Course detail

Audio Workshop

FaVU-1ZT-LAcad. year: 2021/2022

The course is focused on practical audio exercises and experimental sound creation realized in the form of constructing students’ simple lo-fi instruments (hardware / software) and improvisation with them. Following the practical exercises, it also includes the presentation of the history and contexts of the used technologies. The course includes introduction to practical electronics (soldering of basic circuits) and programming in max/msp. The core of the course is a mutual experimentation and studio jam sessions with DIY instruments` collaboration, improvisation, recording, presentation. Each student will create her own free-form audio project (concert, sound object, instrument, composition, sound installation, performance, concept, reportage, audiobook, etc.) and present it in a collective public event (TRIAL).

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

2

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

MgA. Jiří Suchánek, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Audiovisual Technology (KAT)

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Students will gain knowledge of the basics of programming in max/msp and DIY creation of sound instruments. They will also get acquainted with the basics of electronics and selected concepts of sound generation. Course develops the ability of improvisation and group collaboration.

Prerequisites

Predispositions for one’s own audio production, willingness to improvise, experiment, listen, collaborate and finally present your audio project publicly together.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Practical exercises and workshops. In case of school closure the teaching will take place online on platform MS Teams according to our agreement.

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

Active participation in classes and presentation of one's own audio project and cooperation in the preparation of a collective public event (TRIAL) are required for the credit.

Course curriculum

1) Sound as a medium – including variety of tools outside the commercial software and hardware.
2) Idea Lo-fi, DIY, Low-cost, open-source.
3) Piezo and transducer, contact microphone + speaker and their possibilities.
4) Basics of working with electronics – soldering, simple circuits.
5) Acoustic resonators.
6) Optical oscillators.
7) Feedback.
8) Circuit bending, hacking, error, glitch.
9) Algorithmic composition – basics max/msp.
10) Jam sessions – strategies of playing together, respect, listening to the whole, dramaturgy.
11) Experimentation in a sound studio.
12) Field recording.
13) The TRIAL evening where everyone will present their audio project (performance, object, instrument, composition, installation...).

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The aim of the course is to develop the practical skills in sound creation and the individual aesthetics of students (search for authentic sound expression). In the form of jam-sessions and collective presentations, the course aims to develop a sense of cooperation and improvisation. Through the acquaintance with practical technological creation, the course aims to develop the ability to create an individualized medium (thinking in the medium), instead of choosing ready-made, commercial solutions.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

Attendance at seminars and workshops is mandatory (attendance at least 50%).

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Milan Guštar, Elektrofony, Historie, principy, souvislosti, I,II, Uvnitř, 2007 (CS)
Trevor Wishart, On Sonic Art, Routledge, 1997 (EN)

Recommended reading

Adrian Moore, Sonic Art – An introduction to Electroacoustic Music Composition, Routledge, 2016 (EN)
Alex McLean, Roger T. Dean, The Oxford Handbook of Algorithmic Music, Oxford University Press, 2018 (EN)
Andrey Smirnov: Sound in Z – Experiments in Sound and Electronic Music in Early 20th Century Russia, FUNDACION PROA, 2013 (EN)
John Cage, Composition In Retrospect, Exact Change, 2008 (EN)
Nicolas Collins, Handmade electronic music, The Art of Hardware Hacking, Routledge, 2009 (EN)
Scott Willson, Davud Cottle, Nick Collins – The SuperCollider Book, The MIT Press, 2011 (EN)
Thomas Bey William Bailey, Micro-bionic: Radical Electronic Music and Sound Art in the 21st Century , Scb Distributors, 2009 (EN)
V.J.Manzo, Max/Msp/Jitter for Music – A practical guide to developing Interactive Music Systems for education and more, Oxford University Press, 2011 (EN)

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme VUB Bachelor's

    branch VU-D , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 4 year of study, summer semester, elective

  • Programme VUM Master's

    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-D , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-VT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 1 year of study, summer semester, elective
    branch VU-IDT , 2 year of study, summer semester, elective

Type of course unit

 

Practical class

26 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

MgA. Jiří Suchánek, Ph.D.