Sound Art
Wednesday, 4:00 -
10:00 PM
B340, Bunting Center
Randall
Packer, Instructor
Web site: http://www.zakros.com/
On-line course information: http://www.zakros.com/mica
Introduction
When we consider
art from an historical perspective there are always new concepts to communicate
and new paradigms to define. Artists move across the boundaries of discipline
without shifting their identities. While artistic genres continue to evolve,
nothing is lost; conceptual approaches are reapplied and new ones introduced.
In this course, we will explore sound art as a complex multidimensional
medium situated in both physical and virtual space. The main objective
is to develop the appreciation and application of the many ways that musical
composers, sound artists, and visual artists have conceived of and developed
sound as a unique and powerful artistic medium.
Course Description
Sound Art exposes
students to the evolution of sound art and avant-garde musical technique,
from the early 20th Century to the present. The course introduces artistic
strategies, narrative structures and compositional methodologies for the
creation of interactive sound installation, sound sculpture, networked
media, and live performance projects. The course will be taught using
the MAX/MSP object oriented programming environment for the creating of
real-time, interactive sound projects.
The course will cover
key genres of sound art and musical composition that include: noise art,
musique concrete, sound poetry, serialism, minimalism, biofeedback, etc.
There will also be an extensive survey of contemporary composers and sound
artists, as well as those artists whose work demonstrates a recent trend
among visual and performance artists to embrace the artistic medium of
sound.
Required reading and listening
Selection of key
essays and works by pioneering 20th composers and sound artists, and contemporary
media artists.
Presentation
Informal presentations
in class; end of the semester performances and installations; documentation
of sound projects on the Web.
Max / MSP
Max/MSP is a set
of graphical programming tools that has a broad range of artistic application
from electronic music to media installations. Originally developed at
IRCAM (the computer music institute
at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris) in the late 1980s, Max / MSP
has since the basis for a surging interest in interactive computer music,
and more recently has been used by sound and visual artists interested
in its capacity for real-time live performance and interactive installation
environments. The software is sold and developed by Cycling
74.
Week 1 :
9/4 - Overture
Context
– Review of course objectives, concepts, readings,
listening/viewing assignments, and projects.
An overview of
sound as art; interactive, real-time computer music; my own sound projects
for installation, live performance, and the Web: Arches,
Mori, Media
Deconstruction Kit
Lab
- Overview of the Lab facility, including: the Macintosh Sound Control
Panel; audio input/output; headphones; recording and storage devices,
software; general recording techniques for field recording.
Assignments for Week 2
Context
Reading: "Art
of Noise" by Futurist Luigi Russolo
Listening:
Selection from Playlist: "Risveglio
di una Citta" by Luigi Russolo
Writing:
Describe how the artist uses noise as a means of artistic expression.
What does the piece evoke? How is it shaped? How would you describe
it texturally? What is the dramatic effect? Is it imitating nature,
technology, etc?
Lab
- Collect "noises" within a short radius of MICA made up of
environmental sound including traffic, construction, people, etc. Of
particular interest: the whistling sound of Hwy 83 at night.
Week 2 :
9/11 - The Art of Noise
Context
– Noise as material for sound composition. Discussion
of Luigi Russolo, his manifesto
"The Art of Noise," and his invention of Futurist noise instruments.
Lab
- Overview of the Max authoring environment; basic objects, and an introduction
to real-time signal processing. Max / MSP Tutorials: Max: 1 - 5 (messages,
printing, bang, numbers, metronome);
Advanced techniques
in SoundEdit 16.
Assignments for Week 3
Context
Reading: "The
Liberation of Sound " by Edgard Varèse
Listening:
Selections from Playlist: Edgard Varèse; Poéme
Électronique
Writing:
Write a brief summary on Poéme Électronique.
Lab
- Create a one minute sound composition that uses only noises (no tonal
or "musical" sounds) recorded in the vicinity of MICA. The
composition must be entirely abstract, without relying on any conventional
methods used in song or musical construction.
Week 3 :
9/18 - Zones of Intensities and Textures
Context
– Methodologies, approaches, and technique in
the organization of sound. Discussion of the ideas and work of Edgard
Varèse. Graphical representation of sound in musical composition.
