to use a portable DAT recorder and how to record
from a microphone or DAT source into ProTools.
Week 5, Monday, February 17
Studio Assignment: Make final version of
your Skipped Stones remix
Video Project: Extra meeting with Sculpture
class to focus collaboration. Each group should come to class with a
brainstorming list of words or phrases encapsulating possible organizing
concepts or approaches to your video, with at least two possibilities
for each of the non-narrative formal types from the reading: categorical,
rhetorical, abstract, and associational. In addition, you should write
two paragraphs developing more fully your ideas for two of these possible
concepts or approaches; choose two that represent different non-narrative
formal types rather than two of the same type. View last year'sArt
242/ MUS 219 Collaborative Projects.
Procedure for recording from DAT to ProTools:
1. Use DigiPatch to route S/PDIF digital audio from DAT to ProTools
2. Launch ProTools: File --> New Session --> Name: Ad and save
to your partition --> Bit depth = 16
3. Setups --> Hardware --> Sync mode = Internal
Digital Format = S/PDIF (other option: AES/EBU)
Ch 1-2 Input = Digital (other option: Analog)
look at lights on 888i/o to check current hardware setup status
4. Set up file and display options:
File --> New Track --> 2 new audio tracks
Display --> Show Edit Window (if not already showing)
Display --> Edit Window Shows i/o view
Windows --> Show Transport Window (if not already showing)
Display --> Transport Window Shows Counters (only)
Rename each track by double-clicking on the track name ("Ad Left",
"Ad Right")
Set the i/o for each track using the pop-up menus
Set Pan for each track using the pop-up menus
5. Record:
Enable REC button on each track
Start playing DAT from a location several seconds before the start of
your material
Click REC (circle) and Play (>) in the ProTools transport window
in time to catch the start of your materialGoal: to listen to and discuss
Skipped Stones projects, including studying plug-ins used, musical qualities
of projects, and ways of improving (multiple playlists for experimenting,
saving plug-in presets, using the multiple tool selector); and to understand
the use of Ionizer for noise reduction and the portable DAT deck for
audio recording.
Week 5, Wednesday, February 19
Studio Assignment: Begin planning and gathering
source materials for your video project. See March 5 (due date) for
assignment. By Saturday of this week, you should have your source materials
videotaped and recorded. Goal: to understand the process for composing
music using ProTools
Week 6, Monday, February 24
Video Project: See March 5 (due date) for
assignment. Extra meeting with Sculpture class to present a 5-minute
progress report.
Goal: to reinforce editing and composing techniques with ProTools; and
to understand the history and basic concept of MIDI, the MIDI specification,
general MIDI, and the interpretation of MIDI implementation charts
Week 6, Wednesday, February 26
Reading Assignment: Roads "MIDI"
(pp. 972-1016).
Video Project: work on video project. See
March 6 (due date) for assignment.
Goal: to understand the various types of MIDI devices and the ways of
connecting and routing signals among them
Week 7, Monday, March 3
Video Project: Work on video project. See
March 5 (due date) for assignment.
Goal: to understand in detail the operation of the Korg N1 MIDI keyboard
and the basic concepts of sequencing
Week 7, Wednesday, March 5
Video Project: (soundtrack due today, completed
video due Friday, extra meeting with Sculpture class to present a near-final
draft.) Working in a group with one or two students from Will Pergl's
Sculpture class, create an experimental video 1 to 3 minutes long for
which you compose the soundtrack using ProTools. In collaboration with
the sculpture student(s), create source material based on a thing, concept,
or category of your own choice documented with the aid of the portable
DAT recorder and digital video camera. Because of the requirements of
DV-video, record and process the DAT source at a sampling rate of 48K.
From the audio that you record, select a segment up to 15 seconds long
(or up to three shorter segments) from which to derive all your sound
materials using the techniques available in ProTools (plus the 01v effects,
if desired).
You may record much more than 15 seconds of potential source material,
but base your soundtrack on a brief excerpt from the source material
or on up to three non-contiguous excerpts adding up to no more than
15 seconds. Use material that is not consciously musical in its raw
state (i.e., no excerpts from a CD or a live recording of a student
ensemble, etc., although a recording of single notes played on instruments
would be fine.) For comparison and documentation purposes, retain the
up-to-15 seconds of source material in the Audio Regions List, named
"source.L" and "source.R" (or source1/2/3.L and
source1/2/3.R if you use multiple segments), even if you don't use the
unprocessed source directly in the composition. Using ProTools, develop
as many variations on this material as you wish, and layer and assemble
them into the finished soundtrack. As you work on your soundtrack, keep
in regular communication with your sculptor collaborator(s), viewing
their video and sharing your audio, seeking to merge your visions into
a coherent project.
Your end result will be a QuickTime movie created in Adobe Premiere.
