TEch 203: Syllabus
CONTACT INFORMATION
Professor: Eli Stine
Contact: estine@oberlin.edu
Office Location: Bibbins Hall Basement – TIMARA Studio 00X (Zoom me)
Office Hours: By appointment via <Google Appointment Scheduling>
TA: TBD
MEETING TIME AND LOCATION
Class Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 1:30PM – 2:45PM
Class Location: TIMARA Studio 2
COURSE OVERVIEW
Contemporary electroacoustic composers and computer musicians wear many hats: composer, performer, programmer, critic, theorist, researcher, cultural musicologist, etc. Tech 201—and later Tech 202—provide a solid foundation in many of these areas, particularly electroacoustic music history and studio hardware and software. Tech 203 explores more deeply the musical, technological, and scholarly tools currently available to electroacoustic composers. Some topics will be completely new to you, and others will be related to your previous study in TIMARA. While we will deal extensively with certain hardware* and software, the course is not “about” said tools. Rather, it is organized based on musical/scholarly practices and approaches, each of which will inevitably draw on a variety of tools. All topics will be approached through a combination of reading, listening, and creative work with the ultimate goal of expanding your compositional resources and scholarly vocabulary.
*This course will take advantage of the multi-channel sound diffusion environment available in the TIMARA studios, putting emphasis on the ability of spatial audio and more generally the design of immersive sonic environments to uniquely engage extra-musical disciplines: sculptural and installation arts, theater and drama studies, and the environmental sciences, to name but a few.
COURSE OUTCOMES
This course engages the topic of spatial audio as an integrated part of contemporary electroacoustic music practice through three domains: the theoretical, technical, and compositional. Each of these is, ideally, inseparable from the others: technology informs compositional practice, theory informs technology, and so on. Over the course of this class the student can expect to…
THEORETICAL:
Read a diverse selection of composers discussing acousmatic (spatial) music
Listen to a wide variety of acousmatic music that engages space and acousmatic environment
Discuss the viewpoints, theories, and techniques of electroacoustic music composers and theorists
TECHNICAL:
Learn a variety of spatial audio tools
Multi-channel sound recording techniques
Real-time spatial audio performance (diffusion)
Offline spatial audio control (automation)
Algorithmic spatial audio control (programming)
COMPOSITIONAL:
Apply theory and technology to a sequence of spatial audio studies
Diffuse (perform the spatialization of) a work
Compose a novel, personalized spatial audio work
COURSE MATERIALS + TOOLS
There is no textbook for this course. Readings, listening, and viewings will be distributed as PDFs, audio links/files, and video links/files via the TECH 203 Box folder. Below is a non-exhaustive list of software and hardware made use of in this course:
Software
Reaper (and recommended extension)
ReaSurround (plug-in built into REAPER)
SpatGRIS (plug-in)
The Ambisonic Toolkit (ATK) (plug-in)
IEM Plug-in Suite (plug-in)
ambiX (plug-in)
mc.mixdown (multi-channel panner built into Max)
ICST Ambisonics (Max externals)
Spat5 (Max externals)
Sound Particles (free for academic use)
Spatial Ear Trainer (SET) (my own software)
Obriarious (Full Ambisonics Reaper + Spat5 composition system) (my own software)
Hardware
Studio 3 Computer (Mac Pro)
Your personal laptop
Portable Recorder (Zoom H1n, DR-100, etc.)
Microphones (1- and 2-channel, different types)
Zoom H2n (4-channel 360° mic)
Tetrahedral Mic (4-channel spherical mic)
Zylia Mic (19-channel mic)
In addition, the following tools are also required:
An external hard drive and/or access to a cloud-based storage account with sufficient storage to back up your projects (such as Oberlin’s free Box account: oberlin.edu/cit/box). Multi-channel audio files are large (and projects using them can get very big!) so at least 100GB of space is recommended.
(Save early and often, and consider backing up in at least two locations (on your computer, your external hard drive, AND on Dropbox, for example). Loss of data (AKA “the digital dog ate my homework”) is NOT an acceptable excuse for late project submission.)
Attendance + late submission policy
Attendance is a mandatory component of this course, and will be taken at each class.
2 classes may be missed, for any reason, and not adversely affect your grade, but missed work must be made up in its entirety.
Missing 3 classes = third letter grade deduction (3.3%) off of course grade
Missing 4 classes = half letter grade deduction (5%) off of course grade
Missing 5 classes = full letter grade deduction (10%) off of course grade
Missing 6 classes = automatic failure of the course (no exceptions)
2 impartial attendances (arriving in class more than 5 minutes after the start of the class or leaving class more than 5 minutes early) will be counted as a missed class. An impartial attendance that involves arriving more than 30 minutes late or leaving 30 minutes early will be counted as an absence.
All assignments should be submitted no later than the assignment due date. Late assignments will be graded based on a sliding letter grade penalty:
Submitted a day late (up to 24 hours after the assignment due date) = full letter grade deduction (10%)
Submitted two days late (more than 24 hours and up to 48 hours after due date) = two letter grade deduction (20%)
Submitted three days late (more than 48 hours and up to 72 hours after due date) = three letter grade deduction (30%)
Submitted more than three days late (more than 72 hours after due date) = automatic 0% on the assignment (no exceptions)
Grading Overview
The grading for this course is based on five different types of engagement/projects:
Participation (20%)
Completing reading and listening. Actively engaging during class discussions. Separate from attendance.
Studies (30%)
Short applied studies related to electroacoustic composition strategies and multi-channel techniques and tools.
Composer Profile (15%)
A short analysis and program notes of three electroacoustic compositions by one or two electroacoustic composer(s).
Diffusion Project (10%)
The analysis, construction of a diffusion score for, and diffusion performance of an excerpt of one of the three compositions chosen for your composer profile.
Multi-Channel Final project (25%)
A three-minute 8-channel(+) composition created in stages: a piece proposal, work-in-progress presentation, draft version, stereo mix in addition to the 8-channel(+) version, a remix of the work and reflection on the process.
For more details on assignments, see the TECH 203 Assignments page.
CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT + GENDER PRONOUNS
Make your best effort to arrive on time to class and to not leave early (unless a specific exemption is made with me beforehand).
Lectures are phone-free (at all times).
You’re welcome to take notes on paper or on your laptop.
Do not work on assignments for other classes during our class time.
At all times during this course, the classroom, professor’s office, and TA’s space will be locales where you will be welcomed and treated with dignity and respect. People of all ages, backgrounds, beliefs, ethnicities, genders, gender identities and expressions, sexual orientations, national origins, religious affiliations, abilities, and other visible and nonvisible differences are welcome. All members of this course are expected to behave in a manner that nurtures this environment. The course roster includes student’s full legal names; please let me know your preferred name and/or gender pronouns early in the semester.
INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING NEEDS
The College makes reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. Students should notify the Office of Disability Services located in Peters G-27/G- 28 and the instructor of this course of any disability related needs. For more information, see http://new.oberlin.edu/office/disability-services/index.dot.
If you are eligible for and need academic adjustments or accommodations because of a disability (including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities) please speak with me early in the semester.
OBERLIN HONOR CODE
Students are expected to adhere to the Oberlin College Honor Code. Any violations will be reported to the Honor Code Committee.
If you have any questions about what is permitted and what is not, please feel free to ask your TA or myself.
For every assignment, students must indicate whether they followed the Honor Code in completing the assignment. If so, students should end each assignment by writing and signing:
I have adhered to the Honor Code in this assignment.