Sonic Forms Semester: Spring 2018 Course Number: SCP-0110 Credits: 0.5 Faculty: Floor van de Velde Email: floor.van_de_velde@tufts.edu Class: Thursdays, 9:00AM 12:00PM (Room B015) / 2:00PM 5:00PM (Room A316) Office Hours: Wednesdays, 9:00 AM 11:00AM Please email the faculty to schedule an appointment Course Description: Sonic Forms is a course designed for students interested in creating sculpture and installation work that incorporates sound as a medium. Possible projects include sound sculptures, kinetic sculptures, experimental radio works, site-specific sound installation, sound walks, instrument making, graphic scores, sound poetry, video art, and acoustic ecology. This course addresses acoustic and sonic possibilities of three-dimensional space while also considering sound as an independent sculptural medium. Approaching sound from a variety of disciplinary angles visual art, architecture, performance, digital imaging, and music the course will address the use of sound in a variety of media whilst encouraging students to create new modes of experiencing and engaging with the aural realm through three dimensional objects and/or space. Sound sculpture and installation shares a history with contemporary visual arts, linking Futurism, Dada, Fluxus, Bauhaus, Post-Modern, and relational art. Students will acquire knowledge of the conceptual and historical background through short lectures and readings of related research topics such as sound art, installation art, experimental music, phonography, audio-visual art, and acoustics. Topics covered (including, but not limited to): Physics of sound; History / context of sound in contemporary art; Recording and transducing sound; Sound sculpture and sound installation; Music scores, notation, graphic scores, sound in relation to visual art. Course Goals: 1
Introduce concepts and processes through projects in object/space making as related to sound, acoustics, and sculptural form; Provide opportunities for students to explore artists ideas, movements, philosophies, styles, periods, technologies, and methodologies in relation to sound, sculpture, and installation art; Cultivate skills in close reading, thoughtful discussion, and writing; To encourage creative work that combines sculpture, installation, image, and sound regardless of preexisting experience in sound production and/or music performance. Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: Be conversant in historical and cultural dimensions of sound art, sound sculpture, and sound installation through exposure to and analysis of an interdisciplinary range of texts across the arts and humanities; Be knowledgeable of creative methods for combining sculptural forms with sound in a final project or installation. Criteria to Receive Credit: To receive credit, students must: 1. Read weekly assigned readings and present/lead reading discussion twice per semester. 2. Prepare a 15-20 minute presentation on a topic discussed during the semester. Undergraduate Students: 1. Must complete all assignments during the semester; 2. Prepare a 15-20 minute presentation on a sound artist; 3. Present a final project at the end of the semester; Graduate Students: 1. Must complete all assignments during the semester; 2. Prepare a 15-20 minute presentation on a topic/artist/movement; 3. Present a final project at the end of the semester; 4. Complete a 5-10 research paper on a topic related to the course or a final project; 5. Graduate students will have to meet with the instructor individually to strategize a final project that meet the standards of graduate level practice. Attendance Policy: Full attendance is required. One unexcused absence will result in first warning; a second unexcused absence will result in a final warning. (two unexcused late arrivals equal ONE absence). A THIRD ABSENCE WILL MEAN THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE NO CREDIT FOR THIS CLASS. A student is automatically dropped from the class on the third absence. If there is an emergency, the student should email the instructor as soon as possible. In the case of sickness, doctors notes will be required in order to deem an absence excused. Milestone Projects: 2
