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Music Technology |
The Music department is a member of the new School of Humanities within the Faculty of Humanities and
Social Sciences. Where appropriate, the School seeks to draw on a wide range of expertise across
disciplines to deliver innovative and interesting learning opportunities for all students.
Music-making: There are many opportunities for making music at Keele, involving choirs and various instrumental groups, most of which are affiliated to the Keele Philharmonic Society. In addition the Keele Concerts Society presents an international series of professional concerts on Wednesday evenings throughout the Autumn and Spring semesters. Many modules have pre-requisites for entry: please check the departmental handbook for details. Instrumental/vocal tuition can be provided at an additional charge for ERASMUS and Exchange students, where no reciprocal arrangement for instrumental/vocal tuition exists. Further Information regarding music courses can be found from the Music Course Handbook.
NB. Because of variations in staff availability and research interests from time to time, certain courses
may not run in particular semesters. Erasmus, Exchange and Study Abroad students please confirm
availability with the Department when applying.
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MDS-10008 | Mediated World | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Mediated World aims to introduce students to some of the main theories and debates found in contemporary media, communication and cultural studies. In this course we examine how the mass media has come to dominate our everyday life $ú from the spaces we inhabit, to the beliefs we hold and values we share $ú while analyzing our individual and collective role in this complex relationship. By looking at how and why the tools developed by societies $ú from the first printing press to today&©s high speed internet $ú have been used for mass communication, we will probe how power is constructed in media messages and ask whether the consumers of such messages can ever wrest back control over meaning. | ||||||
| MDS-10009 | Digital Video | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module focuses on the creation of a short film. You will learn the fundamentals of video production, including the techniques and the aesthetics of screen writing, shooting, composition and editing. Most importantly you will learn by doing. This is a hands on course that encourages you to familiarise yourself with digital video equipment, consider the work of other film and documentary makers, experiment with and develop your own filmmaking style and begin acquiring a knowledge of film language and terminology. The key areas of focus are: - Film language and terminology (critical analysis of films and conventions) - Pre-production (scriptwriting, storyboarding, schedules and planning) - Production (camera operation, directing) - Post-production (editing) Assessment will be by a group project, 3-5 minute short film (50%) and a workbook (50%). | ||||||
| MUS-10029 | Orchestral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop instrumental skills within an orchestral or concert band framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble playing skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10030 | Ensemble Performance | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Students have the opportunity and coaching to form ensembles and select and investigate appropriate works. They also develop knowledge of ensemble repertoire of all periods, with the opportunity to rehearse and perform appropriate selected works. They contribute 10-15 minutes to an open ensemble performance. This is also the first level of a pathway in ensemble and chamber performance. The module also hones important skills in group work. There are weekly seminars and workshops devoted to forming ensembles, selecting repertoire, rehearsal and critical peer performances. There are opportunities for students to conduct ensembles. Related work includes active listening, score reading, individual instrumental practice and organized ensemble rehearsal outside of class time. | ||||||
| MUS-10034 | Introduction to Composition | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is a vital component of the pathway in Composition that runs throughout the Music course. It also complements the Twentieth Century Module. Students engage with technical and aesthetic issues relating to the composition of predominantly instrumental and vocal music and to acquaint students with a specific issues relating to contemporary western art music. They are introduced to various strategies for generating and organising musical materials, focusing on pitch, duration, dynamics and timbre. Students undertake technical and analytical exercises in addition to composing original pieces. They are also involved in hearing some of their creative work performed in workshops. | ||||||
| MUS-10036 | Choral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop vocal skills within a choral framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10037 | Introduction to Music Theory | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module will introduce students to elements of pitch and pitch class; beat, meter and rhythm (simple and compound); scales and diatonic modes; pitch intervals; triads and seventh chords; transposition and clefs. This module involves a number of learning environments, including plenary sessions, lab classes, tutorial support, and WebCT support, learning and testing. It is an ideal module for students who have not had the opportunity to acquire music theory, and/or who wish to brush up on their theory so they can take modules in composition, analysis or musicology. It is also intended for students with a Music Techology background who want to acquire some skills in in written notation in order to pursue modules in composition or simply to increase their options through the programme. | ||||||
| MUS-10038 | Sonic Arts Repertoire | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The module encompasses history and aesthetics of Electroacoustic music and sonic arts since the earliest developments after the Second World War up to the most current creative directions in sound-as-art, installation art, sonic sculpture, interactive systems, and sound design. It explores the origins of the topics and examines the substantial range of forms offering a broader historical, cultural and artistic background. In addition to lectures, listening sessions are incorporated during which selected works are played. These sessions are followed by discussions concentrating on aspects of techniques, materials, structures and form. Such analytical enquiry is an indispensable introduction to the range of languages used by composers, sound and audiovisual artists in the last fifty years. This module will provide students both with and without a background in Music and Music Technology with a solid base for understanding and further study of the practical aspects and techniques of electroacoustic, audio-visual, and interactive creation. On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to understand, analyse, and write on electro-acoustic and audio-visual composition, sonic arts, interactive composition and other creative forms. | ||||||
| MUS-10041 | Sound Recording | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is particularly useful for those students who already possess some experience in sound recording and/or with live PA equipment and/or mixing desks. Students who do not have such experience should contact the module leader to discuss admission to the module. The number of students admitted to this module is capped by studio resources availability. Please note that students taking this module are expected to possess, or acquire through self-study, at least a basic working knowledge of LogicPro or LogicExpress with regards to multi-track recording and mixing. Students will be required to organise a sound recording project; this include deciding what track(s) to record and find the musicians to play the various parts. Therefore, students must be able and willing to quickly and efficiently network with friends and peers to achieve that end. The module aims: to provide students with an opportunity to develop their technical skills in sound recording and music studio production; to establish a practical foundation for the use of sound recording techniques to be developed in future optional modules or project options at level 2 and 3; to engage with technical and aesthetic concerns related to sound quality in mixes. At the end of the module students will be able to: carry out simple field sound recording tasks using portable recorders.; carry out simple sound recording and mixing tasks in a sound recording studio; plan and implement a more substantial music production project in a sound recording studio. The module covers: microphone technologies and techniques; portable recorders technologies and techniques; field recording experiments; editing, technical improvement and message re-enforcement; recording studio technologies and techniques; planning and realisation of a sound recording and mixing project. | ||||||
| PHY-10025 | Audio Electronics | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This level 1 module runs in the first semester. The material introduces the physical and theoretical properties of sound waves, DC and AC circuits, amplifiers and oscillators, and specialised circuits that can be found in modern Audio-frequency reproduction equipment. The methods used in the practical laboratory sessions would be useful to students intending to take Music Technology modules as part of their studies. The module is also suitable for students who wish to acquire an understanding of audio-frequency electronics as applied to domestic and professional sound systems. No prior experience or knowledge of electronics is assumed. | ||||||
| Semester 1-2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-10035 | Instrumental Lessons | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The purpose of this module is to hone performance skills and develop technique on an instrument or voice. Students are also given the chance to engage with new and more challenging repertoire. Students work one to one with their specialist instrumental or vocal teacher on a range of performance skills with the help of technical exercises and $ùstudies&©. They will also work on appropriate repertoire pieces (normally drawn from the mainstream repertoire). The student should become familiar with the core repertoire of the instrument, and, in addition, should be introduced to examples drawn from more specialized areas (as appropriate). This is a 15-credit module that is runs throughout the year and is assessed at the end of semester 2. This module is a crucial element in the performance pathway, which runs throughout the degree programme. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MDS-10010 | Understanding Culture | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What is culture? Where is it and who particpates in it? How has our understanding of it developed historically? What's the difference between high and low culture? How does literature, film, photography and advertising encourage us to behave in particular ways? This course will introduce some of the key concepts and issues in the historical and contemporary study of culture. It will introduce theories, approaches and methodologies for the study of a range of cultural $ùtexts&© from Shakespeare to magazine advertisements. We will start by looking at literary culture from the past and focus on the relationship between $ùclassic&© literary texts and their audiences, both now and when they were first produced. We will go on to look at popular contemporary culture in both visual and written form, including film, photographs and advertisements. | ||||||
| MDS-10011 | The Photographic Message | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The Photographic Message In this module students will look at the impact of photography as a mode of mechanical reproduction through to contemporary hyper real digital image production. Students will be introduced to semiotic analysis and study the work and roll of photographic practioners in both a contemporary and historical context. Each student will produce a photomontage and workbook based on notions of cultural identity and/or stigma and discrimination. Assessment will be by a visual project photomontage (50%), a workbook (50%), and a compulsory oral presentation. | ||||||
| MUS-10029 | Orchestral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop instrumental skills within an orchestral or concert band framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble playing skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10031 | Active Listening | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Students learn to listen actively rather than passively to music, with a particular focus on hearing the relationship between form and content in music, and therefore being able to identify musical structures through the development of their aural skills. They also learn to identify a range of standard forms in music from a wide range of repertoires, and to learn the key features of those forms. Students are introduced to the idea of active structural listening as opposed to passive or atomistic moment by moment listening. In order to touch on key issues, the module may also discuss the New Grove article on $ùForm&© by Arnold Whittall (or similar document for discussion of relevant issues), in order to question the difference between form and structure; it may also discuss composer Witold Lutoslawski&©s conception of active and passive listening. | ||||||
| MUS-10036 | Choral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop vocal skills within a choral framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10039 | Surround Sound | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| At the end of the module students will be able to: - Identify basic empirical methods to work with surround sound in a project studio - Comprehend and interpret basic core concepts on surround sound - Create surrounds sound artefacts based on acquired techniques and observation of repertoire and real world sound-scapes - Apply sound diffusion concepts using a multi-loudspeaker system in a real concert space - Plan, prepare, rehears and deliver a public surround sound event The module deals with: technical fundamentals, aesthetic considerations, modern applications in music and cinema; the creation of a surround sound sonic landscape; surround sound mixes; spatial enhancement of sonic and musical discourse; the planning, practice and concert presentation of an acousmatic work using sound projection. | ||||||
| MUS-10040 | Composing With Sound | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module seeks to establish practical foundation for the use of studio techniques in future modules at level 2 and 3. It also enables students to engage with technical and aesthetic concerns arising when working creatively with digital audio technologies. At the end of the module students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge and recollection of basic empirical methods to work with audio material in a project studio; demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of basic concepts; apply methods in the construction of original sonic artefacts (Sonic Art work, sound idents, soundtracks for existing video). | ||||||
| MUS-10042 | Analog and Digital Audio | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module aims to establish a common theoretical base on elements of acoustics, electro-acoustics and digital audio for future practical modules that will focus on the creative application of audio technologies. At the end of the module students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge/recollection of basic core concepts, rules and physical measurements of acoustic phenomena and their representation in the digital domain; demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of basic core concepts; apply methods and theories learnt in the module. The module covers: elements of acoustics, auditory perception; analog audio and signal path; elements of spectral analysis, audible spectrum, spectrum of noise and pitched sounds, filters; Fourier theorem, additive sound synthesis; digitisation of audio signals, sampling theorem, aliasing; computer audio, hardware, software, MIDI protocol; electro-acoustic transducers, microphones, loudspeakers. | ||||||
| MUS-10043 | Popular Music | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What is going on when Girls Aloud cover the Kaiser Chiefs, Kaiser Chiefs blast Girls Aloud for doing so, and then two years later the bands collaborate on a Christmas special? Why do subcultures and scenes cluster around different popular musics? What is the purpose of the popular music industry? Why do songs have lyrics, and lyrics accompaniments? What, or how, do pop songs mean? On this module you will seek answers to questions like these by engaging with the social and musical meanings of popular music and its culture industry. This intellectually challenging module takes popular culture seriously by utilizing stimulating theoretical and philosophical approaches to its analysis and critique. It also employs innovative classroom activities, debates, group work, and individual and group assessments ranging from WebCT assignments to a group analysis essay, in order to stimulate the development of critical competencies that will permit you better to understand the musical forms at the centre of contemporary culture, in the process transforming your understanding of the musics in your life. | ||||||
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-20026 | Music Technology - Study Abroad I | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20027 | Music Technology - Study Abroad II | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20034 | Meaning in Sonic Arts | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module examines the analytical tools and approaches used to understand the construction and meaning of works of Sonic Art together with their relationship to wider artistic and social contexts and impulses. Topics studied include: semiological approaches to music as applied to Sonic Arts and related art forms; sound, meaning and mimesis; timbre, structure and discourse; social aspects concerning the reception and dissemination of sonic arts. | ||||||
| MUS-20035 | Computer Video | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module you will learn how to work on an audio-video suite (Apple Final Cut) to carry out some given tasks, both technical and creative, in which you will record/film/edit digital audio and video material. This module deals with the representation of the moving image in the digital domain and related issues of data storage, bandwidth, computational requirements. Other subjects covered include: digital camcorders (theory and practical use); video-DVD authoring. | ||||||
