The module will begin with an examination of the manipulation of audio in a wide variety of musical styles and contexts, from early historical recordings to the present day, themed around types of manipulation, such as “the studio as an instrument”: editing, mixing and the use of effects in the production studio; groove and rhythmic construction; the time granulation of audio. Technical processes will be considered, along with the cultural contexts and the psychoacoustics of the result. A range of concepts will be raised and examined, including those on groove and rhythmic structures by Keil, Danielsen, London and Butler; Curtis Roads’ “microsound” theories on granulation, and Dennis Smalley’s concept of spectromorphology.
The analytical tools and descriptive language for the analysis of music, from both technical and creative perspectives, will be introduced to facilitate the critical analysis of recorded tracks for assignment 1.
The later part of the module will focus on the study of specific techniques and their application in music, examining technical and scientific theory, the practicalities of implementation using music software packages, creative contexts relating to musical style, and the aesthetics of remixing and recontextualisation.