15 minute read

Our precise order of topics and their accompanying materials will periodically change and/or be updated, at the discretion of the instructor, based on class pacing and other factors. Schedule and materials will be regularly updated on this website and announced in class. Changes to, or additions of, recordings, readings, or videos may be appended to this current schedule below. Additional materials will be distributed on this website or in class. Our schedule follows the Current Bates Academic Calendar. Check frequently for updates!

Calendar of Deadlines

Subscribe to our class Google calendar to see our upcoming deadlines. Daily schedule of events, tutorials, topics, terms, listening, guests, and other relevant information follows.

Week 1: 3 Sept. (short week)

What is Sound?

Wednesday 9/3

Intro Survey

Be sure you’ve completed the Intro Survey

Start-of-Semester Business

Cage Discussion

You Mean It’s Just Sounds?!

Assignments

Friday 9/5

Start-of-Semester Business

Demonstrations

  • Introduction to Reaper

Tutorials

Video Tutorials

Listening

Assignments

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • coil
  • diaphgragm
  • polar pattern
  • XLR cable
  • condensor mic
  • dynamic mic
  • audio interface
  • clipping distortion
  • proximity effect
  • plosives
  • sibilance

Week 2: 8 Sept.

Sound File Treatments + Early Tape Music

Monday 9/8

Tutorials

Downloads

  • Audio Files for Testing
  • Keep these in your class folder. We’ll use these throughout the semester as test signals for various plugin devices, spatialization, etc.

Demonstrations

  • Navigating Reaper: editing, gain staging, fades, crossfades, FX basics

Listening

Deadlines

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • frequency
  • pitch
  • amplitude
  • period
  • harmonics
  • fundamental
  • sine wave
  • triangle wave
  • sawtooth wave
  • square wave
  • oscillation
  • mass-spring system
  • simple harmonic motion

Wednesday 9/10

Tutorials and Slides

Listening

More on Iannis Xenakis

Philips Pavillion

Philips Pavilion (1958), showing the approximate locations of 350 loudspeakers hidden in the walls for diffusion.

Demonstrations

Reaper Tutorial Videos

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • musique concrète and acousmatic
  • sound object
  • reduced listening
  • diffusion
  • fade
  • crossfade
  • FX bus
  • treatment
  • digital audio workstation (DAW)
  • split, cut
  • glue, consolidate

Friday 9/12

Class Visit

We will meet in the studio and later go downstairs to the Gamelan room for a brief demonstration.

Listening

Sari Raras, a gamelan ensemble based on the Javanese form of gamelan accompanied by dancers. University of California, Berkeley, under the direction of Midiyanto, gamelan master.

Reading

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • microstructure
  • macrostructure
  • structural clarity
  • monotony or sameness
  • envelope or ADSR envelope (i.e., attack, decay, sustain, release)
  • timbral blurring

Assignments

  • Reminder: Finish Microphone assignments by Monday!

Week 3: 15 Sept.

Sampling + MIDI Controllers

Monday 9/15

Reading

Class Visit

Tutorials

Tutorial Videos

Demonstrations

  • Overview on sampling, authorship, and sampling culture
  • Check-out recording kits to each team

Assignments

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • direct listening and the audio-visual complex
  • acousmatic sound
  • reduced listening

Wednesday 9/17

Tutorials

Tutorial Videos

Demonstrations

  • How to record samples
  • How to edit and index audio samples using naming conventions

Watch Documentary

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • audio sample
  • sampling culture
  • key mapping
  • gamelan
  • MIDI tecnical standard
  • MIDI events and messages
  • MIDI pitch
  • MIDI velocity
  • naming convention
  • 5-pin DIN cable
  • IN, OUT, and THRU
  • daisy chain
  • star configuration
  • MIDI interface and peripherals

Friday 9/19

Tutorials

Tutorial Videos

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • monophonic synthesizer
  • polyphonic synthesizer
  • Note-On
  • Note-Off
  • Pitch Bend
  • Control Change
  • Program Change
  • SysEx
  • status byte
  • data byte
  • .mid file
  • general MIDI

Week 4: 22 Sept.

