IM156 Computer music

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2017
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: graded credit.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petr Haas, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Martin Flašar, Ph.D. (alternate examiner)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Jana Horáková, Ph.D.
Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Bc. Jitka Leflíková
Supplier department: Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 10:50–12:25 N42
Prerequisites
An elementary overview of the development of artificial music in the 20th century is a requirement, but it is not compulsory.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 150 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/150, only registered: 0/150, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/150
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to provides a basic overview of the field of computer music. The students will gain a broad view of its history, its present condition, its various forms, the nomenclature and the methods and their transformations in relation to technological development. Attention will be paid primarily to developments in the intersection of computer music and artificial music.
Syllabus
  • 1. the term “computer music” and the context of the genesis of computer music; the link to or dependence on technological development, the influence of the post-war avant-garde, the individualisation of methods, the computer and instrumental music
  • 2. first demonstration of the use of the computer, basic types of computer music; the beginnings of the “pioneering” phases of development, specialised institutions offering employment, the terms computer generated music, computer assisted composition, digital synthesis, algorithm and method
  • 3. the development of computer music technology and the form of the creative process in the pioneering phases; communication with the machine, the composer also acting as the programmer, a piece of software as the formalisation of a method, selective realisations, new types of representations of musical structure
  • 4. the end of pioneering computer music, the prototype of the present and new methods of communication with the machine; the computer technology boom, MIDI, visual programming, selective realisations, IRCAM
  • 5. contemporary computer assisted composition and the form of the creative process; computer assisted composition as a separate category, paradigm, the term “model” and composition as a “modelling” process
  • 6. the contemporary discourse of computer music, music and computer science; the terms genetic algorithms, cellular automata, machine-learning and stylistic imitation, rule-based systems
  • 7. computer music, improvisation, composition and the borders of artficial music; the terms computer-assisted improvisation, comprovisation, live coding, the computer as stylistic trait and technology as a commentary of the present times
  • 8. computer music, new competences, the ethos of modernism and the democratisation of technology; control of technology as a starting point, the relationship between art and research, the limits of the so-called musical and non-musical spheres, technology and mimesis, different perspectives, discussion
Literature
    required literature
  • PUCKETTE, Miller. Preface. In The OM composer´s book Vol.1. Carlos Agon – Gérard Assayag – Jean Bresson (ed.). Paris: Editions Delatour France & Ircam, 2008, str. xi - xiv.
  • STRAWN, John – SHOCKLEY, Alan. Heslo: Computers and music. In Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press 2007 — 2017.
    recommended literature
  • COPE, David. Preface. In The OM composer´s book Vol.2. Jean Bresson – Carlos Agon – Gérard Assayag (eds.). Paris: Editions Delatour France & Ircam, 2008, str. ix – xv.
  • KOENIG, Gottfried Michael. Working with "Project 1". My Experiences with Computer Composition [online].1990.[cit. 2016-12-20]. Online: < http://www.koenigproject.nl/indexe.htm>.
  • The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music. Dean, Roger T. (ed.). Oxford/NY: Oxford University Press 2009, kapitola č. 2, 3, 5 a 18.
  • XENAKIS, Iannis. Formalized Music, thought and mathematic in composition. Kapitola V: Free Stochastic Music by Computer, str. 131-154. Rev. ed. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1992.
  • FLAŠAR, Martin, Daniel MATEJ a Michal RATAJ. Electronic music today: Where are we going and what are we doing? 1. vyd. Brno: Janáčkova akademie múzických umění v Brně, 2014. 126 s. ISBN 978-80-7460-071-5.
  • SANDRED, Örjan. Approaches to Using Rules as a Composition Method. Contemporary Music Review, 2009, roč. 28, č. 2, str.149 –165.
  • HAAS, Petr. Počítačem asistovaná kompozice, paradigma a komponování s „modelem“. Opus musicum 2017, č. 1, s. 41-55.
  • DAUBRESSE, Eric- ASSAYAG, Gerard. Technology and Creation – The Creative Evolution. Contemporary Music Review, 2000, vol. 19, Part 2, str. 61-80.
  • GERZSO, Andrew. Paradigms and Computer Music. Leonardo Music Journal, 1992, roč. 2, č.1, str. 73-79.
Teaching methods
Lectures, tutorials, class discussion
Assessment methods
An essay on a topic reflecting the material covered and following the topic of the relationship between technology and music, the composer and the machine (minimum 6000 characters including spaces)
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2017, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2017/IM156