MUSIC PRODUCTION II

The course is part of the Master's Degree Program in Economics and Management of Arts and Cultural Activities that offers research methodologies and professional approaches to the management of the arts. It aims to provide specialized knowledge in the field of music production, understood in this case as music conveyed by a technical medium and by the production system (music industry) that ultimately make it possible.

Students will be able to understand the principles of the technical processes of recorded music, their historical evolution and the aesthetic principles implicit in the technological mediation of sound and music.
They will be able to understand and critically frame the processes and results of musical creation within the system of the arts and cultural heritage in general.
During the course they will learn how to decode a musical work through the examination of its concrete making, starting from its creative genesis up to its practical realization, with examples taken from different genres of modern and contemporary music.
Students will be able to consciously use the appropriate specialized vocabulary.

No prerequisites or basic knowledge in music are required to attend the course.

The course will provide in-depth knowledge of the musical fact as it is subordinate to the technical reproduction and to its circulation system.
Students will be confronted with the history of sound technologies and the history of musical languages considered in mutual dependence; from this dual perspective, elements of a social history of listening will emerge.
Different musical languages and repertoires will be examined: popular, African-American music, written music of the Western canon, from which individual case studies will be examined.
The reference texts indicated constitute a set of materials that will complete the lessons and can be adapted and personalized to each student.

For students who cannot participate, the study program is the same, but meeting the teacher at the latest one month before taking the exam is strongly recommended, in order to discuss and customize the bibliography, and agree on how to verify the learning.

The Cambridge Companion to Recorded Music : Edited by Nicholas Cook, Eric Clarke, Daniel Leech-Wilkinson and John Rink : Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009.
§§ 1 (pp. 16-29), 2 (pp. 36-53), 5 (pp. 102-115), 6 (pp. 120-139), 7 (pp. 149-176), 8 (pp. 186-209).

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music Production : Edited by Andrew Bourbon and Simon Zagorski-Thomas : New York – London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
Part I – Part II (§§ 4,5) – Part III (§§ 7,8) – Part IV (§§ 9) – Part V (§§ 13, 15) – Part VIII (§24)

The Art of Record Production : An Introductory Reader for a New Academic Field : Edited by Simon Frith and Simon Zagorski-Thomas. Farnham-Burlington, Ashgate, 2012.
Part I (§§ 2, 3, 4, 6) – Part II (§§ 8, 11) – Part III (§ one at free choice)

Greg Milner : Perfecting Sound Forever: The Story of Recorded Music : New York, faber & faber, 2010.
§§ 1, 2, 4, 5, 7

A selection of essays and videos is indicated on the moodle platform (the password will be provided via email by the teacher).

The final exam is the same for both attendants and non-attendants, and consists in an oral presentation of a personal elaboration of the proposed contents, i.e. the lessons and texts indicated in the bibliography. All questions must be answered in order to pass the test. During the exam it is not possible to consult notes, texts or digital devices.

The lectures will present several practical examples by means of listening, pictures and video projections, theoretical insights, and classroom discussions.
A second part of the course might be in the form of a seminar, with exhibitions of material proposed by one or more students to the rest of the group and collective discussion. These exercises will be taken into account in the final evaluations.
There will be testimonies from artists and professionals.
The course is linked to a dedicated e-learning platform (moodle.unive.it) where students can find information about the texts and videos presented in class.

English

Ca' Foscari applies the Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) for support and accommodation services available to students with disabilities or with specific learning disorders. If you have a motor, visual, hearing or other disability (Law 17/1999) or a specific learning disorder (Law 170/2010) and require support (classroom assistance, technological aids for the performance of exams or individualized exams, material in accessible format, note recovery, specialist tutoring to support the study, interpreters or other) contact the Disability Office and DSA disabilita@unive.it.

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