About this course: How can we use computers to create expressive, compelling music? And how can we write computer software to help us create and organize sounds in new ways? This course provides a hands-on introduction to the field of music technology as both a creative musical practice and an interdisciplinary technical research pursuit. Students will be able to compose music in digital audio workstation software using both audio and symbolic representations; to write code to algorithmically generate music, analyze sound, and design sound; and to describe the essential theory and history behind these activities as well as their connection to cutting-edge computer music research. Through the exploration of topics such as acoustics, psychoacoustics, digital sound, digital signal processing, audio synthesis, spectral analysis, algorithmic composition, and music information retrieval, we will explore the deep relationships between art and science, between theory and practice, and between experimental and popular electronic music. We will learn about these topics in the context of digital audio workstation (DAW) software, the multi-track editing paradigm that has been dominant in music production since the 1980s. As we learn about the foundations behind such software, we will use this knowledge to more effectively create music with it, and we will also write a series of short software programs that extend the software’s ability to manipulate, transform, and analyze sound.
Taught by: Dr. Jason A. Freeman, Professor
School of Music
| Commitment | 5-7 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
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Great course! I did my undergrad at the Eastman School of Music, yet there is still so much more to learn. Although not as comprehensive or involved as a college course (I was never able to view peer graders' comments to my projects even though I did quite well on them), this course taught me that the possibilities as a musician are limitless with technology. The more I learn the less I feel I know. I am intensely curious about Music Technology now. Thank you Jason Freeman!
excellent course!
Not only was this course engaging and challenging, it was fun. I very much appreciated all the link examples the thorough explanations. This was my first exposure to MIDI and Python and DAWs, and I learned enough (mostly about Reaper and MIDI) to very comfortably continue using them.
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A great course for all the music enthusiast out there ,Explore the technicalities and the recent trends in Music technology .