MUSI 7000 Introduction to Research in Music and Sound (3 credits)

This is a crash course in thinking and writing about music from many different perspectives. It is also an introduction to some of the ways we think about music and sound in the UVa music department. And it is an opportunity for you to think about the enterprise of being an academic in music and in the humanities. We will also focus a bit on teaching and University life.

Michael Puri - W / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 19955

MUSI 7519 Current Studies in Research and Criticism (3 credits)

Topic: The 'Black' Voice

This course focuses on critical analyses of and questions concerning “The ‘Black’ Voice” as it pertains to hip-hop culture, particularly rap and related popular musics. Students will read, analyze, discuss a wide range of thinkers to explore many conceptions and definitions of “Blackness” while examining popular artists and the statements they make in [and about] their art. 

Much more than attempting, ourselves, to define or identify what is meant by “The ‘Black’ Voice,” this class will actively participate in creative and intellectual investigations of how many thinkers [artists included] approach and engage the idea/s alluded to by the phrase and its components.

A.D. Carson - R / 2:00-4:30 pm / New Cabell 398
Class Number: 13870

MUSI 7526 Topics in Ethnomusicology (3 credits)

Topic: Composing Ethnographic Stories

Noel Lobley - T / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 13871

MUSI 7540 Computer Sound Generation (3 credits)

Topic: Sound Synthesis & Control

Luke Dahl - T / 2:00-4:30 pm / Wilson Hall Makers Space
Class Number: 20929

New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) is a field that explores new ways of performing music with technology. NIME is interdisciplinary, incorporating perspectives from music, sculpture, engineering, human-computer interaction (HCI), and design. In this class we will learn the basic skills needed to design and build new musical instruments. We will implement real-time digital sound synthesis algorithms using the PureData visual programming language, which will run on the Bela embedded audio system. And we will use various electronics sensors to measure user’s gestures as input data. The class is primarily project-based, and we will prototype a number of new musical instruments and interactions. Students are expected to have experience using computers for music-making, such as MUSI 3390 or MUSI 2350. Experience with PureData or Max is beneficial but not required.

MUSI 7547 Materials of Contemporary Music (3 credits)

Topic: Composing Composition Machines

Ted Coffey - R / 5:00-7:30 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 13882

The course is intended for graduate students in music. Topics in contemporary music that will focus on different areas in rotation. Each will involve focused readings, analysis of selected works, and the creation of original compositions that reflect the issues under discussion. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.