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 (the music industry) that ultimately make it possible.

Students will be able to understand the principles of the technical processes of producing 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 students will learn to decode a musical work through the examination of its concrete making, starting from the creative genesis to its practical realization, with examples taken from different genres of 20th and 21st century music. In their analysis students learn to use appropriate specialized vocabulary, categories and concepts.

Students will experiment with basic tools for audio recording and editing. The course will culminate in the creation of a short podcast and accompanying script.

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

The course will provide an in-depth knowledge of the musical product as subordinated to technical reproduction and the system of its circulation.
Students will learn with the history of sound technologies and that of musical styles mutually constitutive; from this dual perspective, elements of a social history of listening will emerge.
Different musical languages ​​and repertoires will be examined: popular music, African-American music, music written in the Western canon, of which individual case studies will be examined.
The reference texts indicated constitute a set of materials that complement the lessons, and can be adapted and personalized for each student.

For students who cannot participate, the study program is the same, however a meeting with the teacher is strongly recommended at least one month before taking the exam, in order to discuss and personalize the bibliography, and agree on the methods of learning assessment.

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)

Michael Denning, Noise Uprising: The Audiopolitics of a World Musical Revolution, New York, Verso Books, 2015

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

Matt Stahl: Unfree Masters Popular Music and the Politics of Work, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2013.

The bibliography may change before the course begins. Please return to this page shortly before the course begins.

The final assignment will involves the creation of a 7-8m recorded podcast where students will record themselves analyzing a musical piece discussed in class, elaborating on the course materials, including the lessons and texts listed in the bibliography. the text of the podcast will submitted along with the audio recording.

Non-attending students are required to arrange a personalized program with the teacher at least twenty days in advance.

oral

- Originality, accuracy of research, and musical analysis (75%).
- Clarity of presentation, structure, and delivery of text (20%).
- Audio quality, mixing, use of music and sound design, editing skills (5%).

The classes will reflect on historical and theoretical issues through in class discussion of case studies in the form of recordings, film and image. In the second half of the class, students will be able to present their own elaboration of specific topics followed by a class discussion. The course will also include guest presentations by scholars, artists and professionals working within the field of music production. Slides, deadings and audio-visual materials will be shared through the course website on the Moodle platform.

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.