Welcome to Sound I

This course is designed to provide a basic framework for recording, editing, and composing with sound in a variety of media. No prior production knowledge is assumed. Classes will focus on creative projects, while establishing a common technical and aesthetic vocabulary through in-class demonstrations and discussions. Pro Tools software will be used for most projects, supplemented by some work with programs such as Reason, Ableton Live, Final Scratch, and turntables.

Topics will include microphones and digital recorders, field and studio recording techniques, sample editing, filters and effects processing, sequencing, sound theory, and compositional strategies in musical and multi-media contexts. Additional detailed topics will be introduced based upon student interest.

Time for work on creative projects will be provided in class, with critical feedback available to students at all stages of sound creation. Verbal critique among all students is expected. In addition to the in-class work, an average of 3 hours per week spent on creative projects outside of class is essential.

Final projects will be presented on B-MORE SOUNDBOX experimental music festival, at an off-campus venue TBA.

Fall 2009

Meeting time: Tuesdays, 4 - 10 pm

Location: B412

Instructor: Erik Spangler

email: erikspangler@gmail.com

Required Information on MICA Syllabi

Video: Sound I class' guerilla sound installation using laptops and hidden boomboxes to subtly manipulate the soundscape of Penn Station in Baltimore (November 2008). Testing the perceptiblity of non-ordinary sound deviations in a public space.

Video: Sound I guerilla sound installation in Bolton Hill (April 2009).

Video: Sound I guerilla sound installation at the Inner Harbor (June 2009).

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Project 3 (sample-based beat) due 9/29.

2. Please remember to submit a journal entry (at least a paragraph) for each creative project, describing your goals and working process.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Headphones

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS

ELECTRONIC AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC, third edition, by Thom Holmes

PRO TOOLS 7 SESSION SECRETS, by Scott Hirsch and Steve Heithecker

GUERRILLA HOME RECORDING, second edition, by Karl Coryat

Portable hard drive

Boombox

CD-R's

GRADING

Creative projects 30%

Class participation (includes attendance, discussion participation) 15%

Journal 10%

Presentation on sound artist 10%

Podcast (alonetone.com) 10%

Band recording project 5%

Final project 20%

SCHEDULE

9/1-- Field recording with flash recorders: finding 5 contrasting sounds. Transferring digital recordings to Pro Tools. Basic editing techniques.

9/8-- PROJECT 1 DUE: Study in contrasting sounds. Microphones workshop (to include the making of contact microphones). Soundscape composition using environmental sounds.

9/10 - 9/13-- RECOMMENDED EVENT: High Zero festival of experimental improvised music at the Theater Project, on Preston St. Visit highzero.org for more info, or to propose a High Jinx event.

9/15-- PROJECT 2 DUE: Sound documentary. Studio music recording workshop.

9/16-- RECOMMENDED EVENT (A): Todd Reynolds lunchtime lecture/demonstration at Falvey Hall, MICA, 12-1 PM. RECOMMENDED EVENT (B): Mobtown Modern concert: "Loopy", at the Metro Gallery, 8 PM. Visit mobtownmodern.com for more info

9/22-- Strategies of composition using samples: managing loops and one-shot samples.

9/29-- PROJECT 3 DUE: Sample-based beat. Introduction to sequencing with Reason software.

10/6-- Spoken word and sound, balancing text and atmosphere.

10/7-- RECOMMENDED EVENT: Mobtown Modern concert: "Low Art".

10/13-- PROJECT 4 DUE: Scoring a spoken narrative. Sound processing techniques, acousmatic art: the history of musique concrete in France and beyond.

10/17 - 10/25 Fall Break

10/27-- PROJECT 5 DUE: Abstract sound-collage. Group recording work for sound installation.

11/3-- PROJECT 6 DUE: Sound installation for boomboxes. Class meets at special location (to be determined) for guerilla sound installation. Followed by overview of film scoring, foley, and creating "point-of-view" in a soundtrack.

11/10-- Film scoring techniques in Pro Tools.

11/17-- PROJECT 7 DUE: Scoring a video

11/24-- PRESENTATIONS ON SOUND ARTISTS.

12/1-- Final Project workshop.

12/8-- Final Projects presented at B-MORE SOUNDBOX experimental music festival. Location TBA.

12/12-- RECOMMENDED EVENT: Mobtown Modern concert: "Unsilent Night/BOOM!"

12/15-- Final Project critiques.