Guest artist -
John Berndt,
Baltimore based improvising musician, philsopher, cultural experimenter
& organizer, graphic designer, founder of the Red
Room and the High
Zero Festival.
Presentation
– Noise compositions.
Assignments for Week 4
Context
Reading: "History
of Experimental Music" by John Cage
Listening:
Selections from Playlist: John Cage, Cartridge
Music
Writing:
Write a brief summary on Cartridge Music.
Lab
- Complete Noise compositions
Max / MSP : Review
tutorials
Week 4 :
9/25 - Indeterminacy
Context
– Overview
of basic principles in sound acoustics. Glossary
of terms.
Lecture by Jennifer
and Kevin McCoy. (7:00 - 9:00 pm, Station Auditorium)
Presentation
– Noise compositions.
Lab
- Max / MSP Tutorials: Max : 7 - 10 (computation, data flow, controllers);
MSP: 1, (oscillators, frequency, amplifier); 9a, 10a, 11 (synthesis:
amplitude and frequency modulation)
Assignments for Week 5
Context - Summary
of lecture by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy
Lab
- Create an interactive sound composition in Max / MSP which incorporates
real-time control of amplitude and frequency modulation.
Max/MSP - Review
tutorials
Week 5 :
10/2 - Indeterminacy
Context
– Discussion of the music of John
Cage, prepared piano, chance composition, and indeterminate structures
in the composition of sound and silence.
Lab
- Overview of MIDI
and Quicktime Music: History and use of MIDI; Quicktime Music &
General MIDI; OMS; MIDI commands: note, velocity, channels, program,
controllers, pitch bend; Max objects: keyboard, makenote, sliders, dials
Assignments for Week 6
Context
Reading: Interview
with Karlheinz Stockhausen from Seconds.
Listening: Selections from Playlist: Karlheinz Stockhausen, Studie
II
Writing:
Write a brief summary on Studie II
Lab
- Create an indeterminate, randomly generated composition using Quicktime
music.
Max/MSP - Review
tutorials
Week 6 :
10/9 - Space-time Continuum
Context
– Discussion of the electronic music of German
composer Karlheinz Stockhausen,
his use of formal techniques including serialism, pointillism, etc.
in the organization of musical time and timbre. Of particular interest
is the relationship between musical time and space, as demonstrated
in the composers works that employ spatial dimension as an integral
component of the work. We will also look at how the composer represents
sound in time in electronic music through the graphical score. Stockhausen
home page for more information on the composer.
Presentation
– Indeterminacy projects. "Very Special Guest," a graphic
realization of Stockhausen "Studie II" created in Max / MSP,
located in the examples folder of the Max / MSP folder.
Lab
- Max / MSP tutorials: Max - using the Mac keyboard (20); send and receive
(24); and mousestate 39a;
Assignments for Week 7
Context
Reading: Interview
with David Tudor by Teddy Hultberg
Optional Reading: Interview
with Karlheinz Stockhausen (introduction) by Teddy Hultberg
Listening: Selections from Playlist: David Tudor, Rainforest
Writing:
Write a brief summary of Rainforest
Lab
- Generate a graphic score (look at the Varèse
and Stockhausen for reference),
that suggests duration, amplitude, frequency, timbre, stereo positioning,
etc., and the change over time of these elements. Scan the graphic score
and save as a pict file. Follow your projected graphic score to generate
a real-time performance in Max / MSP. You may indicate time-points,
such as in the Stockhausen score, or, you may create a performance that
is scalable in time, in which a mark can last as long as you want, so
long as you follow its attributes, and durations are scaled consistently.
Indicate any special instructions you wish. Your Max / MSP patch needs
to be designed so that you can control all the parameters mentioned
above. You may construct your patch using the objects we have discussed
so far: synthesis, quicktime music, etc.
Max/MSP - Review
tutorials
Week 7 :
10/16 - Real-time Interaction
Context
– Discussion of the work of David
Tudor and his investigation of real-time performance interaction,
installation environments and improvisatory techniques.
Presentation
– Graphical score / real-time performance projects.
Lab
– Complete graphical score / real-time performance projects.
