Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0238 - Audio Culture

This course will explore a range of experimental musical practices and various approaches to thinking theoretically and critically about them. We will consider musical forms such as minimalism, indeterminacy, musique concrete, free improvisation, turntablism, and electronica, and examine these via texts by theorists, composers, and musicians. Investigating different modes of listening to and talking about contemporary music, we will ask such questions as: What are the relationships between music, noise, sound, and silence? What are the effects of recording and sampling on contemporary musical life? Can music have a political or critical function? How is sound inflected by gender and race?

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research In this course, students can generally expect to spend 7 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.