{"id":7999,"date":"2014-03-12T11:37:08","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T15:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wayneandwax.com\/?p=7999"},"modified":"2015-01-07T13:17:30","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T17:17:30","slug":"summer-of-technomusicology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wayneandwax.com\/?p=7999","title":{"rendered":"Summer of Technomusicology"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Summer of Love is way behind us, as is the Second Summer of Love, & perhaps the Third and Fourth. The Summer of Technomusicology, however, will soon be here! <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m thrilled to report that I’ll be offering my favorite class to teach in the world right now, as premiered last year at Harvard U<\/a>, this July-August as an intensive 7-week course at the Harvard Summer School<\/a>. If you’re planning to be in town and around, it should be a good chance to make some conceptually cogent, historically situated, and, we hope, aesthetically engaging media. <\/p>\n

Here’s a taste<\/a> of what we did last year. So if that whets the appetite, you can access the syllabus and look into registering via this page:<\/p>\n

     http:\/\/www.summer.harvard.edu\/courses\/technomusicology<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For your browsing ease, here’s the syllabus as it presently stands; please note that this is preliminary, and items may shift between now and the summer: <\/p>\n

MUSI S-190r: Technomusicology<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Summer 2014
\nInstructor: Wayne Marshall
\nTues\/Thurs 6:30-9:30pm
\n4 credits
\nRoom: TBA
\nCourse reference number: 33209<\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong>
\nThis course uses hands-on media production to examine the interplay between music and technology. Using audio production software, we will explore new techniques for telling stories about music and media by composing a series of \u00e9tudes, or studies in particular media forms. <\/p>\n

Readings, discussions, and projects focus on significant forms and their histories, including soundscapes, mashups, montages, DJ-style mixes, and radio sound design. Students will develop a fluency in the history of sound studies while cultivating competencies in audio and video editing, sampling and arranging, mixing and remixing, and, in framing their projects, descriptive and poetic forms of writing. <\/p>\n

Class sessions comprise a mix between discussions of relevant readings and audio works, software demonstrations, and in-lab project-centered work. Readings and listening\/viewing selections will be available via the course website or the WWW.<\/p>\n

ASSIGNMENTS \/ GRADING<\/strong> <\/p>\n

1) Attendance & class participation – 25%
\n2) \u00c9tudes (6 in all) – 60%
\n3) Final Project – 15%<\/p>\n

In general, \u00e9tudes should be between 2-5 minutes, and will be due, along with a brief prose gloss and\/or other forms of annotation, on the Monday of the week after each has been assigned. <\/p>\n

SCHEDULE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Week 1 \/
\nIntro to Technomusicology, Sound Studies, & Soundscapes<\/strong>
\nJune 24-26\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Sterne, Jonathan. \u201cHello!\u201d In The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction<\/em>, 1-31. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2003.<\/p>\n

Suisman, David. \u201cThe Musical Soundscape of Modernity.\u201d In Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music<\/em>, 240-72. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.<\/p>\n

Schafer, R. Murray. \u201cThe Music of the Environment.\u201d In Audio Culture<\/em>, ed. Christoph Cox and Daniel Warner, 29-39. New York and London: Continuum, 2004. <\/p>\n

Gould, Glenn. \u201cThe Prospects of Recording.\u201d In Audio Culture<\/em>, ed. Christoph Cox and Daniel Warner, 115-26. New York and London: Continuum, 2004.<\/p>\n

Feld, Steven. \u201cA Rainforest Acoustemology.\u201d In The Audio Culture Reader<\/em>, ed. Michael Bull and Les Back, 223-240. Oxford and New York: Berg 2003.<\/p>\n

_______. Rainforest Soundwalks<\/em> (liner notes). EarthEar 1062. 2001.<\/p>\n

\u00c9tude #1: Compose a soundscape collage from your own local recordings. Include brief description of subject, methods, and poetics. <\/p>\n

Week 2 \/
\nHistories & Aesthetics of Radio
\nJuly 1-3
\n<\/strong>
\nWu, Tim. \u201cRadio Dreams.\u201d In The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires<\/em>, 33-44. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.<\/p>\n

Marshall, Wayne. \u201cLove That Muddy Ether: Pirate Multiculturalism and Boston\u2019s Secret Soundscape.\u201d Cluster Mag<\/em>. December 2011.
\nhttp:\/\/theclustermag.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/love-that-muddy-ether-pirate-multi-culturalism-and-bostons-secret-soundscape\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00c9tude #2: Compose a radio collage, focusing on a particular dimension\/station\/time of the Boston\/Cambridge airwaves. Include brief description of subject and methods.<\/p>\n

Week 3 \/
\nMashup Poetics & the Ethics\/Aesthetics of Sampling
\nJuly 8-10
\n<\/strong>
\nSterne, Jonathan. \u201cThe MP3 as Cultural Artifact.\u201d New Media & Society<\/em> 8:5 (2006): 825\u2013842.<\/p>\n

Katz, Mark. \u201cListening in Cyberspace.\u201d In Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music<\/em>, 158-87. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.<\/p>\n

Marshall, Wayne. \u201cMashup Poetics as Pedagogical Practice.\u201d In Pop-Culture Pedagogy in the Music Classroom: Teaching Tools from American Idol to YouTube<\/em>, ed. Nicole Biamonte, 307-15. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010.<\/p>\n

