THYU 424T Computer-Assisted Analysis & Composition
If there is one attribute that permeates the evolution of music in the past century, it is the radical expansion of its means of expression. As the frontiers of the medium expanded, older compositional practices were abandoned or repurposed, and new ones were invented. The electronic music revolution and the adoption, since the 1960s, of computers as compositional tools transformed the field to the extent that several compositional practices of the last 50 years are not truly accessible without the aid of technology. The efficiency of computers as interpreters of symbols, automators of tasks, and problem solvers also makes them ideal companions in exploring older 20th-century practices. This course examines compositional practices primarily in instrumental music of the 20th and 21st centuries with the aid of OpenMusic, a visual programming environment for computer-assisted analysis and composition developed at IRCAM. Students model compositional processes based on repertory addressed in class and create their own algorithms in response. Through analytical scrutiny and compositional experimentation the course ultimately aspires to provide students with an opportunity to experience the virtuous cycle that can develop between musical intuition and computer-assisted formalized processes.
Cross Listed Courses
THYG 524T