| MUS-20037 | Creative Sound Design | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module deals with the application of software to advanced audio-processing and sound-design using a variety of techniques (e.g. filtering, spectral domain techniques, time domain techniques, etc.). The module includes discussion of technical and aesthetic aspects of the uses of audio processing and sound design techniques; providing skills for creative project work, such as composition and sound design (e.g. design of a soundtrack for video). | ||||||
| MUS-20039 | Music in German Culture | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Germany holds a special place in the history of music; this module considers why this is so, and examines some of the principal moments in this history. By ranging across a variety of media, such as concert music, opera, film music, music theatre and the musical, it also reveals how music interacts with a range of cultural forms within a modern European nation that is associated with a prestigous tradition. Key moments will be chosen from an historical span ranging from the late eighteenth to late twentieth centuries. | ||||||
| MUS-20043 | Lyrics and the Popular Song | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What makes a great lyric? Why are song lyrics sung? And why are those sung song lyrics accompanied? What, and how, do popular songs mean? Is pop and rock disposable, meaningless commercial art, or a site of profundity, self-discovery and meaningful explorations of socio-cultural issues and the human condition? On this innovative and highly interactive interdisciplinary module fusing creative and critical approaches, you will learn to create, critique, analyse, edit and sing lyrics, in order more fully to comprehend the powerful fusion of words and music at the centre of pop and rock's socio-cultural and artistic meanings, and to develop your own creative voice and abilities as either a writer or a musician. Led by song writer, pop star and novelist Joe Stretch (English) and erstwhile songwriter, never a pop star and musicologist Nick Reyland (Music), the module will proceed through two phases, critical and creative, all sessions having a high level of student participation. In the first phase, lectures, seminars and tutorials will explore core critical issues in the analysis of popular songs lyrics, how they are sung and their interaction with a musical environment; creative considerations including specificity vs opacity, use of names, sexuality and place will be explored. A critical essay will be submitted at the end of this phase of the module. The second phase will take the form of a series of creative workshops involving group and later individual creative work. Indicative themes for the workshops include critiquing and improving flawed existing lyrics, finding melodies for new lyrics, and creating lyrics and melodies for pre-recorded musical environments, in response to literary stimuli. Towards the end of the module, students will bring in their own developing work on their second piece of coursework (a creative task involving either editing an existing lyric or creating a new lyric and melody for a pre-recorded environment) and discuss, with peers and with the tutors, their work in progress. Please note that, while an interest in popular music, creative writing and/or song writing are obviously 'must haves' for students taking the module, no particular musical talent, particularly as a vocalist, is required to enrol. On the other hand, whether or not you consider yourself a singer, you will be singing out loud and sharing your creative work by week twelve, albeit in an informal and supportive creative environment. The module is therefore most obviously suited to musicians and writers with a developing interest in the creation of popular music, but is open to all. | ||||||
| MUS-20044 | Theory and Analysis | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Analysing music enables critical understanding of the ways in which music is organised, and also facilitates more informed assessment of its qualities. Such enhanced appreciation offers the prospect of intensified engagement with music. As well as offering insights into individual scores, the module also demonstrates how such scores relate to larger frameworks of musical engagement. The underlying analytical question is: how does music work? | ||||||
| MUS-20046 | Chamber Music | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The Chamber Music module offers the the opportunity for students to explore the great wealth of repertoire in the (mainly) Western classical canon and to establish musical partnerships which can then be extended and developed beyond the duration of the module. Students will be introduced to works suitable to the combinations of instruments (voices) that are registered on the module and they will have the opportunity to undertake further individual research into possible repertoire. The groups (once established) will be coached in their selected repertoire aiming to develop a uniformity of approach and tightness of ensemble whilst still encouraging the individual expressive voice of each member of the group to speak. In a series of workshop classes, groups will perform sections of or whole works to each other prompting group discussion on the musical, technical and stylistic issues which the performances generate. The module culminates with an assessed public recital in which each student will perform in one or more ensembles for at least 15 mins. | ||||||
| MUS-20047 | Unheard Melodies? Music in the Narrative Film | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Why do films have music? How does music help a film to tell its story? Do we actually hear film music? Does music make perceivers more receptive to a film's ideological content? This module will explore questions along these lines, while enabling students: &· to acquire an understanding of the uses and history of music in the narrative film (and, by extension, in other screen media, e.g., television, computer games) &· to develop the ability to analyze instances of film/screen music, and to critique its narrative and ideological purposes &· to learn a basic vocabulary of music analytical tools &· to gain a basic understanding of narrative theory, and &· to develop analytical and other scholarly skills through written assignments, classroom contributions and independent research. Students interesting in composition or sound editing will also have an opportunity to rescore an existing passage of film as part of their portfolio assessment. The first half of the module will proceed by building up a theoretical base for understanding and analyzing filmic narrativity and, crucially, music's place within the filmic discourse; the second half of the module will then progress through a series of case studies exploring examples from Hollywood and non-Hollywood scoring practice. A basic knowledge of music theory and some practical musical ability would be advantageous to students taking this module, but is not strictly necessary. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MDS-20019 | Analysing Culture | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In Analysing Culture we consider how culture enables people to make sense of their personal and social lives. The first session of the course refers to Geertz&©s classic paper on Balinese society to introduce the concept of culture. The key question we want to ask through our study of Geertz essay is $ùwhat is culture?&© Following this example of an anthropologically strange culture we move on to think about the construction of national identity through a consideration of Hall&©s work on western identity, Said&©s essay on orientalism, Anderson&©s notion of imaginary communities, and various representations of contemporary nationality. Although the nation has provided a strong cultural map for people since the middle of the 17th century, the rise of modern urbanism has challenged this cultural form through its embrace of privacy and a culture of alienation. In week 3 we consider urban culture, read Simmel&©s classic essay on the metropolitan mind, and think about the ways in which the city is represented today. In the next session we show how people have sought to relate culture to the problem of alienation in modern culture. In week 4 we think about the notion of consumer culture through Adorno and Horkheimer&©s idea of mass culture and Klein's theory of branding and consider how commodities might work like narcotics that numb our senses to the impoverished reality of our one-dimensional society. Our key cultural texts here is Danny Boyle&©s film Trainspotting. In the second part of the course we begin by thinking about cultural politics. In week 5 we focus on Bourdieu&©s idea of distinction and think about how far his theory reflects popular uses of culture in the contemporary world. For Bourdieu culture is not simply a form of deception, but rather a tool that people use in order to try to distinguish themselves from other people in the endless struggle that is competitive capitalism. Although Bourdieu suggests that people use culture for their own purposes, he thinks that they use it unimaginatively and strictly within the confines of capitalist ideology. Thus we may say that Bourdieu is essentially a Marxist. In week 6 we try to extend the Marxist theory of culture through an exploration of the works on the key writers on everyday life. In particular we refer to the idea of contested culture expressed in the works of the French theorists of constructed space and everyday life, Lefebvre and de Certeau. The purpose of this exercise is to suggest that culture may be a space of negotiation, contestation, and confrontation, rather than simply a mechanism of deception or distinction. In week 7 we extend our exploration of this idea of cultural resistance through a discussion of the theory of sub-culture. This theory shows how new communities are able to emerge through consumer relations and cultural performance. We address this theory through a consideration of the classic example of punk, the more contemporary case of gangsta rap, and a reading of the works of the cultural sociologists of performance, Goffman, Garfinkel, and Mead. In the final three weeks of the course we move on to focus on theories of post-modernism, the culturally constructed body, and globalisation. In week 8 we explore the idea of post-modern culture through Dominic Strinati&©s essay on the topic, David Lynch&©s cinema, and Fredric Jameson&©s influential paper, Post-modernism, Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. For Jameson culture is the dominant form of identification in post-modern society. He thinks that people no longer worry about economics or politics, but rather understand these categories through culture. What does this mean? We will try to find out week 10 when we consider the ideas of global culture and anti-capitalism. But before we consider global culture, we examine the post-modern concern for the body and in particular Bordo's theory of the economic body. In week 9 we approach Bordo's theory through a cultural history of thinking about and imaging the body, taking in the Greek God body, the modern super-hero body, and the post-modern techno body, represented by both Haraway's cyborg, Bordo's metabolic body, and various science fiction bodies. Our study of the body, and body image, allows us to think about the ways that politics and economics are subsumed in culture in global society. Shifting from a study of the microcosm of the body to the macrocosm of the globalised world, in week 10 we refer to the works of contemporary writers, such as Giddens and Beck, who dispute the claims of the conflict theorists, such as Adorno and Horkheimer, by arguing that there is no monolithic centre of power that imposes meaning upon people&©s lives in global society. Rather Giddens and Beck argue that contemporary culture is characterised by risk, chance, and freedom of choice. In this session we think about their suggestion that traditional power structures no longer hold in post-modern / global society through an exploration of the idea of the new social movement and in particular anti-capitalist cultural politics. Our core text for this session is the recent film, Fight Club, which connects visions of the body and globalised consumer capitalism to issues of revolutionary cultural politics. | ||||||
| MUS-20032 | Indian Music | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module promotes an understanding of Northern Indian classical music, Indian film music and and range of related popular music through the analysis of recorded performance and video. Central to the module is an understanding and recognition of musical techniques which may surface in a variety of musical contexts, but which are rooted in the classical traditions; students are encouraged to focus on both the minutiae of very short extracts as well as understanding the large scale architecture of performance. In the case of popular music, students will explore how traditional elements interact with the conventions of popular music through various case studies. | ||||||
| MUS-20033 | Digital Audio | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module aims to establish the theoretical base for music digital signal processing based on audio technologies currently employed for creative purposes. At the end of the module students will be able to:describe the main techniques for digitising and storing sound; understand the principles and means of implementing techniques for storage and processing; identify contemporary and established techniques for synthesis and processing. | ||||||
| MUS-20036 | Audio-Visual Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enable students to produce creative work that uses as combination of digital audio and digital video. This module deals with: a brief history and aesthetics of experimental digital audio-visual composition; the analysis of audio-visual works from selected repertoire. Students also learn to use: creative tools for synthesis and transformation of digital video footage and animations; creative tools for synthesis and transformation of digital audio materials; strategies to combine audio and video materials in a creatively coherent manner. | ||||||
| MUS-20038 | Interactive Realtime Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module, students learn skills for interactive realtime processing including the use of software and its application to advanced live audio processing. A variety of time-domain and spectral-domain techniques are covered including: filtering, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) based algorithms (convolution, vocoding, etc.), granularization of streaming sound, delay effects. The module also discusses technical and aesthetic aspects of the creative repertoire that use relevant realtime processing and live performance techniques as well as providing guidance in related creative project work(e.g. interactive composition, improvisation). | ||||||
| MUS-20041 | SOLO PERFORMANCE | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Solo performance offers the opportunity for students to present a 20-minute assessed public recital. They will continue to receive the individual instrumental lessons and will regularly perform parts of their chosen repertoire in the workshop classes which make up a significant portion of the module. These class performances significantly help to increase the confidence of each student in playing in front of an audience. Students will discuss and work on a close examination and inculcation of the skills required for successful performance at an advanced level; attention is given to idomatic performance practice, style and interpretation and communication. Listening to and reflecting upon live and recorded performances is an integral part of the module; students will keep and submit a diary which offers their thoughts and reflections on the works and perfomances to which they are listenening. The assessed recital at the close of the module offers the opportunity for friends and family to attend and support, thereby creating a truely public concert. | ||||||
| MUS-20042 | Composition Studies: Intermediate Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is concerned with the study and practice of compositional techniques through composition and analysis of scores. The focuses will be: timbre, texture, process, structure and form. These areas of compositional practice will be studied across a number of scores. Students will compose one or more compositions for the instrumental forces available within the group, demonstrating an understanding of creative, artistic, issues arising from coursework, discussions and workshops. | ||||||
| MUS-20045 | Stravinsky, Russian Traditions and Legacy | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module introduces students to the music of one of the most signficant twentieth-century composers, Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky's creative career spanned most of the century, but initiated and reflected some of the most important musical developments of the century. Stravinsky's early music was indebted to his Russian nationalist musical heritage and this is evident in his 3 early ballets, The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring. These works shook the musical and artistic world because of their mixture of modernity, exoticism and primitivism; they also made him (in)famous. Not content to repeat himself, Stravinsky appeared to reject his own innovations and instead re-engaged with music of the past. For 30 years he wrote music that was largely tonal and that often reworked old forms and styles to produce something new and distinctive. Stravinsky's final phase surprised many; he embraced twelve-note serialism, albeit on his own terms. His final creative years give a fascinating reflection of the musicians, poets and politicians Stravinsky knew and to whom he paid homage in numerous musical tributes. Exile is an important issue in considering Stravinsky. His moves from Russian to France and then to America are reflected in his compositional output, yet there are many enduring and persitent traits. Throughout his career, his music shocked on account of his tendency to borrow or 'steal' existing music, for instance, folk song and music of the past. Until recently, much of Stravinsky's output was considered to be outside mainstream modernist traditions. However, the module considers changing perspectives on Stravinsky significance; composers and writers have rethought Stravinsky's place in the twentieth century and his legacy today. | ||||||
| MUS-20048 | Music in the Community | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Music in the Community is an exciting new initiative and will enhance the choice of student activity at level 2. Many students are already engaged in activities in the community but currently they get no credit for this work. Yet these activities are important in planning and shaping the careers of students. With the approval of the tutor, students will be able suggest suitable activites, such as work in schools, residential homes, community choirs and orchestras. Music technology projects may include links with companies, community projects with young people, in prisions or schools. In addition, students may tap into existing links between Music and selected local organisations. Students will meet regularly with the tutor and other students to discuss preparation and progress through the project. They will present their ideas and findings in a supportive and critical environment. Students will keep a reflective diary relating to their activities; they will also carry out a short piece of critical work in an area relating to their chosen placement. The module will enhance and consolidate the sort of practical work in which many of our students are already engaged and it will enable other students to gain some invaluable practical experience. | ||||||
