(old) Course Descriptions

Introduction to Digital Music / MUSI2205UN

An introduction to the potential of digital sound synthesis and signal processing. Teaches proficiency in elementary and advanced digital audio techniques. This course aims to challenge some of the tacet assumptions about music that are built into the design of various user interfaces and hardware and fosters a creative approach to using digital audio workstation software and equipment.

Course Level: Undergraduate
Prerequisites: Instructor's permission
Credits: 3
Note: This class has a wait-list; sign up for it via Courseworks. Music Majors get priority, but be sure to come to the first class for admission!

History & Practice of Electronic Music / MUSI2230UN

This course will provide a critical survey of the development of electronic and computer music and sound from around the globe. From early experiments and precursors in the late 19th century through to modern-day experimental and popular music practices, this course aims to trace the development of technologies used in the production of electronic and computer derived sound and music alongside the economic, cultural, and social forces that contribute to the development of audiences. The course will focus intently on listening through a series of curated playlists in an effort to unpack style and genre distinctions. Readings and listening examples will be paired with small, hands-on assignments, that demonstrate the effect of music making tools on the process and structure of musical genres and styles ranging from the experimental practices of musique concrete, drone, and harsh noise to the mainstream practices of dub, techno, vaporwave, hyperpop, and hip hop and more.

Course Level: Undergraduate
Credits: 3

Recorded Sound / MUSI4360GU

As music moves into the 21st century, we find ourselves surrounded by an ever-evolving landscape of technological capability. The world of music,  and the music industry itself, is changing rapidly, and with that change comes the opening – and closing – of doorways of possibility. What does this shift mean for today’s practicing artist or composer? With big label recording studios signing and nurturing fewer and fewer artists, it seems certain that, today, musicians who want to record and distribute their music need to be able to do much of the recording and production work on their own. But where does one go to learn how to do this – to learn not only the “how to” part of music production, but the historical underpinnings and the development of the music production industry as well? How does one develop a comprehensive framework within which they can place their own artistic efforts? How does one learn to understand what they hear, re-create what they like and develop their own style? This class, “Recorded Sound,” aims to be the answer. Its goal is to teach artists how to listen critically to music from across history and genres in order to identify the production techniques that they hear, and reproduce those elements using modern technology so they can be incorporated into the artist’s own musical works.

Course Level: Undergraduate, Graduate
Prerequisites: Instructor's permission
Credits: 3
Note: This class has a wait-list; sign up for it via Courseworks. Music Majors get priority, but be sure to come to the first class for admission!

Instrument, Interface, Installation: Building Sound / MUSI6294GR

This course will address hands-on making through creative projects reinforced with critical and historical readings to contextualize work. Coursework will explore fabrication, gears and motors, homemade instruments, 3d printing, amplifiers and transducers, circuit bending, and getting comfortable soldering and reading circuits. The course engages creative uses of audio technology within and beyond the concert hall, instrumental acoustics and organology, and movement, gesture, and space as elements of structuring sound work. Fluency, troubleshooting, and self-reliance regarding basic audio hardware, signal flow, and technical requirements for supporting the addition of amplification, fixed media, or interactive electronics to sound work will be a focus throughout. We’ll explore instrument building and modification, installation design and construction, and physical interfaces to software instruments through hands-on projects supported by readings and repertoire and will culminate in a creative project of your own design.

Course Level: Graduate
Prerequisites: permission of instructor
Credits: 3

Techniques of Live Sound / MUSI6631GR

This course explores both analogue and digital tools for the sound reinforcement of concerts in all formats. Through hands-on experience, the course addresses the impact and potential of contemporary tools on the aesthetic choices of musical projects. The course supports artists (performers, composers, improvisers, sounds artists, etc.) by providing a solid foundation and a working knowledge of live sound concepts in order to improve the realization of their creative audio work. A significant feature of the course is direct experience producing live concerts in order to fully understand the implications of the transition between the pre-concert studio preparation and live concert execution. Under the supervision of the instructor, students are expected to oversee the audio-related technical aspects of two to three music department events, including the doctoral composition work of the Columbia Composers concert series. Topics include the practice and theory behind analog and digital mixing, live sound processing, concert diffusion, spatial audio, sound reinforcement, mixed music techniques, concert recording, and efficient equipment set-up and tear-down. Please note that students must be available for two whole-day Saturday events whose dates will be determined and distributed by the instructor at the start of the semester.

Course Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Prerequisites: Instructor's permission
Credits: 3
Note: This class has a wait-list; sign up for it via Courseworks. Music Majors get priority, but be sure to come to the first class for admission!

Interactive Sound & Video/MUSI6601GR
In this year-long sequence students gain familiarity with the materials used in electroacoustic music and the techniques and equipment that are employed to transform and organize these materials into compositions. Individual projects are assigned.

Sound: Advanced Topics I & II / MUSI6610GR/MUSI6611GR

This class explores advanced topics relating to the production of music by computer. Although programming experience is not a prerequisite, various programming techniques are enlisted to investigate interface design, algorithmic composition, computer analysis and processing of digital audio, and the use of computer music in contexts such as VR/AR applications. Check with the instructor for the particular focus of the class in an upcoming semester. Some familiarity with computer music hardware/software is expected.

Course Level: Graduate
Prerequisites: Instructor's permission
Credits: 3

Sound: Advanced Topics II/MUSI6611GR
This class explores advanced topics relating to the production of music by computer. Although programming experience is not a prerequisite, various programming techniques are enlisted to investigate interface design, algorithmic composition, computer analysis and processing of digital audio, and the use of computer music in contexts such as VR/AR applications. Check with the instructor for the particular focus of the class in an upcoming semester. Note: this class is not necessarily a continuation of Sound: Advanced Topics I/GR6610. Some familiarity with computer music hardware/software is expected.

Computational Sound / BC 3430
In this course, we explore the variety of roles that computation can play in the analysis, creation, and performance of music. We start with the fundamentals of sound in the digital domain, covering issues of representation and audio synthesis. We then move through various synthesis techniques including the additive, subtractive, frequency modulation (FM), and amplitude modulation (AM) synthesis. After covering some core DSP techniques, we put these concepts into performative practice by exploring “live coding”. In the space of live coding, we examine various programming language designs to understand how various domain specific languages (DSLs) support live coding. For the third module, we turn our focus to automated composition and analysis, addressing challenges in music information retrieval, generative art, and autonomous improvisation systems. All the while, we continue to develop our fluency in live coding by putting new topics to practice.

Course Level: Undergraduate

An introduction to the potential of digital sound synthesis and signal processing. Teaches proficiency in elementary and advanced digital audio techniques. This course aims to challenge some of the tacet assumptions about music that are built into the design of various user interfaces and hardware and fosters a creative approach to using digital audio workstation software and equipment.

Course Level: Undergraduate
Prerequisites: Instructor's permission
Credits: 3
Note: This class has a wait-list; sign up for it via Courseworks. Music Majors get priority, but be sure to come to the first class for admission!