Online listening/reading activities: Participation in online discussions pertaining to weekly listening or reading tasks

Assessment Detail:

This component of the class is designed to give students a broad overview of the historical context of creative approaches to the use of new technologies in composition, and to stimulate discussion.

The works you are required to listen to each week are listed in Canvas under Dicussions. These works can be listened to via the following Spotify link: http://bit.ly/MUED1002. Students will need a free Spotify account in order to access this content.

Students are expected to listen to all works listed for the week in question. Before the following week’s class, students are to choose one work from the list and write a brief forum post or comment reflecting on any aspect of the piece. These discussion posts need only be a few short sentences, and may be based on your experience of the work itself in its historical context. You could either comment on something interesting in the work, ask a question about it or reply to a comment by one of your peers.

Discussion posts are due weekly, and all 10 discussion posts need to be finalised by the end of semester due date. 

Formative skills assessment: One-minute sound piece using samples provided, and accompanied by a video description of your process.

Assessment Detail:

Using the samples provided (samples will be available by the end of Week 3), create a short sound work of 1-minute duration displaying skills learned so far this semester. Your work may be in any style, but should show knowledge of basic audio editing, arrangement and mixing, MIDI sampling, audio effects, etc.

To accompany the work, record a short video description of your production process (2mins max.) and upload/link to Canvas using either ‘Studio’ or a video sharing platform of your choice. The video does not need to be of high production value, but should include brief discussion of your technical process, and some reflections on any challenges you found in creating the work. It will be useful to show some vision of your project file in the video to illustrate your work, using either screencast software, screenshots or by simply filming your screen.

The overall aim of this task is to get you practising your skills by working on a small creative project, as well as reflecting upon your process and challenges you have encountered in its production.

Creative audio assignment: Original creative audio work of 3-6 minutes, 2 minute In-class Presentation and 1 page written reflection/description

Assessment Detail:

Students choose from one of the following three options for this assessment task:

OPTION 1:

Compose an electroacoustic sound work of between 3 and 6 minutes in length.

OPTION 2:

Compose six miniature electroacoustic pieces of between 30-45 seconds in length, with the works tied together by a central theme.

OPTION 3:

Compose a 3 to 6 minute piece for instrument/voice and “tape”. “Instrument and Tape” is the historical term for a work for instrument and pre-recorded electronic accompaniment. Submission of this option should include:

• the full score (with notation of both instrument/voice part and the “tape” part cues)
• a recording of the piece being performed
• the “tape” part.

APPLIES TO ALL OPTIONS:

• Briefly present your work to class in Week 12. The work may be a work in progress, but use the time to show one or two examples to the class, and explain your working method.
• Include a written reflection/description of approximately one page explaining the technical and musical choices you made. e.g. what source materials did you use? How did you process this material? What challenges did you face in the production and what have you learned in the process?

The piece should be original (not a cover/remix) and is to be created using original source material including but not limited to: instrumental/vocal sounds, abstract sound making devices, sound synthesis techniques, and environmental sound. You may use royalty free samples as part of this work, but you must acknowledge which samples are not your own, and they should not be a substantial part of the work. (If you are unsure, ask the lecturer). You are allowed to use MIDI to trigger/sequence your audio samples. Process your sound using the various techniques examined throughout the semester. You may use any software for editing and mixing your audio, including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Cubase, Reaper, Pro Tools and others.

For recordings made yourself, you are encouraged to make use of the Zoom H5 portable recorders available from the Library. If you cannot get access to these recorders, you may use smartphone and/or computer microphone for this task. However do so with care! You may also record straight to computer using the microphones and recording equipment available in one of the Conservatorium sound studios if available for use. If you have your own equipment, you are welcome to use this, however, please discuss this with the lecturer. Where possible, you are strongly encouraged to make use of the facilities available to you at the Conservatorium.

Submission:

All materials audio are to be submitted to the assignment page of the CMPN1013 Canvas site. Students are also welcome to provide links to external file sharing services (Dropbox/Google shareable link), for these media files instead of uploading to Canvas. If so this must be linked to in your written documentation. Please DO NOT provide links to timed download services such as WeTransfer, etc. – files must be accessible for marking at any stage after submission.

• Your audio works should be submitted as rendered stereo files or either, 44.1/48kHz, 24bit .wav or .aiff files – NOT mp3s/m4as.
• All scores and written work should be uploaded in .pdf format through the assignment Dropbox.
• A zipped copy of your DAW project file needs to be included in the submission. This must include dependencies (such as necessary audio files) – so include the project file and all related folders.

Notes:

• If you are submitting multiple documents (Assignment Option 2, for example), please zip these files into a compressed .zip archive before uploading.
• If you are using your own third party plugin resources, please be aware that these may not be accessible by the lecturer for marking. If you are unsure, discuss with the lecturer prior to submission.