Global Arc

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.

Are you a performer with no experience composing but have a willingness to try? Are you a composer who does not often perform but are game? Rarely do the neatly defined job descriptions of composer and performer translate in the wonderfully messy music world of today. This course will explore different ways to view the composer/performer roles, and the class will morph into an ensemble to perform the music of its members. Over the course of the term the ensemble will put together a show that will be performed as an end-of-term project.

In this class we will consider a variety of strategies for combining improvisation and notated music, drawing on both contemporary concert music and jazz. We will look at the works of musicians such as Lutoslawski, Shostakovich, Coltrane, Stockhausen, and others, and will consider how technology might allow us to expand our musical possibilities (e.g. using iPads to facilitate harmonic coordination). The ultimate goal will be to imagine hybrid musics drawing on both classical and jazz traditions.

This course examines the repertoire and performance practices associated with the music of "Krazy Kat" (John Carpenter), "The Toy Box: La Boîte à Joujoux" (Claude Debussy), "Oil and Vinegar" (John Carpenter; performed by Bix Beiderbecke), as well as the big band music of composers Oliver Nelson and Mary Lou Williams. Performance assignments will be prepared for weekly rehearsals in preparation for several public performances.

A course designed to provide instrumental and vocal students with opportunities to reimagine the process of creative music-making through the use of improvisational concepts and activities in group collaboration. Course will feature several guest lecturers/performers and concert presentations focusing on the creation of collectively improvised performances.