WEB READING ASSIGNMENTS

"Six Qualities of Sound Perception" for class discussion on 9/8

"recording in the field" by Aaron Ximm for class discussion on 9/15

"Tones and noises: three kinds of soundscape, one music" by Stefan Beyst for class discussion on 9/15

"Loops of Perception: Sampling, Memory, and the Semantic Web" by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky for class discussion on 9/22

"Out To The Stars, Into The Heart: Spatial Movement in Recent and Earlier Music: Walkthroughs, Street Events, and Audience Participation" by "Blue" Gene Tyranny for class discussion on 11/3

CREATIVE PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS

PROJECT 1: Study in contrasting sounds

1. Use clips from your field recording of 5 contrasting sounds to compose a piece using 3 to 5 audio tracks in Pro Tools. 2. Duration 1 to 2 minutes.

PROJECT 2: Sound documentary

1. Tell a story through field-recorded sounds that document the world around you. 2. Duration 3 to 5 minutes. 3. Explore spatial relationships: e.g. near and far, position in stereo field. 4. Bounce as .WAV file, import into iTunes as .MP3, upload as a podcast (using self-created RSS feed or through a website such as alonetone.com. 5. E-mail your podcast address to me (all class projects should be uploaded to your podcast, which will constitute 5% of your overall grade for the class).

PROJECT 3: Sample-based beat

1. Duration 2 to 4 minutes. 2. Demonstrating variation (shifts, new inserts or deletions, etc.) to a drum pattern or several drum patterns. 3. Drum patterns should be created from individual short sounds across at least 3 different tracks. 4. FX inserts (such as compressor, EQ, reverb, etc.) should be applied to individual tracks in the Mixer window. 5. Editing should be done in Grid mode, with Tempo and Meter established at the beginning. 6. At least 3 other samples, longer than the individual drum sounds, should be brought in at different times. Some of these samples may be additional loops of different lengths to fit rhythmically into your groove, while other samples may be "one-shot" samples (such as a snippet of spoken word, or a sound effect, brought in just once at a time). 7. Creatively explore layering of different samples together, and vary the number of layers heard at once throughout the song. Maintain a sense of groove, but play with the listener's expectations a bit.

PROJECT 4: Scoring a spoken narrative

1. Score any spoken narrative between 2 and 5 minutes: record your own or download spoken audio. 2. Create different musical themes for the different characters in the story, or reflect the emotional landscape of the words in sound. 3. Assemble the musical soundtrack from samples. 4. Pay attention to text clarity in the mix, using Equalization on the vocal track and riding the volume levels on musical tracks as need be.

PROJECT 5: Abstract sound-collage

1. Duration 1 to 2 minutes. 2. Explore contrasting sounds, as well as streams of similar sounds. 3. Explore form by having certain sounds come back. 4. Incorporate at least 4 of the following techniques used in musique concr�te: a) changing speed, b) modifying the envelope, c) looping of natural sounds, d) reversing sounds, e) filtering, f) reverberation.

PROJECT 6: Sound installation for boomboxes

1. Conceptual focus: �glitch in the system�. 2. Each student (or pair of students) will create an audio track between 2 and 4 minutes long, burned onto an audio CD for boombox playback or loaded on a laptop. 3. Tracks should be able to loop inconspicuously, ending with sounds similar or the same as the beginning (while the middle of the track should transition into and out of a different sound space). 4. All created audio tracks will be based exclusively on sounds recorded in and around chosen site. 5. Explore the Signal Generator in Pro Tools to generate sine tones between -32.5 and -19.0 dB, at any of the following frequencies: 256 Hz, 288 Hz, 320 Hz, 341 Hz, 384 Hz, 427 Hz, 480 Hz. Combine any of these 7 frequencies together, and also combine any one of these frequencies with another that is 1 Hz higher or lower: this will create beating tones. Fade these sine tones in and out of your mix, in combination with field recording samples. Create sine tone layers in Grid Mode. 6. Use Dr. Spangler's turntables setup in the Rm 207 studio to manipulate the speed and direction of a short loop from your field recording. Incorporate this turntablist processing of your sound somewhere in your audio track for the installation.

ARTIST PRESENTATION

1. 5-minute oral presentation. 2. Add on time for playing audio example(s): 2 to 5 additional minutes (audio examples are necessary). 3. Mention what types of audio technology your chosen artist uses and how this may affect the sound of their work. 4. Describe the aesthetic of this artist's work: what types of sounds are most valued? how would you describe the form, sense of rhythm and pacing, etc.? 5. Describe how the sound artist's work been received. 6. Trace artistic and musical influences.

FINAL PROJECT:

1. You may choose to score a video, create a sound installation, prepare a live electronic music performance, or combine any of these. 2. Duration must be at least 5 minutes long. 3. Demonstrate evolution of a sound idea: think of how you can incorporate a process or gradual unfolding.