The sculpture students will import your soundtrack into their video
project files, and you should work together on their coordination. To
transport your files into the computer/keyboard lab where the sculpture
students will be working, save them in interleaved stereo AIFF format
in your folder on the EMS main hard drive and use file sharing to access
them from the computer/keyboard lab station assigned to your group.
We expect to show your projects in a performance on Wednesday, May 7,
in Sebring-Lewis Hall, as an adjunct to the electronic music class concert
scheduled for that day. You will receive separate grades for the technical/aesthetic
quality of your soundtrack and for the group's project as a whole (determined
in collaboration between Will Pergl and me.)
Goal: to understand sequencing techniques
Week 8, Monday, March 10
Reading Assignment: Roads "Musical
Input Devices" (pp. 613-658) and "Sequencers" (pp. 661-677).
Studio Assignment: Refer to the handout
Introduction to Digital Performer
for basic information on using the sequencer. Complete two of these
Sequencing Exercises, saving them on your EMS hard drive partition as
"Seq Exercise #".
1. Begin with either the melody pattern from last class or a similar
melodic pattern you create that loops back on itself smoothly. Repeat
the pattern a number of times after the original. Choose two musical
parameters such as timbre, pitch, duration, loudness or tempo and alter
them gradually in the copies so as to build a sense of mounting energy
and excitement.
2. Begin with either the melody pattern from last class or a similar
melodic pattern you create that loops back on itself smoothly. Repeat
the pattern the same number of times as the number of notes in the pattern.
With each repeat of the melody, change the patch used to play one melody
note until each note has its own timbre. Strive for an effective juxtaposition
of diverse types of timbres, ranging from instrumental to percussive
to sound effects to electronic.
3. Create a sequence of events that proceeds gradually from dissonance
and tension to consonance and stability.
4. Create an interesting motive (short, distinctive melodic or rhythmic
pattern), and develop a set of variants on it. Then arrange them in
such a way that the original seems to emerge gradually from the variants.
5. Create two melodic patterns with the same overall duration and number
of notes. Turn one into the other by gradually changing pitches, durations,
loudnesses, and timbres.
6. Create two sharply contrasting musical ideas and present them in
a way that first emphasizes and gradually reconciles the contrast between
them in some way.
Goal: Reinforce understanding of MIDI and sequencing. Review for midsem.
Week 8, Wednesday, March 12Assignment: Study for midsem exam.
Spring Break
Week 9, Monday, March 31
No homework for today. In class work on the tutorial "Recording
MIDI" from the DP3 "Getting Started" manual (pp. 115-122.)
If you complete that, try adding volume controller, pan, and pitch bend
to the result.
Wednesday, April 2
Studio Assignment: create a sequence at
least 30 seconds in duration consisting of one to twelve notes (MIDI
note on messages) played at the beginning of the sequence, although
not necessarily audible at that point, and continuing for the sequence's
entire duration, at which point all notes end. Feel free to use more
than one note of the same pitch if you desire (allows for different
timbres on the same note). Shape the time dramatically and effectively
by using volume controller (#7), pan controller (#10), modulation controller
(#1), and/or pitch bend data only. You may want to record each note
on a separate track to allow for independent control of its volume,
pan, modulation, and pitch bend data. Use sustaining or repeating instrument
sounds from the N1 keyboard. Try to make the result sound as little
like stereotypical cheesy MIDI music as possible. Save your sequence
as "continuous_data_composition" on your computerÕs
hard drive, and save a copy of your finished sequence to your EMS hard
drive partition.
Week 10, Monday, April 7
Reading Assignment: Roads "Sampling
Synthesis" (pp. 117-133).
Studio Assignment: Work on MIDI composition.
See April 9 (due date) for assignment.
Goal: to apply aesthetic criteria in evaluating student compositions
Week 10, Wednesday, April 9
Studio Assignment: Compose a MIDI piece
at least one minute long that establishes and explores a mood or idea
summarized by the music's title and evidences a satisfying, well-built
musical structure. Write a paragraph explaining your conception of how
you evoked and developed the mood or idea in your music. Use Digital
Performer and the sounds available on the Korg N1 keyboard. Set initial
modulation controller (#1), volume controller (#7), pan controller (#10),
pitch bend, and program change (patch) settings for each MIDI channel.
Use humanization, volume, pan, etc. to enliven your music and minimize
the mechanical quality that makes MIDI music often sound "cheesy."
Do housekeeping with your Digital Performer file: delete unused tracks;
name tracks appropriately; change around the order of tracks; open windows
that will be most interesting to look at while your sequence plays;
add comments to give background, explain the role of each track, and
indicate how you developed the material, etc.; To stimulate your thinking
about ways to develop your musical ideas, read exercises 12.1 to 12.10
on pages 217-223 of Robert Adams's Electronic Music Composition for
Beginners, and try out any that seem interesting to you.
