Keele UniversityFaculty of HumsSocSci
Music and Music Technology
Explore this Section
Before you Arrive
- Get in touch: join the FaceBook group "Keele University Music & Music Technology". Get in touch with current students and other incoming students, even before you meet in the classroom!
- Be prepared for the 'shock': (well... a kind of shock anyway). Studying at Uni is different from school and college. Read more...
- Readings and purchases - MUSIC: The readings are NOT compulsory but... (read more).
- Readings, CDs, software, purchases MUSIC TECH: The course will take you through things gradually, from 'zero'. However... (read more on readings, CDs and DVDs, World Wide Web, software, purchases).
- Registration forms - Fill the form and send it to us.
- Get your computer ready - check out Keele HallsNet
And just before you arrive
Write these two important entries in your diary --->
- REGISTRATION for Music / Music Tech: you must register with us (you will find date/time/venue on the letter we sent you) .
- WELCOME MEETING, ABSOLUTELY VITAL THAT YOU ATTEND THIS ONE. It's an opportunity to meet your new course mates, meet members of staff, ask questions.
- The date, time and venue of this meeting will be written in the letter we send you.
- All single honour students must attend both Music AND Music Technology meetings.
Recommended readings and book purchases for incoming MUSIC students:
The readings are NOT compulsory but... (read more), if you can and have the inclination, it would be useful to pick and choose among these books and chapters. It goes without saying that practising your first instrument regularly, before you start your course, is a must!
|
Author: Stanley Sadie - Title: The Cambridge Music Guide Brief description: textbook covering Western Art Music Read these chapters first: Ch1, 2 and 3 cover music theory and music forms, topics explored further in the Introduction to Music Theory and Active Listening modules. Ch 9, 10 and 11 cover Twentieth Century Classical Music. This book is strongly recommended for purchase, although multiple copies are available for borrowing in our library. |
|
|
Author: Nicholas Cook - Title: Music: a very short introduction Brief description: challenging reflections upon various musics, traditional, folk, classical, jazz, rock, pop. Read these chapters first: to get thinking about music in the kinds of new ways you’ll be encouraged to explore throughout your degree, reading this book doesn’t take long, but cover lots of ground on the big questions about music, its meanings and its purposes, in a short but stimulating space. If you can, read all of it. |
|
|
Author: Philip V. Bohlman - Title: World Music: a very short introduction Brief description: Music and its wide-ranging geographical scope, cultures and regional histories. Read these chapters first: to get thinking about music in the kinds of new ways you’ll be encouraged to explore throughout your degree, reading this book doesn’t take long, but cover lots of ground on the big questions about music, its meanings and its purposes, in a short but stimulating space. If you can, read all of it. |
|
|
Author: Alex Ross - Title: The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century Brief description: technical analysis, metaphorical explanations, provoking and engaging. A great book about music since 1900. it’s almost a musicological page turner! Read these chapters first: If you wish to find out more about a particular composer or movement, read the relevant chapter(s). This book is also a good cover-to-cover read, if you have the time or inclination. |
|
|
Author: Claudia Gorbman - Title: The Oxford Guide to Film Studies Brief description: useful book if you are interested in film-music and/or want to prepare yourself for the Film-Music module(s). The book is an up-to-date critical volume on the theories, debates, and approaches to the study of film. Read these chapters: read Claudia Gorbman's chapter on film music. |
|
|
Author: Anahid Kassabian - Title: Hearing Film Brief description: useful book if you are interested in film-music and/or want to prepare yourself for the Film-Music module(s). The book offers a critical examination of music in Hollywood films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Dangerous Liaisons, Thelma and Louise, Lethal Weapon, The Hunt for Red October, etc. Read these chapters: Ch.1, How Film Music Works. Ch.2, How Music Works in Film. |
|
Recommended ACTIVITIES for incoming MUSIC TECHNOLOGY studentsThe course will take you through things gradually, from 'zero'. However a bit of preparation will certainly do you good! You can do all the things listed below, if you have time, or perhaps pick and choose. |
||
|
BOOK
|
|
|
ESSAY Author/Editor: Dr. Diego Garro (lecturer in Music Technology at Keele University) Title: Sound Quality in Music Mixes Brief description: at Keele - Music Technology we place great importance on sound quality. Students are guided, encouraged and expected to develop refined listening skills so they themselves are able to design professional quality sounds and mixes Read here ... |
|
| LISTENING / WATCHING At Keele - Music Technology, students, lecturers and researchers focus on a variety of musical genres and styles. Students are encouraged to be experimental (both in the use of the tools and in the artistic output). The following selection will provide you with a brief overview of the type of music and related topics you are likely to engage with during your Music Technology studies. |
||
|
Denis Smalley - Pentes (experimental sonic arts) The Alchemist of Sound (documentary on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop) Electronic Music Appreciation: Horacio Vaggione - Nodal (experimental sonic arts) |
||
SOFTWARE PRACTICETraining on the software you need for Music Tech coursework will be provided starting from beginner level. However, students looking to start Music Technology at Keele University may want to familiarise themselves with computer applications for audio editing, multi-track audio mixing, and audio-video montage. For example a free audio editor AUDACITY is available here [http://audacity.sourceforge.net/] for download. The wave editor we use on most Music Tech labs is Adobe Audition (both the version for PC and for Mac).The most common environment for sequencing and multi-track recording/mixing used at Keele on Mac computers is Apple LOGIC 9 (the Express version is very cheap for students). If you own a Mac you may want to familiarise yourself with Logic. Video tutorials are available both on YouTube and on the Apple website. As a suite for video editing we use Apple FINAL CUT 9 (the Express version is very intuitive to use). You may want to become familiar at least with the basic editing tasks. Do it yourself: try to experiment with sound! Use a wave editor and plug-in effects to transform it beyond recognition; pretend you are preparing a soundtrack for a sci-fi blockbuster. A good (and very cheap) piece of software you can play with to create weird granular sounds or crazy soundscapes is ?Ambient? by Audiobulb. Find it here [http:// www.audiobulb.com/create/Ambient/AB-Ambient.htm]. Remember, be creative, and pay great attention to sound quality. If you want feedback on this little exercise, get in touch with d.garro@mus.keele.ac.uk. |