FX Plugins, Automation, Mixing

Monday 9/22

Tutorials

Tutorial Videos

Demonstrations

  • setting up an FX send and an aux track
  • reverb profiles and automation

Assignments

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • FX send
  • auxiliary track
  • pre-fader send
  • automation modes

Wednesday 9/24

Mixing Instruments by Frequency Range

Tutorial Videos

Demonstrations

  • working with mono stems from a mix session (mix library)
  • how to achieve balance and clarity in a mix
  • use of basic FX with automation in your mix session
  • basic differences between mixing and mastering in context

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • stems
  • tonal balance
  • EQ
  • pan

Friday 9/26

Tutorial Videos

Tutorials

Demonstrations

  • using compressors to further achieve clarity
  • differences between compressors and limiters
  • uses of compressors and limiters in context

Dynamics Processing Definitions

Type What It Does Effect on Dynamics Typical Use Case Example Ratio
Downward Compression ↓ louds above threshold Narrows range (quieter peaks) mix balance, transient control 4:1
Upward Compression ↑ quiets below threshold Narrows range (louder quiets) quiet detail boost 1:2
Downward Expansion ↓ quiets below threshold Widens range (quieter quiets) Noise reduction 1:2
Upward Expansion ↑ louds above threshold Widens range (louder louds) Punch, transient accentuation 2:1
Limiting Hard cap, no signal exceedes threshold “extreme downward compression” Protects headroom, maximizes loudness, broadcast standards ∞:1 (brickwall)

Assignments

  • Download & install IRIN before Monday!

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • compressor
  • limiter
  • knee
  • threshold
  • brick wall
  • upward compression
  • downward compression
  • upward expansion
  • downward expansion

Week 5: 29 Sept.

Micromontage + Field Recording

Monday 9/29

Deadlines

Tutorials

Demonstrations

  • Introduction to IRIN
  • the IRIN Sample Editor
  • the IRIN Timeline
  • saving a project and exporting audio

Assignments

Listening

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • micromontage
  • granular synthesis
  • grain

Wednesday 10/1

Tutorials

Demonstrations

  • the IRIN Figure Composer
  • saving and revising figures
  • treatments and variation within IRIN

Listening

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • figure
  • filter
  • delay
  • transposition
  • rotate
  • onset
  • expand/compress

Friday 10/3

Demonstrations

  • the IRIN Slicer instrument
  • outputs tool and routing matrix
  • randomization of output channels
  • BPFs for speeding up / slowing down onsets

Listening

Assignments

  • Download & install: Dexed, Surge XT, and MTS-ESP Mini before Monday!

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • BPF
  • slicer tool
  • amplitude envelope

Week 6: 6 Oct.

Synth Plugins, Emulators, Microtonality

Monday 10/6

Tutorial Videos

This video contains a lot of helpful information. You may not find it all useful, so skip around. It covers not only the Dexed VST (virtual sound technology) plugin, but also how to run it in its own applicaiton container in Windows. Perhaps more helpful for us is his demonstration of downloading and running the original Yamaha DX7 cartridges containig the different presents. He also creates a signal chain: using a reverb plugin to add space after the synth itself.

Demonstrations

  • Introduction to Dexed
  • loading Yamaha DX7 presets

Downloads

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • VST
  • plugin
  • Yamaha DX7
  • FM synthesis
  • carrier
  • operator
  • presets
  • EG

Wednesday 10/8

Tutorials

Video Tutorials

This video briefly shows you how to obtain microtonal sound using the Dexed VST synth and the Sevish Scale Workshop. Don’t feel obligated to watch this entire video; skim this one as well for anything useful. We’ll also be working with microtones in the Surge XT synth plugin today.