| MUS-20053 | Music Technology - Study Abroad V | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20054 | Music Technology - Study Abroad VI | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-30027 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 1 | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30027 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 1 | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30033 | MAX/MSP | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MAX-MSP is a widely used software package allowing for the design of musical algorithms using MIDI and recorded, live or sampled sounds. The ideas and material explored in this module provide skills that can be used in the context of other modules, notably composition and cross media practice. The focus is on the design and development of intelligent tools which aid the composition and performance, provide automation of tasks and extend the capabilities of conventional instruments. The principal objective of the module is the creation and realisation of a score involving live performance and electronics. The emphasis throughout the module is on a compositional possibility for the use of MAX/MSP. | ||||||
| MUS-30033 | MAX/MSP | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MAX-MSP is a widely used software package allowing for the design of musical algorithms using MIDI and recorded, live or sampled sounds. The ideas and material explored in this module provide skills that can be used in the context of other modules, notably composition and cross media practice. The focus is on the design and development of intelligent tools which aid the composition and performance, provide automation of tasks and extend the capabilities of conventional instruments. The principal objective of the module is the creation and realisation of a score involving live performance and electronics. The emphasis throughout the module is on a compositional possibility for the use of MAX/MSP. | ||||||
| MUS-30035 | Music Programming | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module consists of a series of lectures and workshops. You will acquire knowledge on how to use a programming language and work through a series of tasks that will guide you in writing your own programs. You should very quickly get to the point where you can design the interface of your software and test its functionality. Then, you will be ready to integrate the required code to get it to generate sounds. You will be encouraged to think about the implementation of your own creative ideas, which you will be able to discuss with the module tutor. | ||||||
| Semester 1-2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-30032 | Dissertation 2 - ISP | O | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module gives students the unique opportunity to produce a substantial piece of written work of 8000 words. Students can select a topic of particular interest in consultation with the module tutor. The tutor ensures that the appropriate supervision is available to support the topic. Students work independently with a dissertation supervisor and also in small groups and seminars. Students study research skills appropriate for this level of study. They also work consistently throughout the year to meet a number of internal deadlines for titles, chapter plans and draft chapters. They submit a draft chapter to the supervisor in order to gain valuable feedback on their project and their progress. | ||||||
| MUS-30032 | Dissertation 2 - ISP | EP | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module gives students the unique opportunity to produce a substantial piece of written work of 8000 words. Students can select a topic of particular interest in consultation with the module tutor. The tutor ensures that the appropriate supervision is available to support the topic. Students work independently with a dissertation supervisor and also in small groups and seminars. Students study research skills appropriate for this level of study. They also work consistently throughout the year to meet a number of internal deadlines for titles, chapter plans and draft chapters. They submit a draft chapter to the supervisor in order to gain valuable feedback on their project and their progress. | ||||||
| MUS-30034 | Music Programming Project - ISP | O | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module will give guidance and provide supervision to facilitate production of materials for assessment by addressing general topics pertaining to music software design, and specific problems generated by individuals within the group. Programming topics include: familiarisation with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), compiling and executing applications. variables and operators(e.g. in C++) , designing an interface, connecting variables to the interface, conditional statements, loops arrays, programming with specific interface paradigms(e.g. combo boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, etc.), programming with specific musical protocols (e.g. MIDI), pointers, structures, file input and output, audio input, output and storage, advanced work on dialog-box style applications. | ||||||
| MUS-30034 | Music Programming Project - ISP | EP | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module will give guidance and provide supervision to facilitate production of materials for assessment by addressing general topics pertaining to music software design, and specific problems generated by individuals within the group. Programming topics include: familiarisation with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), compiling and executing applications. variables and operators(e.g. in C++) , designing an interface, connecting variables to the interface, conditional statements, loops arrays, programming with specific interface paradigms(e.g. combo boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, etc.), programming with specific musical protocols (e.g. MIDI), pointers, structures, file input and output, audio input, output and storage, advanced work on dialog-box style applications. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| # | MUS-30014 | Colloquia in Electroacoustic Music | O | M | 7.5 | 15 |
| This course will address issues such as the aesthetic implications of various sub-genres, social issues concerning the comprehension and dissemination of electroacoustic music, compositional matters regarding the use of anecdotal sounds, theoretical approaches to classification of timbre, politics and music technology, gender issues, etc. Teaching will mainly comprise class discussion of set texts. | ||||||
| # | MUS-30014 | Colloquia in Electroacoustic Music | EP | M | 7.5 | 15 |
| This course will address issues such as the aesthetic implications of various sub-genres, social issues concerning the comprehension and dissemination of electroacoustic music, compositional matters regarding the use of anecdotal sounds, theoretical approaches to classification of timbre, politics and music technology, gender issues, etc. Teaching will mainly comprise class discussion of set texts. | ||||||
| MUS-30028 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 2 - ISP | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30028 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 2 - ISP | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MDS-10008 | Mediated World | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Mediated World aims to introduce students to some of the main theories and debates found in contemporary media, communication and cultural studies. In this course we examine how the mass media has come to dominate our everyday life $ú from the spaces we inhabit, to the beliefs we hold and values we share $ú while analyzing our individual and collective role in this complex relationship. By looking at how and why the tools developed by societies $ú from the first printing press to today&©s high speed internet $ú have been used for mass communication, we will probe how power is constructed in media messages and ask whether the consumers of such messages can ever wrest back control over meaning. | ||||||
| MDS-10009 | Digital Video | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module focuses on the creation of a short film. You will learn the fundamentals of video production, including the techniques and the aesthetics of screen writing, shooting, composition and editing. Most importantly you will learn by doing. This is a hands on course that encourages you to familiarise yourself with digital video equipment, consider the work of other film and documentary makers, experiment with and develop your own filmmaking style and begin acquiring a knowledge of film language and terminology. The key areas of focus are: - Film language and terminology (critical analysis of films and conventions) - Pre-production (scriptwriting, storyboarding, schedules and planning) - Production (camera operation, directing) - Post-production (editing) Assessment will be by a group project, 3-5 minute short film (50%) and a workbook (50%). | ||||||
| MUS-10029 | Orchestral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop instrumental skills within an orchestral or concert band framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble playing skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10030 | Ensemble Performance | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Students have the opportunity and coaching to form ensembles and select and investigate appropriate works. They also develop knowledge of ensemble repertoire of all periods, with the opportunity to rehearse and perform appropriate selected works. They contribute 10-15 minutes to an open ensemble performance. This is also the first level of a pathway in ensemble and chamber performance. The module also hones important skills in group work. There are weekly seminars and workshops devoted to forming ensembles, selecting repertoire, rehearsal and critical peer performances. There are opportunities for students to conduct ensembles. Related work includes active listening, score reading, individual instrumental practice and organized ensemble rehearsal outside of class time. | ||||||
| MUS-10034 | Introduction to Composition | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is a vital component of the pathway in Composition that runs throughout the Music course. It also complements the Twentieth Century Module. Students engage with technical and aesthetic issues relating to the composition of predominantly instrumental and vocal music and to acquaint students with a specific issues relating to contemporary western art music. They are introduced to various strategies for generating and organising musical materials, focusing on pitch, duration, dynamics and timbre. Students undertake technical and analytical exercises in addition to composing original pieces. They are also involved in hearing some of their creative work performed in workshops. | ||||||
| MUS-10036 | Choral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop vocal skills within a choral framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10037 | Introduction to Music Theory | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module will introduce students to elements of pitch and pitch class; beat, meter and rhythm (simple and compound); scales and diatonic modes; pitch intervals; triads and seventh chords; transposition and clefs. This module involves a number of learning environments, including plenary sessions, lab classes, tutorial support, and WebCT support, learning and testing. It is an ideal module for students who have not had the opportunity to acquire music theory, and/or who wish to brush up on their theory so they can take modules in composition, analysis or musicology. It is also intended for students with a Music Techology background who want to acquire some skills in in written notation in order to pursue modules in composition or simply to increase their options through the programme. | ||||||
| MUS-10038 | Sonic Arts Repertoire | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The module encompasses history and aesthetics of Electroacoustic music and sonic arts since the earliest developments after the Second World War up to the most current creative directions in sound-as-art, installation art, sonic sculpture, interactive systems, and sound design. It explores the origins of the topics and examines the substantial range of forms offering a broader historical, cultural and artistic background. In addition to lectures, listening sessions are incorporated during which selected works are played. These sessions are followed by discussions concentrating on aspects of techniques, materials, structures and form. Such analytical enquiry is an indispensable introduction to the range of languages used by composers, sound and audiovisual artists in the last fifty years. This module will provide students both with and without a background in Music and Music Technology with a solid base for understanding and further study of the practical aspects and techniques of electroacoustic, audio-visual, and interactive creation. On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to understand, analyse, and write on electro-acoustic and audio-visual composition, sonic arts, interactive composition and other creative forms. | ||||||
| MUS-10041 | Sound Recording | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is particularly useful for those students who already possess some experience in sound recording and/or with live PA equipment and/or mixing desks. Students who do not have such experience should contact the module leader to discuss admission to the module. The number of students admitted to this module is capped by studio resources availability. Please note that students taking this module are expected to possess, or acquire through self-study, at least a basic working knowledge of LogicPro or LogicExpress with regards to multi-track recording and mixing. Students will be required to organise a sound recording project; this include deciding what track(s) to record and find the musicians to play the various parts. Therefore, students must be able and willing to quickly and efficiently network with friends and peers to achieve that end. The module aims: to provide students with an opportunity to develop their technical skills in sound recording and music studio production; to establish a practical foundation for the use of sound recording techniques to be developed in future optional modules or project options at level 2 and 3; to engage with technical and aesthetic concerns related to sound quality in mixes. At the end of the module students will be able to: carry out simple field sound recording tasks using portable recorders.; carry out simple sound recording and mixing tasks in a sound recording studio; plan and implement a more substantial music production project in a sound recording studio. The module covers: microphone technologies and techniques; portable recorders technologies and techniques; field recording experiments; editing, technical improvement and message re-enforcement; recording studio technologies and techniques; planning and realisation of a sound recording and mixing project. | ||||||
| PHY-10025 | Audio Electronics | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This level 1 module runs in the first semester. The material introduces the physical and theoretical properties of sound waves, DC and AC circuits, amplifiers and oscillators, and specialised circuits that can be found in modern Audio-frequency reproduction equipment. The methods used in the practical laboratory sessions would be useful to students intending to take Music Technology modules as part of their studies. The module is also suitable for students who wish to acquire an understanding of audio-frequency electronics as applied to domestic and professional sound systems. No prior experience or knowledge of electronics is assumed. | ||||||
| Semester 1-2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-10035 | Instrumental Lessons | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The purpose of this module is to hone performance skills and develop technique on an instrument or voice. Students are also given the chance to engage with new and more challenging repertoire. Students work one to one with their specialist instrumental or vocal teacher on a range of performance skills with the help of technical exercises and $ùstudies&©. They will also work on appropriate repertoire pieces (normally drawn from the mainstream repertoire). The student should become familiar with the core repertoire of the instrument, and, in addition, should be introduced to examples drawn from more specialized areas (as appropriate). This is a 15-credit module that is runs throughout the year and is assessed at the end of semester 2. This module is a crucial element in the performance pathway, which runs throughout the degree programme. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MDS-10010 | Understanding Culture | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What is culture? Where is it and who particpates in it? How has our understanding of it developed historically? What's the difference between high and low culture? How does literature, film, photography and advertising encourage us to behave in particular ways? This course will introduce some of the key concepts and issues in the historical and contemporary study of culture. It will introduce theories, approaches and methodologies for the study of a range of cultural $ùtexts&© from Shakespeare to magazine advertisements. We will start by looking at literary culture from the past and focus on the relationship between $ùclassic&© literary texts and their audiences, both now and when they were first produced. We will go on to look at popular contemporary culture in both visual and written form, including film, photographs and advertisements. | ||||||
| MDS-10011 | The Photographic Message | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The Photographic Message In this module students will look at the impact of photography as a mode of mechanical reproduction through to contemporary hyper real digital image production. Students will be introduced to semiotic analysis and study the work and roll of photographic practioners in both a contemporary and historical context. Each student will produce a photomontage and workbook based on notions of cultural identity and/or stigma and discrimination. Assessment will be by a visual project photomontage (50%), a workbook (50%), and a compulsory oral presentation. | ||||||
