Featured Class: Electronic Music

The faint sound of music is heard down the hallway and as students approach the classroom it becomes more prominent. Professor Josh Goldman is playing a piece by the famous composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. This is the typical start to an Electronic Music class.

Introduction to Electronic Music (16-MTHC-571, 572,573) is course that serves as an historical overview of electronic music. Students also study various audio production programs, such as Logic, to create their own compositions. It’s offered annually but limited spots are available every quarter.

Electronic Music is an engaging course that analyzes the technologies that have shaped the course of electronic music. By familiarizing the students with acoustics, midi sequencing, signal processing, and algorithmic compositions students will in turn create good projects.

“Good requires form, quality of sounds, and effects to be incorporated in a logical manner.  This is a composition class.  We take the music that is created very seriously”, says Professor Inez deDeugd-McComas.

A unique characteristic of the course is that is taught by two professors: Josh Goldman and Inez S. deDeugd-McComas. Professor Josh Goldman is an electric guitarist and electronic music composer.  He is currently a doctoral student at CCM. Professor Inez S. deDeugd-McComas is also a doctoral student at CCM.  Her work mostly focuses on multimedia works incorporating live musicians, electronics, and video.

Electronic music is a CCM elective that’s open to all majors. “We have a variety of people take the class.  Each person has something new to add, so I get a real kick out of seeing how other people work out the creative process” says Professor Inez deDeugd-McComas.

Whether you are an Engineering student, DAAP student, music major, or E-Media student it doesn’t matter – all our are welcome to share in the excitement of electronic music. It’s an exploration course that opens students’ minds to working with music that’s beyond the realm of traditional pieces. By applying fundamental compositional techniques students have free reign to explore their own avenue.

“The nice thing about it is that you can jump into composing your own project without having any musical background, major, or otherwise. You were in a class with other students that all wanted to explore electronic music, either because they didn't know what it was and wanted to know, or because they were very familiar with it and wanted to take it to the next level”, says Jaramy Carmody, E-Media senior.

Several mini-projects are turned in as the course moves forward. Drawing from their knowledge and experience gained students are required to submit a final project at the end of the quarter. Using Logic students will create a composition that produces a sonic quality that can only be achieved via electronic means. As stated on the syllabus the finished composition should be impossible for human performers of any type to recreate.

“Looking back through history, when a new instrument evolved, it caused a stir… a revolution of sorts.  Take the electric guitar… at one point it caused a lot of controversy.  Nowadays that is no longer true.   There is no instrument that causes this type of reaction… or is there?  I think that the computer is the only “instrument” that can cause a revolution today, and I want to be apart of it” says Professor Josh Goldman on the evolution of electronic music in society.

“Hopefully, students get exposed to a genre of music that they wouldn’t necessarily hear on an everyday basis”, says Professor Inez deDeugd-McComas.

Written by Stephen Campbell, posted November 2009