Creating a Full-Length Text/Music Performance and Recording

Catalog description

In this course, students will explore the complexities of traditional and non-traditional "song" form. They will decode words as sounds, underscore poems and stories, use improvisation structures in games to generate musical and/or lyric material, and work with collage recording influenced by sampler use. Through collaborative processes, students will use their unified text/music language to create a full length performance or recording. Each student will produce either a complete (20 minutes or more) performance, record an EP, create an installation piece that involves text and music, or develop a new mixed form. New source material will come from in-class writing prompts and various improvisation games. Readings by or about modern performers including Meredith Monk, John Zorn, Kendrick Lamar and The Art Ensemble of Chicago will provide models for various strategies. "We will also engage with books about the recording process from the 331/3 series. Theoretical investigations will also include works by Rita Aiello, Jenefer Robinson, John Cage, and George Lewis. It is suggested that students have completed ARTS-UG 1340 .