BA Music and Drama

New for 2024/25 - Exceptional Performer Music Bursary

The Department of Music will provide first-year bursaries to support undergraduate students who have demonstrated exceptional levels of achievement in their instrumental and/or vocal studies. These £1000 bursaries will be awarded in the first year of study (2024/25 academic year), paid direct to students in two instalments.

More information, including eligibility criteria, can be found here.

A course embracing several forms of digital media, with an emphasis on music and sound for the construction of structured environments in Human-Computer interaction. It provides a framework for the creation, discussion and evaluation of interactive processes using real-time computer technology in sonic-centric scenarios. These may include various areas of interactive music and media composition, such as:

• acoustic instruments and live electronics
• game-audio and procedural audio with physic-graphics-sound engines

The course provides ground knowledge and critical thinking in digital-human interactivity, which can be extended toward the discussion of other emerging technologies; e.g. interactive cinematography, interactive television, screencasting, computer-to-computer interactivity and musical interfaces.

MUSC20061 is a pre req of MUSC20072

• To facilitate critical understanding of non-linear thinking for structuring the flow of information in interactive systems with a focus on the aural.
• To enable students to develop the necessary skills required for constructing audio in media environments to structure, present and share interactive digital compositions and other creative outcomes.  
• To create software-based environments for interactive sonic creativity with human interface devices and computers.

• Demonstrate enhanced skills in live sound rendering and real-time processing in the construction of interactive systems.
• Merge knowledge and aesthetic awareness into the creative process, while developing an original approach to sound and interactivity
• Demonstrate an awareness of the relevance of responsive and procedural sound in media technologies

• Demonstrate critical thinking and awareness of existing technologies in dynamic media, their body of works, knowledge and future directions
• Develop an advanced, creative and specialised response to a topic in the context of Interactive Media Systems
• Demonstrate the ability to envision, design and manipulate audiomedia content for dynamic and responsive media

• Apply a technical knowledge of software techniques and sound organisation in the construction of interactive environments with a focus on the sonic element
• Demonstrate enhanced skill in using technology to achieve meaning and expression through interactive tools and non-linear thinking
• Prepare and deliver a presentation through coursework as a formative experience toward completing the project outcomes

• Collaborate with other students in problem-solving dealing both with technology and creative issues
• Demonstrate organisational and management skills in making use of studio time and access, booking musicians and equipment if needed, arranging rehearsals, working with technology and preparing sound materials or sound algorithms for the final works
• Demonstrate attention to detail through the creative methods and the crafting and editing of dynamic sound, preparing and documenting the outcome to professional standards
• Demonstrate the development of dialogue through teaching and workshops, whilst developing communicative abilities and to share and review specific points of view and structured strategies during the creative process

Assessment task	Weighting within unit
In class presentation	0%
Assignment –  advanced interactive media environments project (typically a sonic-centric game engine project)	100%

 

• Oral feedback on group presentation
• Written feedback on final project
• Additional one-to-one feedback (during consultation hour or by making an appointment)

Periodicals:

Computer Music Journal

Organized Sound

 

Books and eBooks:

Rowe, Robert, Machine Musicianship (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 2001).

Rowe, Robert, Interactive Music Systems: Machine Listening and Composing (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 1993).

Wanderley, Marcelo M. and Marc Battier (eds.) Trends in Gestural Control of Music (Paris: IRCAM, 2000), Interactive CDROM.

Wishart, Trevor,  On Sonic Art, ed. Simon Emmerson (Amsterdam: Harwood, 1996).

Manning, Peter, Electronic and Computer Music (New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).

Roads, Curtis (ed.), The Computer Music Tutorial (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 1996).

Collins, Karen, Game sound: an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of video game music and sound design. Published Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press 2008

Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. Publisher Faber & Faber, 2010

Thompson, Jim; The computer game design course: principles, practices and techniques for the aspiring game designer. Published London : Thames & Hudson 2007

Marks, Aaron; The complete guide to game audio: for composers, musicians, sound designers, and game developers. Published Burlington, MA ; Oxford : Focal Press/Elsevier 2009

Interactive storytelling for video games: a player-centred approach to creating memorable characters and storiese

Lebowitz, Josiah; Klug, Chris- Interactive storytelling for video games: a player-centered approach to creating memorable characters and stories

Emmerson, Simon, The Language of Electroacoustic Music (London: Macmillan, 1986).