||
UNIVERSITY LIFEBe prepared for the 'shock'! University is different from school or college Studying at Uni is different from school and college. One way to explore these differences is to talk to current University students, but you cal also read the points in this list ---------->
How much work? This depends partly on the individual, naturally. But as a rough guide, 1 credit = 10 hours of work. So if you are taking a 15-credit module (a little self-contained course, for example MUS-10011 Music Theory), you might expect to put in 150 hours of work over a 12-week semester. This could be, for a certain module, attending lectures and tutorials every week, studying and listening to recommended music works, writing a final essays. Or, it could be, for another module, attending lab workshops, preparing a presentation on you project work in progress, carrying out a final project in our studios. That’s roughly 10-12 hours per week just for one module. You will take the equivalent of 4 of these modules at one time. Therefore, we are talking about 40-48 hours of academic work a week - University study is a full time job! Therefore, it’s worth making a few of important points -->
A Latin motto says 'Mens sana in corpore sano' (a healthy mind in a healthy body): if you want your mind to be prompt, focussed and sharp, you must look after yourself; eat properly, drink in moderation, exercise regularly, sleep, relax every day for a little while. And finally, remember that you are not alone. If you run into any problems, the golden rule is PLEASE COMMUNICATE. Rather than bottling up or disappearing, get in touch with your tutors, who will always do their best to help. Glossary of useful (and mysterious) Terms:Module: a self-contained course on a subject, for example 'MUS-10011 Music Theory -1'.Typically it lasts 12 weeks (one semester) and involves attendance to 2 hours per week of either lectures or tutorials or studio workshops or computer mediated study or, more often, a combination of these things. You need to attend modules, do the relevant coursework, and do whatever is required for the assessment so you can get the marks you need to pass that module. Tutor: a person who teaches you at University, gives lectures, runs seminars and workshops and makes sure that you are having a positive learning experience. Also a publisher of original research and an expert in his or her field. Different tutors have different styles of teaching: this is a good thing. Personal tutor: on arrival, all Keele students are allocated one tutor who looks out for you and offers basic pastoral care and academic advice. S/he will be a tutor from one of your degree programmes. Office: at Music and Music Tech we call 'The Office' the... main office on the ground floor where our friendly Administrators work and answer students' queries. The Office is open to students every day but only during specific hours. Music Studio, or Lab: a room equipped with technology for the creation, recording, editing of sound, visuals and music. We have 7 independent studio areas used for various practical work on certain modules. Some are 'pool rooms' because they feature many separate Audio Workstations. Some are 'single user' because they only feature one workstation (these must be booked in advance). Office Hours a.k.a. Surgery Hours: each tutor has designated hours during the week during which he/she can talk to students about academic or personal issues. Sign your name on the tutor's door so he/she knows what time you are coming. You might want to go over something you didn’t quite understand in a lecture or during a studio task, for example. Essay: generally, a longer piece of assessed written work (something between 2,500 and 3,500 words), in which you’ll have to construct an argument on a particular topic, using a variety of sources to support your argument. Lecture: slightly more formal than a seminar. All students taking a certain module go to a classroom to attend a 50-minute presentation on a specific topic, often with handouts and/or PowerPoint slides. Students take notes. Depending on the tutor, students might be asked a few informal checking questions. Attendance at lectures, like seminars and workshops, is compulsory. Workshop - 1 or 2 hours: You are shown how to do something by a tutor, usually in small groups. This could be setting up a sound recording session, or composing a motive for clarinet. At Music and Music Tech usually workshops also involve students doing something under the tutor's guidance and gain feedback. Module Description: Contains all the important information about a certain module you are taking, content, timetable, books you need, labs you need to use, information about assessment and tutor’s contact details. The MD is available on the Virtual Learning Environment so all students can see it wherever in the world they are, via the Internet. Virtual Learning Environment a.k.a. 'VLE' or 'WebCT': a computerised system to support teaching and learning. It works over the Internet and provide a collection of resources for students taking a certain module (notes, interactive quizzes, timetables, recommended web links). Sometimes it supports discussions among students and/or tutors on study topics. It can also be used for exam tests, submitting essays, students' blogs and students' portfolios. The VLE used at Keele is a product by Blackboard(TM) called WebCT. It's very intuitive to use and students can learn very quickly using tutor's advice and the on-line video tutorials available to Keele students. SSLC: Staff-Student Liaison Committee. An important forum for students to give feedback on the work of the department. Includes students from Levels I, II and III, so if you’re interested in being on the SSLC, which meets roughly twice per semester, please let the Office know. |
||
