2008 Woodie Awards
Cutting edge music classes cultivate DIY electronic art
Becky Kuschel
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: News
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In anticipation of a new bachelor's degree, the music department debuts a trio of non-traditional courses this fall.
The new classes gracing the fall lineup are Electronic Sound, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Audio and ElectroAcoustic Arts Ensemble.
These courses break away from traditional music classes and combine the science of electronics and the art of music.
Students will learn some history, about composers of electronic music, experiment with classical analog studio techniques using modern software, create their own composition and perform live electronic works by composers from the past 50 years.
In DIY Audio, students will do "circuit bending."
"In this course, students will break out a soldering gun and wire together batteries, wires, capacitors, photoelectric cells and whatever bits of hardware we can find to create chaotic cybernetic sound art," said Kristian Twombly, professor of New Media and History of Rock and Roll. "We'll build microphones, amplifiers, oscillators and then stick them together and make art."
Twombly's goal with the new courses is to expand a student's way of thinking about music. He hopes they'll become more open to what sound art can be.
"Today's modern musician has to rely on a variety of skills in order to find employment," Twombly said. "We hope to give our students the skill and experiences necessary to move into fields like composition, web design, video game design, music production, really anything that combines technology and sound."
Collaboration amongst students to form new works of multimedia art is the centerpiece of these courses.
Twombly is even looking for teamwork outside of SCSU's campus.
"We hope to collaborate with a group of graduate students at the University of Minnesota who are also doing this kind of experimenting in their spare time," Twombly said. "They don't have a course like this at the University of Minnesota."
The three classes are the beginning of what could become a new bachelors degree in New Media in Music.
The new classes gracing the fall lineup are Electronic Sound, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Audio and ElectroAcoustic Arts Ensemble.
These courses break away from traditional music classes and combine the science of electronics and the art of music.
Students will learn some history, about composers of electronic music, experiment with classical analog studio techniques using modern software, create their own composition and perform live electronic works by composers from the past 50 years.
In DIY Audio, students will do "circuit bending."
"In this course, students will break out a soldering gun and wire together batteries, wires, capacitors, photoelectric cells and whatever bits of hardware we can find to create chaotic cybernetic sound art," said Kristian Twombly, professor of New Media and History of Rock and Roll. "We'll build microphones, amplifiers, oscillators and then stick them together and make art."
Twombly's goal with the new courses is to expand a student's way of thinking about music. He hopes they'll become more open to what sound art can be.
"Today's modern musician has to rely on a variety of skills in order to find employment," Twombly said. "We hope to give our students the skill and experiences necessary to move into fields like composition, web design, video game design, music production, really anything that combines technology and sound."
Collaboration amongst students to form new works of multimedia art is the centerpiece of these courses.
Twombly is even looking for teamwork outside of SCSU's campus.
"We hope to collaborate with a group of graduate students at the University of Minnesota who are also doing this kind of experimenting in their spare time," Twombly said. "They don't have a course like this at the University of Minnesota."
The three classes are the beginning of what could become a new bachelors degree in New Media in Music.