Austen Brown

This course will introduce students to basic techniques of working with sound as an artistic material. As a prerequisite for many of the department's upper level offerings, the class is designed to familiarize the student with both the technology and the historical and aesthetic background relevant to our facilities and courses, to the field of 'sound art' and experimental music in general, and to the application of sound in other disciplines (video, film, performance, installations, etc.) Equipment covered will include microphones, mixers, analog and digital audio recorders, signal processors and analog synthesizers. Hard-disk based recording and editing (ProTools) is introduced, but the focus is on more traditional analog studio technology. The physics of sound will be a recurring subject.

Examples of music and sound art, created using similar technology to that in our studios, will be played or performed and discussed in class. The listening list will vary according to the instructors' preferences. Readings are similarly set according to the instructors' syllabus: some sections employ more or less reading than others, contact specific instructors for details.

Students are expected to use studio time to complete weekly assignments, which are designed to hone technical skills and, in most cases, foster artistic innovation. Some of these projects can incorporate outside resources (such as the student's own computers and recordings), but the emphasis is on mastering the studio.

This course explores the foundations of modular analog synthesis, working hands-on with oscillators, amplifiers, and filters to create original sound works. Students will use both vintage and contemporary equipment to learn frequency and amplitude modulation, sequencing, frequency shifting, and other core processes that shaped the history of electronic music.

Historical case studies situate these techniques within the work of pioneering composers such as Stockhausen, Radigue, Koenig, Subotnik, Oliveros, and Spiegel, connecting classical studio methods to contemporary practice. Weekly compositional projects encourage students to apply specific technical strategies while developing their own aesthetic approach. By the end of the course, students will have produced a portfolio of analog compositions that reflect both technical fluency and creative exploration in modular synthesis.

Public Sound and Space explores situating sound-based art practices, including performance and installation, into public space. Projects are conceptualized and developed in response to specific locations found in and around Chicago, determined by students in coordination with the instructor. The course examines public space and architecture through historical and contemporary sound practices, as well as the non-art uses of sound and its employment in public space. Technical workshops emphasize sound projection, acoustics, and mixing for complicated sonic environments and playback systems. In collaboration with the Public Light and Space course, students will work in pairs to mount a large-scale sound and video work to be projected onto the Merchandise Mart, a significant building in the Loop. Bi-monthly in-class meetings between Public Sound and Space and Public Light and Space will catalyze collaboration, hold technical and conceptual critiques, and accommodate workshops to address sound and image workflow. Facilitated by Art on the Mart, an art initiative presenting international artists, the work will be on view daily for 6 weeks capturing an audience of roughly 300,000 people.
We will study the works of artists including Susan Philipsz, Park McArthur, Ryoji Ikeda, Cevdet Erek, and Cameron Rowland. Readings include Miwon Kwon, Niall Atkinson, and others.
In addition to the collaborative Art on the Mart project, students will research, propose, and develop a public sound work in response to a site of their choosing for the final.