McGranahan, Liam. \u201c\u2018It Goes Beyond Having a Good Beat and I Can Dance to It\u2019: Mashup Aesthetics and Creative Process.\u201d In Mashnography: Creativity, Consumption, and Copyright in the Mashup Community<\/em>, 35-70. Ph.D. dissertation, Brown University, 2010.<\/p>\n

Schloss, Joseph G. \u201cElements of Style: Aesthetics of Hip-hop Composition.\u201d In Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-hop<\/em>, 135-168. Middleton, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2004.<\/p>\n

Taylor, Timothy D. \u201cA Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery: Transnational Music Sampling and Enigma\u2019s \u2018Return to Innocence.\u2019\u201d In Music and Technoculture<\/em>, ed. Ren\u00e9 Lysloff and Leslie C. Gay, 64-92. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2003.<\/p>\n

\u00c9tude #3: Make a mashup using 2 (or more) related recordings. Include notes discussing thematic and\/or musical linkages (i.e., poetics).<\/p>\n

Week 4 \/
\nVideo Montage in the Age of YouTube
\nJuly 15-17
\n<\/strong>
\nGillespie, Tarleton. \u201cThe Politics of \u2018Platforms.\u2019\u201d New Media & Society<\/em> 12:3 (May 2010): 347-364.<\/p>\n

Tagg, Philip. \u201cThe Milksap Montage\u201d
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vzYqBcUipok<\/a>,
\n\u201cHarvest Song from Bulgaria\u201d
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=34ZHJj0lW0I<\/a>, <\/p>\n

Marshall, Wayne. \u201cThe Montage Is the Method\u201d
\nhttp:\/\/wayneandwax.com\/?p=6952<\/a>
\n\u201cMegamontage Is the Method\u201d
\nhttp:\/\/wayneandwax.com\/?p=7884<\/a>
\n\u201cGasodoble\u201d
\nhttp:\/\/wayneandwax.com\/?p=5019<\/a>
\n\u201cBump Con Choque\u201d
\nhttp:\/\/theclustermag.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/wayne-marshall-bump-con-choque<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00c9tude #4: Create a video montage that illustrates a particular story of musical circulation and\/or relationship. <\/p>\n

Week 5 \/
\nDJ-style Mixing & the Mini-Mega-Mix
\nJuly 22-24
\n<\/strong>
\nKatz, Mark. \u201cMix and Scratch\u2014The Turntable Becomes a Musical Instrument: 1975-1978.\u201d In Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-hop DJ<\/em>, 43-69. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. <\/p>\n

Fikentscher, Kai. \u201c\u2018There\u2019s Not a Problem I Can\u2019t Fix, \u2018Cause I Can Do It in the Mix\u2019: On the Performative Technology of 12-Inch Vinyl.\u201d In Music and Technoculture<\/em>, ed. Ren\u00e9 Lysloff and Leslie C. Gay, 290-315. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2003.<\/p>\n

\u00c9tude #5: Produce a brief DJ-style mix guided by some logic of musical, cultural, and\/or historical connection between the recordings involved. Make efforts to use blends, cuts, and other edits strategically. Include notes explaining aesthetic choices and narrative (i.e., poetics). <\/p>\n

Week 6 \/
\nAPIs & Algorithmic Remixes
\nJuly 29-31
\n<\/strong>
\nSeaver, Nick. \u201cOn Reverse Engineering: Looking for the cultural work of engineers.\u201d Anthropology and Algorithms<\/em> (Medium.com).
\nhttps:\/\/medium.com\/anthropology-and-algorithms\/d9f5bae87812<\/a><\/p>\n

Lamere, Paul. \u201cWhere\u2019s the Pow?\u201d Music Machinery<\/em>.
\nhttp:\/\/musicmachinery.com\/2009\/06\/21\/wheres-the-pow\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The Echo Nest Lab
\nhttp:\/\/static.echonest.com\/labs\/index.html<\/a> <\/p>\n

Echo Nest Remix
\nhttp:\/\/echonest.github.io\/remix\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00c9tude #6: Create a remix of a music video using commands and features made available by the Echo Nest\u2019s API.<\/p>\n

Week 7 \/
\nSound Design & Final Projects
\nAug 5-7
\n<\/strong>
\nMitchell, Jonathan. \u201cUsing Music.\u201d Transom<\/em>.
\nhttp:\/\/transom.org\/?p=40865<\/a><\/p>\n

Mitchell, Jonathan. \u201cSound Design from Hell.\u201d Third Coast Library<\/em>.
\nhttp:\/\/www.thirdcoastfestival.org\/library\/37-sound-design-from-hell<\/a><\/p>\n

Rosenthal, Rob and Kathy Tu. \u201cThe Fighter Pilot.\u201d How Sound<\/em>.
\nhttp:\/\/howsound.org\/2013\/12\/the-fighter-pilot\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Final project: Using the contemporary techniques of radio sound design, put together a brief tour of your \u00e9tudes from the semester, highlighting whichever projects you choose and, when possible, making linkages to the readings and themes we\u2019ve discussed. <\/p>\n

Final Projects Due: \tAugust 8<\/p>\n

Update!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are our collected works, in progress: <\/p>\n