Sound Environments
August 10-14, 9-5PM
Anderson Ranch
Summer 2009
Instructor: Andrea Polli, andrea@andreapolli.com

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 sound and creating sound installations and performances. The course will explore developments in contemporary sonic media, and students will read writings in music history, cultural studies, sound and media theory. Themes explored may 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.

PREREQUISITE: 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 will be the main authoring program discussed in this course. 

OBJECTIVES
Students will:

• Record, edit, and mix sound projects
• Be able to work independently and/or collaboratively on sound projects
• Develop proposals for substantial sound projects
• Complete or prototype one or more sound projects
  

SPECIAL NOTE: Some of the course reading will be on-line and you wil be expected to use the internet as a research tool. 

This syllabus is subject to change

COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCE MATERIALS:

Web Resources: find this page:http://www.andreapolli.com follow the 'teaching ' links on the left.

Articles and Print Resources:

• Audio Culture Christopher Cox and Daniel Warner, Continuum Press 2004
• The Audible Past Sterne, Jonathan Duke U. Press, 2003
• Village Bells Corbin, Alan Columbia U. Press, 1998
• Sound States Morris, Adalaide U. of North Carolina Press, 1998
• The Soundscape Schafer, R. Murray Destiny Books, 1993
• When Music Resists Meaning Brun, Herbert Wesleyan U. Press, 2004
• Bernhard Leitner: Geometry of Sound Pichler, Catrin Hatje Cantz Publishers, 1997
• Real Sound Synthesis for Interactive Applications by Perry Cook
• A Digital Signal Processing Primer by Ken Steiglitz
• Microsound by Curtis Roads
• The Age of Intelligent Machines. Kurzweil, Raymond (ed.)  Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992
• The Age of Spiritual Machines : When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. Kurzweil, Raymond.  New York: Viking, 1999
• The Network Nation: Human Communication Via Computer. Hiltz, Starr Roxanne and Murray Turoff.  Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993
• The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin 
• The Society of the Spectacle Guy-Ernest Debord
• Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution Howard Rheingold

COURSE OUTLINE
These are suggested topics and are subject to change

Aug 10
Introduction

• Morning
  • Review class syllabus/schedule
  • Listening: Hildegard Westerkamp
  • Discuss documentary sound: The World Soundscape Project, Phonography, Acoustic Ecology
  • Binaural microphones/Field recording
  • Soundwalk recording
• Afternoon
  • Basic Editing
  • Distributing your work:
    • Producing for radio PRX http://www.prx.org/articles/504 and http://wiki.prx.org/display/HELP/encode+and+upload
    • Producing for Transom/Atlantic Public Media http://www.transom.org/about/submit_agrmnt.html
  • Discuss PROJECT 1 - 2-minute sound portrait in the format of Pulse of the Planet http://www.pulseplanet.com/
• HOMEWORK
  • Read Torben Sanglid 'The Aesthetics of Noise'

Aug 11

• Morning
  • Listening: Merzbow and Francisco Lopez
  • Discuss reading
  • Work on PROJECT 1
• Afternoon
  • PROJECT 1 LISTENING/CRITIQUE
  • Discuss PROJECT 2 - 10 to 20 minute radio piece for Giant Ear))) free103point9.org
• HOMEWORK
  • Read Luigi Russolo 'The Art of Noises'
  • 1-2 page typed proposal for PROJECT 2

Aug 12

• Morning
  • Listening: Pauline Oliveros 'Deep Listening' http://www.epitonic.com/artists/paulineoliverosstuartdempsterandpanaiotis.html and Christian Marclay
  • Discuss reading
  • PROJECT 2 IDEA PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSION
• Afternoon
  • In-class work on PROJECT 2
  • Discuss FINAL PROJECT - Open sound work
• HOMEWORK
  • Read Kim Cascone 'The Aesthetics of Failure' and Mitchell Whitelaw 'Inframedia Audio'
  • 1-2 page typed proposal for FINAL PROJECT

Aug 13

• Morning
  • Discuss reading
  • PROJECT 2 LISTENING/CRITIQUE
• Afternoon
  • FINAL PROJECT IDEA PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSION
  • WORK ON FINAL PROJECT

Aug 14

• Morning
  • WORK ON FINAL PROJECT
• Afternoon
  • FINAL PROJECT LISTENING/CRITIQUE