While work with music in this course is done outside of its cultural context, knowledge of context will consistently inform assumptions made and approaches used to transcribe and analyze music. The evolution of transcription and analysis in the field of ethnomusicology has been closely aligned with, and in large part driven by the evolution of audio and visual technology. Consequently, the study and use of audio and video technology is a major component of the course. The course covers the various formats on which sound and visual images are stored, and how technology can be used to extract, notate, analyze, and illustrate aural and visual elements of music performance. Technology training is done primarily in the lab sections of the course.
Required readings range from one to two articles per week.
No reading assignments are given during the last two weeks of class.