Listen to just a few of the short pieces in this collection; not the whole thing! Each piece in this set is written in a different division of the octave: What is normally 12 steps on a piano. Some of Blackwood’s works divide the octave into 13 equal parts intead of 12, or 19, or more. How does each piece sound or feel different from one another? Does the tuning sound jarring, or surreal? Does it sound different forever, or does it change as you listen on?

Horse Lords, a band from Baltimore, includes saxophone, percussion, bass, electronics, guitar, and drums. Crucially, they do not play in conventional tuning systems like others bands, but instead play in just intonation.

Downloads

Demonstrations

  • creating, editing, and exporting your own microtonal scales in the Sevish Scale Workshop
  • importing your microtonal scales into Dexed
  • introduction to the Surge XT plugin synthesizer
  • microtonality in Surge XT

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • Scala file
  • pitch ratio
  • cents
  • just intonation

Friday 10/10

Downloads

Demonstrations

  • Survey of various plugins discussed in the following video, and elsewhere:

Tutorial Videos

Assignments

  • Download & install SPEAR and PaulXStretch before Monday!

Week 7: 13 Oct.

Frequency Domain Analysis/Resynthesis

Monday 10/13

Listening

Tutorials

Download + Install

Deadlines

Assignments

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • spectrogram
  • frequency domain vs. time domain
  • Fourier transform or FFT
  • fundamental frequency
  • harmonic partials
  • timbre

Wednesday 10/15

Fall Recess: No class!
Reminder: Your next assignment is due on Monday, October 27!

Friday 10/17

Fall Recess: No class!
Reminder: Your next assignment is due on Monday, October 27!

Week 8: 20 Oct.

Modular Synthesis

Monday 10/20

Tutorial Videos

Listening

Modular Synthesis Glossary

Demonstrations

  • basic oscillators
  • adding waveforms together
  • modulation with control voltage

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • oscillator
  • control voltage or CV
  • VCO
  • amplifier
  • VCA
  • ADSR
  • additive synthesis
  • gate
  • trigger

Wednesday 10/22

Tutorial Videos

Listening

Demonstrations

  • frequency modulation
  • amplitude modulation
  • building a complex oscillator

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • attenuator vs. amplifier
  • inverter vs. attenuverter
  • LFO
  • DC voltage
  • FM
  • complex oscillator
  • cross modulation

Friday 10/24

Tutorial Videos

Listening

Tutorials

Demonstrations

  • physical model of a string with feedback
  • designing Krell patches for generative, self-playing music systems

ADD Free VCV Library Modules

At each of the links below, click ADD to include them in your VCV library.

Assignments

  • Download & install SpatGRIS and BlackHole (or JACK Audio for Windows) before Monday!

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • Karplus Strong algorithm
  • pulse width
  • clock divider
  • filter
  • Krell patch
  • LPG

Week 9: 27 Oct.

Multichannel Spatial Audio

Monday 10/27

Downloads

Tutorials

Demonstrations

  • spatGris basic setup
  • ControlGris plugin
  • automating spatial trajectories in Reaper
  • binaural mode in spatGris

Deadlines

Assignments

Terms, Concepts, Objects, Shortcuts

  • spatialization
  • trajectory
  • latch mode
  • binaural
  • transaural

Wednesday 10/29

Friday 10/31

Week 10: 3 Nov.

TBD

Monday 11/3

Deadlines

Wednesday 11/5

Friday 11/7

Week 11: 10 Nov.

TBD

Monday 11/10

Wednesday 11/12

Friday 11/14

Assignments

Week 12: 17 Nov.

TBD

Monday 11/17

Wednesday 11/19

Friday 11/21

Deadlines

Tutorials

Week 13: 24 Nov.

TBD

Thanksgiving Recess

No classes this week!

Week 14: 1 Dec.

Final Concert + Exam

Monday 12/1

Assignments

Wednesday 12/3

Friday 12/5

Last day of class.

Final Exam

Week 15: 8 Dec.

Finals Week

Monday 12/8

Deadlines