Music Performance and Production

Course Description

This course serves to introduce students experientially to three different traditions of music making. We will explore the integrated participatory practice of West African drumming, singing and movement, using traditional instruments from Ghana. We will also get an introduction to musical improvisation in jazz and other styles with instruments and voice, with performance experience based on the students’ levels—with a beginner section and an intermediate-level section for those more experienced on their instruments. We will explore different concepts of music and sound. Finally, students will get a hands-on introduction to digital sound technology, where they will learn about microphones, mixing boards, and digital audio workstations, and how these tools are used for both live sound support and recording applications. Students will get an opportunity to record each other performing!

Previous experience in drumming, improvisation and recording is welcome but not necessary, and music notation reading is not required. We will explore practices of collaborative music-making through different techniques—including emulation, call and response, following non-traditional outlines—as well as ideas of ""comprovisation"" that introduces elements of pre-planning to improv. Students might also be anxious about improvisation or using new technologies, so we will explore strategies of confidence-boosting, developing trust, and constructive mindsets. Students can bring their own instruments, or use instruments that the instructor provides. Every day will include some low-stress version of music creation, culminating in a more substantial ""performance"" on the last day.