MUSONIC 3020 - Interaction Design and the Sonic Arts 3

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2021

This course examines of the link between human-computer interaction and the creative and technical practice of sound and music making. This course will develop a theoretical and practical understanding of computer music interactivity. Focus is placed on acquiring programming skills for implementation of interactive design. Students will engage with a number of topics, including conceptual frameworks, contemporary practices and practitioners; complete readings and listening; and perform practical exercises that promote investigative learning and research. The course has the following learning objectives: facilitate new understandings and exploratory approaches in sonic arts practice; extend knowledge and develop new artistic and technical skills in human computer interaction and sound and music; and promote a learning process and reflexive skill set with regard to future practice, thus enabling students to adapt to the ever expanding and rapidly changing area of sonic arts and related areas of computer music.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code MUSONIC 3020
    Course Interaction Design and the Sonic Arts 3
    Coordinating Unit Elder Conservatorium of Music
    Term Semester 2
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 4 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Prerequisites MUSONIC 1000
    Incompatible MUSONIC 2410
    Course Description This course examines of the link between human-computer interaction and the creative and technical practice of sound and music making. This course will develop a theoretical and practical understanding of computer music interactivity. Focus is placed on acquiring programming skills for implementation of interactive design. Students will engage with a number of topics, including conceptual frameworks, contemporary practices and practitioners; complete readings and listening; and perform practical exercises that promote investigative learning and research. The course has the following learning objectives: facilitate new understandings and exploratory approaches in sonic arts practice; extend knowledge and develop new artistic and technical skills in human computer interaction and sound and music; and promote a learning process and reflexive skill set with regard to future practice, thus enabling students to adapt to the ever expanding and rapidly changing area of sonic arts and related areas of computer music.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Sebastian Tomczak

    Lecturer / Tutor / Workshop Instructor
    Christian Haines
    christian.haines@adelaide.edu.au
    Schulz 9.11

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    1. To enable students to identify, analyse and compare understandings and approaches in interaction design and the sonic arts.
    2. To equip students with knowledge and skills needed to plan and develop creative practical works in the field of interaction design and the sonic arts.
    3. To develop students learning processes and reflexive skill set with regard to future practice, thus enabling students to adapt to the ever expanding and rapidly changing area of sonic arts and related areas of computer music.
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    1,2,3
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    1,2,3
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    2
    Career and leadership readiness
    • technology savvy
    • professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
    • forward thinking and well informed
    • tested and validated by work based experiences
    1,2,3
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    3
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Hardware
    • USB Stick or portable hard drive with enough capacity to store files associated with the course and formatted as "exFAT" to provide suitable compatability between MacOS and Windows.
    • Stereo headphones with a 6.5mm male adaptor. Recommended Type: Closed-Back, Over-the-Ear  Headphones.
    • Note – students must bring both their USB storage and Headphones (with adaptor) to university, as they are required for various classes, completing exercises and for using laboratories and studios.
    Sound Levels & Hearing Protection
    This course may require using spaces where a dB meter has been installed. If you exceed the set dB limit for the space, the lights will flash.  Students found exceeding these levels will have their booking privileges revoked for two weeks, and repeat offenders may have their booking privileges revoked for the remainder of the academic year.

    In order to minimise risk in noise-prone situations, the Conservatorium makes both reusable gel ear-plugs and disposable foam ear-plugs available to students and staff free of charge at all times. Students and staff are also urged to consider purchase of customised personal hearing protection.

    For more information regarding sound levels, hearing and hearing loss please refer both to the full content of the O'Brien Report and to the excellent publication by Canadian audiologist/academic Marshall Chasin, entitled Hear the Music: Hearing Loss Prevention for Musicians both available here: https://arts.adelaide.edu.au/music/health-safety-and-wellbeing

    Recommended Resources

    Below are a number of recommended resources. Please note that in terms of the included books and links, these are meant purely as points of departure to other library and online sources and research.

