Music x Technology

The main topic of this course is the question how technological developments have resulted and will result in new forms of music. However, the relationship between technology and music is not just one-directional, technology has been shaped by developments in music as well. In this course we are primarily interested in music creation including composition processes, musical language and musical instruments or sound sources. Besides that, we are interested in developments in musical performance, presentation and distribution.

The course will address both academic, contemporary and popular electronic music. We will address the democratization of electronic music, the role of the internet, automatic music recognition, generative music and artificial intelligence.

In the course we will come across instruments like the Theremin, the Trautonium, the Mellotron, analogue synthesizers (Moog, Buchla, Arp, EMS), digital synthesizers while not forgetting the studio-based electronic music tradition that originates from the 1940’s.

In order to develop hands on experience we will use and zoom into the following open source software (Audacity, VCV Rack, Ardour, Pure Data, Automatonism, Google Magenta and more)

In the course a historical perspective will be created to not only create a context for discussion, it is meant to inspire new ideas and concepts. Although history plays an important role it is not a history course. Students are asked to study certain concepts that relate to their interest, try-out their ideas, present their work and engage in discussions.