Goal: to know how to make samples, create loops, dopplerize, assign
samples to voices in a preset, create keyboard and velocity crossfades,
and save samples and presets in a bank on the E-mu E4X Turbo.
Week 11, Monday, April 14
Studio Assignment: Begin planning final
composition. See April 28 (due date) for assignment. Also, create your
own sample based on you singing "Ahhhh" as indicated on pages
59-62 of the EOS Version 3 software manual. Make two copies of the sample
(p. 189). Add a loop to the first copy, making the loop as smooth and
natural-sounding as possible and naming it "Ah loop" (pp.
224-231). Dopplerize the second copy, naming it "Ah dopp"
(pp. 253-255). Assign the three samples to three separate voices in
a single preset, layering, splitting, or cross-fading between the samples
on the keyboard as you desire (pp. 331-338; assignment can be done using
the Place function at sample-creation time, see p. 205, or edited later
in the Voices Main window, see pp. 321-323). Name this preset as "Ah"
(p. 262). Save the preset in a bank named "YOUR LAST NAME"
in the "Grinnell EMS" folder on the "Quantum FIREBALL"
drive (p. 389).
Goal: to understand concepts and techniques for adding modulation and
effects to voices in presets on the E4X
Wednesday, April 16
Studio Assignment: Work on final composition.
See April 28 (due date) for assignment. Create 5 new presets based on
your "Ah" preset but with different modulation routings, effects,
and sample edits. Save these new presets in the "YOUR LAST NAME"
bank that already contains "Ah."
Goal: to understand concepts and techniques for controlling envelopes
in sampled presets on the E4X and for using the digital audio features
of Digital Performer
Week 12, Monday, April 21
Studio Assignment: Work on final composition.
See April 28 (due date) for assignment.
Goal: to understand the creation and use of custom sequencer consoles
for controlling volume and effects, basic operation of the proteus/2xr
sound module, and how to manually set program-to-preset maps and use
these in conjunction with Digital Performer.
Wednesday, April 23
Studio Assignment: Work on final composition.
See April 28 (due date) for assignment.
Goal: to understand sysex messages, the purpose and operation of patch
editor-librarian software, and how to use both to control the setup
and presets of a sample-based sound module
Week 13, Monday, April 28
Studio Assignment: Composition 3 due.
Compose a piece of at least 2 minutes duration using any of the resources
we have studied this semester. Include at least two contrasting sections.
Base one of these primarily on a sampled sound bank created by you with
a prominent role for at least one preset created from scratch (your
own sample recordings made either in the studio or with the portable
DAT). In another section, feature either digital audio soundfiles or
N1 or Proteus 2/XR instruments most prominently. You may use sounds
from the N1 and Proteus sound banks or digital audio soundfiles freely
throughout, provided the sampled sound is most prominent in at least
one section. Document all sampled sounds and digital audio source recordings,
describing how you made or where you got each sound, in your Digital
Performer Tracks window Comments column or in the ProTools file's information
window. Include patch, volume, and pan initialization settings at the
beginning of each MIDI track and volume and pan controllers at the beginning
of each digital audio track so that playback initializes properly. In
addition, initialize the patch (Scene) for the 01V so that the file
plays back with the same balance of volumes you heard as you composed.
Include a title for the piece and the name of the sample bank (if any)
to load into the E4X in the Digital Performer Conductor track's Comments
column or in the ProTools information window. Rename each track to something
appropriate for the track's function or sound. Delete unused tracks.
Save your composition as a Digital Performer or ProTools file under
the name TITLE.YOUR INITIALS in a folder named COMPOSITION 3 on your
hard drive partition. The COMPOSITION 3 folder should also contain any
necessary supporting files (digital audio soundfiles, etc.) but nothing
else. Keep a backup copy of all files on your own Zip disks, CD, and/or
your Storageserver folder. Create a DAT or CD recording of the entire
piece in its final version.
Write a brief essay of less than a page explaining your concept of the
piece -- what you were trying to express or explore; how you gathered,
selected, and developed the material; and how you conceive of the musical
shape or structure.
Consider incorporating a live performance component into your piece,
from among the following possibilities or your own ideas:
* perform live on an acoustic or electronic instrument with sequenced
accompaniment
* coordinate your music with a lighting design, choreography, mime,
etc. created by you or a friend
* read or perform a chosen text as part of your piece
* coordinate your sequence with video clips or graphics played as QuickTime
files or through SMPTE and MIDI Machine Control
* locate objects that complement or relate to your music and might be
placed on stage and focussed on with lighting effects If your piece
includes a sound-generating live performance component as part of its
basic conception, record on DAT or CD a sample rendition of the piece
including the live performance component along with the sequenced component
so that I can evaluate the complete work.