Week 8 :
10/23 - Real-time Interaction
Assignments for Week 9
Lab
- Sample playback with loops (MSP 14). Gather sounds for remixing.
Remix project -
For our purposes, remixing is a process of appropriation, reuse, and
transformation. In the case of sound, audio is taken from its original
context (recordings, television, environment, etc.) and placed into
a new context where it is transformed according to the artist's specifications.
For this project, choose sound material from any source you like, bring
the sounds into max, fragment them for real-time manipulation, and generate
a new "sonic context," as articulated through a live performance.
You may choose spoken text, that is re-oriented to change its meaning;
you may take recorded music, and "remix" it beyond recognition;
you may take sounds from the environment, remixing to create an "imaginary
landscape," or anything else you can imagine. We will use exclusively
the Groove~ object in Max / MSP that allows for changes in speed, direction,
amplitude, start/stop point, looping, etc.
Reading: "Warhol's
American Dream" an essay on a remix by DJ Spooky
Listening: Selections from Playlist: Peter Trieb, Bits
& Pieces
Writing: Write a brief summary of reading.
Week 9 : 10/30 - Remixing
Context
– Influenced by DJ and Hip-hop culture, as well
as the hypermediated technologies of the Web, sound artists such as
DJ Spooky, Peter Trieb, and others are sampling and remixing found material.
Presentation
– Remix projects.
Lab
- Max / MSP Tutorials: Max - 32, 39 (tables and mouse control) MSP -
chorus and flange (effects processing)
Assignments for Week 10
Lab
- Complete remix projects.
Week 10 : 11/6 - Remixing
Presentation
– Complete Remix projects.
Lab
- Max / MSP tutorials: Max - 24, 26, 27 (distributing max messages);
MSP - delay (effects processing)
Assignments for Week 11
Lab
- Complete Remix projects
Week 11 : 11/13 - Spatial
Transformation
Presentation
– Remix projects.
Context
– Artists are using sound to bring about the transformation of
our experience of space and architecture. Installations and performance
works by Pauline
Oliveros, Janet
Cardiff, Bill
Fontana, Ron
Kuivala and Christina
Kubisch have been inserted into public and museum spaces to alter
our perception of those spaces, evoking memory, dream, and emotion.
Begin discussion
of final projects.
Assignments for Week 12
Context
Reading: "Location/Dislocation"
Listening:
Selection from Playlist: [User] Silophone
Writing:
Write a brief summary of Silophone
Week 12 : 11/20 - Networked
Sound
Context
– Discussion of music that transcends boundaries
of space and time, bridging real and virtual space. Projects will be
discussed including Telemusic
by Randall Packer, Global
String by Atau Tanaka, and Ping
by Chris Chafe and Greg Niemeyer.
Discussion of final
project proposals.
Final Project -
It is up to each student to determine a final project to be created
in Max / MSP. Using methodologies and tools as introduced in the course,
your project should fall into one of two general areas:
(1) Live performance
- this involves creating a real-time composition, without or without
score, that will be performed live. The key is determining an overall
shape and general duration, in addition to building a user interface
that allows you to effectively perform the work according to sound structures,
processes, etc., that are programmed into the composition.
(2) Installation
- you may also create an installation piece that does not necessarily
have a set "shape" or duration, but rather operates continuously
in relation to the physical space and the orientation of the viewer.
Given resources, we will setup one space with a stereo sound system
and a Macintosh computer and rotate all the installation projects. If
the piece is interactive, you will be responsible for designing and
finding resources. The goal would be to find interesting ways to engage
the viewer in the provided space, through the location of sound, construction
of narrative, transformation of the space, etc.
Lab
- Max / MSP tutorials. Recording aiff files in MSP with sfrecord~.
Assignments for Week 13
Context
Reading: "Music
and the Internet" by Josephine Bosma from the Web journal "Crossfade."
Listening:
Selections from Playlist: Atau Tanaka / Sensor Band, Global String
Writing:
Write a brief summary of Global String
Lab
- Max Tutorials.
Week 13 : 12/4 - Final Project
Lab
- Work on final project.
Streaming media:
Realmedia, Quicktime streaming, encoding, live broadcasting, etc.
Assignments for Week 14
Lab
- Work on final project.
