MUC4442/6446
Electroacoustic Music Composition/Digital II

Syllabus - Spring 2016

(preliminary)

Continuation of MUC6445, Electroacoustic Music Composition/Digital I. Composition and research in direct-digital software synthesis systems to include advanced instrument design, algorithmic composition, and real-time performance applications.

Required Texts:
    N/A
Optional Texts:
Materials Required:

    (1) 4 GB (or bigger) flash drive
    (n) Additional removable media as necessary

Optional Material:
Grading:

    60% Tutorials
    15% Listening Reports
    25% Final Project

Office: Office 221/Lab 147/Studio 340/Lair 231

Office Phone No.: 273-3176

Office Hours: see schedule

Professor: Dr. James Paul Sain [email]

Studio/Lab Assistants: Hooman Rafraf [email] & Jong-Chan Lee [email]

Listserv (closed): ufemu-l@lists.ufl.edu

Policies:

1) All listening selections are from the AFA Library Listening Area; please plan your time accordingly. A lack of planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on the part of the library support staff.

2) Late work is not accepted.

3) We are very fortunate to have a highly skilled graduate assistant (GA) serving this course (among numerous other duties). The GA will have regularly scheduled weekly office hours. Limited time may be available outside these office hours only at their discretion. Please contact the GA well in advance of your needs via email or in person after class (please respect the personal time of our GA). Come prepared with your materials well underway when working with the GA. As the assignments are designed to require you to apply the techniques demonstrated in class, the GA will only review the techniques and concepts outlined in the class lectures. Again, like the library staff, a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on the part of our GA.

4) Attendance is required at all classes. Should a class be missed, it is the student's responsibility to see that the lecture notes from the missed class are obtained from a classmate and any work assigned is completed by their return (a class list will be supplied to help facilitate this policy). After three (3) class absences your grade will be lowered one grade increment for each absence after three (ie A to A-, or C to C-). Your grade will be lowered one grade increment for each UnBalanced Connection concert missed. Each missed concert or presentation will also result in a reduction in your grade by one increment.

5) The Electroacoustic Music Studio is available for use by each electroacoustic music student; this open use time will be available on a first come, first served basis.. Should it be necessary we can provide a sign-up for secured times. If that is necessary, each studio user has a five minute grace period after which the studio will revert to open use.

6) Sign-in/out is required when using either the lab or studio. You must return the studio to the normal condition after each use or your use privileges will be removed.

7) Plan early for your final project...things have a way of happening at the last minute.

8) The requirements, emphasis, and timing of this course may be changed or adjusted to meet the specific needs of the class as determined by the instructor.

9) All students of The University of Florida are expected to conduct themselves in a reasonable and professional manner at all times as described in the Student Honor Code; please refer to The Code for specifics.

10) UF Software Copyright Policy: All faculty, staff and students of the University of Florida are required and expected to obey the laws and legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator. Because such violations are also against the University policies and rules, disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate.

11) UF Counseling Services - Resources are available on-campus for students having personal problems or lacking clear career and academic goals which interfere with their academic performance.

These resources include:

     a. University Counseling Center, 301 Peabody Hall, 392-1575, personal and career counseling;
     b. Student Mental Health, Student Health Care Center, 392-1171, personal counseling;
     c. Sexual Assault Recovery Services (SARS), Student Health Care Center, 392-1161, sexual assault counseling;
     d. Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career development assistance and counseling;
     e. University Police Department 352-392-1111 (or 9-1-1 for emergencies).

12) Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office in Peabody Hall. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.

     a. Disability Resource Center 352-392-8565.

13) Students are expected to provide professional and respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via GatorEvals. Guidance on how to give feedback in a professional and respectful manner is available at gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/students/. Students will be notified when the evaluation period opens, and can complete evaluations through the email they receive from GatorEvals, in their Canvas course menu under GatorEvals, or viaufl.bluera.com/ufl/. Summaries of course evaluation results are available to students atgatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/public-results/

14) My office door is always open; please feel free to drop by to discuss class issues as the need arises.

Grading Scale:

    A100-94%
    A-93-90%
    B+89-87%
    B86-83%
    B-82-80%
    C+79-77%
    C76-73%
    C-72-70%
    D+69-67%
    D66-63%
    D-62-60%
    E59-0%

Tutorials

(look here for assignment handouts as the semester progresses)

Links

Course Outline

    Week 1 (Jan 6 & 8)

    • Introduction

    Week 2 (Jan 13 & 15)

    Week 3 (Jan 20, ML King Day, No class; Jan 22)

    Week 4 (Jan 27 & 29)

    Week 5 (Feb 3 & 5)

    • LISTENING LIST REPORT 1 Due: Friday, Feb. 7

    Week 6 (Feb 10 & 12)

    Week 7 (Feb. 17 & 19)

    Week 8 (Feb. 24 & 26)

Spring Break (Feb. 29 - Mar. 8)

    Week 9 (Mar. 9 & 11)

    Week 10 (Mar. 16 &18)

    • LISTENING LIST REPORT 2 Due: Friday, Mar. 20

  • UnBalanced Connection, Mar. 20

    Week 11 (Mar. 23; Mar. 25 Dr. Sain travels to SCI Nat. Conf. - No class)

    Week 12 (Mar. 30; Apr. 1)

    Week 13 (Apr. 6 & 8)

    Week 14 (Apr. 13 & 15)

    • LISTENING LIST REPORT 3 Due: Friday, Apr. 17

    Week 15 (Apr. 20 & 22)

    • PRESENTATION OF FINAL PROJECTS

    TUTORIALS: Each tutorial and/or assignment will be accomplish with the ultimate goal of composing an interactive work for acoustic soloist (talk with prospective candidates early) and interactive computer music application (Max/Msp/Jitter = Max5).

    LISTENING REPORTS (quantity 3): A written critique of compositions on each listening list. These typed reports should contain ample and objective prose describing the works on the listening list that demonstrates an understanding of the techniques used to produce the work as well as the aesthetic of the composition.

    CONCERTS: All students are required to participate in the UnBalanced Connection concert on 20 March 2020. This includes both set-up (starting usually about 2:00pm) and strike (ending around 10:30pm). Students are encouraged to have compositions presentable for performance on the UnBalCon concert. All students will be expected to set-up, attend, and tear-down for the concert. The concert is normally held in MUB 101. Please clear your schedules early to avoid a conflict.

    FINAL PROJECT: Creative work to demonstrate understanding and application of principles discussed and experienced during the course of the semester, utilize a non-standard controler (not based on an acoustic instrument paradigm), and embody the aesthetics of contemporary electroacoustic art music. All final projects will be considered for performance. Those final projects not presented on an UnBalanced Connection concert will be presented during the final examination. These projects will be retained/archived. Do not hand in your only copy.

    SAFETY HINT: Always keep several back-up copies of your work on clay tablets, CD-R media or flash drives; if you have a personal Macintosh you may wish to keep one copy on your personal hard-drive. Do not use the lab's/studio's hard-drives as personal storage devices. Doing so will most likely result in the loss of your work. All drives are regularly cleaned of all unauthorized software, files, and documents. Do not reorganize any software on the platforms in either the Computer Aided Music Instruction Lab (MUB 147) or the Electroacoustic Music Studio (MUB 340). Please sign in and out each time you use the studio or lab.

    HEARING SAFETY: It is very important that the student of electroacoustic music be aware of the listening environment in which they are working. The studio environment can, if used improperly, subject the listeners ears to unhealthy sound pressure levels. For more information and links to web sites about hearing health click here .

- last update 5 January 2019 -