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Unit information: Extended Study: Studio in 2020/21

Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.

Unit name Extended Study: Studio
Unit code MUSI30060
Credit points 40
Level of study H/6
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director Professor. Farwell
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

MUSI20124 Music recording and production

or

MUSI20126 Composing Live Electronics

Co-requisites

None

School/department Department of Music
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Building on the creative and technical competence acquired in 2nd-year 'Composing Live Electronics' and/or 'Music recording and production', this unit offers an opportunity for detailed study and a large-scale creative project involving hands-on use of studio technologies. Such a project might focus on (but not be limited to): electroacoustic composition, with or without instruments/voices; recording and production techniques for classical' and/or 'popular' musics; development of tools and environments for sound transformation or interactivity; musical acoustics or psychoacoustics.

During TB1 students will make a 'Critical Study' of representative or model repertoire in their chosen genre. This will combine elements of prose literature review with aural and technical analysis using a variety of new and readily available tools. The aim is not a work of historical musicology, but to develop sophisticated insight into the practice. Weekly seminars explore the themes and techniques.

Students will work on their creative portfolio throughout the year. In TB1, this is more exploratory and helps reveal the questions that need answering in their Critical Study, with creative and analytical practice reinforcing each other. In TB2, the emphasis is on building the creative portfolio and a substantial degree of independent study, supported by tutorial supervision and collaborative work-in-progress sessions.

Aims

This unit allows students who have identified a strong interest in pursuing electro-acoustic composition, recording or related studio practice at Levels C and I to devote themselves to studying their chosen genre in depth and producing an extended portfolio of original work on an agreed topic.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful completion of this unit will enable students to:

  1. develop technical skill in an area of studio activity
  2. devise and structure a complex practical project, from conception and source study, through studio activity, to finished product
  3. document this process
  4. demonstrate critical awareness of the relationship between your creative activity and appropriate contextualising practices and/or genres
  5. present media and documentation to a high standard
  6. demonstrate core skills for subsequent work in electroacoustic composition, recording engineering, or related applications of music technology; or for postgraduate study in areas such as electro-acoustic or film composition.

Teaching Information

Weekly seminar/tutorials. Participation in department research seminar. Attending concerts within the department's concert series. Participation in group workshops and masterclasses within the Music Futures programme.

Assessment Information

'Critical Study' (20%) - a portfolio of prose commentary, visual material and electronic media, as appropriate to the agreed topic, submitted at the end of TB1. (ILOs 2-5, especially 4). Extended Portfolio of creative work, with programme notes / short contextualising statement (80%), submitted at the end of TB2. (ILOs 1-6). Formative feedback on the Critical Study will inform the ongoing work on the Portfolio.

Reading and References

Simon Emmerson The Routledge Research Companion to Electronic Music: Reaching out with Technology (Routledge, 2018)
Simon Emmerson &Leigh Landy (eds) Expanding the Horizon of Electroacoustic Music Analysis (CUP, 2016)
David Miles Huber &Robert E Runstein Modern recording techniques, 9th edition (Routledge, 2017)

Further readings, musical repertoire, discography, computer software etc. will be identified tutorially, depending on the particular topic chosen.

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