Sound Art/Rouvelle/Spring '06
Thursday 4pm-10pm. (Dinner break from 6-7)
Brown Center 206

Contact:jrouvelle@mica.edu
Office: Brown Center, room 211, phone (in office).
Office hours: by appointment
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Course Description:

Sound Art explores the acts and aesthetic potentials of listening to, and generating sound, while exposing students to the evolution of sound art and avant-garde musical technique, from the early 20th Century to the present. The course introduces artistic strategies, narrative structures and compositional methodologies for the creation of interactive sound installation, sound sculpture, networked media, and live performance projects. The course will feature the MAX/MSP object oriented programming environment for the creating of real-time, interactive sound projects, various other sound processing software, while supporting non-electronic, conceptual works as well. The course will cover key genres of sound art and musical composition that include: noise art, musique concrete, sound poetry, serialism, minimalism, etc. There will also be an extensive survey of contemporary composers and sound artists, as well as those artists whose work demonstrates a recent trend among visual and performance artists to embrace the artistic medium of sound. Prerequisite: EA 210

Course work in summary:

Course will cover sound art via readings, listening, writing and making – premium will be placed on the act and practice of Listening – I’ve noticed that musicians are often the worst listeners... I will demo and have you use recording/processing techniques with Amadeus/Audacity, Soundhack, Argeiphonets Lyre, SoundEffects, and Max/MSP. I will provide you with Max patches that you can experiment with. In addition, the two Visiting Artists for this term: Norm White and Bob Beilecki will visit the class – Bob has extensive sound experience and I have organized the syllabus so to maximize his time with us. Also, the guy who runs True Vine (Ian) in Hampden is a friend of a friend and has agreed to come in and speak about the new music scene in Baltimore.

Evaluation:
Grades in this course will be based on regular class attendance, the quality of your work, class participation, and progress. Tardiness and excessive absences will adversely affect your grade. Participation in discussions and critiques is mandatory.

Projects & Grading:
Students will be graded by letter, A-F, on all evaluated work. Work must be completed on time and in full satisfaction of each project goal. Late work (assignments handed in or posted after the start of in-class critique sessions) will be automatically downgraded by one letter grade.

A Well above the expectations of the course. Outstanding participation, attendance, and exceptional progress.
B Above average assignments and participation. No more than one absence.
C Average execution of assignments, participation, and no more than two absences.
D Well below average: work, attendance (two absences), projects, and participation.
F Unsatisfactory: work, attendance (more than two absences), projects, and participation

Attendance:
Two or more unexcused absences from class may result in failure. Two unexcused late arrivals, or early departures (eg, not returning from dinner, or other unexplained disappearance) will be marked as the equivalent of one absence. Absence from a class is not an excuse for skipping a tutorial, reading assignment, or posting an assignment. You are fully responsible for completing work.

Readings:
Readings and tutorials will often be delivered through the web - via links (URLs). Critiques will frequently be initiated from various topics covered in the readings - in other words, please use the concepts you read about in discussion of fellow students' work.

Supplies:
Please bring to each class: 1-2 CD-R(s) - Recordable Compact Discs (700 MB). You'll probably go through many of them, for both this and other digital classes. You might also want to bring in a sharpie to label your CD's.
It is essential that all work done in class be saved to CD-R at the conclusion of class. There will be many, many other students using these computers and anything saved on them will be permanently removed shortly after the conclusion of class.

Software Consultant:
If you are having trouble becoming acquainted with the software we will be using please see the software consultant.

Food and Drink in the Computer Labs:
No.

ADA COMPLIANCE:
In order to provide the highest quality educational experience for every student, MICA is committed to compliance with the ADA and Section 504. Any student who has (or suspects he or she may have) a physical, cognitive, or psychological disability and who wants to request accommodations must immediately schedule an appointment to meet with the Director of the Learning Resource Center, Dr. Kathryn Smith, by calling the LRC Administrative Assistant, Mary Walsh, at (410)669-3177. The LRC is MICA’s designated department for determining reasonable accommodations based on legal requirements and will provide the eligible student with an official Accommodation Verification letter to the instructor. Each semester the student must formally request accommodations from the LRC each semester, and format of the Verification letters change each semester to ensure currency.
NOTE: Students with disabilities who want assistance during emergency evacuations must register with the LRC within the first week of each semester.

