- Department: Music
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Mark Hutchinson
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
This module will equip students to write music in a multimedia context.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Music has always been a central element in multimedia experience: just ask Wagner. (Or Sophocles. Or the ancient Mesopotamians.) The emergence of new forms of media has always brought with it new approaches to musical composition – from film or television through to procedurally-generated online games and virtual reality. As a result, composers working in these realms need a broad array of compositional and practical techniques at their fingertips, and a flexible and adaptive mindset.
This module will provide an introduction to this world, and to the tools needed to thrive within it. Students will encounter a variety of different multimedia contexts through a series of guided compositional exercises, and case studies of pivotal works across a variety of media will be used to highlight specific strategies and approaches. Students will have the freedom to develop their own project combining music with a media form of their choice.
By the end of the taught part of the project all students should be able to:
Engage meaningfully with a range of music designed to accompany media of different forms;
Identify and analyse creative strategies used by composers writing music for media in a variety of different settings;
Recognise common workflows adopted when writing music for film, television and interactive media, and work with the tools these require;
Compose music in response to a number of specific multimedia briefs;
Apply the techniques developed during the project independently through a more extended composition for media.
On completion of the module, in their independent work, students should demonstrate Learning Outcomes B1–6, 9 and 10.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Commentary |
N/A | 10 |
Essay/coursework Composition |
N/A | 60 |
Essay/coursework Portfolio of compositional exercises |
N/A | 30 |
None
Portfolio of compositional exercises (30%)
Composition (notated or electroacoustic) for media of c. 7 minutes (60%): this could be a composition to accompany a specific scene of a film, television programme or advertisement, or it could be a set of cues for a game or piece of interactive media or similar, so it may not necessarily be a single span of 7 minutes.
Commentary of c. 750–1000w on the composition (10%).
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Commentary |
N/A | 10 |
Essay/coursework Composition |
N/A | 60 |
Essay/coursework Portfolio of compositional exercises |
N/A | 30 |
Mark and report within University designated turnaround time.
TBC