| MUS-10029 | Orchestral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop instrumental skills within an orchestral or concert band framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble playing skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10031 | Active Listening | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Students learn to listen actively rather than passively to music, with a particular focus on hearing the relationship between form and content in music, and therefore being able to identify musical structures through the development of their aural skills. They also learn to identify a range of standard forms in music from a wide range of repertoires, and to learn the key features of those forms. Students are introduced to the idea of active structural listening as opposed to passive or atomistic moment by moment listening. In order to touch on key issues, the module may also discuss the New Grove article on $ùForm&© by Arnold Whittall (or similar document for discussion of relevant issues), in order to question the difference between form and structure; it may also discuss composer Witold Lutoslawski&©s conception of active and passive listening. | ||||||
| MUS-10036 | Choral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop vocal skills within a choral framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10039 | Surround Sound | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| At the end of the module students will be able to: - Identify basic empirical methods to work with surround sound in a project studio - Comprehend and interpret basic core concepts on surround sound - Create surrounds sound artefacts based on acquired techniques and observation of repertoire and real world sound-scapes - Apply sound diffusion concepts using a multi-loudspeaker system in a real concert space - Plan, prepare, rehears and deliver a public surround sound event The module deals with: technical fundamentals, aesthetic considerations, modern applications in music and cinema; the creation of a surround sound sonic landscape; surround sound mixes; spatial enhancement of sonic and musical discourse; the planning, practice and concert presentation of an acousmatic work using sound projection. | ||||||
| MUS-10040 | Composing With Sound | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module seeks to establish practical foundation for the use of studio techniques in future modules at level 2 and 3. It also enables students to engage with technical and aesthetic concerns arising when working creatively with digital audio technologies. At the end of the module students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge and recollection of basic empirical methods to work with audio material in a project studio; demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of basic concepts; apply methods in the construction of original sonic artefacts (Sonic Art work, sound idents, soundtracks for existing video). | ||||||
| MUS-10042 | Analog and Digital Audio | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module aims to establish a common theoretical base on elements of acoustics, electro-acoustics and digital audio for future practical modules that will focus on the creative application of audio technologies. At the end of the module students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge/recollection of basic core concepts, rules and physical measurements of acoustic phenomena and their representation in the digital domain; demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of basic core concepts; apply methods and theories learnt in the module. The module covers: elements of acoustics, auditory perception; analog audio and signal path; elements of spectral analysis, audible spectrum, spectrum of noise and pitched sounds, filters; Fourier theorem, additive sound synthesis; digitisation of audio signals, sampling theorem, aliasing; computer audio, hardware, software, MIDI protocol; electro-acoustic transducers, microphones, loudspeakers. | ||||||
| MUS-10043 | Popular Music | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What is going on when Girls Aloud cover the Kaiser Chiefs, Kaiser Chiefs blast Girls Aloud for doing so, and then two years later the bands collaborate on a Christmas special? Why do subcultures and scenes cluster around different popular musics? What is the purpose of the popular music industry? Why do songs have lyrics, and lyrics accompaniments? What, or how, do pop songs mean? On this module you will seek answers to questions like these by engaging with the social and musical meanings of popular music and its culture industry. This intellectually challenging module takes popular culture seriously by utilizing stimulating theoretical and philosophical approaches to its analysis and critique. It also employs innovative classroom activities, debates, group work, and individual and group assessments ranging from WebCT assignments to a group analysis essay, in order to stimulate the development of critical competencies that will permit you better to understand the musical forms at the centre of contemporary culture, in the process transforming your understanding of the musics in your life. | ||||||
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-20026 | Music Technology - Study Abroad I | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20027 | Music Technology - Study Abroad II | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20034 | Meaning in Sonic Arts | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module examines the analytical tools and approaches used to understand the construction and meaning of works of Sonic Art together with their relationship to wider artistic and social contexts and impulses. Topics studied include: semiological approaches to music as applied to Sonic Arts and related art forms; sound, meaning and mimesis; timbre, structure and discourse; social aspects concerning the reception and dissemination of sonic arts. | ||||||
| MUS-20035 | Computer Video | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module you will learn how to work on an audio-video suite (Apple Final Cut) to carry out some given tasks, both technical and creative, in which you will record/film/edit digital audio and video material. This module deals with the representation of the moving image in the digital domain and related issues of data storage, bandwidth, computational requirements. Other subjects covered include: digital camcorders (theory and practical use); video-DVD authoring. | ||||||
| MUS-20037 | Creative Sound Design | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module deals with the application of software to advanced audio-processing and sound-design using a variety of techniques (e.g. filtering, spectral domain techniques, time domain techniques, etc.). The module includes discussion of technical and aesthetic aspects of the uses of audio processing and sound design techniques; providing skills for creative project work, such as composition and sound design (e.g. design of a soundtrack for video). | ||||||
| MUS-20039 | Music in German Culture | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Germany holds a special place in the history of music; this module considers why this is so, and examines some of the principal moments in this history. By ranging across a variety of media, such as concert music, opera, film music, music theatre and the musical, it also reveals how music interacts with a range of cultural forms within a modern European nation that is associated with a prestigous tradition. Key moments will be chosen from an historical span ranging from the late eighteenth to late twentieth centuries. | ||||||
| MUS-20043 | Lyrics and the Popular Song | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What makes a great lyric? Why are song lyrics sung? And why are those sung song lyrics accompanied? What, and how, do popular songs mean? Is pop and rock disposable, meaningless commercial art, or a site of profundity, self-discovery and meaningful explorations of socio-cultural issues and the human condition? On this innovative and highly interactive interdisciplinary module fusing creative and critical approaches, you will learn to create, critique, analyse, edit and sing lyrics, in order more fully to comprehend the powerful fusion of words and music at the centre of pop and rock's socio-cultural and artistic meanings, and to develop your own creative voice and abilities as either a writer or a musician. Led by song writer, pop star and novelist Joe Stretch (English) and erstwhile songwriter, never a pop star and musicologist Nick Reyland (Music), the module will proceed through two phases, critical and creative, all sessions having a high level of student participation. In the first phase, lectures, seminars and tutorials will explore core critical issues in the analysis of popular songs lyrics, how they are sung and their interaction with a musical environment; creative considerations including specificity vs opacity, use of names, sexuality and place will be explored. A critical essay will be submitted at the end of this phase of the module. The second phase will take the form of a series of creative workshops involving group and later individual creative work. Indicative themes for the workshops include critiquing and improving flawed existing lyrics, finding melodies for new lyrics, and creating lyrics and melodies for pre-recorded musical environments, in response to literary stimuli. Towards the end of the module, students will bring in their own developing work on their second piece of coursework (a creative task involving either editing an existing lyric or creating a new lyric and melody for a pre-recorded environment) and discuss, with peers and with the tutors, their work in progress. Please note that, while an interest in popular music, creative writing and/or song writing are obviously 'must haves' for students taking the module, no particular musical talent, particularly as a vocalist, is required to enrol. On the other hand, whether or not you consider yourself a singer, you will be singing out loud and sharing your creative work by week twelve, albeit in an informal and supportive creative environment. The module is therefore most obviously suited to musicians and writers with a developing interest in the creation of popular music, but is open to all. | ||||||
| MUS-20044 | Theory and Analysis | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Analysing music enables critical understanding of the ways in which music is organised, and also facilitates more informed assessment of its qualities. Such enhanced appreciation offers the prospect of intensified engagement with music. As well as offering insights into individual scores, the module also demonstrates how such scores relate to larger frameworks of musical engagement. The underlying analytical question is: how does music work? | ||||||
| MUS-20046 | Chamber Music | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The Chamber Music module offers the the opportunity for students to explore the great wealth of repertoire in the (mainly) Western classical canon and to establish musical partnerships which can then be extended and developed beyond the duration of the module. Students will be introduced to works suitable to the combinations of instruments (voices) that are registered on the module and they will have the opportunity to undertake further individual research into possible repertoire. The groups (once established) will be coached in their selected repertoire aiming to develop a uniformity of approach and tightness of ensemble whilst still encouraging the individual expressive voice of each member of the group to speak. In a series of workshop classes, groups will perform sections of or whole works to each other prompting group discussion on the musical, technical and stylistic issues which the performances generate. The module culminates with an assessed public recital in which each student will perform in one or more ensembles for at least 15 mins. | ||||||
| MUS-20047 | Unheard Melodies? Music in the Narrative Film | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Why do films have music? How does music help a film to tell its story? Do we actually hear film music? Does music make perceivers more receptive to a film's ideological content? This module will explore questions along these lines, while enabling students: &· to acquire an understanding of the uses and history of music in the narrative film (and, by extension, in other screen media, e.g., television, computer games) &· to develop the ability to analyze instances of film/screen music, and to critique its narrative and ideological purposes &· to learn a basic vocabulary of music analytical tools &· to gain a basic understanding of narrative theory, and &· to develop analytical and other scholarly skills through written assignments, classroom contributions and independent research. Students interesting in composition or sound editing will also have an opportunity to rescore an existing passage of film as part of their portfolio assessment. The first half of the module will proceed by building up a theoretical base for understanding and analyzing filmic narrativity and, crucially, music's place within the filmic discourse; the second half of the module will then progress through a series of case studies exploring examples from Hollywood and non-Hollywood scoring practice. A basic knowledge of music theory and some practical musical ability would be advantageous to students taking this module, but is not strictly necessary. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MDS-20019 | Analysing Culture | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In Analysing Culture we consider how culture enables people to make sense of their personal and social lives. The first session of the course refers to Geertz&©s classic paper on Balinese society to introduce the concept of culture. The key question we want to ask through our study of Geertz essay is $ùwhat is culture?&© Following this example of an anthropologically strange culture we move on to think about the construction of national identity through a consideration of Hall&©s work on western identity, Said&©s essay on orientalism, Anderson&©s notion of imaginary communities, and various representations of contemporary nationality. Although the nation has provided a strong cultural map for people since the middle of the 17th century, the rise of modern urbanism has challenged this cultural form through its embrace of privacy and a culture of alienation. In week 3 we consider urban culture, read Simmel&©s classic essay on the metropolitan mind, and think about the ways in which the city is represented today. In the next session we show how people have sought to relate culture to the problem of alienation in modern culture. In week 4 we think about the notion of consumer culture through Adorno and Horkheimer&©s idea of mass culture and Klein's theory of branding and consider how commodities might work like narcotics that numb our senses to the impoverished reality of our one-dimensional society. Our key cultural texts here is Danny Boyle&©s film Trainspotting. In the second part of the course we begin by thinking about cultural politics. In week 5 we focus on Bourdieu&©s idea of distinction and think about how far his theory reflects popular uses of culture in the contemporary world. For Bourdieu culture is not simply a form of deception, but rather a tool that people use in order to try to distinguish themselves from other people in the endless struggle that is competitive capitalism. Although Bourdieu suggests that people use culture for their own purposes, he thinks that they use it unimaginatively and strictly within the confines of capitalist ideology. Thus we may say that Bourdieu is essentially a Marxist. In week 6 we try to extend the Marxist theory of culture through an exploration of the works on the key writers on everyday life. In particular we refer to the idea of contested culture expressed in the works of the French theorists of constructed space and everyday life, Lefebvre and de Certeau. The purpose of this exercise is to suggest that culture may be a space of negotiation, contestation, and confrontation, rather than simply a mechanism of deception or distinction. In week 7 we extend our exploration of this idea of cultural resistance through a discussion of the theory of sub-culture. This theory shows how new communities are able to emerge through consumer relations and cultural performance. We address this theory through a consideration of the classic example of punk, the more contemporary case of gangsta rap, and a reading of the works of the cultural sociologists of performance, Goffman, Garfinkel, and Mead. In the final three weeks of the course we move on to focus on theories of post-modernism, the culturally constructed body, and globalisation. In week 8 we explore the idea of post-modern culture through Dominic Strinati&©s essay on the topic, David Lynch&©s cinema, and Fredric Jameson&©s influential paper, Post-modernism, Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. For Jameson culture is the dominant form of identification in post-modern society. He thinks that people no longer worry about economics or politics, but rather understand these categories through culture. What does this mean? We will try to find out week 10 when we consider the ideas of global culture and anti-capitalism. But before we consider global culture, we examine the post-modern concern for the body and in particular Bordo's theory of the economic body. In week 9 we approach Bordo's theory through a cultural history of thinking about and imaging the body, taking in the Greek God body, the modern super-hero body, and the post-modern techno body, represented by both Haraway's cyborg, Bordo's metabolic body, and various science fiction bodies. Our study of the body, and body image, allows us to think about the ways that politics and economics are subsumed in culture in global society. Shifting from a study of the microcosm of the body to the macrocosm of the globalised world, in week 10 we refer to the works of contemporary writers, such as Giddens and Beck, who dispute the claims of the conflict theorists, such as Adorno and Horkheimer, by arguing that there is no monolithic centre of power that imposes meaning upon people&©s lives in global society. Rather Giddens and Beck argue that contemporary culture is characterised by risk, chance, and freedom of choice. In this session we think about their suggestion that traditional power structures no longer hold in post-modern / global society through an exploration of the idea of the new social movement and in particular anti-capitalist cultural politics. Our core text for this session is the recent film, Fight Club, which connects visions of the body and globalised consumer capitalism to issues of revolutionary cultural politics. | ||||||
| MUS-20032 | Indian Music | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module promotes an understanding of Northern Indian classical music, Indian film music and and range of related popular music through the analysis of recorded performance and video. Central to the module is an understanding and recognition of musical techniques which may surface in a variety of musical contexts, but which are rooted in the classical traditions; students are encouraged to focus on both the minutiae of very short extracts as well as understanding the large scale architecture of performance. In the case of popular music, students will explore how traditional elements interact with the conventions of popular music through various case studies. | ||||||