HEALTH AND SAFETY:
MICA has developed policies and practices to ensure a healthful environment
and safe approaches to the use of equipment, materials, and processes. It is
the mutual responsibility of faculty and students to review health and
safety standards relevant to each class at the beginning of each semester.
Students should be aware of general fire, health, and safety regulations
posted in each area and course specific polices, practices, and cautions.
Students who have concerns related to health and safety should contact
Quentin Moseley, Environment Health and Safety Coordinator at 410 225 0220
or email at qmoseley@mica.edu

Text: Audio Culture, Readings in Modern Music, Christopher Cox, Daniel Warner, Ed.

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There is no Final Exam during exam week. Our final class is the last week of classes.

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Weekly Schedule

Week 1 (below)

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 8 (max patches)

Week 11 (mp3s and more max patches)

Week 12

Week 13
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Week 1

"We learn about things by looking, and beings by listening"

-proverb

Course Overview

Deep Listening Exercise:

I’d like to take a few minutes to try a little exercise with you. It’s an exercise in listening. It’s not very hard. Here’s what I invite you to try.

First, get really comfortable in your chair.

Now close your eyes.

Notice what you hear. It could be anything from the sound of your breathing to your neighbor’s stomach growling. Maybe you hear the hum of the lights, or the rustling of people for whom this exercise is already long and boring. Just notice these things. Just observe.

When we have concluded the Deep Listening Exercise I want you to spend a few minutes making a list of what you heard.

Brief review of the physics of sound:

A Sound Wave begins with a vibrating object within a medium whose elements can also vibrate.

Most things in the universe are capable of vibrating.

a wave can be described as a disturbance that travels through a medium, transporting energy from one location to another location.

The medium is simply the material through which the disturbance is moving; it can be thought of as a series of interacting particles.

The example of a slinky wave is often used to illustrate the nature of a wave.

A disturbance is typically created within the slinky by the back and forth movement of the first coil of the slinky.

The first coil becomes disturbed and begins to push or pull on the second coil; this push or pull on the second coil will displace the second coil from its equilibrium position.

As the second coil becomes displaced, it begins to push or pull on the third coil; the push or pull on the third coil displaces it from its equilibrium position.

As the third coil becomes displaced, it begins to push or pull on the fourth coil. This process continues in consecutive fashion, each individual particle acting to displace the adjacent particle; subsequently the disturbance travels through the slinky.

As the disturbance moves from coil to coil, the energy which was originally introduced into the first coil is transported along the medium from one location to another.

Longitudinal Wave Animation

A sound wave is a longitudinal wave for a variety of reasons.

First, there is a medium which carries the disturbance from one location to another.

Typically, this medium is air; though it could be any material such as water or steel. The medium is simply a series of interconnected and interacting particles.

Second, there is an original source of the wave, some vibrating object capable of disturbing the first particle of the medium.

The vibrating object which creates the disturbance could be the vocal chords of a person, the vibrating string and sound board of a guitar or violin, the vibrating tines of a tuning fork, or the vibrating diaphragm of a radio speaker.

Third, the sound wave is transported from one location to another by means of the particle interaction.

If the sound wave is moving through air, then as one air particle is displaced from its equilibrium position, it exerts a push or pull on its nearest neighbors, causing them to be displaced from their equilibrium position. This particle interaction continues throughout the entire medium, with each particle interacting and causing a disturbance of its nearest neighbors.

Since a sound wave is a disturbance which is transported through a medium via the mechanism of particle interaction, a sound wave is characterized as a mechanical wave.

Review:

The vibrating object is the source of the disturbance which moves through the medium.

