Advanced Music Programming, Synthesis and Live Electronics 1

Display Schedule

Code Completion Credits Range Language of instruction Semester
101PMHP1 credit 3 2 lecture hours (45 min) of instruction per week, 1 exercise hours (45 min) of instruction per week, 48 to 63 hours of self-study English, Czech winter

Subject guarantor

Michal RATAJ

Name of lecturer(s)

Michal RATAJ

Department

The subject provides Composition Department

Contents

Practically oriented instruction in composition skills in the environment of contemporary music technology is focused primarily on digital sound transformation, control of virtual musical instruments, basic concepts of musician-technology interaction, and sound mixing in a DAW environment. Familiarity with digital sound shaping tools is used to develop compositional imagination and skills in situations where the source of musical sound is not an acoustic signal source. The student will be introduced to advanced methods of sound composition, synthesis, sound post-production, mixing, music programming in the MAX environment, and mastering, all primarily from the perspective of practical skills that a music composer should possess today. The exercises take into account the realization of the students' own creative projects and may have overlaps into the field of incidental and film music and various intermedia forms of contemporary art.

Learning outcomes

Significantly developed ability to use the sound/music studio as a musical instrument from a composer's point of view. Production of music using the acquired knowledge in the field of music and technology.

Prerequisites and other requirements

Students should be familiar with the technological fundamentals of sound recording, electroacoustic music and sound post-production, including an orientation to the computer and recording studio environment from the perspective of a composer/sound artist/sound designer.

Literature

DAW [software]. (PRO TOOLS [software]. [Accessed 2 December 2019]. Available from: https://www.avid.com/pro-tools. LOGIC, LIVE)

MAX [software]. [Accessed 2 December 2019]. Available from: https://cycling74.com.

SYROVÝ, Václav. Technické základy elektroakustické hudby: Určeno pro posl. fak. hudební a fak. filmové a televizní. 2., přeprac. vyd. Praha: SPN, 1990. 159 s.

SYROVÝ, Václav. Hudební akustika. 2., dopl. vyd. Akustická knihovna Zvukového studia Hudební fakulty AMU. V Praze: Akademie múzických umění, 2008. ISBN 978-80-7331-127-8.

LOY, D. Gareth. Musimathics: the mathematical foundations of music. Volume 1. Cambridge: MIT Press, c2006. ISBN 0-262-12282-0. Dostupné také z: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy0710/2005051090.html.

ROADS, Curtis. Composing electronic music: a new aesthetic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. xxvii. 480 s. ISBN 978-0-19-537324-0.

HOLMES, Thom. Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture. London: Routledge, 4th ed., 2012. 568 s. ISBN 978-0415896368.

PUCKETTE, Miller. The theory and technique of electronic music. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing Company, 2007. 348 s. ISBN 978-9812700773.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Grades are assigned based on regular attendance, active participation in class, the technical quality of the composition, and its artistic merit.

Completed ambisonic composition for concert performance to be presented on the last day of class, April 26, 2027

Required minimum attendance: 80%

Note

CLASS SCHEDULE FOR THE WINTER SEMESTER 2026

Three-hour blocks once every two weeks on the following days:

Mondays 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

HAMU LAB 019 (access from Malostranské nám.)

Oct. 12 – class begins for Fall 2026

Oct. 26

Nov. 9

Nov. 23

Dec. 7

Dec. 21

Further information

Course may be repeated

Schedule for winter semester 2026/2027:

06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
room LIC-019
LAB 019
(Liechtenstein Palace)
RATAJ M.
09:00–12:00
EVEN WEEK
(parallel1)
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Date Day Time Tutor Location Notes No. of paralel
Mon 09:00–12:00 Michal RATAJ LAB 019
Liechtenstein Palace		 parallel1

Schedule for summer semester 2026/2027:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans