IM156 Computer music

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petr Haas, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Martin Flašar, Ph.D. (alternate examiner)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Petr Haas, Ph.D.
Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Bc. Jitka Leflíková
Supplier department: Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:40 N51
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 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 3/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
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.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to: - Describe and explain basic trends in computer music - compare and analyze different types of computer music in the past and today - to identify and summarize the changes of computer music in relation to technological development
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. computer music and computer science; programming as a method and composition as a rule-based system, machine-learning, artificial intelligence and stylistic imitation, conventional types of algorithms from the natural and other sciences, biocomputer music
  • 7. computer music, improvisation, composition and the borders of artficial music; the terms computer-assisted improvisation, comprovisation, live coding, cyberculture, hardware hacking
  • 8. computer music and the ethos of modernism, democratization of technology and „seize anything”; art as research, pluralism and democratization, new competencies and the user, creation vs. consumption, mimesis and post-production administration, hybrids and the rhizome, 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
  • DAUBRESSE, Eric- ASSAYAG, Gerard. Technology and Creation – The Creative Evolution. Contemporary Music Review, 2000, vol. 19, Part 2, str. 61-80.
  • HAAS, Petr. Počítačem asistovaná kompozice, paradigma a komponování s „modelem“. Opus musicum 2017, č. 1, s. 41-55.
  • 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.
  • 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>.
  • SANDRED, Örjan. Approaches to Using Rules as a Composition Method. Contemporary Music Review, 2009, roč. 28, č. 2, str.149 –165.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
The course is completed upon submission of an essay on a topic reflecting the material covered and following the relationship between technology and music, the composer and the machine (minimum 6000 characters including spaces). A text based on the learning gained from the completion of the course presenting the standpoints of the author on the subject, ideally a critical text, is expected. These standpoints are the dominant content of the text, are grounded in the concepts introduced in the course, are supported by arguments and have the nature of elaborated thoughts which flow into a conclusion.

The essays are turned in to the homework vault on the examination date.

Min. 50% attendance is required for completion of the course.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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