Syllabus

Music 173 - Electronic Music Production & Composition 

Instructor: Prof. Shlomo Dubnov   

Instructor Office Hours: Thursday 3:30-4:30, in my office CPMC 250 
email: sdubnov@ucsd.edu
soundcloud page:  www.soundcloud.comg/memexguy
TAs: 

 Andrés Gutiérrez Martínez 
TA Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:30 - 4:30
email: ang090@ucsd.edu
soundcloud page:  www.soundcloud.comg/gutmandres
Sean Dowgray   
TA Office Hours: TBD 
email: sdowgray@ucsd.edu
soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/sean-dowgray
                             https://soundcloud.com/user-97251580

Course Website (you are here):

http://2015Mus173.blogspot.com/

Course Description:

The course teaches the basics of using DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for creative production, with emphasis on hands on composition projects. We will focus on techniques related to Ableton. Hands on projects include tempo warping, beat and tonality matching, working with drum kits, sound and instrument desgin, chord progressions, processing of sound and creating sound effects, arrangement and remixing, and experimenting with electronic, glitch, mashup, electroacoustic and other traditional popular and experimental composition genres. Students will also be trained in deconstructing existing main stream compositions, critical listening and peer review.

NOTE: This is not a mastering / post production studio course, and it is not about using protools, studio techniques or using multi-track recording consoles. People specifically interested in the recording engineering track should consider the 174 sequence.

Assignments and quizzes:

There will be 7 assignments (6 mandatory), a quizz, and a final music project. All assignments (including the project) must be submitted via SoundCloud. Set up an account (if you do not already have one), and "follow" your TA, Mike, so that he can collect your submissions.  Please label your submissions clearly!

 Assignment 1 - Simple arrangement, working with warping, midi map, recording 
Assignment 2 - Parallel Chords with Simpler and Midi Effects
Assignment 3 - Bass sound design using Simpler and Operator
Assignment 4 - Buildup and Special Effects using Automation and LFO 
Assignment 5 - Side chaining, vocoder, Audio to Midi and creative effects
Assignment 6 - Deconstruction
Assignment 7 - Intro to Max4Live

 Unless otherwise specified, all assignments will be due each week, via electronic submission, by the end of the day (11:59pm) on Mondays. The projects will be presented in class for in-class critique.

Grading: 

Assignments: 10% (Total 60% - One assignment optional)
Quizz: 10% (Total 20%) 
Project: 25%Final Presentation: 5%
Extra credit of up to 10% will be given for class participation and collaborative spirit!

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