Due to low enrollment, the format of the class has changed. Instead of formal class meetings, the course is being conducted as independent study with weekly meetings individually with students and group tech demos periodically throughout the semester. I'm keeping the original schedule up for reference. Jump to the original syllabus's Unit One / Unit Two / Unit Three / Unit Four

October 24 and 25: Individual meetings on works-in-progress

October 31: Individual critique with Bryan Pantages on project 2.
November 2: Group critique with Matt Endicott and Josh Larson on project 2.

November 7: All-group meeting to discuss copyright, fair use, sampling.
Reading due: The Nation and Lessig from the syllabus and on e-reserves; also Fair Use by Negativland.
Students responsible for summaries of readings.
Lecture/discussion/listening room.
Project 3 and final projects assigned.

November 9: All-group meeting to view "Sonic Outlaws" dir. Craig Baldwin

November 14 & 16: Individual meetings and tutorials

November 28: Scripts and paper outlines for final projects with proposed sources due via email for comment.

November 30: All-group meeting/critique on project 3.

December 5: All-group meeting: recording a voiceover in ProTools

December 7: All-group meeting: creating and uploading a media-rich podcast

An additional individual meeting for each student must be scheduled this week

December 13 : Final projects due (uploaded and on a CD in my mailbox) by 9AM

Course Intro

August 22: “What did you hear?”
John Cage’s 4’33”; course introduction and overview; questionnaire; paperwork

August 24: What Is Sound?  What Is Digital Audio?
Reading Due: Alten, “Physics and Psychophysics of Sound;” Middleton “What Is Digital Recording? And “Audio in the Digital World” (e-reserves)
Lecture; server and Mac OS introduction; wiki demonstration; signup for podcast reports; podcasting demonstration

Unit One: Soundscapes

August 29: Learning to Listen
Reading Due: Wrightson
Sound Walk/Sound Journal
Homework Assigned: Sound Sit (two locations) plus journaling, refer to World Forum for Acoustic Ecology for examples

August 31: Introduction to field recording: microphones; recorders; elements of sound; digital audio formats
Reading Due: Alten, “Microphones” and “Staged Productions” (excerpts, e-reserves)
Homework: five minutes of “good” soundscape recording

September 5: Introduction to editing
Audacity demo I: Basic multitrack editing
Homework Due: Sound Sit
Reading Due: “Aural Postcards: Sound, Memory, and the City” by Fran Tonkiss (Bull & Back); Towne

September 7: Editing and Sound Design
Audacity demo II: Effects
Reading Due: “Sectarian Sound and Cultural Identity in Northern Ireland” by Paul Moore (Bull & Back); Lord
Project One Assigned: Soundmark/Soundscape (doc)

September 12: Sound vs. Music
Reading Due: “The Sound of Music” by Douglas Khan (Bull & Back)
Open Lab Time

September 14: Sound Culture
Reading Due: “Soundscapes of the Car” by Michael Bull, “The Auditory Markers of the Village” by Alain Corbin (Bull & Back)
Open Lab Time

September 19: Project One Critique (return to top)

Unit Two: Sound Stories

September 21: Audio Narratives/Listening Room
Professor Jay Needham on “new” radio documentary
Project Two Assigned: Audio Portrait

September 26: Writing a Script
Reading Due: Zweig, Mortley (e-reserves)

September 28: Sound Stories/City Stories
Reading Due: “The Sonic Composition of the City” by Jean-Paul Thibaud (Bull & Back); Pinder (e-reserves)
Listening Room: SoundWalk CD, Janet Cardiff, Invisible 5

October 3: Narration
Reading Due: Alten, “Studio Production: Live and Live-On-Tape” (e-reserves); Pittman
Demo: Recording a voiceover in ProTools
Project two scripts due

October 5: Open Lab Time

October 10: Project Two Critique

October 12: Midterm Exam (return to top)

Unit Three: Sound Politics

October 17: Convergence, Technical and Institutional
Readings Due:  “The National Entertainment State” (e-reserves)
In-class debate on benefits and drawbacks of convergence
Position Paper I Due

October 19: The Challenge of Independent Media
In-class presentation: Big Muddy IMC

October 24: Convergence and Surviving in/as Independent Media OR Free and Hybrid Radio
Guest lecture: Pauline Bartolone, technical producer, 2003-2005, Free Speech Radio News

October 26: Copyrights, Copylefts, and Copywrongs
Reading: Lessig (e-reserves); thoroughly familiarize yourself with industry perspectives on copyright: RIAA and What's the download?
In-class debate on copyright issues
Position Paper II Due

October 31: Remix Culture
Listening Room
Reading Due: “The Sounds of Alterity” by Sanjay Sharma (Bull & Back); Simula
Project Three Assigned: Remix

November 2: Advanced Audio Editing: ProTools & Mbox Primer
Reading Due: ProTools 1 & 2 CD-ROMS (available at the NMC lab staff window); Wise and Gnatek

November 7: Advanced Audio Editing II
Open Lab Time

November 9: Open Lab Time

November 14: Project Three Critiqued (return to top)

Unit Four: All Together Now: Audio Tour/Web/Mobile Media Convergence Project

November 16: Mobile Media & Audio
Creating a media-rich podcast for ipod
Final Project “Audio Tour” assigned

November 28: Dreamweaver I Demo
Project proposal due

November 30: Dreamweaver II Demo

December 5: Open Lab Time

December 7: Open Lab Time

(return to top)