Dr. Andrew Schloss
Office: MacLaurin A177 Local: 721-7931
Office hours: Tues 4:00-5:30 pm or by appointment (call to confirm)
email: aschloss@finearts.uvic.ca

Classes: Cornett B112: Tues, Weds, Fri 11:30 am

TA: Jeff Morton
Office: TBA
Office hours: TBA
email: jeff.morton@usask.ca

Text: The Science of Musical Sound, by John Pierce, coursepack (in bookstore)
(also includes "Communicating with Meaningless Numbers by David Zicarelli)

On reserve or available in the library:
The Science of Musical Sound, by John Pierce
Wave Tutorial, by Peter Wolfenden (manuscript)
Current Directions in Computer Music Research, Mathews and Pierce
The Technology of Computer Music, Mathews
Computer Music Journal (CMJ) Strawn, et alia (in stacks, not on reserve)
The Music Machine Curtis Roads
Electric Sound, The Past and Promise of Electronic Music Joel Chadabe (may also be on reserve for MU307)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn
Spectrum Analysis Tutorial, Jaffe (from Computer Music Journal)
Gravikords, Whirlies and Pyrophones/book & CD Bart Hopkin Ellipsis Arts CD 3530 (pending acquistion by the library)

Grading:
papers (1) 20%
quiz (1) 10%
mid-term exam 35%
final project 35%

This course blends Musical Acoustics, History of Science, an introduction to Computer Music, and (for some students) an introduction to 20th century music and non-Western music. Issues involving the relationship between technology, culture and society are examined and are important to discussions. There are no prerequisites for this class, but some knowledge of music and/or computers is extremely useful. Note: students enrolled in MU207 are entitled to use the facilities in the Laboratory for Extended Media, in the Fine Arts building across the ring road.
 

Schedule (note that these entries are subject to slight variations):

Week 1 Sept 5              Reading: Chapt. 1
Introduction and Overview; what to expect. An informal survey of the class to find relative backgrounds of students in
Music, Mathematics, Computer Science, etc. What are digital media? Digitization as an approximation of reality–what's the advantage(s)? The first music produced on a computer (Bell Labs).

Week 2 Sept 11           Reading: Chapt. 2
Introduction to acoustics. Sinusoids, Hooke's law, SHM (simple harmonic motion)
amplitude, frequency, period, phase

Week 3 Sept 18            Reading: Chapt. 3
Acoustics cont'd. The vibrating string, Harmonics, the harmonic series, Fourier Theory, additive synthesis
Time domain vs. frequency domain

Week 4 Sept 25           Reading: Chapt. 4
Acoustics cont'd: v=fL, Resonance, linear superposition, interference, beats. Wave behavior: Light vs. Sound

Week 5 Oct 2             Reading: Appendices A-F
Digital Audio, Sampling, Nyquist Theory. How does a computer make music?
OPTIONAL MUSIC THEORY CLASS OCT 2
video: Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey

Week 6 Oct 9         Reading: Chapt. 5,6
The physics and mathematics of intervals, tuning systems and cents

Week 7 Oct 16           Reading: Chapt. 7
Psychoacoustics: jnd, critical bands, missing fundamental, JASA CD

Week 8 Oct 23           Reading: Chapt. 8,9,10
Psychoacoustics cont'd. The recording chain vs. the ear.
Visualization of Music, Sonification

Week 9 Oct 30          Reading: Chapt. 13
Jeff Morton guest lecture:The Twentieth Century (Karlheinz Stockhausen, Igor Stravinsky, et alia)
Musique Concrete, Early Electronic Music
HW1 due Nov 2: Contributions and interactions in music, science and technology
This paper must be submitted in hard copy AND ALSO to mydropbox.com

Week 10 Nov 6         Reading: Appendices G,H
QUIZ NOVEMBER 6 (practice for midterm)

Week 11 Nov 14         Reading: Chapt. 12
MIDTERM NOVEMBER 16 (AFTER READING BREAK)
Recording Technology, MIDI and computer music systems. Sibelius, Pro Tools demos

Week 12 Nov 20         Reading: Chapt. 11,14
"Intelligent" musical instruments. Software synthesis. Gesture detection. Algorithmic music. Max/MSP. The Radio Drum
The future and the past. In-class demos.

Week 13 Nov 27 Reading: Appendix I
FINAL PROJECTS, in-class demos, posters, through December 4. 2007

Week 14 Dec 4 FINAL PROJECTS, POSTERS

Optional class: Basic Music Theory Musical intervals, scales, musical notation, the keyboard.

Field Trip: Laboratory for Extended Media Students have full access to this lab on their own as well.

Demos
Standing waves, resonance, reflected pulses, beats, sympathetic vibrations, etc.
Harmonics demo: whirling toy in conjuction w/ MSP patch that matches harmonics (and contrasts w/ ET approx of harmonics)
Music software: Max/MSP/Jitter, Pro Tools, Sibelius
Auditory Demonstrations CD (Acoustical Society), Video: International Computer Music Society ICMA
The Radio Drum and physical modelling: Demo

TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE (resonance isn't always a good thing!)

Listening examples played in class:

Digital Domain Elektra/Asylum Records. Contains Towers of Hanoi, Love in the Asylum, etc.
Max Mathews: Bicycle Built for Two 1961 Werg/ Computer Music Currents Vol 13
Any Resemblance is Purely Coincidental, Charles Dodge 1980 Wergo/CMC 11
Flora, Tod Machover 1989 Bridge BCD 9020
Wildlife CDCM/ Centaur
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Well-Tempered Productions
just-more-idle-chatter Paul Lansky CDCM/Centaur CD
wasting (same CD)
Rite of Spring, Stravinsky
Ionization, Varese
Oraison (1937) performed by Ensemble d'Ondes de Montreal -- played on Ondes Martenot (nearly a sine wave)
Quartet for the End of Time, Messiaen
Laurie Anderson
Steve Reich, Drumming, Music for 18 Musicians
David Jaffe, Racing Against Time, Underground Economy
Radiohead/Paul Lansky/guitarist uses Max/MSP and now jitter for live video feeds
Tuvan throat singing (harmonic singing), Inuit throat singing (totally different from Tuva)

videos (selection from list below):

CalTech Resonance documentary
Theremin documentary
NOVA documentaries
Forbidden Planet: the first all-electronic music sound track
Modulations
Moog documentary
Wildlife performance at Stanford with David Jaffe (Theremin also performed at this concert)
Suite from Seven Wonders at Western Front
MSNBC video at CCRMA
UNI live performance in Cuba
NYU Interactive Arts Performance Series concert with Hilario Durán
DVD of Rhythmic Light, Fred Collopy
Seattle City Hall fiber-optic installation 2005
International Computer Music Association (ICMA) videos
Public Art video: Seattle Public Library
NIME 2005 DVD excerpts