Taming the Beast: learning and teaching in music technology

Date: 21 Jun 04
Venue: De Montfort University
Host institution: De Montfort University

Music Technology has emerged as a distinct discipline at all levels in education, with a huge impact on the HE sector. By its very nature, Music Technology is a magnet for the widest spectrum of music-making, from the most radical experimental musical iconoclasm, to the entertainment industry and the processes of disseminating music as a consumer product.

This one-day conference aimed to throw some light on the way educators are constructing coherent paths through this complex and exciting shift in context for music education.

 

Music Production at Leeds College of Music: a case study in course development and review
(Leeds College of Music)

Andrew Bates and Ben Burrows

Andrew detailed the new course in Music Production that had been set up two years ago at Leeds College of Music. The rationale for the course was explained - it included a clear three strand approach and heavy involvement from industry, together with the expectations on the students, at entry and during the course.

Ben discussed the review undertaken this year and the revised structure of the course which has been implemented as a result (including a complex multi-strand approach, the re-introduction of teaching of techniques/technology, and the removal of the industry input).

Questions focused on the industry involvement, the narrowing of the focus of some modules, the re-introduction of teaching of techniques/technology, the dropping of the entry requirement for Grade V theory, the progression routes, and broad vs deep aspects.

 

Documents

Teaching Collaborative Creativity within a music technology context
(Leigh Landy De Montfort University)

DMU runs an optional module where music students can work with dance or drama students, in groups, devising a piece of work or undertaking a similarly collaborative creative project. This is not a joint course - and the marks the students get count towards their subject degree.

Other issues discussed were: the levels of student learning, contract and assessment negotiation (a group may choose to have one collective mark or to have individual marks).

The presentation focused on the ways in which the tutors guide the students into the work, which is then heavily self-directed.

 

Documents

Sybil: Synthesis by Interactive Learning
(Michael Clarke University of Huddersfield)

Michael Clarke provided a demonstration of Sybil - his new software for teaching/learning sound synthesis. The content paradigm comes from his Synthia program of 1994 and the open-source learning paradigm from his CALMA project of 2000.

 

Documents

Teaching Creative Video to Music Technology students: our
(Deigo Garro Keele University)

Diego Garro presented the course he teaches which gets music technology people to do music/video work culminating in a music/video project. He presented the rationale behind the idea and showed some extracts of student pieces.

Questions focused on the rationale and the teaching support, and on the issues involved in teaching outside of people's main area of previous learning/experience. (What are the benefits of getting people with no fine arts training (or expertise, or talent) to make visual art?)

The benefits of preparing students for cross-discipline working were re-examined.

 

Documents

Identification, capture and development of compositional
(Nick Sargent Bath Spa University College)

 

All music technology is equal, except some is more equal
(Andy Keep Bath Spa University College)

Nick and Andy considered some key questions such as:

They focused on issues around what we teach and why we teach it, and on what we think we teach and what the students actually learn.

Questions rattled around - about all of the issues, about what prior knowledge and experience students bring, about how we cope with students doing work that their tutors could not, and yet not having the skills and knowledge that they enrolled to learn, and that the tutors are endeavoring to teach them, about whether we teach the technology instead of the techniques or the creativity, and if so how we avoid instant out datedness and/or slavery to market upgrading, etc. There is a real sense that it is not always easy to assess whether a student actually has got a deep understanding of the underlying principles if you only mark the work they produce. Logs, diaries, written work, etc., are not necessarily appropriate even if they were to be reliable ways of measuring it.

 

Documents

Discussion

In a short plenary to close the event, delegates raised further questions, including: