Advanced Music Programming, Synthesis and Live Electronics 2

Subject is not scheduled Not scheduled

Code Completion Credits Range Language of instruction Semester
101PMHP2 exam 3 2 lecture hours (45 min) of instruction per week, 1 exercise hours (45 min) of instruction per week, 44 to 59 hours of self-study English, Czech summer

Subject guarantor

Name of lecturer(s)

Department

The subject provides Composition Department

Contents

Course Objective:

This is a two-semester course that can be taken in the first or second year of study. Prerequisites include knowledge of the technological fundamentals of sound recording, electroacoustic music, and sound post-production, including familiarity with computer technology and the recording studio environment from the perspective of a composer, sound artist, or sound designer.

Students will become familiar with advanced methods of sound composition, synthesis, sound post-production, mixing, music programming in the MAX environment, and mastering—all with a particular focus on the practical skills that a composer should master today. The course incorporates the realization of students’ own creative projects and may extend into the fields of stage and film music as well as various intermedia forms of contemporary art.

Thematic focus for the 2026/27 academic year:

Sound composition for ambisonic listening spaces

Sound immersion, acousmatic music, and live electronics in spherical reproduction

Practical training and workflow demonstrations in ProTools and MAX, as well as Reaper and Logic.

Learning outcomes

Composing relevant sound compositions for ambisonic reproduction or compositions intended for real-time concert performances using ambisonic reproduction.

Developing knowledge of tools and strategies for composing in the ambisonic format.

Premiering new compositions in the forest speaker array in Voděrádky (22 speakers, 3rd Oder Ambisonics) at the end of the summer semester.

Prerequisites and other requirements

Basic familiarity with ProTools or MAX, or both.

Literature

Software: AVID Pro Tools, Ableton LIVE, Reaper, Cycling 74 – MAX

LAB Hardware Available

specifically in 2026/27: Ambisonics. A practical 3D Audio Theory for Recording, Studio Production, Sound Reinforcement, and Virtual Reality

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-17207-7

Recommended bibliography:

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

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

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

Evaluation methods and criteria

Grades are assigned based on regular attendance, active participation in class, the technical quality of the completed compositional work, 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

WINTER SEMESTER 2026 SCHEDULE

3-hours blocks of classes every 2 weeks, MONDAYS 9 - 12

HAMU LAB 019 (entrance from the main square)

12. 10 - first day of classes

26. 10

9. 11

23. 11.

7. 12

21. 12

Further information

Course may be repeated

No schedule has been prepared for this course

The subject is a part of the following study plans