1. Noise Machine: (02/01) Your project may take any form. There are no restrictions beyond that you must build it, and it must make noises that interest you. Be prepared to demonstrate it in its ideal artistic environment: create a 1-minute score / performance, short improvisation, or set it up as an interactive installation. Your noise machine will be assessed both as an independent sound-object and for the success of the noise art/music/installation experience you create with it. 2. Graphic Score: (02/08) Choose a piece of music / sound and represent it as a graphic score. Your score may take any form. You will present your score with your chosen music / sound. 3. Found Sound Collage: (03/01) Using the recording and editing skills you learned in class, create a Found Sound Collage. 4. Boombox Project: (03/29) Using the loudspeaker components given to you in class, create your own Boombox. You may interpret boombox in your own way. Be prepared to demonstrate the sound production capabilities of your boombox in class. Your project will be assessed both as an independent sound-object and for the success of the sound / installation experience you create with it. 5. Site-Specific / Final Project Weekly Schedule: Week 1 Thursday, 01/18 Introduction to Sonic Forms, Sound Sculpture, and Sound Art AM: Student introductions, course expectations, syllabus overview, presentation. 1. John Cage: Some Rules for Students and Teachers. Work on your Noise Machine (due: 02/01). Bring your materials for your project to class next week. You will have studio time to work on your Noise Machine. Week 2 Thursday, 01/25 Cracklers, Gurglers & Hissers: The Futurists AM: Screening & Lecture: Musical aesthetics of early 20 th Century industrial landscape / Futurism. PM: studio time: work on Noise Machine 1. Luigi Russolo: The Art of Noises, 1913. (from: Whitechapel) 2. Oscar Paul Medina: Luigi Russolo How the Art of Noise Revolutionized 20 th Century Music (From: Hydra Magazine) 3
3. Assignment: Finish Noise Machine and bring to 02/01 class for critique/presentation. Week 3 Thursday, 02/01 The Graphic Score AM: Present Noise Machine. PM: Graphic Score presentation / workshop. 1. John Cage: Song Book Excerpts. 2. Yoko Ono: Grapefruit Music. 3. Michel Chion: Sound: an Acoulogical Treatise: Between Doing and Listening. 4. John Evarts: The New Musical Notation: A Graphic Art?. Assignment: Graphic Score (due 02/08). Week 4 Thursday, 02/08 Silence & Noise: The Legacy of John Cage, Postwar Music & Spatial Imagination AM: Present Graphic Scores. Screening: John Cage I Have Nothing to Say and I am Saying it. PM: Workshop: Sound recording workshop and sound walkabout. 1. John Cage: The Future of Music, Credo, 1937 (from: Whitechapel) 2. Robert Morris: Letter to John Cage, 1961 (from: Whitechapel) 3. John Cage: Silence, excerpts. 1. Use your own/stockroom recording equipment to gather your found sound. Bring your found sound to class. Be prepared to present your concept for the sound collage you ll be working on. 2. Download and install audacity on your laptop. Week 5 Thursday, 02/15 Recorded Sound 4
AM: Lecture and Screenings: Sound recording (history, context, technique). PM: Workshop: sound editing using Audacity. Homework and Assignment: 1. Watch Learning Audacity on Lynda.com (www.tufts.lynda.com). 2. Using Audacity (or other sound editing software of your choice) and create a Sound Collage using your found sounds. 3. Bring your finished Sound Collage recording to class for listening / critique. Week 6 Thursday, 03/01 Early Electronic Sound AM: Listen to / critique Sound Collage assignment. PM: Lecture and Screenings: Early Electronic Sound. 1. Nick Collins & Margaret Schedel: Chapter 3: New Sounds and New Instruments: Electronic Music up until 1948. (from: Electronic Music, 2013) Week 7 Thursday, 03/08 Electronic Sound Post- 1960 AM: Listen to / critique Sound Collage assignment. PM: Workshop: working with loudspeaker components (drivers, exciters, etc.) 1. Nick Collins & Margaret Schedel: Chapter 5: From Analog to Digital. (from: Electronic Music, 2013) 1. Using the loudspeaker components given to you in class, start conceiving of your own Boombox. (due: 03/29) 2. Bring materials for your project to class for studio worktime in the afternoon session on 03/15. Week 8 Thursday, 03/15 Blips & Beeps AM: Lecture and Screening: Electronic Sound Post-1960. PM: Studio time: work on your Boombox project. 1. TBD 5
3. Finish Boombox. (due: 03/29) Week 9 Thursday, 03/29 Mashed Up / Remixed: Music and Configurable Culture AM: Discuss readings. Present Boombox projects in class. PM: Lecture and Screening: Music and Configurable Culture. 1. TBD 1. Write a one-page proposal and project description for your final site-specific sound installation. Be prepared to present your idea and concept to the class next week. Presentation should last no more than 10 minutes. Week 10 Thursday, 04/05 Sound in the Gallery AM: Present final project proposals for your site-specific sound installation. PM: Lecture and Screening: Sound in the Gallery. 1. TBD Week 11 Thursday, 04/12 Field Trip Week 12 Thursday, 04/19 Studio Work Day Week 13 Thursday, 04/26 Final Project Critiques 6