| MUS-20033 | Digital Audio | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module aims to establish the theoretical base for music digital signal processing based on audio technologies currently employed for creative purposes. At the end of the module students will be able to:describe the main techniques for digitising and storing sound; understand the principles and means of implementing techniques for storage and processing; identify contemporary and established techniques for synthesis and processing. | ||||||
| MUS-20036 | Audio-Visual Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enable students to produce creative work that uses as combination of digital audio and digital video. This module deals with: a brief history and aesthetics of experimental digital audio-visual composition; the analysis of audio-visual works from selected repertoire. Students also learn to use: creative tools for synthesis and transformation of digital video footage and animations; creative tools for synthesis and transformation of digital audio materials; strategies to combine audio and video materials in a creatively coherent manner. | ||||||
| MUS-20038 | Interactive Realtime Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module, students learn skills for interactive realtime processing including the use of software and its application to advanced live audio processing. A variety of time-domain and spectral-domain techniques are covered including: filtering, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) based algorithms (convolution, vocoding, etc.), granularization of streaming sound, delay effects. The module also discusses technical and aesthetic aspects of the creative repertoire that use relevant realtime processing and live performance techniques as well as providing guidance in related creative project work(e.g. interactive composition, improvisation). | ||||||
| MUS-20041 | SOLO PERFORMANCE | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Solo performance offers the opportunity for students to present a 20-minute assessed public recital. They will continue to receive the individual instrumental lessons and will regularly perform parts of their chosen repertoire in the workshop classes which make up a significant portion of the module. These class performances significantly help to increase the confidence of each student in playing in front of an audience. Students will discuss and work on a close examination and inculcation of the skills required for successful performance at an advanced level; attention is given to idomatic performance practice, style and interpretation and communication. Listening to and reflecting upon live and recorded performances is an integral part of the module; students will keep and submit a diary which offers their thoughts and reflections on the works and perfomances to which they are listenening. The assessed recital at the close of the module offers the opportunity for friends and family to attend and support, thereby creating a truely public concert. | ||||||
| MUS-20042 | Composition Studies: Intermediate Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is concerned with the study and practice of compositional techniques through composition and analysis of scores. The focuses will be: timbre, texture, process, structure and form. These areas of compositional practice will be studied across a number of scores. Students will compose one or more compositions for the instrumental forces available within the group, demonstrating an understanding of creative, artistic, issues arising from coursework, discussions and workshops. | ||||||
| MUS-20045 | Stravinsky, Russian Traditions and Legacy | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module introduces students to the music of one of the most signficant twentieth-century composers, Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky's creative career spanned most of the century, but initiated and reflected some of the most important musical developments of the century. Stravinsky's early music was indebted to his Russian nationalist musical heritage and this is evident in his 3 early ballets, The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring. These works shook the musical and artistic world because of their mixture of modernity, exoticism and primitivism; they also made him (in)famous. Not content to repeat himself, Stravinsky appeared to reject his own innovations and instead re-engaged with music of the past. For 30 years he wrote music that was largely tonal and that often reworked old forms and styles to produce something new and distinctive. Stravinsky's final phase surprised many; he embraced twelve-note serialism, albeit on his own terms. His final creative years give a fascinating reflection of the musicians, poets and politicians Stravinsky knew and to whom he paid homage in numerous musical tributes. Exile is an important issue in considering Stravinsky. His moves from Russian to France and then to America are reflected in his compositional output, yet there are many enduring and persitent traits. Throughout his career, his music shocked on account of his tendency to borrow or 'steal' existing music, for instance, folk song and music of the past. Until recently, much of Stravinsky's output was considered to be outside mainstream modernist traditions. However, the module considers changing perspectives on Stravinsky significance; composers and writers have rethought Stravinsky's place in the twentieth century and his legacy today. | ||||||
| MUS-20048 | Music in the Community | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Music in the Community is an exciting new initiative and will enhance the choice of student activity at level 2. Many students are already engaged in activities in the community but currently they get no credit for this work. Yet these activities are important in planning and shaping the careers of students. With the approval of the tutor, students will be able suggest suitable activites, such as work in schools, residential homes, community choirs and orchestras. Music technology projects may include links with companies, community projects with young people, in prisions or schools. In addition, students may tap into existing links between Music and selected local organisations. Students will meet regularly with the tutor and other students to discuss preparation and progress through the project. They will present their ideas and findings in a supportive and critical environment. Students will keep a reflective diary relating to their activities; they will also carry out a short piece of critical work in an area relating to their chosen placement. The module will enhance and consolidate the sort of practical work in which many of our students are already engaged and it will enable other students to gain some invaluable practical experience. | ||||||
| MUS-20053 | Music Technology - Study Abroad V | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20054 | Music Technology - Study Abroad VI | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-30027 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 1 | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30029 | Narrative, Music and Meaning | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The question of how, precisely, music might signify stories or dramas has long been one of the most intense arguments in musicology. Considering both the notion and the debate offers an opportunity to cut to the heart of the relationship between socially-situated listeners and musical texts, their interactive constructions of meaning, and the manner in which music can both speak of its creator(s) and the times in which it was created, but also to and for its performers and listeners. The question, therefore, is not, more precisely, whether one can speak of music as narrative, but rather, when is it useful to speak of music as narrative - and what do such discourses tell us about the times, texts and people engaged therein? These are the topics of this module, which braids together two types of session: seminars focusing on close readings of theoretical expositions of issues of musical narratology and hermeneutics (or refutations thereof), and tutorial workshop sessions focusing on analytical expositions of those theories, and including close reading of musical scores and recordings. Repertoire to be discussed may include composers as diverse as Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Mahler, Schoenberg, Carter and Lutoslawski. The module is a prerequisite for students taking the linked module 'Analyzing Musical Narratives' in semester 2, during which students will work towards the completion of a project utilizing one or more theoretical approaches examined on the present module in order to analyse a complete composition or significant portion of a longer work chosen in consultation with the lecturer. Please note that both modules are intensive theory and close-reading modules, ideal for students with a keen interest in theory and analysis, and a strong interest in the Western art music repertoire. Students will need to have passed Level II Theory and Analysis or Intermediate Composition before undertaking the module. | ||||||
| MUS-30033 | MAX/MSP | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MAX-MSP is a widely used software package allowing for the design of musical algorithms using MIDI and recorded, live or sampled sounds. The ideas and material explored in this module provide skills that can be used in the context of other modules, notably composition and cross media practice. The focus is on the design and development of intelligent tools which aid the composition and performance, provide automation of tasks and extend the capabilities of conventional instruments. The principal objective of the module is the creation and realisation of a score involving live performance and electronics. The emphasis throughout the module is on a compositional possibility for the use of MAX/MSP. | ||||||
| MUS-30035 | Music Programming | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module consists of a series of lectures and workshops. You will acquire knowledge on how to use a programming language and work through a series of tasks that will guide you in writing your own programs. You should very quickly get to the point where you can design the interface of your software and test its functionality. Then, you will be ready to integrate the required code to get it to generate sounds. You will be encouraged to think about the implementation of your own creative ideas, which you will be able to discuss with the module tutor. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| # | MUS-30014 | Colloquia in Electroacoustic Music | EP | M | 7.5 | 15 |
| This course will address issues such as the aesthetic implications of various sub-genres, social issues concerning the comprehension and dissemination of electroacoustic music, compositional matters regarding the use of anecdotal sounds, theoretical approaches to classification of timbre, politics and music technology, gender issues, etc. Teaching will mainly comprise class discussion of set texts. | ||||||
| MUS-30028 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 2 - ISP | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30030 | Analysing Musical Narratives - ISP | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Following Narrative, Music and Meaning (a pre-requisite for this module), Analysing Musical Narratives provides students with an opportunity to engage in the creation of a close musical analysis of a substantial composition. Students on the module will draw on theories of narrative and meaning investigated on the earlier module to create their own interpretation of a significant composition from the Western art music repertoire. During the first part of the module, the tutor and class will together analyse a piece of music by the composer whose music the students must later analyse individually for their essays. Week-by-week, the class will develop a narrative-related analysis of a composition. As part of this collaborative process, and to prepare students for independent work later in the module, the class will identify key issues for background research; those topics will then be shared out between members of the class, individually or in small groups (depending on numbers), who will take responsibility for researching a topic, perhaps carrying out independent analytical work or researching an issue (a compositional technique, an aspect of style, a social or cultural context), before reporting back to the class in a formatively assessed presentation on which they will receive immediate feedback. In the second part of the module, students build on the specialist training and learning they have undertaken to perform their own analysis of a different but related composition, leading to the submission of an analysis essay of 4,000-5,000 words. Students will have an opportunity to present their analytical work in progress to their peers and to receive immediate feedback. Work on this presentation, and the individual analysis, is guided through individual supervision. In 2010/11 the module will focus on the engaging, colourful, sophisticated and dramatic music of Witold Lutoslawski, one of the most important figures in mid to late twentieth-century composition. The two orchestral works to be analysed are (in class) 'Mi-parti' (1975-6) and (for individual projects) 'Chain 3' (1986). | ||||||
| MUS-30040 | Composition 1 (Single Module) | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module gives guidance and provides supervision to enable the creation of a small portfolio of compositions by addressing general topics relating to instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic forces and specific compositional interests of individual composers. Students will explore techniques and ideas relating to their own musical language, means of creating and developing musical material and organising their own ideas with respect to considerations of musical form and structure. | ||||||
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| ENG-10024 | Reading Film | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Of all forms of communication, film often seems the most obvious, pleasurable and self-explanatory. With an emphasis on variety of film practice, this module aims to introduce students to the essential elements of film narrative and engage them in thinking critically about the choices made by film-makers in constructing the look and sound of their films. We will be asking, therefore, how meaning is created in the cinema, as well as what ideas and arguments such meanings may generate among critically aware spectators of it. In doing so we will be exploring the richness and complexity of cinema's potential to communicate with its spectators through a carefully selected variety of films. Represented amongst these will not only be the classic Hollywood model with which we are all most familiar, but also films from other national and artistic traditions. These will be examined in the context of both fortnightly lecture/workshops and weekly small group classes. | ||||||
| MDS-10008 | Mediated World | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Mediated World aims to introduce students to some of the main theories and debates found in contemporary media, communication and cultural studies. In this course we examine how the mass media has come to dominate our everyday life $ú from the spaces we inhabit, to the beliefs we hold and values we share $ú while analyzing our individual and collective role in this complex relationship. By looking at how and why the tools developed by societies $ú from the first printing press to today&©s high speed internet $ú have been used for mass communication, we will probe how power is constructed in media messages and ask whether the consumers of such messages can ever wrest back control over meaning. | ||||||
| MDS-10009 | Digital Video | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module focuses on the creation of a short film. You will learn the fundamentals of video production, including the techniques and the aesthetics of screen writing, shooting, composition and editing. Most importantly you will learn by doing. This is a hands on course that encourages you to familiarise yourself with digital video equipment, consider the work of other film and documentary makers, experiment with and develop your own filmmaking style and begin acquiring a knowledge of film language and terminology. The key areas of focus are: - Film language and terminology (critical analysis of films and conventions) - Pre-production (scriptwriting, storyboarding, schedules and planning) - Production (camera operation, directing) - Post-production (editing) Assessment will be by a group project, 3-5 minute short film (50%) and a workbook (50%). | ||||||
| MUS-10029 | Orchestral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop instrumental skills within an orchestral or concert band framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble playing skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10030 | Ensemble Performance | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Students have the opportunity and coaching to form ensembles and select and investigate appropriate works. They also develop knowledge of ensemble repertoire of all periods, with the opportunity to rehearse and perform appropriate selected works. They contribute 10-15 minutes to an open ensemble performance. This is also the first level of a pathway in ensemble and chamber performance. The module also hones important skills in group work. There are weekly seminars and workshops devoted to forming ensembles, selecting repertoire, rehearsal and critical peer performances. There are opportunities for students to conduct ensembles. Related work includes active listening, score reading, individual instrumental practice and organized ensemble rehearsal outside of class time. | ||||||
| MUS-10033 | Twentieth-Century Musics | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module introduces students to the pluralistic diversity of musical-cultural moments that make up the music of the twentieth-century. It nurtures an understanding of the twentieth-century&©s most important musicians and musical texts and key critical arguments surrounding each body of work, including aesthetic and socio-historical contexts. Students are introduced to concepts of twentieth-century music history, including the clash of grand and micro-narrative approaches in recent critical thinking about this period, and the increasing desire (in HE) to address the plurality of twentieth-century musics rather than just Western art music. The module also introduces and puts into practice key study stills. Students learn to research and present introductions to topics on the lecture, making group presentations to the class. Students also learn to research and then write about an aspect of a topic, to reference written work correctly and to prepare an accurate and comprehensive bibliography. | ||||||
