Musical Expression via New Interfaces

• Course Title: Musical Expression via New Interfaces (NIME): Creating and Composing Unique Interactive Performances (uisa 115, previously 190)
• CRN: 42558
• Credits: 3
• Prerequisites: There is no pre-required course needed to enroll in this uisa course. A laptop running macOS or Windows, however, is strongly encouraged.
• Day: Monday
• Time: 2:20 – 4:50 pm
• Room: Beatrice Fox Auerbach Hall, 320 (map )
• Dates: 22 August – 5 December 2022
• Professor: Roy Vanegas (pronounced “vuh-nay-gus”)
• Email: vanegas at hartford dot edu
• Phone: 860.768.5925
• Office: Charles A Dana Hall, 310B
• Office hours: I meet students via Zoom on the following days (click here for details):
  • Monday: 10:00 – 11:00 am
  • Tuesday: 1:00 – 4:00 pm
  • Wednesday: 10:00 – 11:00 am

This course will walk students through the process of creating a new interface for musical expression, or nime, and use it to compose and perform an original musical work. Students will learn skills in both technical and creative fields in order to effectively capture sensory data and transform them into sound. Various topics in electronic music composition will be covered to give students a wide range of possible directions in which to develop their nimes. This includes computer programming for audio, sound design and effects processing, musical structure, fabrication, and electronic circuitry. The course concludes with a concert in which students perform original compositions for their nimes.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will demonstrate...

• How to create a New Interface for Musical Expression, or nime;
• How to play and perform their nimes;
• The ability to translate physical movement to light, sound, and visuals. These concepts are best summarized by the following 50-second video: https://bit.ly/3bhlIZp;
• The ability to compose elementary electronic compositions.

This course will focus on two tools: Max and Arduino. These tools are powerful and flexible, and are therefore standard in nime courses throughout the world. While aspects of the Arduino platform are free (schematics and software, primarily), Max and the Arduino board are not. A software-based nime utilizing Max and Arduino sensors might cost as little as $99, but could cost more, depending on the kind of nime you choose to create.

If, on the other hand, you design a nime using other hardware (Wii Remotes, Kinect Sensors, etc), found objects, off-the-shelf parts, or some combination of the aforementioned items, your cost could be next to nothing. It will be up to you what tools and hardware to use to realize the vision of your nime.

Important Dates

• Labor Day — No class (Week 3): Monday, 5 September 2022
• Thanksgiving recess — No class (Week 14): Monday, 21 November 2022
• Final presentations — Last day of classes (Week 16): Monday, 5 December 2022

Class	Topics	Homework
One	Students and professor introductions Introduction to the course What is a nime? Listen/watch previous nimes and nime-like projects (partial list): Best of nime 2014 Luigi Russolo’s Intonarumori (noise machines) from The Art of Noises manifesto Christopher Bauder’s and Robert Henke’s Atom. Watch Part I and Part II of the performance Michael Waisvisz’s The Hands	nime: A Documentary of New Instruments for Musical Expression: I, II, and III. Open GitHub account
Two	Discuss the midterm assignment Extended techniques Using space as a nime: LaMonte Young’s Dream House — Video 1 and Video 2 Edgard Varèse’s Poème électronique — Video 1 and Video 2 How to get help Revisit previous week’s nime videos, discussing the electronics of it all Electronics and Arduino basics	Arduino lab 1
Three	Listen/watch previous nimes Mapping interactions to music Fundamentals of computer programming	Arduino lab 2 pbs’s Sound Field’s Is This Even Music?
Four	Listen/watch previous nimes Alfredo Marin’s Real Empowerment Looping: David Lang’s Just by Shipsea Intro to Max/MSP/Jitter Hands-on practice: Max/MSP/Jitter	Arduino lab 3 Max lab 1 Crank Sturgeon’s Contact Mic Tutorial Collin’s Lab’s diy Contact Mic
Five	Listen/watch previous nimes Pitch ideas Departing from traditional Western musical constructs The computer is a nime! Sound synthesis Sine waves Square waves Sawtooth waves Sound processing Filters Sound modulations	Arduino lab 4 Max lab 2 Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee
Six	Midterm q&a Listen/watch previous nimes Shaping sound electronically Max Tutorial Forums (for help)	Arduino labs 5 – 6 Max lab 3
Seven	Midterm presentations	n/a
Eight	Midterm feedback Project check-ins Arduino programming Max programming	Work on final project performance/presentation
Nine	Tech refresher Listen/watch previous nimes Project check-ins Using unconventional methods to trigger nimes Serial communication: usb, midi, and osc Thinking ergonomically about your nimes “Is a NIME?”	Work on final project performance/presentation
Ten	Listen/watch previous nimes Project check-ins Mapping body movement to analog or digital audio	Work on final project performance/presentation
Eleven	John Cage’s 4'33", as performed by Dead Territory. Video Project check-ins Processing and filtering audio through Max and/or plugins	Work on final project performance/presentation
Twelve	Listen/watch previous nimes Project check-ins Scoring your nime compositions	Work on final project performance/presentation
Thirteen	Project check-ins Open lab	Work on final project performance/presentation
Fourteen	Thanksgiving recess	None. Enjoy the break!
Fifteen	Open lab	Thoroughly test your final projects
Sixteen	Final project presentations/performances	Have a happy and safe break!

The midterm, a set of weekly check-ins, and a final performance of your nime make up 80% of your grade. Course Participation makes up the final 20%. The full breakdown of your final course grade is as follows:

• 1 × Mid-course presentation of the development of your nime project (25%)
• 6 × Post-midterm weekly check-ins (30%)
• 1 × Final performance, complete with score, of your nime (25%)
• Semester-long participation, including active listening, taking part in our in-class discussions, and, providing feedback to your peers on their work (20%)

Read about how The University of Hartford supports students with disabilities: https://www.hartford.edu/academics/academic-support/accessibility-services/default.aspx

• Office: Charles A Dana Hall, 310B
• Office hours: I meet students via Zoom on the following days (click here for details):
  • Monday: 10:00 – 11:00 am
  • Tuesday: 1:00 – 4:00 pm
  • Wednesday: 10:00 – 11:00 am