The vibrating object which creates the disturbance could be the vocal chords of a person, the vibrating string and sound board of a guitar or violin, the vibrating tines of a tuning fork, or the vibrating diaphragm of a radio speaker.

Any object which vibrates will create a sound. The sound could be musical or it could be noisy; but regardless of its quality, the sound was created by a vibrating object.

Nearly all objects, when hit or struck or plucked or strummed or somehow disturbed, will vibrate.

If you drop a pencil, cup, or laptop on the floor, it will begin to vibrate.If you pluck a guitar string, it will begin to vibrate. If you blow over the top of a pop bottle, the air inside will vibrate.

When each of these objects vibrate, they tend to vibrate at a particular frequency or a set of frequencies.

The frequency or frequencies at which an object tends to vibrate with when hit, struck, plucked, strummed or somehow disturbed is known as the natural frequency of the object. Frequency is measured in Herz, or Hz and can be referred to as Pitch.

If the amplitude of the vibrations are large enough and if natural frequency is within the human frequency range, then the object will produce sound waves which are audible. Amplitude can be referred to as Volume, or loudness.

All objects have a natural frequency or set of frequencies at which they vibrate.

The tone color, or timbre of the sound produced by a vibrating object is dependent upon the natural frequencies of the sound waves produced by the objects. When you recognize the specific source of the sound wave - e.g., a flute, or a drum or a glass breaking you are describing the sound's timbre.

Some objects tend to vibrate at a single frequency and they are often said to produce a pure tone.

A flute tends to vibrate at a single frequency, producing a very pure tone. We can produce different frequencies on a flute by changing the size of the vibrating column of air inside of it by covering different holes on the body of the flute - regardless of what frequency we create on the flute, the frequency will be very pure - and will look like a pure sign wave on an oscillascrope.

Other objects vibrate and produce more complex waves with a set of frequencies which have a whole number mathematical relationship between them; these are said to produce a rich sound.

A tuba tends to vibrate at a set of frequencies which are mathematically related by whole number ratios; it produces a rich tone.

Still other objects will vibrate at a set of multiple frequencies which have no simple mathematical relationship between them. These objects are not musical at all and the sounds which they create are best described as noise.

When a ruler, laptop, or pencil is dropped on the floor, they vibrate with a number of frequencies, producing a complex sound wave which is complex and "noisy".

The actual frequency at which an object will vibrate at is determined by a variety of factors. Each of these factors will either effect the wavelength or the speed of the object. Since:

frequency = speed/wavelength

an alteration in either speed or wavelength will result in an alteration of the natural frequency.

The creation and propagation of sound waves are often demonstrated through the use of a tuning fork.

As the tines of the tuning forks vibrate back and forth, they begin to disturb surrounding air molecules.

These disturbances are passed on to adjacent air molecules by the mechanism of particle interaction.

The motion of the disturbance, originating at the tines of the tuning fork and traveling through the medium (in this case, air) is what is referred to as a sound wave.

The generation and propagation of a sound wave is demonstrated in the animation below.

Resonance occurs when the tuning fork is mounted on a sound board.

In such instances, the vibrating tuning fork, being connected to the sound board, sets the sound board into vibrational motion.

In turn, the sound board, being connected to the air inside of it, sets the air inside of the sound board into vibrational motion.

As the tines of the tuning fork, the structure of the sound board, and the inside of the sound board begin vibrating at the same frequency, a louder sound is produced.

In fact, the more particles which can be made to vibrate, the louder or more amplified the sound. This concept was also demonstrated by the placement of the vibrating tuning fork against the glass panel of the overhead projector; the vibrating tuning fork set the glass panel into vibrational motion and resulted in an amplified sound

So, Soundwaves are Mechanical - that means that they require a Medium to propogate. Light waves (photons are particles of light) are Electromagnetic and do not require a Medium through which to propogate.

