Course Title: Immersive Environments 1b

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Immersive Environments 1b

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
COMM1268	City Campus	Undergraduate	340H Art	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2006, Sem 2 2007, Sem 2 2008, Sem 2 2009, Sem 2 2011

Course Coordinator: Dr Philip Samartzis

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5207

Course Coordinator Email: p.samartzis@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Bld 9.2.47

Course Coordinator Availability: Via Appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

This course is for Fine Art Students from BP201 only.

Course Description

This course demonstrates the technical, conceptual & artistic intricacies of sound spatialization by examining the history and theory of music production, film soundtracks, installation art and surround sound performance.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

To instruct students to:

1). Consider surround sound options in a range of installation, performance and audiovisual productions
2). Become knowledgeable of the technological affects upon sound and music as applied to surround spatialisation
3). Become articulate in the communication and direction of aural concepts and technical terminology within immersive environments
4). Capably handle issues of surround mixing, spatialization and mastering

Overview of Learning Activities

Technical Workshops:

The class involves a series of workshops dealing with advanced applications of sound design, sound editing, location and sound effects recording, multi-tracking, surround bouncing, surround pre-mixing and final mixing, onboard multi-FX processing & FX plug-ins and DVD authoring.

Process Workshops:

As an adjunct to the technical workshops, a series of process workshops are presented to demonstrate ways in which to conceptualise, plan, manage and generally approach issues of composition and production for installation, performance and screen based works. Central to this is the presentation of recent works and commissions professionally carried out by the lecturer.

Revisions:

Students are able to make one-on-one consultation bookings on select afternoons throughout the semesters to revise and seek further advice on the methods and processes covered in the technical Workshops, technical lectures & process workshops

Music and Film Screenings and Analyses:

A number of excerpts from DVD and compact disc are presented after which an in-depth analysis of key themes and sequences is presented to the class, covering ways in which their surround spatialisation have been implemented.

Field Trips:

A number of field trips will be organized to examine exhibitions and performances first hand in which curators and artists will be invited to explain their concepts and answer questions.

Overview of Learning Resources

Immersive Environments BLACKBOARD
Log on via www.rmit.edu.au/online

Journal:
The Computer Music Journal, The Mix, Signal to Noise, Sound on Sound, & The Wire.

Other:
Australasian Computer Music Conference, 2002, Form - Space - Time: Music Architecture and Design, conference proceedings, ACMA, Fitzroy.
Augoyard, Jean-Francois & Henry Torgue, 2006, Sonic Experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Quebec.
Bachelard, Gaston, 1994, The Poetics of Space: The Classic Look at How We Experience Intimate Places, Beacon Press, Boston.
Bandt, Ros, 2001, Sound Sculpture: Intersections in Sound and Sculpture in Australian Artworks, Craftsman House, Sydney.
Blesser, Barry, 2007, Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?: Experiencing Aural Architecture, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Brown, David, 2006, Noise Orders: Jazz, Improvisation and Architecture, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis/Paris.
Chion, Michel, 1990, Audio - Vision: Sound on-screen, Columbia University Press, New York.
Roads, Curtis, 1996, The Computer Music Tutorial, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA and London.
Doyle, Peter, 2005, Echo & Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording 1900 – 1960, Wesleyan University Press, Connecticut.
Thompson, Emily, 2002, The Soundscape of Modernity, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Tofts, Darren, 2005, Interzone, Craftsman House, Fishermans Bend.
Treib, Mark, 1996, Space Calculated in Seconds: The Phillips Pavilion, Le Corbusier, Edgard Varese, Princeton University Press, NJ.

Overview of Assessment

Students must outline a proposal for a solo project by week 4 of each semester. These proposals must be clearly defined, and all work is undertaken in close communication with lecturers and course advisers. Proposals may involve the student being commissioned to provide content or expertise for another student’s project or an external production. Proposals may also involve work experience and industry placements.

All students attend the workshops and reviews held throughout the year to present their work for group feedback, and/or to listen/see other student’s work.

Assessment is based on the lecturer’s expectation that the student:
1). Thoughtfully engage in issues of surround sound spatialisation:
2). Successfully execute all technical tasks of a suitable professional standard up to and including the final presentation of the chosen project:
3). Contribute to class discussions and group projects; &
4). Attend the mid-semester reviews (week 5 & 9) and the end of semester assessment days (week 14) to participate in-group feedback of all work presented.