<p>Bard College would be a much better place for him as a composer than the conservatory. The basic opportunities are the same for composers in both programs - but in the college there is the opportunity to specialize in electronic and experimental music. [About</a> the Music Program at Bard](<a href=“http://music.bard.edu/about/]About”>Curriculum)</p>
<p>I just checked out some of the fall course offerings which I thought would give you the flavor of the department <a href=“http://inside.bard.edu/academic/courses/current/:[/url]”>http://inside.bard.edu/academic/courses/current/:</a></p>
<p>MUS 320 Musical Electronics: Analog Synthesis & Processing/ Robert Bielecki</p>
<p>This course concentrates on the creative use of electronic circuitry and the construction of devices for musical applications. Students will develop an understanding of how basic electronic components are used in audio circuits and how to read schematic diagrams. Well discuss topics such as Voltage Control, Synthesis, Filtering, Waveshaping, Phase Shifting, Ring Modulation, Theremins, Circuit Bending, etc. Well work from existing designs and also create new devices as we hone our skills of soldering, point-to-point wiring and layout. Familiarity with basic electronics and the use of hand tools is helpful but not a prerequisite for this class.</p>
<p>MUS 304 Arithmetic of Listening /Kyle Gann</p>
<p>This course is an introduction to the overtone series and the history of tuning. Learn how tuning shapes the course of a cultures music; trace the parallel development of music and the number series back 2500 years to the teachings of Pythagoras. Hear how Bach’s and Beethovens music sounded in its original tunings. Learn how to discriminate the pitch subtleties that differentiate Indian music, Balinese music, and even the blues from our conventional European tuning, and discover how American composers like Harry Partch, Ben Johnston, and La Monte Young have created a new tonal universe from the in-between pitches. Most importantly, sensitize yourself to aspects of listening that we 21st century Westerners have been trained to filter out. Final project in this class may take the form of a tuning-based analysis of either European (pre-20th century) or world music; design and/or construction of a musical instrument; or a performance of original work involving alternate tunings. Basic ability to read music is strongly recommended for this course, though it may be compensated for by a background in mathematics or acoustics</p>
<p>MUS 217 Voice, Body, Machine:</p>
<p>Women Artists and the Evolution of the Composer-Performer /Marina Rosenfeld</p>
<p>This class explores the works and legacy of a diverse group of artists, mostly female, whose hybrid, often interdisciplinary practices challenged conventional ideas of embodiment, performance, expression and technology, and redefined the fields of experimental and electronic music during the last half-century. Course work includes critical writing as well as creative compositional and/or performance work. Artists considered include Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Joan La Barbara, Alison Knowles, Maryanne Amacher, Eliane Radigue, Diamanda Galas, Laetitia Sonami, Pamela Z. Terre Thaemlitz, Slits, Kembra Pfahler, Kaffe Matthews, Fe-Matt, Sachiko M, and others</p>
<p>MUS 363 John Cage and His World
Richard Teitelbaum</p>
<p>Cross-listed: Science, Technology & Society Long reviled as a charlatan or a madman, John Cage, born 100 years ago this year, has finally achieved recognition as probably the most influential composer and musical thinker of the mid-latter twentieth century. The course will focus primarily on analysis of Cages music, encompassing such innovations as the prepared piano, chance, and indeterminacy. It will be set in the context of the work and thought of his numerous teachers and influences, as well as colleagues and collaborators from the worlds of music (Satie, Schoenberg, Varese, Cowell, Harrison, Feldman, Brown, Wolff, Tudor), visual arts (Duchamp, Futurism, Dada Fluxus, Rauschenberg, Johns), dance (Cunningham and others) religious thought (Meister Eckhard, Hinduism, Taoism, the I Ching, Zen Buddhism) literature, political and social writing (Thoreau, Joyce, Fuller, McLuhan). Student work may take the form of papers, analyses, realizations and performances of Cage scores, or creation of new works inspired by Cagean examples. Texts will include Silence, A Year from Monday, and other writings by and about Cage</p>
<p>MUS WKSPX Music Software for Composition and Performance
Miguel Frasconi</p>
<p>4 credits This class will explore popular software used in music today. The main focus will be on Ableton Live, both as a composing/performing tool and as a host for software instruments and audio plugins. Programs such as Kontakt, Absynth, Reason, and Reaktor will also be explored as well as the use of hardware controllers and smart-phone devices. Through weekly assignments, students will learn how to integrate audio processing with acoustic instruments, use audio clips and re-sampling in an interactive environment, and mix finished compositions. Creative use of these techniques will be encouraged and the student’s own work shared through weekly listening sessions and a final concert. Students should have their own copy of Ableton Live (Intro or full version) or arrange regular access to the department’s computers.</p>
I forgot about Mills undergrad being for women. Some of the staff at his Oberlin camp graduated from Mills and he had mentioned that as a place he was interested in. It will have to wait until grad school, I guess.</p>
Spirit manager, I knew you were somehow quite familiar with ea music and assumed if your son was fooling around with max/msp that he had ea leanings, but of course, as comp mom points out, tech leanings and ea leanings are not necessarily one in the same