Creative Music Technology (D Course) - W3G5
D-Course NewsTom Player and Claire Bannister, two graduates from the innovative Music with Computer Sound Design degree programme have landed jobs with top Hollywood composers. Tom is to work on the new Batman movie with Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, Lion King and The Last Samurai) while Claire is to work with Harry Gregson Williams (Shrek, Bridget Jones and Chicken Run) on the second film in The Chronicles of Narnia. Both students graduated from the Department of Music and Sound Recording in 2007 and got their early work experience with Richard Harvey, a UK based composer for film and television, whose works include Colditz, Animal Farm and Jane Eyre. Recognising that training in film and television music and sound design is under-represented in the UK, the University of Surrey introduced the undergraduate degree Music with Computer Sound Design three years ago. This programme, described by the external examiner as “unique in the UK” trains students in composition, sound design, performance and industry skills so as to provide the best all-round preparation for a freelance career in music. Classes are taught by specialist full-time staff, supported by award-winning practitioners from the film and TV industries. Other students from this degree programme are working with the composers Trevor Jones (Notting Hill, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Cleopatra) and Graham Jarvis (Only Fools and Horses, My Family and the forthcoming To the Manor Born). From 2008, the degree programme is to be renamed Creative Music Technology. |
Level 1
The first year modules, listed below, will give you a thorough grounding in the principles of music and related technologies plus the opportunity to choose a number of optional subject areas.
Core modules:
- Computers, Software and Formats - this module provides a technical
introduction to computer fundamentals (on both Mac and PC platforms).
It covers the software that will be used on the degree programme (including
Logic and ProTools) and the current developments in music formats (MP3,
CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DAT and Internet possibilities). The module also introduces
the student to computer programming.
- Creating Music with Computers 1 - this module strand aims to
develop the student's understanding of the computer systems and software
involved in generating, processing and editing musical material for
electronic and electroacoustic pieces.
- Electronic Music 1: Theory and Practice - the aim of this module
is to equip the student with the necessary theoretical background and
critical apparatus for the in-depth study of electronic and electroacoustic
music at degree level. This module also covers the ethical implications
of recorded music.
- Introduction to Synthesis and MIDI - this module provides the
student with a good working knowledge of MIDI and basic analogue and
digital synthesis.
- Music Industry 1 - this strand covers a number of aspects of
the music industry from market exploitation to recording contracts.
It also considers the more sociological aspects of music consumption.
- Popular Music Harmony - this module covers the principles of
harmony across a range of popular music genres. The styles covered from
year to year may vary, but the following list is indicative: disco;
urban blues; hard rock; punk; contemporary r&b.
- Study Skills - this module is designed to equip you with the
basic skills required for effective academic study of music at tertiary
level.
- The Science of Sound - you will be introduced to some fundamental aspects of acoustics and other technical subjects in order to provide a grounding for the rest of the course.
Optional modules:
- Performance 1 - you will receive group coaching in ensembles
and individual tuition on your first instrument. You will participate
in a range of pop and jazz ensembles giving public concerts and taking
part in recording sessions. Performance is also available at Levels
2 and 3.
- Knowledge of Instruments - you will be taught all the basic
musical characteristics of most instruments and how to write for them.
- Understanding Music 1 and 2 - these modules introduce the basic
principles of, and ideologies behind, current approaches to the study
of a wide range of musical styles. These modules cover popular music,
film music, jazz, world music and Western classical music.
Level 2
In the second year you develop the skills that you acquired at Level 1 and study a broader portfolio of optional modules.
- Creating music with computers 2 - a continuation and extension
of the work covered in Creating Music with Computers 1.
- Electronic Music 2: History, Repertoire and Aesthetics - this
course covers the history and aesthetics of electroacoustic music in
styles ranging from the post-war avant-garde to electronic dance music
of the 1990s. A close study is made of film scores that use electronic
music and the module also covers technical information.
- Jazz and Complex Harmony - this module covers the principles
of jazz harmony and also explores more complex harmonic configurations
such as added chords, chromatic harmony, altered chords, borrowed chords,
quartal harmony and tritone substitutions. The practical element of
the module includes improvisation over variants of ii, V, I and other
common chord progressions.
- Music Industry 2 - a continuation and extension of the work
covered in Music Industry 1.
- Synthesis and Sampling - this module develops the student's understanding of various synthesis and sampling techniques through both theoretical and practical approaches. It provides a good working knowledge of digital synthesis and digital signal processing.
Optional modules
- Creative Applications of Digital Multimedia 1 - this module
strand aims to develop an understanding of the role of computer sound
design in the context of multimedia works. It will introduce the student
to the different data formats and explain their features and benefits.
Multimedia covered include: live action films; animation; computer games;
multimedia publishing; and designing for the Internet.
- Dance Music - this module investigates the history and development
of electronic dance music from disco to the present and locates it within
wider stylistic and cultural tendencies. The module will also focus
on the artistic and cultural importance of sequencing and sampling technology.
- Film Music - by studying and viewing nine set films, the student
will develop an understanding of the different functions of music in
film. The course also offers those interested, the opportunity to compose
a short score to a film extract.
- Performance 2 - a continuation and extension of the work covered
in Performance 1.
- Popular Song Analysis - during this module you will develop
analytical strategies pertinent to a range of recorded popular music,
and employ these in discovering how popular music works and what it
means.
- Research Project - students are free to choose their own topic
for a detailed study. The project will help develop your research and
writing skills.
- World Music - introduces the student to styles and genres of
music outside the Western classical and popular traditions, and also
to ways of thinking about such musics.
Level 3
The final year gives you the opportunity to produce a significant portfolio of computer-based music, to work on a large-scale project of your choice and to select a number of courses from a wide choice of optional modules.
Core Modules:
- Creating Music with Computers Portfolio - you will produce
a final year portfolio of computer-based music using a range of software
and hardware.
- Oral Presentation - for this module you will be expected to
make an oral presentation on a topic of your choosing and offer critiques
of performances and recordings of electroacoustic music.
- Project - the final year project is an opportunity for the
student to study an area of particular personal interest in some depth.
The project may be presented in the form of a dissertation or a technical
project depending on the nature of the study.
Optional Modules:
- Creative Applications of Digital Multimedia 2 - a continuation
and extension of the work covered in Creative Applications of Digital
Multimedia 1.
- Jazz Studies - this module develops appreciation, understanding
and knowledge of the main styles of Jazz as they evolved throughout
the 20th century.
- Performance 3 - a continuation and extension of the work covered
in the performance modules at Levels 1 and 2.
- Pluralism - develops the student's awareness of, and ability
to critique, the representations of pluralist influences (such as popular
musics, the music of other cultures and the music of the distant past)
within 20th century Western music.
- Progressive Issues in Rock - investigates a discrete repertoire
within popular music ('Progressive Rock') and locates it within wider
stylistic and cultural tendencies.
- Rock Track Poetics - aims to develop students' interpretive
faculties with respect to a range of genres of popular music, and to
increase the degree of subtlety of cultural location in students' understanding.
Assessment
You will be assessed by coursework and examinations throughout the course. The final degree award is based upon your overall performance in the second and final years.
Note: The course is under constant review, and not every option may be available in any particular year.
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