music105.syllabus.html

Systems of Musical Thought
Graduate Seminar
Syllabus

Larry Polansky
Music 105, Dartmouth College
Winter, 2001

class meets tues. - thurs., 2-4
(unless otherwise noted)

About the Course
This seminar will discuss ways of analysing, modelling, creating, and describing musical processes. We will be especially interested in implementing compositional and formal ideas.

Class structure
Seminar. Based on readings, in-class discussion and listenings (following the theoretical topics), student projects. There will be a number of guests throughout the term. The main focus of this graduate seminar is student work.

Student Requirements:

readings
3 smaller, software projects on the various topics
class participation (extremely important)
final project

Student Work (Projects)

Students will do a number of software projects, each including a class presentation, some result of the software (piece, analysis, theoretical demonstration), and a written description of the theoretical ideas and the software implementation. These will follow the topics of the class closely. Written "papers" on the projects and printouts of the code are due in hard-copy when the presentations are done.
Students must all do the first project (a piece written by computer, with some accompanyting theoretical description and idea), and projects in two of the five topics of the class. Thus, each student does four projects and a final project in total.
Each student will do a final project, larger in scope, on a topic related to the class ideas, of hisr own choosing. It will also be a software project. We will talk individually about these (and about the smaller projects). In certain cases, students can take one of the smaller projects and turn it into a more extensive, more fully developed, larger project.
The grade for the class will be a combination of the presentations and the final form of the projects.

General topics this seminar will cover

meta-theoretical issues and descriptive systems of musical thought
formal models of analysis and composition
pitch, harmony, and experimental intonation
morphology
musical similarity measures and transformation functions
statistical and GA models of composition and analysis

Rough Class Schedule (subject to revision throughout the term)
This class is roughly organized by topic corresponding closely to the reading and listening list. Students are asked to keep up by topic, completing reading and listenings before we cover them in class.

January 4-8, Guest (to start off the class, Warren Burt)

January 4, Thursday: Warren Burt (2-4)

January 5, Friday, Warren Burt (2-4)

January 8, Monday, Warren Burt (1-3)

January 9, Tuesday (no class)

Assgnment: Project 1. Short, algorithmic music piece, implementing some specific, describable formal idea

Readings:

Packet of Warren Burt articles

articles on metatheory

Thursday, January 11

Introduction to the class structure; discussion and scheduling of student projects.

Meta-Theory and Descriptive Systems
What is meant by music "theory," and how might it be talked about? Questions regarding the nature of theoretical investigation of music, musical communication and reception, and articulation of musical concepts. The notion of speculative theory, and the usefulness and application of advanced theory and its relationship to musical practice, composition, perception. Systems of logic, discourse, and descriptions of music and musical thought. Applications from literary and critical theory.

Tuesday, January 16

Form and segregation
Readings: Form packet
Assignment: Form project
Form
Ways of describing musical form: grouping mechanisms, gestalt theory (Tenney, Lerdahl), hierarchical formation, introduction similarity measures, and relationships of formal theories to perceptual and phenomenological criteria.

Thursday, January 18
More on form, gestalt theory, segregation.

Tuesday, January 23
Student presentations of first project (algorithmic piece, Project 1).

Thursday, January 25

Harmony (experimental intonation). Part I.
Readings: Harmony packet
Assignment: Harmony project

Pitch, Harmony and Experimental Intonation
Basic concepts of intonation theory: rational and non-rational tuning systems, arithmetic and algebraic techniques for manipulating, representing and analysing intonation systems and scales. Historical development of tuning systems in the context of speculative theory and composition. Paratactical intonation, improper and proper tunings, harmonic space, harmonic distance functions.

Tuesday, January 30
Harmony (experimental intonation). Part II (The Legend Continues...)

Thursday, February 1

Morphology and similarity
Readings: Morphology packet
Assignment: Morphology assignment

Morphology and Similarity
Definitions, descriptions, and analyses of morphology, or shape, from psycho-acoustic, aesthetic and formal perspectives. Contour theory. Gestalt and formal principles applied to melody. Concepts of distance and similarity functions on morphology and melody-like structures. Multidimensional similarity modelling and representation.

(this week is all presentations of student projects)

Tuesday, February 6
Student presentations of form project

Thursday, February 8
Student presentations of harmony project

Tuesday, February 13

More on morphology and metrics

Friday, February 16
Guest, douglas repetto, speaking on Genetic Algorithms

Tuesday, February 20
Individual meetings regarding individual projects

Thursday, February 22
Student presentations of projects (GA, morphology, ...)

Tuesday, February 27
Individual meetings regarding final projects

Thursday, March 1
Final projects (first year students)

Tuesday, March 6
Final projects (second year students)

Readings