Reading and Listening #4

Reading Selections

• Mark Dery: "Afrofuturism 1.0"
• Peter Shapiro: "Turn the Beat Around"

Listening Selections

• Edgard Varese: "Poeme Electronique", 1958
• Iannis Xenakis: "Concret PH", 1958

Extra Credit

For extra credit, you can watch the classic science-fiction film "Forbidden Planet" (1956) and write a 1-page response to it. In addition to proving you saw the film, please comment on how the themes in the film might be connected to the themes in the class. Just saying that the music is entirely electronic (which it is) is not enough.

To receive credit for this, please turn it in by Thursday, (7/31).

Reading and Listening #3

Reading Selection - Walter Benjamin "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
Listening Selections -

• Halim El-Dabh: "The Expression of Zaar", 1944
• Pierre Schaeffer: "Etude aux Chemins de Fer”, 1948
• Gottfried Michael Koenig- "Klangfiguren II", 1956
• John Cage: "Imaginary Landscape no. 1", 1939
• John Cage: "William's Mix", 1950
• Les Paul & Mary Ford: "Little Rock Getaway", 1950

Reading and Listening #2

Reading Selections -

• Russolo: "The Art of Noises"
• Cage: "Credo"
• Cage: "Experimental Music"
• Matossian: "Xenakis"

Listening Selections:

•  Luigi Russolo: "Risveglio Di Una Citta" (Awakening of a City), 1914
•  Henry Cowell: "The Banshee", 1925
• Olivier Messiaen: "Oraison" 1937
• Oskar Sala: "Impression Electronique" 1987
• Clara Rockmore / Nadia Reisenberg: "The Swan" (Camille Saint Saëns) 1977

Reading and Listening #1

Reading Selection - "Theremin in the Press" - Jaime Oliver La Rosa
Listening Selections -

• Raymond Scott: "Lightworks" 1960
• J Dilla: "Lightworks" 2006

Syllabus

About the Instructor:

Joe Mariglio (pronounced mah REAL yo)

Email: Joe.Mariglio@gmail.com

Office Hours: By Appointment

Office Location: WLH 2123

Scope of the Class:

In this class, we'll be looking at various traditions of music-making which involve electronics. In particular, we will focus on musical practices whose very existence depends on freshly emergent technology. This is to differentiate our field of study from music which merely enjoys the benefits of electronics-- which would include the majority of the music all of us encounter on a daily basis. 

So, our topic is electronic music, from Babbitt to booty-bass. Who makes it? Who listens to it? How is it made, and why? We will be looking across genres and labels of "high" versus "low" art, while examining the cultural practices that surround such categorizations. 

Basically, we get to listen to some of my favorite music and talk about it. Sound ok to you?

Grading Rubric

Attendance & Participation:		25%
Homework:		15%
Midterm:		15%
Final Exam:		20%
Final Project:		20%
Final Project Proposal:		5%

Weekly Assignments

Weekly writing assignments will be due every Monday at 11:59pm. Late assignments depreciate in value by 10% every 24 hours. You should write about 3 things we listened to, and all the readings. One or two thoughtful sentences for each item is sufficient. You must email me with the header [MUS6] in the subject line. I get a lot of emails, and there is a good chance I won't see your email if you neglect to do this. This is your chance to speak your mind directly to me about anything you loved, hated, found confusing, or totally understood. 

Final Project

The final project could either be a paper or creative work of some kind, due on Thursday, 7/31. If it is a paper, it should be 5 pages long. If you decide to do a project, you must still produce a 3 page write-up about it. Proposals for the project are due Tuesday, 7/15. All papers are expected to be double-spaced, 12 pt Times, with 0.79" margins (standard). Cite your sources in a manner appropriate to your field. Don't use Wikipedia.

Topics

N.B. These are subject to change. I'm not a robot, and neither are you. I'll post the readings weekly.

Week 1: 

• Tuesday- Introductions, Methods
• Thursday- Mysticism & Noise, "Electrical Music"

Week 2:

• Tuesday- Recording, Early Studios
• Thursday- Replications & Sampling

Week 3:

• Tuesday-  Afrofuturism (Proposals Due)
• Thursday-  Synthesis (Midterm)

Week 4:

• Tuesday-  Computers
• Thursday- Cyborgs & Automation

Week 5:

• Tuesday- Atavism & Nostalgia
• Thursday- Final Projects (Final)

Greetings!

This is the future home of the class blog for MUS6: Electronic Music at UCSD, as it will be taught during Summer Session 1, 2014. If you're in the class, bookmark this page!

A proper syllabus is coming soon. Check back often for updates...