Week 14 : 12/11 - Final Project
Assignments for Week 15
Lab
- Work on final project.
Week 15 : 12/18 - Final Project
Assignments and Grading
Class Discussion and Presentation
(20%)
Attendance (on
time) is mandatory and will be incorporated into the grade. Each student
is required to participate in class discussion focusing on readings
and listening assignments.
Weekly assignments (30%)
Projects are assigned
each week, in which students experiment with new concepts and techniques
introduced in class, as well as write short summaries on reading and
listening assignments. These projects are not intended to be finished
work, but rather research-oriented exploration and aesthetic/technical
practice in sound composition.
Midterm and Final Projects
(50%)
Midterm and final
projects will consist of finished pieces, exploring in depth an area
of investigation in sound art introduced in the course. The mid-term
project can consist of a short interactive performance piece created
in Max/MSP and presented in class. The final project will be up to you,
but also created in Max/MSP. The project can be for live performance,
CD, Web, or physical installation,. The main criteria is to explore
the conjunction of sound and media, the interplay between audio and
visual or spatial elements. Optionally, the final project can explore
a form of interaction with the listener/viewer. More information on
both projects will be discussed later in the semester.
Miscellaneous
Materials
Work must be stored
on a zip cartridge, firewire drive or CD. All files left on lab computers
will be erased.
Internet Access
Everyone is required
to have an e-mail account. All written assignments will be handed in
electronically via email.
Required Reading
- Luigi Russolo;
The Art of Noise (1913); Futurist Manifestos, 1970
- Edgard Varèse,
The Liberation of Sound, 1936
- John Cage; History
of Experimental Music ; Silence, 1961
- Karlheinz Stockhuasen;
Interview from Seconds
- David Tudor; Interview
by Teddy Hultberg
- Bill Fontana;
Sound as Virtual Image
- Achim Wollscheid;
Does the Song Remain the Same?; Site of Sound: of Architecture
& the Ear, 1999
- Paul Miller aka
DJ Spooky; Warhol's American Dream
- Josephine Bosma,
Music and the Internet; Crossfade
Recommended Reading
- Todd Winkler,
Composing Interactive Music, MIT Press
- Brandon LaBelle
& Steve Roden; Site of Sound: of Architecture & the Ear,
Smart Art Press, 1998
- William Duckworth;
Talking Music: Conversations with John Cage, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson,
and 5 Generations of American Experimental Composers, Da Capo Press,
1994
- Douglas Kahn;
Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts; MIT Press,
1999
- Joel Chadabe;
Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music; Prentice
Hall,1998
- Michael Nyman;
Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, Cambridge University Press,
1999
- John Cage; Silence;
Mit Press, 1961
- Neil Strauss;
Radiotext(e), Semiotext(e), 1993
Playlist
- Alvin Lucier,
I'm Sitting in a Room, Lovely Music, 1970
- Bob Ostertag,
Burns Like Fire, Recdec Music, 1991
- Ikue Mori, The
Peony Lantern, Bitstreams, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2001
- DJ Spooky, ftp:>snd>,
Bitstreams, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2001
- Randall Packer,
Through
Invisible Cities, Chronic Art
- Pamela Z, Geekspeek,
Bitstreams, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2001
- Pauline Oliveros,
Suiren, Deep Listening, New Albion Records, 1988
- Luigi Russolo,
Risveglio
di una Citta, "Futurism and Dada Reviewed," sub rosa
records
- Edgard Varèse;
Poéme
Électronique, "Music of Edgard Varèse,"
Sony Music
- Karlheinz Stockhausen;
Studie
II, "Stockhausen (3): Elektronique Music,"
Stockhausen Verlag; Kontakte
- John Cage; Cartridge
Music, "John Cage: Music for Merce Cunningham" Mode
Records
- Karlheinz Stockhausen;
Kontakte, "Stockhausen (3): Elektronique Music,"
Stockhausen Verlag
- David Tudor; Rainforest,
"David Tudor" Mode Records
- Bill Fontana;
Sound Island
- [The User]; Silophone,
live networked sound installation
- Scanner; stopstarting,
remixed scanned sounds
- Atau Tanaka and
Sensorband; Global String, networked performance piece
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