In his book “Musicking,” Christopher Small writes:

When we perform, we bring into existence, for the duration of the performance, a set of relationships, between the sounds and between the participants, that model ideal relationships as we imagine them to be and allow us to learn about them by experiencing them. The modeling is reciprocal...: in exploring we learn, from the sounds and from one another, the nature of the relationships; in affirming we teach one another about the relationships; and in celebrating we bring together the teaching and the learning in an act of social solidarity.

Sound is a mechanical wave that propagates through a medium. The medium through which it propagates has an effect on what we hear - in other words, all sounds bear the imprints and influences of the media within which they move. We must be physically connected to the oscillations of the object we are hearing in order to hear it - we are connected by the medium through which the sound waves progagate.

Sound is a RELATIONSHIP - and it is no surprise that the forms of sound that we call music all deal with RELATIONSHIPS in one way or another.

Deep Listening Essay , Pauline Oliveros

Excerpts:

on Hearing:

Hearing is an involuntary physical act that happens through our primary sense organ when sound waves impinge upon the ear. Everyone with healthy ears can hear. Listening takes cultivation and evolves through one's lifetime.

on Listening:

Listening is noticing and directing attention and interpreting what is heard. Deep Listening is exploring the relationship among any and all sounds. Hearing is passive. We can hear without listening. This is the state of being tuned out - unaware of our acoustic ecology - unaware that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings has profound effect near and in the far reaches of the universe. We can hear sounds inwardly from memory or imagination or outwardly from nature, or from civilization. Listening is actively directing one's attention to what is heard p noticing and directing the interaction and relationships of sounds and modes of attention. We hear in order to listen. We listen in order to interpret ourselves and out world and to experience meaning.

To actively listen and not just passively hear takes practice...

Deep Listening Exercise:

I’d like to take a few minutes to try a little exercise with you. It’s an exercise in listening. It’s not very hard.

Here’s what I invite you to do.

First, get really comfortable in your chair.

Now close your eyes.

Notice what you hear. It could be anything from the sound of your breathing to your neighbor’s stomach growling. Maybe you hear the hum of the lights, or the rustling of people for whom this exercise is already long and boring. Just notice these things. Just observe.

When we have concluded the Deep Listening Exercise I want you to spend a few minutes making a list of what you heard (what you heard - timbre).

Then look at the list and note the characterists of the sounds: Frequency (pure-noisy), Amplitude (soft-lout), Duration (short-long).

Deep Listening Links

Deep Listening Listserve, search for MP3s, and writing about different experiences with Deep Listening

"Deep Listening is for anyone interested in expanding and deepening respect and appreciation of an inner music and the possibilities for expressing it: musicians and artists interested in expanding their understanding of sound; meditators interested in enhancing their depth of practice through listening; teachers who want to encourage appreciation for listening in their students; and those interested in well being, relaxation, excitement and connection with others and the environment." - Pauline Oliveros

>>Freeware for Sound Editing and Processing

Software, Artist and Centers Links

More Free Software - scroll down for PC stuff - be ware that with each month more of these links seem to be passing away...

Suggestions for Freeware: You can make a lot of interesting sound art with these programs.

Soundhack download / Manual

Argiephontes Lyre ***only accepts mono, .AIFF files. So, you must convert any of your soundfiles that you would like to use with AL to mono, and .AIFF - you can do this in Soundhack. I will show you how.

Thonk - Granular Synthesis where all of the parameters are set randomly - sadly this is only available for OS9... Works reliably in the Classic Environment.

SoundEffects - one of the best freeware sound editing and processing packages ever. Currently for OS9... but works well in the Classic Environment. Download the plug-ins in the middle of the page!

You can also make a lot of interesting sound art by incorporating Audacity and/or Amadeus for your cutting a pasting.

CDeMusic - Links to various sound artists, Discs and MP3's

Electronic Music Foundation

Tom Erbe

Assignment: Re-read the material above. It is important to familiarize yourselves with: Frequency, Amplitude, Timbre and Duration.

Conduct three Deep Listening Exercises in the same location.

The first one should be for five minutes, the second for ten, and the third for fifteen.

