Carnegie Mellon University 57-421/821 – Exploded Ensemble
Instructors: Professors Lance LaDuke (lalaladuke@gmail.com) & Jesse Stiles (jessestiles@cmu.edu)
TA: Ryan Flint (rflint@andrew.cmu.edu)
Time: Mon/Wed 2:00PM – 3:20PM
Location: Hunt Library Media Lab, HLA10A
Class website: https://courses.ideate.cmu.edu/57-421/f2016/
Jesse’s office hours: Wednesdays, 3PM to 5PM – Hunt Library Media Lab, HLA10A.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Exploded Ensemble is a hybrid music performance group with the following foci: * Electro-acoustics * Multi-channel sound * Audio-visual performance (live video, computer-controlled lighting) * Wearable electronics & hybrid instruments * Performance of non-Western and/or non-notated musics * Creation of new music
CONCERT DATE
Wednesday, Feb 22, CUC Studio Theater. Time TBA.
TBA. Alumni Concert Hall.
ONLINE DISCUSSION/ANNOUNCEMENTS
We will use Slack for course-related discussions, announcements, file-sharing, & cetera. Please be sure to join the Slack and monitor discussions in realtime so you don’t miss anything.
EQUIPMENT & FACILITIES
Please read and become familiar with the IDeATe lending and purchasing policies, which can be accessed at resources.ideate.cmu.edu. The IDeATe facilities are shared student resources and spaces. As such, all members of the IDeATe community are expected to be respectful of the equipment, the spaces, and fellow students and their projects. Always clean up after completing your work, put things back in their correct place, and leave the lab in better condition than you found it.
Students may be required to purchase materials to complete class projects. For convenience, some materials are available for borrowing and for purchase at IDeATe Lending (Hunt A29).
If you experience any issues with IDeATe facilities such as swipe card access, access to the room reservations system, non-functioning or damaged equipment, etc., send an email describing your issue to: help@ideate.cmu.edu.
USING THE MEDIA LAB
You will have access to the Media Lab outside of class hours – it is an excellent environment for you to rehearse and develop work. To use the Media Lab outside of class time you must make a reservation using the online reservation system. When using the Media Lab outside of class you must comply with the policies indicated on the IDeATe website.
ATTENDANCE & CLASS PARTICIPATION
Attendance: Unexcused absences are disruptive and disrespectful. And in the case of a music ensemble, an unexcused absence may make a potential rehearsal impossible.
If you are unable to attend class for any reason you must email the instructors in advance. Failure to contact the instructors before the start of our meeting times will result in an unexcused absence. Unexcused absences will result in the drop of one letter grade per absence. This means that if you have one unexcused absence and would otherwise receive an A in the class, you will receive a B. If you have two unexcused absences and would otherwise receive an A, you will receive a B, etc. Arriving more than 5 minutes late to class twice will result in an additional unexcused absence.
Participation: You are invited, encouraged, and expected to engage actively in discussion, reflection and activities. Our class time is precious and limited. Please refrain from distracting electronic behavior such as texting during class time.
ASSESSMENT
There will be two public concerts throughout the semester. You are expected to play a supportive role in every aspect of these concerts and should consider yourself to be a team-member for every piece that we present. You are also expected to be a major contributor to at least one piece in each of the concerts. This could mean composing or arranging music, designing software, acting as the lead sound engineer, designing visuals, performing as a soloist, or some other significant role. You will be assessed based on the quality and quantity of work that you invest in these roles.