| MUS-10034 | Introduction to Composition | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is a vital component of the pathway in Composition that runs throughout the Music course. It also complements the Twentieth Century Module. Students engage with technical and aesthetic issues relating to the composition of predominantly instrumental and vocal music and to acquaint students with a specific issues relating to contemporary western art music. They are introduced to various strategies for generating and organising musical materials, focusing on pitch, duration, dynamics and timbre. Students undertake technical and analytical exercises in addition to composing original pieces. They are also involved in hearing some of their creative work performed in workshops. | ||||||
| MUS-10036 | Choral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop vocal skills within a choral framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10037 | Introduction to Music Theory | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module will introduce students to elements of pitch and pitch class; beat, meter and rhythm (simple and compound); scales and diatonic modes; pitch intervals; triads and seventh chords; transposition and clefs. This module involves a number of learning environments, including plenary sessions, lab classes, tutorial support, and WebCT support, learning and testing. It is an ideal module for students who have not had the opportunity to acquire music theory, and/or who wish to brush up on their theory so they can take modules in composition, analysis or musicology. It is also intended for students with a Music Techology background who want to acquire some skills in in written notation in order to pursue modules in composition or simply to increase their options through the programme. | ||||||
| MUS-10038 | Sonic Arts Repertoire | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The module encompasses history and aesthetics of Electroacoustic music and sonic arts since the earliest developments after the Second World War up to the most current creative directions in sound-as-art, installation art, sonic sculpture, interactive systems, and sound design. It explores the origins of the topics and examines the substantial range of forms offering a broader historical, cultural and artistic background. In addition to lectures, listening sessions are incorporated during which selected works are played. These sessions are followed by discussions concentrating on aspects of techniques, materials, structures and form. Such analytical enquiry is an indispensable introduction to the range of languages used by composers, sound and audiovisual artists in the last fifty years. This module will provide students both with and without a background in Music and Music Technology with a solid base for understanding and further study of the practical aspects and techniques of electroacoustic, audio-visual, and interactive creation. On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to understand, analyse, and write on electro-acoustic and audio-visual composition, sonic arts, interactive composition and other creative forms. | ||||||
| MUS-10041 | Sound Recording | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is particularly useful for those students who already possess some experience in sound recording and/or with live PA equipment and/or mixing desks. Students who do not have such experience should contact the module leader to discuss admission to the module. The number of students admitted to this module is capped by studio resources availability. Please note that students taking this module are expected to possess, or acquire through self-study, at least a basic working knowledge of LogicPro or LogicExpress with regards to multi-track recording and mixing. Students will be required to organise a sound recording project; this include deciding what track(s) to record and find the musicians to play the various parts. Therefore, students must be able and willing to quickly and efficiently network with friends and peers to achieve that end. The module aims: to provide students with an opportunity to develop their technical skills in sound recording and music studio production; to establish a practical foundation for the use of sound recording techniques to be developed in future optional modules or project options at level 2 and 3; to engage with technical and aesthetic concerns related to sound quality in mixes. At the end of the module students will be able to: carry out simple field sound recording tasks using portable recorders.; carry out simple sound recording and mixing tasks in a sound recording studio; plan and implement a more substantial music production project in a sound recording studio. The module covers: microphone technologies and techniques; portable recorders technologies and techniques; field recording experiments; editing, technical improvement and message re-enforcement; recording studio technologies and techniques; planning and realisation of a sound recording and mixing project. | ||||||
| PHY-10025 | Audio Electronics | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This level 1 module runs in the first semester. The material introduces the physical and theoretical properties of sound waves, DC and AC circuits, amplifiers and oscillators, and specialised circuits that can be found in modern Audio-frequency reproduction equipment. The methods used in the practical laboratory sessions would be useful to students intending to take Music Technology modules as part of their studies. The module is also suitable for students who wish to acquire an understanding of audio-frequency electronics as applied to domestic and professional sound systems. No prior experience or knowledge of electronics is assumed. | ||||||
| Semester 1-2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-10035 | Instrumental Lessons | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The purpose of this module is to hone performance skills and develop technique on an instrument or voice. Students are also given the chance to engage with new and more challenging repertoire. Students work one to one with their specialist instrumental or vocal teacher on a range of performance skills with the help of technical exercises and $ùstudies&©. They will also work on appropriate repertoire pieces (normally drawn from the mainstream repertoire). The student should become familiar with the core repertoire of the instrument, and, in addition, should be introduced to examples drawn from more specialized areas (as appropriate). This is a 15-credit module that is runs throughout the year and is assessed at the end of semester 2. This module is a crucial element in the performance pathway, which runs throughout the degree programme. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| ENG-10025 | Approaches to Film | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Who is the author of a film? How do we categorize and make sense of films in relation to each other? How is the meaning of a film shaped by the historical period or national culture that produced it? What sorts of ideas and ideologies about gender and race do films include or exclude? This module provides an introduction to all these questions addressed within film theory. Like any other discipline of enquiry, Film Studies has generated a set of debates about value and meaning that revolve around some key questions, concepts and terms. Through a series of fortnightly two hour workshop lectures and weekly small group classes, this module will examine the development of critical thinking on the cinema and will invite students to debate, question and apply ideas on: film authorship; film genre; history; film politics. Each of these critical areas will be investigated with reference to an exciting range of films, chosen for the way they have shaped film history and challenged cinema's potential as a form of art and entertainment. Indicative study texts may include: 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' (Dir. Sharman, 1975), 'Modern Times' (Dir. Chaplin, 1936) and 'Breathless' (Dir. Godard, 1960). | ||||||
| MDS-10010 | Understanding Culture | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What is culture? Where is it and who particpates in it? How has our understanding of it developed historically? What's the difference between high and low culture? How does literature, film, photography and advertising encourage us to behave in particular ways? This course will introduce some of the key concepts and issues in the historical and contemporary study of culture. It will introduce theories, approaches and methodologies for the study of a range of cultural $ùtexts&© from Shakespeare to magazine advertisements. We will start by looking at literary culture from the past and focus on the relationship between $ùclassic&© literary texts and their audiences, both now and when they were first produced. We will go on to look at popular contemporary culture in both visual and written form, including film, photographs and advertisements. | ||||||
| MDS-10011 | The Photographic Message | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The Photographic Message In this module students will look at the impact of photography as a mode of mechanical reproduction through to contemporary hyper real digital image production. Students will be introduced to semiotic analysis and study the work and roll of photographic practioners in both a contemporary and historical context. Each student will produce a photomontage and workbook based on notions of cultural identity and/or stigma and discrimination. Assessment will be by a visual project photomontage (50%), a workbook (50%), and a compulsory oral presentation. | ||||||
| MUS-10029 | Orchestral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop instrumental skills within an orchestral or concert band framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble playing skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10031 | Active Listening | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Students learn to listen actively rather than passively to music, with a particular focus on hearing the relationship between form and content in music, and therefore being able to identify musical structures through the development of their aural skills. They also learn to identify a range of standard forms in music from a wide range of repertoires, and to learn the key features of those forms. Students are introduced to the idea of active structural listening as opposed to passive or atomistic moment by moment listening. In order to touch on key issues, the module may also discuss the New Grove article on $ùForm&© by Arnold Whittall (or similar document for discussion of relevant issues), in order to question the difference between form and structure; it may also discuss composer Witold Lutoslawski&©s conception of active and passive listening. | ||||||
| MUS-10036 | Choral Studies | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enables students to develop vocal skills within a choral framework. It encourages students to reflect and develop their ensemble skills, and gives them the opportunity to work towards large-scale public concerts. The module opens up the opportunity to work at a high level with a professional conductor to all students with the appropriate skills and experience. | ||||||
| MUS-10039 | Surround Sound | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| At the end of the module students will be able to: - Identify basic empirical methods to work with surround sound in a project studio - Comprehend and interpret basic core concepts on surround sound - Create surrounds sound artefacts based on acquired techniques and observation of repertoire and real world sound-scapes - Apply sound diffusion concepts using a multi-loudspeaker system in a real concert space - Plan, prepare, rehears and deliver a public surround sound event The module deals with: technical fundamentals, aesthetic considerations, modern applications in music and cinema; the creation of a surround sound sonic landscape; surround sound mixes; spatial enhancement of sonic and musical discourse; the planning, practice and concert presentation of an acousmatic work using sound projection. | ||||||
| MUS-10040 | Composing With Sound | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module seeks to establish practical foundation for the use of studio techniques in future modules at level 2 and 3. It also enables students to engage with technical and aesthetic concerns arising when working creatively with digital audio technologies. At the end of the module students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge and recollection of basic empirical methods to work with audio material in a project studio; demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of basic concepts; apply methods in the construction of original sonic artefacts (Sonic Art work, sound idents, soundtracks for existing video). | ||||||
| MUS-10042 | Analog and Digital Audio | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module aims to establish a common theoretical base on elements of acoustics, electro-acoustics and digital audio for future practical modules that will focus on the creative application of audio technologies. At the end of the module students will be able to: demonstrate knowledge/recollection of basic core concepts, rules and physical measurements of acoustic phenomena and their representation in the digital domain; demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of basic core concepts; apply methods and theories learnt in the module. The module covers: elements of acoustics, auditory perception; analog audio and signal path; elements of spectral analysis, audible spectrum, spectrum of noise and pitched sounds, filters; Fourier theorem, additive sound synthesis; digitisation of audio signals, sampling theorem, aliasing; computer audio, hardware, software, MIDI protocol; electro-acoustic transducers, microphones, loudspeakers. | ||||||
| MUS-10043 | Popular Music | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What is going on when Girls Aloud cover the Kaiser Chiefs, Kaiser Chiefs blast Girls Aloud for doing so, and then two years later the bands collaborate on a Christmas special? Why do subcultures and scenes cluster around different popular musics? What is the purpose of the popular music industry? Why do songs have lyrics, and lyrics accompaniments? What, or how, do pop songs mean? On this module you will seek answers to questions like these by engaging with the social and musical meanings of popular music and its culture industry. This intellectually challenging module takes popular culture seriously by utilizing stimulating theoretical and philosophical approaches to its analysis and critique. It also employs innovative classroom activities, debates, group work, and individual and group assessments ranging from WebCT assignments to a group analysis essay, in order to stimulate the development of critical competencies that will permit you better to understand the musical forms at the centre of contemporary culture, in the process transforming your understanding of the musics in your life. | ||||||
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-20026 | Music Technology - Study Abroad I | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20027 | Music Technology - Study Abroad II | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20028 | Music Technology - Study Abroad III | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20029 | Music Technology - Study Abroad IV | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20034 | Meaning in Sonic Arts | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module examines the analytical tools and approaches used to understand the construction and meaning of works of Sonic Art together with their relationship to wider artistic and social contexts and impulses. Topics studied include: semiological approaches to music as applied to Sonic Arts and related art forms; sound, meaning and mimesis; timbre, structure and discourse; social aspects concerning the reception and dissemination of sonic arts. | ||||||
| MUS-20035 | Computer Video | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module you will learn how to work on an audio-video suite (Apple Final Cut) to carry out some given tasks, both technical and creative, in which you will record/film/edit digital audio and video material. This module deals with the representation of the moving image in the digital domain and related issues of data storage, bandwidth, computational requirements. Other subjects covered include: digital camcorders (theory and practical use); video-DVD authoring. | ||||||
| MUS-20035 | Computer Video | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module you will learn how to work on an audio-video suite (Apple Final Cut) to carry out some given tasks, both technical and creative, in which you will record/film/edit digital audio and video material. This module deals with the representation of the moving image in the digital domain and related issues of data storage, bandwidth, computational requirements. Other subjects covered include: digital camcorders (theory and practical use); video-DVD authoring. | ||||||
| MUS-20037 | Creative Sound Design | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module deals with the application of software to advanced audio-processing and sound-design using a variety of techniques (e.g. filtering, spectral domain techniques, time domain techniques, etc.). The module includes discussion of technical and aesthetic aspects of the uses of audio processing and sound design techniques; providing skills for creative project work, such as composition and sound design (e.g. design of a soundtrack for video). | ||||||
| MUS-20037 | Creative Sound Design | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module deals with the application of software to advanced audio-processing and sound-design using a variety of techniques (e.g. filtering, spectral domain techniques, time domain techniques, etc.). The module includes discussion of technical and aesthetic aspects of the uses of audio processing and sound design techniques; providing skills for creative project work, such as composition and sound design (e.g. design of a soundtrack for video). | ||||||
| MUS-20039 | Music in German Culture | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Germany holds a special place in the history of music; this module considers why this is so, and examines some of the principal moments in this history. By ranging across a variety of media, such as concert music, opera, film music, music theatre and the musical, it also reveals how music interacts with a range of cultural forms within a modern European nation that is associated with a prestigous tradition. Key moments will be chosen from an historical span ranging from the late eighteenth to late twentieth centuries. | ||||||
