Experiments in the Future of Producing

Catalog description

Contemporary sound production is often based on pre-designed workflows in virtual software environments that merely provide standardized results. Moreover, while aiming for the perfect acoustic image, many commercial producers tend to treat sound as if it were a stable art form. The purpose of this advanced production course is to deconstruct the art of record producing and to expose students to radical musical and studio experimentation, especially given Germany’s role in radicalizing music and sound in the 20th century. Students will get a glimpse into the history and present of experimental composing, recording and performance. Students will learn how accidents can be the foundation of new musical genres. They will learn about the history of renaissance experiments in spatial music (which, in a way, mark the beginnings of modern artistic play on perspective). If time permits, students will be given an introduction to experimental approaches to hacking, instrument building and software abuse, as well as learn how everyday experimentation can be essential to their recording and performance routines. An array of analogue gear and microphones will be incorporated into in-class sessions, and the class will collectively jam using electronic and other sound devices to understand how individual expression can be essential to the creativity of the group as a whole. As the idea of recorded musical products must be much more flexible and fluid in the age of streaming and other dephysicalized technologies, we will work toward the aforementioned idea that sound is an unstable art form. The product is the merchandise, but the idea is the original — this has held true for the history of recorded music in the 20th and 21st centuries. Throughout the course, students will have to continually ask themselves the following questions: Where does my music fit in? What is its context?…