ARTH 109 / MUSC 109: Introduction to Sound Art

introduction to sound art

ARTH 109 / MUSC 109

part of the curriculum in Art, Technology and Critical Studies (+ATACS) at the University of San Diego

offered every Spring

introduction to sound art

We will examine a wide variety of cultural and artistic practices involving the making and experience of sound, including acoustic ecology, deep listening, experimental music and sound art/sound sculpture, electronic and computer music, the artistic application of recording studio technology, invented and modified musical instruments, interactive music on the internet, algorithmic composition, improvised music, DJ culture, noise music and glitch, lowercase sound, scientific and mathematical sonification, the ontology of music, noise and sound, and changes of musical ownership and copyright law in response to technological advancement. Through this survey we will develop nuanced cultural and artistic understandings of fundamental concepts such as sound, music, art, and noise.

Text: Christoph Cox and Daniel Warner. Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. New York: Continuum, 2004.

resources

additional readings and citations:
Schafer, R. Murray. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1994 (1977).
Dunn, David. Why do Whales and Children Sing?: a guide to Listening in Nature. Santa Fe, NM: Earth Ear, 1999.
Stephen Feld. From Ethnomusicology to Echo-Muse-Ecology: Reading R. Murray Schafer in the Papua New Guinea Rainforest.
Cusick, Suzanne G. Music as Torture / Music as Weapon. Transcultural Music Review #10, 2006.
Tobias Rapp. The Pain of Listening: Using Music as a Weapon at Guantanamo. Spiegel online.
William Osborne. Sounding the Abyss of Otherness: Pauline Oliveros Deep Listening and the Sonic Meditations.
Burroughs, William S. The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin. UBUWeb Papers, n.d.
McLeod, Kembrew. How Copyright Law Changed Hip Hop (interview with Chuck D and Hank Shocklee). Stay Free! Magazine, June 1, 2004.
The Barrons: Forgotten Pioneers of Electronic Music. NPR.org, February 7, 2005.
American Mavericks: Harry Partch Instruments.

The Outsider (BBC Documentary about Harry Partch): 1 2 3 4 5 6
Kyle Gann. Just Intonation Explained.
Kyle Gann. Minimal Music / Maximal Impact.
Max Neuhaus. Times Square (documentary video)
Max Neuhaus. Sound Art?
Edgard Varese / Iannis Xenakis, Poeme Electronique
Edgard Varese, Ionisation
Herbie Hancock, Rockit
Velvet Undeground, Venus in Furs

vocabulary terms:

experimental
sound
noise

period

periodic

transient

pitch

frequency

waveform
flat-line sound
envelope: attack, body, decay
timbre
reverberation

source / reflection
soundscape

keynote sound
soundmark
signal
generic sound
acoustic ecology
lo-fi / hi-fi soundscapes

volume / level / loudness

density
scale
phonography
realism
sound matter
"inner world of sounds"
decontextualization
deep listening
improvisation
contact microphone
sonification
personal sound
muzak
ambient music

text-sound
spoken word
vocables
Dial-A-Poem
performance art
installation
cut-up
collage
montage
musique concrète
acousmatics
Groupe de Recherces Musicales
sonorous object
turntable/phonograph

tape
turntablism
sample, sampling, sampler
copyright
idea/expression
fair use
Creative Commons license

composer

performer

conductor

notation
futurism
modernism
Dadaism

percussion

glissando
found object
organized sound

extended techniques
prepared piano

microtonality

theremin
sound sculpture
sound art

structure

form

random / randomness
chance
indeterminacy
open work
aleatoric composition
notation
happening
conceptual art
Fluxus
danger art
minimalism
drone
process
audible structure
computer music
Bell Labs
Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center
San Francisco Tape Music Center

Phillips Pavillion
granular synthesis
electronica

rhythm

beat

algorithmic composition
IDM / experimental techno
glitch
noise music
lowercase sound

local events

music.ucsd.edu
www.artpwr.com
www.sandiegonewmusic.com
www.trummerflora.com / Spring Reverb 2009
www.mcasd.org
www.sushiart.org
www.universityartgallery.ucsd.edu
nweamo.org
Sound In Space, LA
SASSAS, LA
Redcat, LA
Long Beach Soundwalk
Collective Purpose (formerly San Diego Poetry Slam)
Monday Evening Concerts, LA

links (non-comprehensive list in progress)
Please note that the categorization below is meant as a pathway into the works of the artists rather than a complete characterization of their work, which in many cases exists among many of the categories shown here.

USD links:
Department of Art
Music Program
ARTV 420 / MUSC 420: Digital Audio Composition
ARTV 424 / MUSC 424: Art and the Soundscape
Christopher Adler
Michael Rich

Acoustic Ecology:
Acoustic Ecology Institute
World Forum for Acoustic Ecology
Ear to the Earth
Right to Quiet Society
World Soundscape Project
Deep Listening Institute
Muzak
DMX Music
Folk Songs for the Five Points
The Aukland Hum
Singing sand dunes
All About Birds