| MUS-20043 | Lyrics and the Popular Song | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| What makes a great lyric? Why are song lyrics sung? And why are those sung song lyrics accompanied? What, and how, do popular songs mean? Is pop and rock disposable, meaningless commercial art, or a site of profundity, self-discovery and meaningful explorations of socio-cultural issues and the human condition? On this innovative and highly interactive interdisciplinary module fusing creative and critical approaches, you will learn to create, critique, analyse, edit and sing lyrics, in order more fully to comprehend the powerful fusion of words and music at the centre of pop and rock's socio-cultural and artistic meanings, and to develop your own creative voice and abilities as either a writer or a musician. Led by song writer, pop star and novelist Joe Stretch (English) and erstwhile songwriter, never a pop star and musicologist Nick Reyland (Music), the module will proceed through two phases, critical and creative, all sessions having a high level of student participation. In the first phase, lectures, seminars and tutorials will explore core critical issues in the analysis of popular songs lyrics, how they are sung and their interaction with a musical environment; creative considerations including specificity vs opacity, use of names, sexuality and place will be explored. A critical essay will be submitted at the end of this phase of the module. The second phase will take the form of a series of creative workshops involving group and later individual creative work. Indicative themes for the workshops include critiquing and improving flawed existing lyrics, finding melodies for new lyrics, and creating lyrics and melodies for pre-recorded musical environments, in response to literary stimuli. Towards the end of the module, students will bring in their own developing work on their second piece of coursework (a creative task involving either editing an existing lyric or creating a new lyric and melody for a pre-recorded environment) and discuss, with peers and with the tutors, their work in progress. Please note that, while an interest in popular music, creative writing and/or song writing are obviously 'must haves' for students taking the module, no particular musical talent, particularly as a vocalist, is required to enrol. On the other hand, whether or not you consider yourself a singer, you will be singing out loud and sharing your creative work by week twelve, albeit in an informal and supportive creative environment. The module is therefore most obviously suited to musicians and writers with a developing interest in the creation of popular music, but is open to all. | ||||||
| MUS-20044 | Theory and Analysis | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Analysing music enables critical understanding of the ways in which music is organised, and also facilitates more informed assessment of its qualities. Such enhanced appreciation offers the prospect of intensified engagement with music. As well as offering insights into individual scores, the module also demonstrates how such scores relate to larger frameworks of musical engagement. The underlying analytical question is: how does music work? | ||||||
| MUS-20046 | Chamber Music | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The Chamber Music module offers the the opportunity for students to explore the great wealth of repertoire in the (mainly) Western classical canon and to establish musical partnerships which can then be extended and developed beyond the duration of the module. Students will be introduced to works suitable to the combinations of instruments (voices) that are registered on the module and they will have the opportunity to undertake further individual research into possible repertoire. The groups (once established) will be coached in their selected repertoire aiming to develop a uniformity of approach and tightness of ensemble whilst still encouraging the individual expressive voice of each member of the group to speak. In a series of workshop classes, groups will perform sections of or whole works to each other prompting group discussion on the musical, technical and stylistic issues which the performances generate. The module culminates with an assessed public recital in which each student will perform in one or more ensembles for at least 15 mins. | ||||||
| MUS-20047 | Unheard Melodies? Music in the Narrative Film | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Why do films have music? How does music help a film to tell its story? Do we actually hear film music? Does music make perceivers more receptive to a film's ideological content? This module will explore questions along these lines, while enabling students: &· to acquire an understanding of the uses and history of music in the narrative film (and, by extension, in other screen media, e.g., television, computer games) &· to develop the ability to analyze instances of film/screen music, and to critique its narrative and ideological purposes &· to learn a basic vocabulary of music analytical tools &· to gain a basic understanding of narrative theory, and &· to develop analytical and other scholarly skills through written assignments, classroom contributions and independent research. Students interesting in composition or sound editing will also have an opportunity to rescore an existing passage of film as part of their portfolio assessment. The first half of the module will proceed by building up a theoretical base for understanding and analyzing filmic narrativity and, crucially, music's place within the filmic discourse; the second half of the module will then progress through a series of case studies exploring examples from Hollywood and non-Hollywood scoring practice. A basic knowledge of music theory and some practical musical ability would be advantageous to students taking this module, but is not strictly necessary. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MDS-20019 | Analysing Culture | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In Analysing Culture we consider how culture enables people to make sense of their personal and social lives. The first session of the course refers to Geertz&©s classic paper on Balinese society to introduce the concept of culture. The key question we want to ask through our study of Geertz essay is $ùwhat is culture?&© Following this example of an anthropologically strange culture we move on to think about the construction of national identity through a consideration of Hall&©s work on western identity, Said&©s essay on orientalism, Anderson&©s notion of imaginary communities, and various representations of contemporary nationality. Although the nation has provided a strong cultural map for people since the middle of the 17th century, the rise of modern urbanism has challenged this cultural form through its embrace of privacy and a culture of alienation. In week 3 we consider urban culture, read Simmel&©s classic essay on the metropolitan mind, and think about the ways in which the city is represented today. In the next session we show how people have sought to relate culture to the problem of alienation in modern culture. In week 4 we think about the notion of consumer culture through Adorno and Horkheimer&©s idea of mass culture and Klein's theory of branding and consider how commodities might work like narcotics that numb our senses to the impoverished reality of our one-dimensional society. Our key cultural texts here is Danny Boyle&©s film Trainspotting. In the second part of the course we begin by thinking about cultural politics. In week 5 we focus on Bourdieu&©s idea of distinction and think about how far his theory reflects popular uses of culture in the contemporary world. For Bourdieu culture is not simply a form of deception, but rather a tool that people use in order to try to distinguish themselves from other people in the endless struggle that is competitive capitalism. Although Bourdieu suggests that people use culture for their own purposes, he thinks that they use it unimaginatively and strictly within the confines of capitalist ideology. Thus we may say that Bourdieu is essentially a Marxist. In week 6 we try to extend the Marxist theory of culture through an exploration of the works on the key writers on everyday life. In particular we refer to the idea of contested culture expressed in the works of the French theorists of constructed space and everyday life, Lefebvre and de Certeau. The purpose of this exercise is to suggest that culture may be a space of negotiation, contestation, and confrontation, rather than simply a mechanism of deception or distinction. In week 7 we extend our exploration of this idea of cultural resistance through a discussion of the theory of sub-culture. This theory shows how new communities are able to emerge through consumer relations and cultural performance. We address this theory through a consideration of the classic example of punk, the more contemporary case of gangsta rap, and a reading of the works of the cultural sociologists of performance, Goffman, Garfinkel, and Mead. In the final three weeks of the course we move on to focus on theories of post-modernism, the culturally constructed body, and globalisation. In week 8 we explore the idea of post-modern culture through Dominic Strinati&©s essay on the topic, David Lynch&©s cinema, and Fredric Jameson&©s influential paper, Post-modernism, Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. For Jameson culture is the dominant form of identification in post-modern society. He thinks that people no longer worry about economics or politics, but rather understand these categories through culture. What does this mean? We will try to find out week 10 when we consider the ideas of global culture and anti-capitalism. But before we consider global culture, we examine the post-modern concern for the body and in particular Bordo's theory of the economic body. In week 9 we approach Bordo's theory through a cultural history of thinking about and imaging the body, taking in the Greek God body, the modern super-hero body, and the post-modern techno body, represented by both Haraway's cyborg, Bordo's metabolic body, and various science fiction bodies. Our study of the body, and body image, allows us to think about the ways that politics and economics are subsumed in culture in global society. Shifting from a study of the microcosm of the body to the macrocosm of the globalised world, in week 10 we refer to the works of contemporary writers, such as Giddens and Beck, who dispute the claims of the conflict theorists, such as Adorno and Horkheimer, by arguing that there is no monolithic centre of power that imposes meaning upon people&©s lives in global society. Rather Giddens and Beck argue that contemporary culture is characterised by risk, chance, and freedom of choice. In this session we think about their suggestion that traditional power structures no longer hold in post-modern / global society through an exploration of the idea of the new social movement and in particular anti-capitalist cultural politics. Our core text for this session is the recent film, Fight Club, which connects visions of the body and globalised consumer capitalism to issues of revolutionary cultural politics. | ||||||
| MUS-20032 | Indian Music | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module promotes an understanding of Northern Indian classical music, Indian film music and and range of related popular music through the analysis of recorded performance and video. Central to the module is an understanding and recognition of musical techniques which may surface in a variety of musical contexts, but which are rooted in the classical traditions; students are encouraged to focus on both the minutiae of very short extracts as well as understanding the large scale architecture of performance. In the case of popular music, students will explore how traditional elements interact with the conventions of popular music through various case studies. | ||||||
| MUS-20033 | Digital Audio | C | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module aims to establish the theoretical base for music digital signal processing based on audio technologies currently employed for creative purposes. At the end of the module students will be able to:describe the main techniques for digitising and storing sound; understand the principles and means of implementing techniques for storage and processing; identify contemporary and established techniques for synthesis and processing. | ||||||
| MUS-20036 | Audio-Visual Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module enable students to produce creative work that uses as combination of digital audio and digital video. This module deals with: a brief history and aesthetics of experimental digital audio-visual composition; the analysis of audio-visual works from selected repertoire. Students also learn to use: creative tools for synthesis and transformation of digital video footage and animations; creative tools for synthesis and transformation of digital audio materials; strategies to combine audio and video materials in a creatively coherent manner. | ||||||
| MUS-20038 | Interactive Realtime Composition | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module, students learn skills for interactive realtime processing including the use of software and its application to advanced live audio processing. A variety of time-domain and spectral-domain techniques are covered including: filtering, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) based algorithms (convolution, vocoding, etc.), granularization of streaming sound, delay effects. The module also discusses technical and aesthetic aspects of the creative repertoire that use relevant realtime processing and live performance techniques as well as providing guidance in related creative project work(e.g. interactive composition, improvisation). | ||||||
| MUS-20038 | Interactive Realtime Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| In this module, students learn skills for interactive realtime processing including the use of software and its application to advanced live audio processing. A variety of time-domain and spectral-domain techniques are covered including: filtering, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) based algorithms (convolution, vocoding, etc.), granularization of streaming sound, delay effects. The module also discusses technical and aesthetic aspects of the creative repertoire that use relevant realtime processing and live performance techniques as well as providing guidance in related creative project work(e.g. interactive composition, improvisation). | ||||||
| MUS-20041 | SOLO PERFORMANCE | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Solo performance offers the opportunity for students to present a 20-minute assessed public recital. They will continue to receive the individual instrumental lessons and will regularly perform parts of their chosen repertoire in the workshop classes which make up a significant portion of the module. These class performances significantly help to increase the confidence of each student in playing in front of an audience. Students will discuss and work on a close examination and inculcation of the skills required for successful performance at an advanced level; attention is given to idomatic performance practice, style and interpretation and communication. Listening to and reflecting upon live and recorded performances is an integral part of the module; students will keep and submit a diary which offers their thoughts and reflections on the works and perfomances to which they are listenening. The assessed recital at the close of the module offers the opportunity for friends and family to attend and support, thereby creating a truely public concert. | ||||||
| MUS-20042 | Composition Studies: Intermediate Composition | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module is concerned with the study and practice of compositional techniques through composition and analysis of scores. The focuses will be: timbre, texture, process, structure and form. These areas of compositional practice will be studied across a number of scores. Students will compose one or more compositions for the instrumental forces available within the group, demonstrating an understanding of creative, artistic, issues arising from coursework, discussions and workshops. | ||||||
| MUS-20045 | Stravinsky, Russian Traditions and Legacy | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module introduces students to the music of one of the most signficant twentieth-century composers, Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky's creative career spanned most of the century, but initiated and reflected some of the most important musical developments of the century. Stravinsky's early music was indebted to his Russian nationalist musical heritage and this is evident in his 3 early ballets, The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring. These works shook the musical and artistic world because of their mixture of modernity, exoticism and primitivism; they also made him (in)famous. Not content to repeat himself, Stravinsky appeared to reject his own innovations and instead re-engaged with music of the past. For 30 years he wrote music that was largely tonal and that often reworked old forms and styles to produce something new and distinctive. Stravinsky's final phase surprised many; he embraced twelve-note serialism, albeit on his own terms. His final creative years give a fascinating reflection of the musicians, poets and politicians Stravinsky knew and to whom he paid homage in numerous musical tributes. Exile is an important issue in considering Stravinsky. His moves from Russian to France and then to America are reflected in his compositional output, yet there are many enduring and persitent traits. Throughout his career, his music shocked on account of his tendency to borrow or 'steal' existing music, for instance, folk song and music of the past. Until recently, much of Stravinsky's output was considered to be outside mainstream modernist traditions. However, the module considers changing perspectives on Stravinsky significance; composers and writers have rethought Stravinsky's place in the twentieth century and his legacy today. | ||||||
| MUS-20048 | Music in the Community | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Music in the Community is an exciting new initiative and will enhance the choice of student activity at level 2. Many students are already engaged in activities in the community but currently they get no credit for this work. Yet these activities are important in planning and shaping the careers of students. With the approval of the tutor, students will be able suggest suitable activites, such as work in schools, residential homes, community choirs and orchestras. Music technology projects may include links with companies, community projects with young people, in prisions or schools. In addition, students may tap into existing links between Music and selected local organisations. Students will meet regularly with the tutor and other students to discuss preparation and progress through the project. They will present their ideas and findings in a supportive and critical environment. Students will keep a reflective diary relating to their activities; they will also carry out a short piece of critical work in an area relating to their chosen placement. The module will enhance and consolidate the sort of practical work in which many of our students are already engaged and it will enable other students to gain some invaluable practical experience. | ||||||
