COURSE UNIT TITLE

: COMPOSING AND PRODUCING ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC 1

DEGREE PROGRAMMES

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
MZK 3049 COMPOSING AND PRODUCING ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC 1 ELECTIVE 2 0 1 3

Offered By

Composition

Level of Course Unit

First Cycle Programmes (Bachelor's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ONUR NURCAN

Offered to

Composition

Course Objective

This class will teach the use of Ableton Live and other EDM (electronic dance music) production software in order to teach the foundations of composing club music. Students will learn to incorporate basic structural features such as breaks and drops into their grooves.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Students will learn to negotiate different modes of listening depending on the genre and location of the experience
2   Students will learn to understand and identify the core structural elements of electronic dance music and apply this knowledge to their creative work.
3   Students will learn to use a Digital Audio Workstation to create the rudiments of electronic dance music, and to begin to organize these materials into complete pieces.

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Identifying the core structural features of dance music. Introduction to the Digital Audio Workstation (Ableton Live).
2 Listening for the break and the drop. Identifying "Adequate Modes of Listening" per Ola Stockfelt.
3 Deconstructing the classic rhythmic structure of the House Music groove. Basic drum programming in Ableton Live.
4 Different dance music genres and the timbres and tempi appropriate to each.
5 Bass line programming.
6 Building improvisatory systems using Clip view in Ableton.
7 The arpeggiator and more advanced use of Digital Audio Workstations.
8 Delays, distortion, and other audio effects. In-class performances.
9 Slowly building the groove via additive percussion.
10 Parameter automation in Ableton.
11 Present opening gesture of the final composition and analyze its implications in class.
12 Introduction to full song structures.
13 Present first half of final project in class.
14 Present complete final projects in class. Critique and revise.
15 Final Performance/presentation of revised projects in a venue appropriate to the genre.

Recomended or Required Reading

Manzo, V.J., Interactive Composition: Strategies Using Ableton Live and Max for Live, Oxford University Press, 2015
Snoman, Rick, Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques, Focal Press, 2013
Bess, Josh, Electronic Dance Music Grooves: House, Techno, Hip-Hop, Dubstep, and More!, Hal Leonard, 2015
Hewitt, Michael, Composition for Computer Musicians, Centage Learning, 2009
Manning, Peter, Electronic and Computer Music, Oxford University Press, 2013
Collins, Nick and d'Escrivan, Julio (eds.),The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music, Cambridge University Press, 2007

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Lectures will consist of listening to electronic dance music pieces, software programming examples, as well as examinations and trials of different dance music production techniques.

Assignments will consist of numerous small composition/programming projects, as well as one larger final electronic dance music composition project.

Assessment Methods

Successful / Unsuccessful

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

The assignments will be evaluated on the basis of timeliness, creativity, adherence to the assignment's parameters, and on clarity of musical function.

The project will also be evaluated on the basis of timeliness, creativity, adherence to the assignment's parameters, and on clarity of musical function.

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Course Policies and Rules

70% attendance is mandatory.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

Pieter Snapper
psnapper@gmail.com

Office Hours

To be announced.

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 14 3 42
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 14 1 14
Preparing assignments 14 1 14
Design Project 1 15 15
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 85

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14PO.15
LO.1312211
LO.222211
LO.3232311

CONTACT INFORMATION
Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Cumhuriyet Bulvarı No: 144 35210 Alsancak / İZMİR
Phone: +90(232) 412 12 12 - Fax: +90 (232) 464 81 35

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