PROJECTS
This list will be updated with more details after projects are assigned.
Submit your assignments to the Box Account with the following content:
An MP3 or WAV file labelled with the specified filename
Screen shot(s) of your software session (please do this for ALL projects)
Supplementary text describing your process and the sounds you used (only when noted)
Compositions are graded based on technical proficiency (lack of technical errors), following the requirements outlined for each assignment, and musical creativity and imagination
COMPOSITION 1: SOUND COLLAGE (5%)
Due 9/22 by 9pm
Collage: an assemblage of diverse elements or fragments in unlikely or unexpected juxtaposition.
Make between 10 and 30 short sounds out of found sound samples. You can use the recordings made during the recorder scavenger hunt, record new sounds, OR use online resources (such as freesound.org). Use anything *but* drum/percussion samples. For example, you might make your short sounds out of birds, bicycle spokes, carpet scratches, or air conditioning sounds. Use ocenaudio (OR a software you feel more comfortable with) to edit your sounds, BUT limit yourself to the techniques available to old school tape music: changing speed, reversing, cutting, splicing, looping, and/or layering sounds. You may utilize digital effects or other processing sparingly, but the focus is on the sounds and how they are edited. Once you have edited your sounds, assemble them into a composition that explores rhythm, texture, and space. You should experiment with possibilities beyond traditional beat-based music. What happens if you abandon pulse? How can editing the left and right channel individually affect the presentation of your sounds? How can density be managed over time?
Requirements: use at least 10 sounds less than 1 second each, create a 30 second composition using those sounds
Label files LastnameFirstname_soundcollage
COMPOSITION 2: TIMBRE CLOUDS (7.5%)
Due 10/13 by 9pm
Timbre is the quality of a sound producer independent of its pitch; it allows us to hear the difference between a clarinet and a trumpet playing the same note, for example. This composition should explore timbre changing over time and different musical sections (formal structure).
More specifically, compose a one to one-and-a-half minute piece that consists of three different dense timbre ‘clouds’ which are smoothly transitioned between. Each cloud (A, B, and C) should be smoothly and seamlessly transitioned between (two transitions total). You are welcome to use any sound sources and you can use any effects and sound processing techniques, but make sure that your end result is smooth, dense, and seamless. Experiment with layering audio effects in series and in parallel, changing source sounds significantly (“What sound is that???”), and using automation.
Requirements: three different timbre ‘clouds’, two seamless transitions between them, 1 to 1.5 minutes in duration
Label files LastnameFirstname_timbreclouds
COMPOSITION 3: PROCESS / PULSE PIECE (10%)
Due 11/10 by 9pm
For Composition 3, you can pick one of two options:
Process: Use a process (Reich’s phasing technique, algorithmic rules, etc) to gradually develop rhythmic or pulse-based material over 2 minutes. End somewhere significantly different from where you began.
Pulse: Create a work that explores pulse (perception of rhythm), and has at least two strong “pulse shifts”: moments when the pulse abruptly changes pattern, tempo, or feel. Similar to the second project, think about creating an interesting overall structure through changes in feel, density, and/or timbre.
Regardless of which variant of this project you choose, your piece should focus on (i.e. use mostly) synthesized sound sources, but you may also use recorded materials. You may use any effects and sound processing techniques, but they aren’t the focus of this project.
Requirements: a work that follows the criteria for “process” or “pulse” projects (outlined above), that uses mostly synthesized sounds, and that is 2 minutes in duration (please double check length using ocenaudio or REAPER, etc.)
Label files LastnameFirstname_process-pulsepiece