MUSI3611 Electronic Music 1

Credit Hours: 1 semester hours

Course Description

An introduction to the history and technique of electronic music featuring practical, guided, project-based learning experiences in a contemporary project studio environment (Shawnee’s Center for Creative Audio) using Ableton Live, Logic, and programming with Max. This course is open to all interested students, including those with little or no previous electronic music or programming experience. Projects for the class are developed individually by the students and may involve original music, sound effects, spoken word, interviews, field recording, and numerous other creative possibilities.

Goals and Objectives

The goals of this course are as follows:

• Students will be able to generate digital audio and music for a variety of applications.

• Exposure to the Fine and Performing Arts provides the student with a breadth of knowledge that complements and balances their education.

• Through guided creative experimentation involving sound synthesis and audio programming techniques students gain valuable production experiences.

Books Suggested

• Book: The Cambridge Companion to Electronics Music by N. Collins and M. Schedel

• Book: The Science of Musical Sound by John R. Pierce

• Book: The Computer Music Tutorial by Curtis Roads

• Book: The Digital Musician by Andrew Hugill

Materials Needed

• Active email account

• A computer with Internet access that can properly display web pages, PDF documents, and is capable of streaming audio and video (could be accomplished in the library or a computer lab)

• A quality (full spectrum, 20-20,000 Hz) pair of headphones. For sanitary reasons and the health of the ear I strongly recommend using the type of headphones that cover the outer ears, rather than the earbud type that go inside the ear opening.