Courses

The continuation of CM-311 with concentration on the employment of serial approaches to composition. Various composition assignments and a final project are required.

Discussion of string instruments, their special effects, and proper notation. Principles of string orchestration and voicing techniques.

The course will focus on the acquisition of skills with technological tools for the creation of professional composition portfolios. Production of publication-ready scores and parts using Finale or Sibelius notation software will be emphasized, including nonstandard notation. Basic audio editing techniques will also be presented to create demonstration recordings.

Approaches to composition using ideas and aesthetic principles from a variety of non-Western musical traditions. Explorations of diverse concepts of rhythm, melody, timbre, and form as heard in the music of Africa, Asia, India, and South America. Assignments will include a substantial composition illustrating these principles.

Orchestration techniques for full symphony orchestra.

A practical course for conductors and music directors in preparation, organization, rehearsal, and recording under studio conditions. Emphasis on establishing fluency in conducting and rehearsal techniques to maximize efficiency in the session.

Rehearsing and recording to picture with live performers under studio conditions. Focus on preparation, efficiency, and accurate synchronization.

This course functions as a companion to FS-484 Scoring Silent Films 1, and prepares the students in that course for the specific challenges of conducting music live to picture in a concert setting. It is to be taken concurrently with FS-484. Use of punches and streamers will be emphasized, as well as rehearsal technique. The course will culminate in a live performance of a silent film from a previous semester, and will prepare the students to conduct their own music the following semester in FS-485 Scoring Silent Films 2. 

Analysis and writing of three- and four-voice imitative counterpoint based on traditional models. Models include fugue, chorale prelude, and passacaglia or chaconne.

Alternative approaches and concepts to writing that can be used in various aspects of songwriting, arranging, and composing for contemporary broadcast media, such as film and TV scores, that will supplement other writing approaches. Using compositional concepts pioneered by George Tremblay and Jack Smalley, the course explores writing techniques based on the use of the 12-tone row concept and the process of extracting consonant melodic components from the rows that are then applied to writing for contemporary musical styles and forms and commercial clients. Some writing projects will be realized through sequencing and live performance.

This course provides students a thorough overview of the history, theory, aesthetics, and application of interactive scoring along with an introduction to the video game and interactive industries, including career opportunities, contracts, licensing, practices, and toolsets. The course includes analysis of interactive music as found in video games, the internet, installations, sound art, and concert composition. This course can stand alone or serve as the first in a series of three courses that make up part of the Video Game Scoring Minor.

This course is a study of multitrack mixdown in a digital audio workstation environment, specifically for the needs of modern film and television scoring in a project studio. Balance and context of a mix are explored, and special consideration is given to genre-appropriate sound. In addition to aesthetic and technical concerns, people skills and delivery to specifications (including stem mixes and session interchange between DAWs) are emphasized. Mix material will be drawn from the student's own film scoring projects from other courses, and/or film scoring sessions from other composers.