Technomusicology
Technomusicology is a mashup of musicology—the study of music in historical and cultural context—and media production, and it is a method for telling musicological stories using new forms that have emerged over the last century of audio (and video) culture. In this course, students will make sound art that probes the interplay between music and technology since the dawn of sound reproduction, especially in the digital age. Embracing such technologies, students will use music software (e.g., Ableton Live, or a DAW of their choice) to explore new techniques and idioms by composing a series of études, or studies in particular media forms.
Readings, discussions, and projects will focus on historically significant forms—soundscapes, sampling, mashups, supercuts, DJ mixes, and podcasts—and how they emerge via new technologies and new cultural practices. These études offer shared conceptual ground to all while accommodating novice experimentation or virtuoso programming. Class sessions will include discussions of readings and audio-visual examples, software demonstrations, and collective workshopping of projects.