After each exercise, write down the sounds you heard (Timbre), in the order that you heard them.

When you have completed all three exercises, go through your list and write down whether the specific sounds you heard were noisy or not (Frequency), were loud or soft (Amplitude), and whether they were short or long (Duration).

You may also want to consider the affect of these sounds - in other words, if these sounds generated or dissipated any emotional states - you do not have to focus on this, but, if it comes up, please write it down.

The point of these exercises are to expand your abilities to listen, as well as to provide a way that you can observe your own listening habits.

Bring your writings to class next time as we will begin to use them in music synthesis projects next week.

Please bring headphones to class from now on - if you do not have headphones let me know.

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Week 2

Discuss Reading.
Sound Examples
Deep Listening Exercise
Lecture Demo: Acoustics/Psychoacoustics
Lab Working with soundfiles (Amadeus/MAX)

Assignment: Read “Modes of Listening” chapters 3 and 4, from text
Deep Listening Exercise in your apartment, and in a public space. Listen for ten minutes, then write for ten minutes.

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Week 3
Discuss Readings
Listen to Examples

Musique Concrete.

Basic Synthesis: Wavetable/ Basic Synthesis: Subtractive, AM, FM, Waveshaping

Assignment: Listen for sounds within a certain environment that seem to be essential to the experience of that environment. Record those sounds. Locate another environment, play the sounds from the previous environment into the current environment. Listen deeply to the environment. Write about what you hear – and the relationship between the foreign and resident sounds…. Bring your ambient recordings to class.

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Week 4
Sound Studio Lecture/Demo – We will meet upstairs in sound editing rooms and the video sound tech will go over all the gear, and log you in so that you can use that space for your work. In order to gain keycard access to the video sound editing room you MUST attend this lecture/demo….

Basic Digital Signal Processing: Delays and Filters, Morphing and Convolution.
Using Max/MSP, soundhack and argeiphontes lyre we will spend the next two weeks creating a piece of hybrid sound. The idea is to sample an environment, then, using the techniques we have been using thus far, process the sounds you find to create a palette of hybrid sounds – then create a piece for installation into a specific environment. These pieces will be presented next week.

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Week 5
Working on Hybrid Sound projects.

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Week 6
Visiting Artist Norm White will be a guest of our class and will hear our Crit of Hybrid Sound/ Displacement Project

Intro to PsychoAcoustics: Maryanne Amacher, Standing Waves, et al…

Assignment: Read “Experimental Practices” in text.

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Week 7
Discuss readings,
Listen to examples

Psycho Acoustics Demo and workshop – we will be using all of the tools we have been exploring thus far but will make use of Sine, Square, and Triangle waves exclusively.

The anatomy of the human ear and mechanics of hearing.

Infra-sound

Assignment: Read “Psycho Acoustics” text.

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Week 8
Discuss readings
Listen to Examples
Work on your PsychoAcoustic Project

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Week 9
Crit/Presentation of psychoacoustic work

Guest lecture: Ian from the True Vine – will talk about the new music scene in Baltimore.

Assignment: Read “Improvisation, Performance, Collaboration” in Text

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Week 10-11
Over the next two weeks please go to hear a sound artwork in Baltimore. I will post available performances on our class website – write a response to what you’ve heard
Discuss text
Performance, improvisation, hybridity.
Notation systems, performance practices.
Using Max and microphones we will create virtual instruments, and organize a series of improvisations. Each of you will be asked to create an improvisational form that we will all perform in. This is about listening – to each other, etc… as well as making sound.

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Week 12
Visiting Artist Bob Bielecki
Bob will demo some of his recent Max/MSP patches that explore psycho-acoustics and liminality – Liminality deals with thresholds, Bob is very interested lately in subtle works that are at the threshold of being able to be heard. He has created a Max patch that each user tailors to their own ability to hear, and then produces Pink Noise at the threshold of your own, personal hearing ability – the affect is often very surprising…

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Week 13-14
Work on Final projects

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Week 15
Final Crit