INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC MUSIC - MTC 362 001, Fall 2008.

Instructor: Herbert Midgley

Phone: Office 468-1197 or leave a message at 468-4602

Email : hmidgley@sfasu.edu (Please use this email not WebCT or my gmail account)

Webpage: www.herbertmidgley.com Office Hours: TBA

Office: Room 310 A Fine Arts Building., 3rd Floor inside the MIDI Lab

Class Time and Place : 12:30 P.M.- 1:45 P.M. Tuesday (Lecture) Thursday (Lab and group work) - FA 310

Class Goals: The goal of this class is for you to learn how to enjoy music by composing your own music with the use of music technology.

Texts: No text is required. The best way to learn about music technology is to get hands on experience. All equipment manuals are available and you will learn through them while at a computer.

Journal Notebook: You will need to keep a notebook since technical explanations can be rather difficult to understand at first. You will also need the notebook to keep a record of the sounds you're using for your composition. The other purpose of Journal Notebook is so that you can keep a log of lab hours that you work each week.

Class Attendance: I expect you to be present, and on time at all class meetings. Three unexcused absences will cut your final grade by one letter, four by two letters, etc. This includes lab sessions. You are responsible for all notes, power point presentations, recordings, and films/videos presented in class. Due the size of this class, no talking, sleeping, eating, reading newspapers, text messaging or cell phone use during class will be tolerated. All of these activities disrupt the educational process. If these common courtesies are not observed, you will be invited to leave the class. NO CELL PHONES OUT DURING CLASS!

I will take roll by having you turn in a paper on what you learn the day of lecture. You can not make this up, either you were in class or you were not.

You can not make up missed Group work and Skill test. (Come to Class!)

Materials:

1) 4 CD-Rs to turn in your projects on or to take home and listen to after a session and a DVD-R to burn your Music Video.

2)You will need one USB Thumb Drive if you want to back up your data. These are available in the bookstore.

3) Journal Notebook

All Assignments will be turned in via WebCT. http://mycourses.sfasu.edu

Grading: Grading Scale:

Midi paper/CD/Song/Video Reviews-25% 90-100=A

Mid-Term/paper -25% 80-89 =B

Final Project/paper- 25% 70-79 =C

Group Projects/paper - 25% 60-69 =D

00-59 =F

The Mid-Term project will be a 2-5 minute composition. It will be due the week of mid-term. The Final project will be a 3-10 minute composition will be due on the day of the final. These projects should be original, composed and produced by you. You may want to collaborate with somebody else on another project, but the mid-term and the final project should be only one person's work. Frequently, some of you will get together and help each other and that's O.K. But I want to know that each of you understands how to operate the computer, the RS-50 and the GarageBand sequencing program on the MAC. You may also use your own equipment to do your projects, but make sure you use it in conjunction with the equipment in the lab.

Attendance & Lab-time: You will need work on your for two or three hours of lab time per week. You will be using head phones while you work in the lab. They're very lightweight to help keep your neck from getting tired, but they're also quite fragile. I will generally be around to help you if you have any problems (and there will be quite a few at first) during your lab times. Don't hesitate to ask me for help.

Please don't re-route (unplug, re-plug, de-plug, etc.) any equipment through the Mixer. The next person to use the lab will have no idea of what's going on. If you want to plug your own equipment into the mixer; there are some empty ports. You will need MONO 1/4" jacks to patch in. Be sure and unplug your equipment when you are finished each time and be careful not to knock anything over!

This class may be repeated for credit.

Students with documented disabilities who need course adaptations or accommodations please make an appointment with me as soon as possible.

The syllabus may be amended at anytime due to the overall performance of the class.

Student/Learning Outcomes: What students should know or be able to do as a result of this course:

1) The student will demonstrate the skill of using midi software

2) The student will demonstrate basic knowledge about midi

3) The student will demonstrate the skill of composing their own songs using music technology software

4) Through group work, students will demonstrate the ability to create music with other students

5) Through group work, students will demonstrate the ability analyze and critic other students' compositions

6) The student will demonstrate basic computer skills

7) The student will be encouraged to develop the skill of time management by preparing for class during their lab hours

8) The student will be encouraged to develop the basic piano skills

9) The student will be encouraged to develop an interest in diverse music genres

10) The student will be encouraged to develop basic skills to make audio CDs

Week	Topic	Date
1	Introduction to MIDI: internet Search on What is MIDI	August 26
2	GarageBand I Basics - Planning a Song	September 2
3	GarageBand II Cut and Paste- Over Dub Recording	September 9
4	GarageBand III Looping	September 16
5	GarageBand IV Quantize- Midi Mixer	September 23
6	GarageBand V Editing- Notation	September 30
7	GarageBand VI Digital Audio Recording	October 7
8	Midterm- Burn CD Digital Recording: iTunes	October 14
9	GarageBand basics VII Digital Recording: Audacity I	October 21
10	Digital Recording: Audacity II	October 28
11	iMovie basics I - Planning a Music Video	November 4
12	iMovie basics I ≠ Editing, Adding Music - Titles ≠ Effects	November 11
13	iMovie basics I - Compression & Music Video: Post on the Web	November 18
14	Promote your Music Video. IDVD Part 1	November 25
15	iDVD I - Making a DVD Part 2	December 2
Final	Final Paper: How can you use this Class in your life? What did you learn from this Class?	December 9 Final

Projects			Date Due
1	5%	What is Midi Web Search (1 page Essay)	September 2
2	5%	Song Review (1 page Essay)	September 9
3	1%	History of your Favorite Musical Artist or Group/Band	September 16
4	5%	CD Review 1 (1 page Essay)	September 23
5	1%	The History of your Favorite Musical Genre	September 30
6	1%	How the music industry has changed since 1999?	October 7
7	20%	Mid Term Project ≠ (2 plus minutes long) Paper on what did you learn from this project. 2 pages.	October 14
8	5%	Group Project - Songwriting	October 21
9	5%	Music Video Review (1 page Essay)	October 28
10	1%	The History of Downloading Music.	November 4
11	1%	How to make your Music Video Viro.	November 11
12	5%	Music Video Review (1 page Essay)	November 18
13	25%	Group Project - Music Video Make a Music Video A Paper on what did you learn from this project. (We will watch all of the groupsπ music videos in class.)	November 25
14	10%	Final Project - (3 plus minutes long.) Paper on what did you learn from this project. 2 pages.	December 2
15	10%	Final Paper: How can you use this Class in your life? What did you learn from this Class? 2 pages.	December 9 Final
16	Up to 10%	Discussion Questions Bonus	December 9
17	Up to 10%	Extra Credit - CD reviews- papers- powerpoint- sequences, etc	Due day of Final December 9