MIDI Music Production Techniques
course syllabus
Hello, and welcome to the MIDI class. This course was originally
intended to explore the musical possibilities of MIDI -- the Musical
Iinstrument Digital Interface. We used to say
that MIDI was still a big part of the class, as it was the underlying
communications protocal used for most of our studio equipment, but
that's no longer true. Digital audio has changed radically
in the past decade or so. However, the main purpose of the class is still
(as always) to create some interesting and snazzy pieces of music.
"MIDI" is now sort of a fun name, kind of like the "School of Mines".
Prerequisites
We won't be assuming any in-depth knowledge of either computers or
music in the course. Naturally, music will always be the product
of what we are doing, but we don't plan to sit back and
pass Ultimate Musical Judgment on the sounds you create in the
class. All styles and approaches (save those that damage equipment)
are encouraged and welcome. Astonish us!
Texts and Information
We are moving this year from
Digital Performer
to Apple's
Logic Pro
as our primary platform for mixing and sequencing. Logic has
a very thorough on-line manual, and in fact all of the documentation
we will be using this term is now available on-line. We will be posting
links to specific application docs on the
course syllabus
web page.
Digital Performer will still be available here in the studio,
but we won't be discussing it in class.
If we get our act together, we may place specific texts we have written
about the class, including additional information about the studio
equipment, techniques, class work, etc. Again, we will place
these links on the
course syllabus
web page.
We will also use the syllabus page for any general class announcements,
if any are necessary (and of course we'll get e-mail out if any
Big Things happen).
Grades
Grades will be based on a
midterm project, a final project, and class
"participation" (attendance, mainly). We will be discussing projects
in the class, but the parameters are fairly flexible. Projects
can be single musical pieces, a set of pieces, a bunch of weird
sounds you want to call a "piece". or whatever your creative
brains can conjure. Again, astonish us!
The final grade will be determined using the following percentages:
| midterm project | 25% |
| final project | 50% |
| class participation | 25% |
Grading will be on a straight 10% scale -- 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B;
70-79% = C; no curve. Grading of midterm and final projects will
be based on your creative and technical use of the studio equipment, not
on musical content or style. We will be looking mainly for effort
on your part. We really do encourage a
lot of different musics in this class!
Ultimately our grading will be subjective, after all this is a music
class, ya know. In the past this hasn't been much of a problem for
anyone; but if you are worried about your potential grade please come
to see us.
We will be taking attendance, the major part of the "class participation"
component. If circumstances arise such that you need to miss class,
please drop us a note (e-mail is preferred) letting us know. In fact,
if you miss a significant portion of the classes then your grade will
probably drop far below the level suggested by "25%".
Contact Information
The best way to reach us is through e-mail:
- garton-at-columbia.edu
- dei2101-at-columbia.edu
If the machines are in flames and our e-mail server is down,
you can also call some main numbers on the phone.
The relevant phone numbers are:
854-9266 (the main Computer Music Center phone)
854-3825 (the main Music Department phone)
Office Hours
Brad's Official Office Hours are Wednesdays from 10:30 AM -- 12 noon
in room 807 Dodge Hall. We will also be around the MIDI studio before
and after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or you can make an appointment
to see either of us at any time (virtually). Daniel lives close by and can
easily arrange to meet with you if you would like.
Access to Facilities
All class studio work can be done in our Prentis studios. If you have
your own computer-music gear, you are welcome to use it for this
course instead of our studio facilities. You
may also bring your own equipment to the Prentis studios, but the policy
is that others may use any instruments left in the studio (and of course
we won't be responsible blah blah blah...). Prentis Hall is open
24 hours a day, 7 days a week (card access with CUID).
One final note: if you wish to work with people from outside the
class on your project(s), you should clear this with us before bringing
them into the Prentis building. You may also need
a note from one of us to move equipment out of Prentis --
even your own. The security guards get understandably paranoid
about equipment and people moving in and out of the building.
Other Stuff
We have a fair amount of disk space available for this class, but you
all will be sharing the space with other class members. This also gives
you the ability to move, rename or destroy other user's files on the
disk. Please do not abuse this ability! If disk
space is getting tight, we can take appropriate measures to
help remedy the situation. If you are worried about your own files --
perhaps you have a long, involved project you are doing -- there are
very simple and easy
ways to backup your work on removable media. We will be covering
this at some point in class.
As the class progresses, we will be covering more, um, 'esoteric'
areas of computer music. Hey! This is Columbia! Go Lions!
Our intention is to introduce you to some nifty state-of-the-art-like
research and hopefully get you intrigued by the vast possibilities
in using computers to make music. Don't feel that you are obliged
to master (or even use) a lot of what we teach; again the content of
your work for this class is ultimately up to you.
Hope you enjoy the class!