Computational Music 2 (G6003)

Contact information: Nick Collins
Email: N.Collins[somehow]sussex.ac.uk
Where: Arundel 221 (Music Informatics Lab)

Teaching method: Mon 1-3pm lecture and seminar Fri 11-1 workshop class
Assessment mode: Portfolio
Prerequisites: Computational Music 1

Course Outline

Following on from Computational Music 1, this course explores contemporary technologies for electronic music. A student will encounter new research technologies which are being developed or coming into use in the music industry. They will appreciate these from compositional-aesthetic, historical, and technological perspectives. Both symbolic event and nonsymbolic low-level audio processing and analysis will be considered. Interactive music systems and machine listening will form a core strand of this work. A large workshop component will keep the course grounded in the real needs of musicians and developers, whilst theoretical overviews will avoid an undue emphasis on any one specific implementation.

A variety of platforms may be involved; whilst one audio programming language may be selected as primary for demonstration and workshop purposes, e.g. SuperCollider, the course might also involve standalone applications, the coding of music applications (e.g. in Java, C and MATLAB) and alternative computer music languages (e.g. Csound, ChucK and Pd) following contemporary developments. Students will become more confident that they might be able to build their own tools or extensions to existing platforms if necessary. Because of the existence of multiple platforms pertinent to certain tasks, there may be options for the workshops on discussion with the lecturer.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, a successful student should be able to:

1 Apply techniques of computer music in creative software solutions
2 Synthesise knowledge of electronic music aesthetics, history and technology into new artistic and technical artefacts
3 Evaluate the core principles and rationale of computer music projects

Assessment

Coursework exercises- 100% A portfolio of work will be handed in on Thursday of Week 10, 4pm

cm2assessment.pdf

Core References:

Lecture Notes
[LIB] Roads, Curtis (1996) The Computer Music Tutorial. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
An extensive bibliography and further web references: bibliography
Those teaching materials I'm making publicly available: workshop materials

Course Overview by Week

WEEK LECTURE SEMINAR WORKSHOP
one Introduction to the Course Music informatics third year project discussion SuperCollider revision session
two Rhythm Perception and Symbolic Analysis Mappings: Data Sonification and Audiovisuals Mapping workshop
three Digital Signal Processing Tap tempo tool DSP practical
four Sample Level Sound Manipulation Audio coding practical Audio coding practical
five Interactive Music Systems IMS discussion IMS practical
six Interfacing/Sensors Interfacing practical Interfacing practical
seven Machine Listening Trying out machine listening UGens Portfolio support
eight MIR and Auditory Modelling General DSP and audio analysis issues Portfolio support
nine Revision Machine musicianship/interaction discussion Portfolio support
ten Portfolio support Portfolio support Portfolio support