| MUS-20053 | Music Technology - Study Abroad V | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20054 | Music Technology - Study Abroad VI | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20055 | Music Technology - Study Abroad VII | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| MUS-20056 | Music Technology - Study Abroad VIII | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. | ||||||
| Semester 1 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-30027 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 1 | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30027 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 1 | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30029 | Narrative, Music and Meaning | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| The question of how, precisely, music might signify stories or dramas has long been one of the most intense arguments in musicology. Considering both the notion and the debate offers an opportunity to cut to the heart of the relationship between socially-situated listeners and musical texts, their interactive constructions of meaning, and the manner in which music can both speak of its creator(s) and the times in which it was created, but also to and for its performers and listeners. The question, therefore, is not, more precisely, whether one can speak of music as narrative, but rather, when is it useful to speak of music as narrative - and what do such discourses tell us about the times, texts and people engaged therein? These are the topics of this module, which braids together two types of session: seminars focusing on close readings of theoretical expositions of issues of musical narratology and hermeneutics (or refutations thereof), and tutorial workshop sessions focusing on analytical expositions of those theories, and including close reading of musical scores and recordings. Repertoire to be discussed may include composers as diverse as Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Mahler, Schoenberg, Carter and Lutoslawski. The module is a prerequisite for students taking the linked module 'Analyzing Musical Narratives' in semester 2, during which students will work towards the completion of a project utilizing one or more theoretical approaches examined on the present module in order to analyse a complete composition or significant portion of a longer work chosen in consultation with the lecturer. Please note that both modules are intensive theory and close-reading modules, ideal for students with a keen interest in theory and analysis, and a strong interest in the Western art music repertoire. Students will need to have passed Level II Theory and Analysis or Intermediate Composition before undertaking the module. | ||||||
| MUS-30033 | MAX/MSP | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MAX-MSP is a widely used software package allowing for the design of musical algorithms using MIDI and recorded, live or sampled sounds. The ideas and material explored in this module provide skills that can be used in the context of other modules, notably composition and cross media practice. The focus is on the design and development of intelligent tools which aid the composition and performance, provide automation of tasks and extend the capabilities of conventional instruments. The principal objective of the module is the creation and realisation of a score involving live performance and electronics. The emphasis throughout the module is on a compositional possibility for the use of MAX/MSP. | ||||||
| MUS-30033 | MAX/MSP | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MAX-MSP is a widely used software package allowing for the design of musical algorithms using MIDI and recorded, live or sampled sounds. The ideas and material explored in this module provide skills that can be used in the context of other modules, notably composition and cross media practice. The focus is on the design and development of intelligent tools which aid the composition and performance, provide automation of tasks and extend the capabilities of conventional instruments. The principal objective of the module is the creation and realisation of a score involving live performance and electronics. The emphasis throughout the module is on a compositional possibility for the use of MAX/MSP. | ||||||
| MUS-30035 | Music Programming | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module consists of a series of lectures and workshops. You will acquire knowledge on how to use a programming language and work through a series of tasks that will guide you in writing your own programs. You should very quickly get to the point where you can design the interface of your software and test its functionality. Then, you will be ready to integrate the required code to get it to generate sounds. You will be encouraged to think about the implementation of your own creative ideas, which you will be able to discuss with the module tutor. | ||||||
| MUS-30035 | Music Programming | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module consists of a series of lectures and workshops. You will acquire knowledge on how to use a programming language and work through a series of tasks that will guide you in writing your own programs. You should very quickly get to the point where you can design the interface of your software and test its functionality. Then, you will be ready to integrate the required code to get it to generate sounds. You will be encouraged to think about the implementation of your own creative ideas, which you will be able to discuss with the module tutor. | ||||||
| MUS-30036 | Paris: 1870-1939 | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module introduces students to music and culture in France during the Third Republic (1870-1939). It addresses key issues of the period, such as national identity, patriotism, war, orientalism and how these impact on musical production in the period. The module is divided into distinct topics, including exoticism, high/low art, jazz, war and musical production, patriotism and nationalism and musical aesthetics after the Great War. It focuses on selected composers including Bizet, Debussy, Ravel, Satie and the group Les Six. It also introduces students to a range of repertoire by French and other composers, such as Stravinsky, Schoenberg and de Falla who were active in France in this period. The module builds on expertise and skills developed at level 2, but asks different and more probing questions about music's role in culture and its engagement with politics, aesthetics and ideas. | ||||||
| MUS-30038 | Contextual Studies 1 | EA | M | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module introduces students to key themes in current musicological debate: canon and reception; classical music today; modernism and postmodernism; cultural studies; musical subjectivity; authenticity in music; and music in everyday life. It focuses on music ranging from Beethoven to Kagel to world music. This module builds on expertise and skills developed at level 2, but asks different and more probing questions about music's role in culture, and about how the discourses of musicology shape our understanding of music. | ||||||
| MUS-30040 | Composition 1 (Single Module) | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module gives guidance and provides supervision to enable the creation of a small portfolio of compositions by addressing general topics relating to instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic forces and specific compositional interests of individual composers. Students will explore techniques and ideas relating to their own musical language, means of creating and developing musical material and organising their own ideas with respect to considerations of musical form and structure. | ||||||
| # | PSY-30043 | Research in Music Psychology | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 |
| This module introduces students to the subject area of music psychology and to key approaches to research in this field, drawing on a range of existing studies at the forefront of the discipline. It is a highly practical module where students both participate in and design and conduct their own innovative group research studies in a range of topic areas at the core of the discipline. These include the effects of music on emotion, memory, and concentration, strong experiences of music, motivation for music, and other aspects of musical biography, preferred music and personality. The module develops students' understanding of research methods in psychology and enables them to apply this to a specific field, practising specific skills of analysis and presentation of findings in different written media. Students will be expected to participate fully in the research projects of themselves and other class members and 10% of the module is awarded for contribution to project work. Remaining assessments include an individual written critique of the research in the chosen topic area (60%) and a group poster presentation of the findings of the research (30%). | ||||||
| Semester 1-2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| MUS-30031 | Dissertation I (Single Module) | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module gives students the opportunity to produce an independent piece of written work of 4000 words. Students can select a topic of particular interest in consultation with the module tutor. The tutor ensures that the appropriate supervision is available to support the topic. Students work independently with a dissertation supervisor and also in small groups and seminars. Students study research skills appropriate for this level of study. They also work consistently throughout the semester to meet a number of internal deadlines for titles, chapter plans and draft chapters. They submit a draft chapter to the supervisor in order to gain valuable feedback on their project and their progress. | ||||||
| MUS-30032 | Dissertation 2 - ISP | O | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module gives students the unique opportunity to produce a substantial piece of written work of 8000 words. Students can select a topic of particular interest in consultation with the module tutor. The tutor ensures that the appropriate supervision is available to support the topic. Students work independently with a dissertation supervisor and also in small groups and seminars. Students study research skills appropriate for this level of study. They also work consistently throughout the year to meet a number of internal deadlines for titles, chapter plans and draft chapters. They submit a draft chapter to the supervisor in order to gain valuable feedback on their project and their progress. | ||||||
| MUS-30032 | Dissertation 2 - ISP | EP | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module gives students the unique opportunity to produce a substantial piece of written work of 8000 words. Students can select a topic of particular interest in consultation with the module tutor. The tutor ensures that the appropriate supervision is available to support the topic. Students work independently with a dissertation supervisor and also in small groups and seminars. Students study research skills appropriate for this level of study. They also work consistently throughout the year to meet a number of internal deadlines for titles, chapter plans and draft chapters. They submit a draft chapter to the supervisor in order to gain valuable feedback on their project and their progress. | ||||||
| MUS-30034 | Music Programming Project - ISP | O | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module will give guidance and provide supervision to facilitate production of materials for assessment by addressing general topics pertaining to music software design, and specific problems generated by individuals within the group. Programming topics include: familiarisation with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), compiling and executing applications. variables and operators(e.g. in C++) , designing an interface, connecting variables to the interface, conditional statements, loops arrays, programming with specific interface paradigms(e.g. combo boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, etc.), programming with specific musical protocols (e.g. MIDI), pointers, structures, file input and output, audio input, output and storage, advanced work on dialog-box style applications. | ||||||
| MUS-30034 | Music Programming Project - ISP | EP | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module will give guidance and provide supervision to facilitate production of materials for assessment by addressing general topics pertaining to music software design, and specific problems generated by individuals within the group. Programming topics include: familiarisation with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), compiling and executing applications. variables and operators(e.g. in C++) , designing an interface, connecting variables to the interface, conditional statements, loops arrays, programming with specific interface paradigms(e.g. combo boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, etc.), programming with specific musical protocols (e.g. MIDI), pointers, structures, file input and output, audio input, output and storage, advanced work on dialog-box style applications. | ||||||
| MUS-30041 | Composition 2 - ISP | EA | C | 15 | 30 | |
| This module gives guidance and provides supervision to enable the creation of a substantial portfolio of compositions by addressing general topics relating to instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic forces and specific compositional interests of individual composers. Students will explore techniques and ideas relating to their own musical language, means of creating and developing musical material and organising their own ideas with respect to considerations of musical form and structure. | ||||||
| Semester 2 | C/O | TYP | ECTS | CATS | ||
| # | MUS-30014 | Colloquia in Electroacoustic Music | O | M | 7.5 | 15 |
| This course will address issues such as the aesthetic implications of various sub-genres, social issues concerning the comprehension and dissemination of electroacoustic music, compositional matters regarding the use of anecdotal sounds, theoretical approaches to classification of timbre, politics and music technology, gender issues, etc. Teaching will mainly comprise class discussion of set texts. | ||||||
| # | MUS-30014 | Colloquia in Electroacoustic Music | EP | M | 7.5 | 15 |
| This course will address issues such as the aesthetic implications of various sub-genres, social issues concerning the comprehension and dissemination of electroacoustic music, compositional matters regarding the use of anecdotal sounds, theoretical approaches to classification of timbre, politics and music technology, gender issues, etc. Teaching will mainly comprise class discussion of set texts. | ||||||
| MUS-30028 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 2 - ISP | O | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30028 | Digital Arts Creative Portfolio 2 - ISP | EP | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| MUS-30030 | Analysing Musical Narratives - ISP | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Following Narrative, Music and Meaning (a pre-requisite for this module), Analysing Musical Narratives provides students with an opportunity to engage in the creation of a close musical analysis of a substantial composition. Students on the module will draw on theories of narrative and meaning investigated on the earlier module to create their own interpretation of a significant composition from the Western art music repertoire. During the first part of the module, the tutor and class will together analyse a piece of music by the composer whose music the students must later analyse individually for their essays. Week-by-week, the class will develop a narrative-related analysis of a composition. As part of this collaborative process, and to prepare students for independent work later in the module, the class will identify key issues for background research; those topics will then be shared out between members of the class, individually or in small groups (depending on numbers), who will take responsibility for researching a topic, perhaps carrying out independent analytical work or researching an issue (a compositional technique, an aspect of style, a social or cultural context), before reporting back to the class in a formatively assessed presentation on which they will receive immediate feedback. In the second part of the module, students build on the specialist training and learning they have undertaken to perform their own analysis of a different but related composition, leading to the submission of an analysis essay of 4,000-5,000 words. Students will have an opportunity to present their analytical work in progress to their peers and to receive immediate feedback. Work on this presentation, and the individual analysis, is guided through individual supervision. In 2010/11 the module will focus on the engaging, colourful, sophisticated and dramatic music of Witold Lutoslawski, one of the most important figures in mid to late twentieth-century composition. The two orchestral works to be analysed are (in class) 'Mi-parti' (1975-6) and (for individual projects) 'Chain 3' (1986). | ||||||
| MUS-30037 | Paris Project - ISP | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| Paris Project enables students to build on the specialist training and learning they have undertaken in the module Paris: 1870-1939 and select a topic of their own choice, in consultation with the module tutor. They are guided through their projects with individual supervision, as well as group work and some plenary sessions. They have the opportunity to present their work to their peers and to receive immediate feedback. Students submit a substantial project of 4000 words. | ||||||
| MUS-30039 | Contextual Studies 2 - ISP | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module introduces students to key themes in current musicological debate: canon and reception; classical music today; modernism and postmodernism; cultural studies; musical subjectivity; authenticity in music; and music in everyday life. It focuses on composers ranging from Beethoven to Kagel to world music. This module builds on expertise and skills developed at level 2, but asks different and more probing questions about music's role in culture, and about how the discourses of musicology shape our understanding of music. Contextual Studies 2 builds on Contextual Studies 1 by providing a glimpse of what postgraduate work in the field would be like. | ||||||
| MUS-30040 | Composition 1 (Single Module) | EA | C | 7.5 | 15 | |
| This module gives guidance and provides supervision to enable the creation of a small portfolio of compositions by addressing general topics relating to instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic forces and specific compositional interests of individual composers. Students will explore techniques and ideas relating to their own musical language, means of creating and developing musical material and organising their own ideas with respect to considerations of musical form and structure. | ||||||