Start working EARLY. One-day extensions will be granted only to students
who follow the policy spelled out on the syllabus and who have spent
at least 6 hours per week in the studio for the two weeks before the
assignment is due (as reflected on the sign-in notebook).
Goal: to understand the processes for preparing audio for the Web
Week 13, Wednesday, April 30
Studio Assignment: Annotate your ProTools
or Digital Performer final composition file with comments documenting
the sample you made yourself (how and when you made it and processed
it) and giving citations to any samples you took from other sources.
By Saturday, prepare all of your compositions from the semester for
CD burning by recording or bouncing down to a stereo file or two mono
files named identically except .L/.R or .1/.2 extensions. Save or copy
these files to the "CD" volume in the appropriate folder for
each assignment.
Goal: to prepare for the final concert and to apply aesthetic criteria
in evaluating student compositions
Week 14, Monday, May 5
Studio Assignment: By Saturday midnight,
prepare all your final composition for CD burning by recording and/or
bouncing down to a stereo interleaved file (or two mono files named
identically except .L/.R or .1/.2 extensions). Save or copy the file
as "Samp_YourLastName_Title.aif" on the "Test" volume
in the "2002 Projects" folder.
By class time Monday, use Jam software to create an audio CD archiving
your three compositions from this semester plus any other students'
works from the Ò2002 ProjectsÓ folder. Your works should
be the first four tracks on the CD in the order in which you composed
them. Leave sufficient silence at the beginnings and endings of tracks
so that the transitions seem right.
Goal: to practice for final concert.
Week 14, Wednesday, May 7
Concert Assignment: do a sound test and
set up any MIDI-controlled lighting effects you want in Sebring-Lewis
Hall for your piece on the concert.
Goal: to confirm learning of key concepts in the aesthetics, physics,
and technique of electronic music, digital audio, MIDI, and sampling
Wednesday, May 7: 7:30 p.m. Electronic Music concert: Sebring-Lewis
Hall
Attendance required 7:15 p.m. to completion of equipment strike (est.
10:30 p.m.)
Thursday, May 15, 9 a.m.-noon Final exam.
Electronic Music Studio Rules:
Access to the Studio
* Use of the Studio is restricted to music faculty, the music department
technician, the arts curricular technology specialist, and students
taking Music 219. Noone else is permitted to be in the Studio for any
reason except as outlined in #2.
* Students who have completed Music 219 and students in advanced courses
who need to use specific studio facilities for an academic project may
petition the Studio Director for access to the Studio. These students
must send the Studio Director a summary of goals, anticipated results,
estimated time needed, and equipment they intend to use. After the time
needs of Music 219 students are met, time will be allotted to students
whose projects are approved.
* The Studio key will be kept in a locker in the basement of the Fine
Arts Building. Authorized students will receive the combination to this
locker.
* Students may reserve a time for themselves in the Studio by signing
up on a sheet to be posted outside the Studio door before class each
Monday. Students may reserve two non-contiguous, 3-hour slots each week.
Students who are more than a half-hour late for their reserved times
may forfeit them to any other students waiting to use the Studio.
* The Studio will be closed during breaks, holidays, and exam periods.
In-Studio Regulations and Procedures
* Each Studio user must sign in and out on the studio logbook. Report
any problems with the equipment in this book. REPORT URGENT PROBLEMS
IMMEDIATELY TO PAUL NELSON (x3069, home: 236-6649) or JON CHENETTE (x3065;
home: 236-7190).
* Never leave the Studio open and unattended. If you leave for a snack
or a break, take the key along.
* No drinking, smoking, or eating inside the Studio except for water
in a covered container. Leave food outside the door or in your backpack.
* No equipment may be borrowed from the Studio for any purpose whatsoever.
* No outside equipment may be moved into the Studio or stored or used
there without the permission of the instructor.
* No student is to attempt any repairs or maintenance of any kind on
any equipment in the Studio.
* Any equipment or software which has not been explained in class may
be used only upon prior consultation with the instructor.
* Leave the Studio clean and remove all personal belongings when you
depart. Anything left in the Studio may be discarded at the Director
or Music Technician's discretion.
* Save all your computer work onto your own hard disk partitition, and
keep backups of all your important work on your own Zip disks, DAT tapes,
Hi8 tapes, CD's, or the Storageserver. Anything left on the Macintosh
hard disk may be discarded at the instructor's discretion. Anything
left on your own hard disk partitition after the end of exam week this
semester will be discarded.
* Turn off the main power switch to all the equipment when you leave.
Irresponsible use of the Electronic Music Studio or violation of the
above rules will be considered grounds for immediate failure in Music
219, revocation of Studio privileges, and a fine for damages. Loss of
the Studio key is a serious matter, requiring installation of a new
lock. Be prepared to bear the cost.
January 20, 2003
I have read the rules for use of the Grinnell College Electronic Music
Studio, and I agree to abide by them.
Name_________________________________________
