Fields of Sound

web home of sound artist, composer and performer Jonny Farrow and jonnyfarrow.net

SOUND ENVIRONMENTS

SOUND ENVIRONMENTS

(Click here to access the course materials page and syllabus)

IMA 780.81

Film and Media Department Hunter College, New York

Instructor: Jonathan Farrow

email: jfarro@hunter.cuny.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION: How does one define music, sound, noise, and silence? What are the social and political functions of these elements and how can they be used in media works? Sound Environments is a production course in which students explore contemporary issues and techniques of sonic media. Students will experiment with designing linear and non-linear sound and creating interactive sound installations. The course will explore developments in contemporary sonic media, and students will read critical writings in music history, cultural studies, sound and media theory. Themes explored in detail will include: invented instruments; voice, language, and the body; acoustic ecology and urban noise; sound and architecture (real and virtual spaces); sampling, remixing, and DJ culture; digital interfaces, web-based instruments, and internet art. This workshop counts toward the CHANNELS cluster.

PREREQUISITE: Graduate standing, IMA 760 Tools and Techniques of Integrated Media. Students should have a working knowledge of Mac operating systems. The use and mastery of software based tools is encouraged in this course, but the choice of tools will be dependent on the nature of your project. Audacity and Max/MSP will be the main authoring programs discussed in this course.

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

* Record, edit, and mix sound projects

* Be able to work independently and/or collaboratively on sound projects

* Create linear and/or interactive sound projects using object-based sound programming

* Develop proposals for substantial sound projects

* Complete or prototype one or more substantial sound project

* Identify significant critical texts related to sound and articulate critical positions with regard to sound

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS:

* We will be reading from many different texts this semester. You will have access to these materials as per the instructor.

* At least one USB flash drive, ipod, or other storage device

* CDRs and DVDs as needed for projects

* A notebook to take notes in and reference

* Time outside of class to work!

GRADING POLICIES:

A professional attitude and approach toward all aspects of this course is expected. Specifically; class starts on time, and class attendance and participation are mandatory. Absences and lateness will adversely effect your grade. In general, there is no such thing as an “excused” absence, but remember, communication, intent, and common courtesy contribute to the evaluation of your particular attendance situation. The fourth absence- for any reason- constitutes a failing grade. (Two late arrivals = 1 absence)

Assignments are expected on time (late assignments will be graded down 1 full letter grade per week late. In other words, late A- work becomes B-; B- becomes C- etc. Make-ups: If a student finds they will not be able to hand in an midterm or final on the scheduled day, it is the student’s responsibility to notify me prior to that day. Under no circumstances will I accept the work if I have not been notified and arrangements made prior to that day. And, these arrangements do not nullify the downgrading of late assignments. Grades are based on an evaluation of personal growth within the following criteria; time and effort, interpretation of the assignment, aesthetics and technical expertise, critique participation and professional presentations and will be broken down in the following way: Class Participation=25%; Midterm=30%; Final=45%.

Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The college is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.

GRADING SCALE

100 – 90 = A

90 – 80 = B

80 – 70 = C

70 – 60 = D

60 and below = F

PARTICIPATION: YOU MUST PARTICIPATE IN CLASS DISCUSSION. To this end, I encourage an open atmosphere where back-and-forth communication is the norm. Students are free to speak up when they need clarification or wish to make observations during periods of lecture and/or discussion. Always let me know if you are having difficulties mastering a technique presented in class and I will help you. Plus, you will be expected to work several hours outside of class time each week. You will not be able to finish your assignments during class!

SPECIAL NOTE: Some of the course reading will be on-line and you will be expected to use the internet as a research tool. In addition, you MUST have an email account by the second week of class! Some class correspondence will happen via email and via my course blog.

And, of course, this syllabus is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.

COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCE MATERIALS:

You may find other class resources as directed and will be expected to deliver assignments to me via my dropbox. Visit the following site for access instructions: http://brie.hunter.cuny.edu/?page_id=526

Max/MSP/Jitter

* Cycling74 home page

* Cycling74 Max/MSP/ Jitter Documentation and Tutorials

* Cycling74 resources

* The New York City Max user’s group meets monthly. Subscribe to the mailing list by sending e-mail to nymax@yahoogroups.com with “subscribe” as the subject. Contact hanst@harvestworks.org if you have any questions about the list.

Other Software Links

* http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

* http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/soundtrackpro/

* http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

* http://www.processing.org/

* http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/wiretap/

Basic Sound Information/Tutorials

* Audio Glossary

* beast.gtk.org/synthesis-links — articles about synthesizing different sounds, very “pragmatic” in approach. Also some good links to other sites.

* UC Santa Cruz Tutorials — by Peter Elsea

* Intro to Digital Audio — from a class Rick Taube teaches at the University of Illinois

* the emf book page from The Electronic Music Foundation

* The Music-DSP source code archive

* Columbia Computer Music Center (and where many of these links came from!)

DSP links — Digital Filter Information

* Julius O. Smith’s on-line web pages

* DSP Tutor

* Yehar’s digital sound processing tutorial for the braindead!

Max/MSP/Jitter Externals and Other Resources

* maxobjects.com — good collection of free third-party external objects

* http://www.publicbeta.cx/max/– more free third-party external objects – interesting web options

* http://www.iamas.ac.jp/~jovan02/cv/ — free video tracking/computer vision objects

* http://www.kat.ch/jasch/dl/ — free 3D and other external objects

* http://electrotap.com/– tools for using sensors w/Max ($)

* http://crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/– Miller Puckette, creator of Max/MSP and PD

* http://www.ircam.fr/– IRCAM

Other sound media tech information

*http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Stu/cdigiamo/tutorial/v220/mp3.html– how to create mp3 ringtones

* http://www.podcast411.com/howto_1.html — how to publish a podcast from an mp3 file — http://craque.net/craque.xml example podcast – select ‘view source’ to see coding

* Stephen Wolfram’s unique ringtone generator http://tones.wolfram.com/

Sound Links

* http://www.ubu.com/

* http://www.annetteworks.com/

* http://www.deeplistening.org/

* http://www.melafoundation.org/

*http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/wfae/home/

* http://www.acousticecology.org/

* http://www.nyacousticecology.org/

* http://www.emf.org/

* http://www.radioqualia.net/

* http://acoustic.space.re-lab.net/