About this course: Students of this course may try their hand at their own sound interventions and musical compositions, or simply focus on learning more about diverse musical traditions, sonic experimentation, and acoustic phenomena in everyday life. Designed by artist and Duke professor, Pedro Lasch, and UdK composer Mathias Hinke, this course is also co-taught by scholar and musician Jace Clayton (DJ Rupture) and curator Candice Hopkins (Documenta 14). The lectures link major artistic developments of recent decades to wider ideas about sound in specific social and spatial contexts. Also included are guest presentations from key thinkers and practitioners, like: Christopher DeLaurenti, Jen Delos Reyes, Tina Haver Currin, Quran Karriem, Christina Kubisch, Thomas Kusitzky, Scott Lindroth, Mark Anthony Neal, Bill Seaman, and John Supko. As the ‘ART of the MOOC’ title implies, learners and participants are encouraged to treat the MOOC itself as a public art medium. This happens mostly through the course’s optional practical components, local project productions, global exchanges, and critical feedback. While no prior sound production or musical experience is required, projects also offer challenging options for advanced learners. For other course offerings or language versions in this series, just search 'ART of the MOOC' in the Coursera catalog.
Created by: 杜克大学, Berlin University of the Arts
Taught by: Pedro Lasch, Visual Artist and Associate Research Professor
Duke Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Taught by: Candice Hopkins, Documenta 14 Curator, Producer, and Author
Taught by: Jace Clayton, Composer, DJ, Author, and Lecturer
Taught by: Mathias Hinke, Composer, Researcher, and Professor University of the Arts (UdK) - Berlin
| Level | Beginner |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Introduction & Analytical Concepts
This module introduces the four co-teachers of the course (Lasch, Clayton, Hinke, Hopkins), along with five analytical concepts that we will use throughout its sections and projects: Frequency, Perspective, Material Frame, Time Frame, and Concurrency. These concepts are designed to encompass a wide range of acoustic phenomena within spatial and social experience.
2 videos, 2 readings
- Video: Welcome to Experiments with Sound
- Lecture: Course Structure
- Lecture: Course Information and Resources
- Video: Analytical Concepts
Graded: Analytical Concepts
WEEK 2
Elements of Sound and Social Practices
This lesson expands on specific terms or ‘sound elements’ that include tuning, resonance, silence, improvisation, rhythm, synchronization, duration, and timbre. It also addresses traditional tools in sound production, from musical instruments to sampling, auto-tunes, and other more recent technologies. The module concludes by exploring the role of sound in specific non-musical social settings and practices, such as clapping, fan culture, sports, traffic jams, mass demonstrations, and more.
10 videos
- Video: Archeoacoustics, Resonant Frequencies & Silence
- Video: Silenced Voices, Improvisation & Instruments
- Video: Timbre, Rhythm & Synchronization
- Video: Duration, Streaming & the Studio as Instrument
- Video: Demonstrations & Fan Culture
- Video: The Sound of Athletes & Traffic
- Video: Social Conventions & Sound Rules
- Video: Air Horn Orchestra with Tina Haver Currin
- Video: Bands & Socially Engaged Art with Jen Delos Reyes
- Video: Sound Art & Protest Recordings with Christopher DeLaurenti
Graded: Elements of Sound and Social Practices
WEEK 3
Project: Playing with Sound Rules
The practical component of this section is optional, asking learners to choose a space with specific ‘sound rules’ and change or alter these rules through actual experimentation.
WEEK 4
NOTATION, HOW MUSIC TRAVELS & PUBLIC SPACE
This lesson begins by focusing on the relationship between experimental practices and scores or notation systems. It also examines how sound has been used and understood by artists in specific urban contexts, such as ports, train stations, and airports, as well as rural settings, including forests, gardens, and the wider landscape. We conclude with an examination of how sound and music travel, be it through the populations who produce it, or the objects and digital files that are used to record and share it.
8 videos
- Video: Scores & Notations
- Video: How Sound Travels
- Video: Buildings & Urban Spaces
- Video: Transit Sites & Rural Spaces
- Video: The Garage & Found Metal Ensemble with Scott Lindroth
- Video: The Sound of Electromagnetic Waves with Christina Kubisch
- Video: Materializing & Sonification of Movement with Matthew Kenney
- Video: Auditory Architecture with Thomas Kusitzky
Graded: Notations, How Music Travels, and Public Space
WEEK 5
Project: Erase the Sound of a Space
The practical component is optional, inviting learners to ‘erase a sound in space’ through a range of possible strategies.
WEEK 6
LISTENING AS PRACTICE, GLOBAL FORMS & THE SOUND OF THE NET
This lesson provides an overview of the methods and ideas from different schools of listening. It also presents a critical examination of the term ‘world music’ and how it has evolved in relation to economic and cultural globalization. With this global perspective in mind, the concluding portions of our lectures are dedicated to acoustic experience and musical experimentation on the net, the radio, cellular networks, and various social media, including all of the glitches, accidents, and failures we associate with these platforms.
8 videos
- Video: Deep Listening, Open Ears & Decolonial Thought
- Video: Anthropocene & Listening Case Studies
- Video: Global Forms
- Video: Sound of the Net, Plunderphonics & Brain Opera
- Video: Social Media, GPS, Sonic Bikes & ASMR
- Video: Black Culture & Global Music with Mark Anthony Neal
- Video: Collaboration & Generative Aesthetics with Bill Seaman & John Supra
- Video: "Endings" Project & Interactive Compositions with Quran Karriem
Graded: Listening as Practice, Global Forms, & the Sound of the Net
WEEK 7
Project: Experiment with Failure
The practical component of this module is optional, asking learners to produce their own experiment with media and technical failure.
WEEK 8
Open Project
This module is optional and only for those who wish to put what they learned from the course into one final project that is more open and ambitious in scale. Two options are given for this, one being your most ambitious project, and the other based on the creation and use of your own musical instruments.
FAQs
How It Works
Travail en cours
Chaque cours fonctionne comme un manuel interactif en proposant des vidéos préenregistrées, des quiz et des projets.
Aide de la part de vos pairs
Connectez-vous à des milliers d'autres étudiants et débattez sur des idées, discutez le contenu du cours et obtenez de l'aide pour en maîtriser les concepts.
Certificats
Obtenez une reconnaissance officielle pour votre travail et partagez votre réussite avec vos amis, vos collègues et vos employeurs.
Creators
杜克大学
Duke University has about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a world-class faculty helping to expand the frontiers of knowledge. The university has a strong commitment to applying knowledge in service to society, both near its North Carolina campus and around the world.
Berlin University of the Arts
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