Global Arc

An introduction to a variety of 20th-century approaches to composition. Emphasis on understanding different techniques, syntaxes, and musical languages through exercises in compositional emulations and in performance projects of student and studied works, using available performance skills of participants. Prerequisite: 206 or instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar, one preceptorial.

The course will deal closely with a small number of works from the tonal repertoire and will serve as a critical introduction to several pertinent and influential analytical methodologies, including motivic, formal, semiotic, and voice-leading analysis. The focus will be on the musical and aesthetic values that each method either enhances or attenuates. Prerequisite: 206 or instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar.

A composition course for independent, self-directed composers. Most of the class will be spent working on a single piece. Students will present their work-in-progress to the class weekly or biweekly depending on enrollment. We will have a concert of final projects at the end of the semester, with all student pieces to be performed by So Percussion, the music department's world-renowned ensemble-in-residence.

An exploration of the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic principles of the bebop paradigm. The course includes analysis of representative works by various jazz masters and will place a strong emphasis on student projects in improvisation and composition. Prerequisites: 105 or permission of instructor. Two 90-minute classes.

An examination of the theoretical principles found in modal jazz through analysis of representative works by such composers as Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, and Herbie Hancock. The course will place a strong emphasis on student projects in improvisation and composition. Prerequisites: 105 or permission of instructor. Two 90-minute classes.

This course combines a survey of the history of American experimental music with hands-on participation in the performance of important works in the repertoire. Experimental music questions the traditional modes of composing music and explores new and unusual ways to create musical experience: leaving certain elements to chance, incorporating improvisation, and using graphic scores. In addition to learning to perform existing works, the students will create their own experimental music compositions and perform them. The course requires no prerequisites or specific training in music.

An introduction to the fundamentals of computer and electronic music in the context of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk). The music and sound programming language ChucK, developed here at Princeton, will be used in conjunction with Max/MSP, another digital audio language, to study procedural programming, digital signal processing and synthesis, networking, and human-computer interfacing.

Music 315 focuses on computer programs that input and output musical symbols--including scores, MIDI files, and directions for synthesizers to play. The course is aimed at students with interest in music theory and analysis, installations and game design, and algorithmic or computer-assisted composition. The first six weeks will introduce basic techniques, focusing on Python, music21, Pygame, and Pd (or its commercial variant, Max/MSP). The rest of the course will survey more advanced topics in preparation for substantial final projects chosen by students.

Compositional projects involving computers and synthesizers. Some work may involve interactions between live and electronic sounds. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: 314 or permission of instructor.

Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk) is an ensemble of computer-based musical meta-instruments. The students in this course act as performers, researchers, composers and software developers. The challenges are many: What kind of sounds can we create? How can we physically "control" these sounds? How do we organize 15 players in this context with a conductor or a wireless network? The aim of this course is to develop the basic skills to tackle these problems and to explore their musical possibilities. The ensemble will perform works by students and guest artists during the semester.