    • Cook, P. R. (2002). Real sound synthesis for interactive applications. Natick, Mass., AK Peters.
    • Cooper, A., R. Reimann, et al. (2007). About face 3 : the essentials of interaction design. Indianapolis, IN, Wiley Pub.
    • Farnell, A. (2010). Designing sound. Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press.
    • LaBelle, B. (2006). Background noise : perspectives on sound art. New York, Continuum International.
    • Manzo, V. J. (2011). Max/MSP/Jitter for music educators : a practical guide to developing interactive music systems. New York, Oxford University Press.
    • Miranda, E. R., J. A. Biles, et al. (2007). Evolutionary Computer Music. London, Springer.
    • Moggridge, B. (2007). Designing interactions. Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press.
    • Murray, J. H. (2012). Inventing the medium : principles of interaction design as a cultural practice. Cambridge, Mass. ; London, MIT Press.
    • Noble, J. J. (2009). Programming interactivity : a designer's guide to processing, Arduino, and openFrameworks. Beijing ; Cambridge [Mass.], O'Reilly.
    • O'Sullivan, D. and T. Igoe Physical computing sensing and controlling the physical world with computers. Boston, Thomson.
    • Roads, C. (1996). The computer music tutorial. Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press.
    • Schroeder, F. (2009). Performing technology : user content and the new digital media : insights from the two thousand + nine symposium. Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars.
    • Selfridge-Field, E. (1997). Beyond MIDI : the handbook of musical codes. Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press.
    • Miranda, E. R. and M. M. Wanderley (2006). New digital musical instruments : control and interaction beyond the keyboard. Middleton, Wis., A-R Editions.
    • Chatzichristodoulou, M., J. Jefferies, et al. (2009). Interfaces of performance. Farnham, Surrey ; Burlington, Vt., Ashgate.
    • Dean, R. T. (2009). The Oxford handbook of computer music. Oxford ; New York, Oxford University Press.
    • Saffer, D. (2010). Designing for interaction : creating innovative applications and devices. Berkeley, Calif.London, New Riders ; Pearson Education [distributor].
    Links
    Listening
    Students can listen to musical works through the library's Naxos subscription (see library catalogue, search using Naxos as the title and limit search to ‘electronic resources’. You will be prompted to enter your uni ID number and password to access the Naxos catalogue). There is a wealth of material available for listening (but not downloading). The link to the Naxos catalogue is as follows:
    http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url=http://uoa.naxosmusiclibrary.com/

    Library
    The Music Collection is located in the Barr Smith Library (Level 1 South) and is an excellent source for music, literature and recordings: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/collections/music-collection

    Referencing Guide
    Bibliography and references are to be cited according to the Music Referencing Guide: http://libguides.adelaide.edu.au/music_referencing
    Online Learning

    MyUni is a crucial part of this course and will provide students with access to assessment and learning materials, such as quizzes, discussion boards, slide presentations, readings, links, sound and video. Materials will be provided on a topic-by-topic basis over the semester: http://myuni.adelaide.edu.au.

  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes

    The course structure and content is delivered through a range of classes and materials. The classes in this course consist of lectures, tutorials and workshops.

    Lecture

    • Lectures will deliver a specific topic each week. The topic will consist of ideas and concepts; technologies; and creative practitioners in the field.

    Tutorial

    • Tutorials provide an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about the weekly lecture and topic for the course; reinforce concepts and ideas from the lecture and explore new territory.
    • Students are required to complete the weekly reading before their tutorial; come to the tutorial with questions and thoughts on the reading; and be prepared to actively engage in discussion on the weekly topic and reading.

    Workshop

    • Students are required to complete 1-hour of preparatory work which may include readings, watching videos, listening to sound and musical examples, preparing work or completing short exercise. This is a mandatory requirement.
    • Workshops will explore a wide range of practical aspects of the course and its associated topics and concepts.
    • Students will be set regular practical tasks as part of their portfolio assessment and be required to present their work during the workshop.
    • Although workshops will from time to time contain presentations from the instructor, the workshop will largely be an opportunity for students to obtain assistance with their practical and creative development and practice. Students need to actively and on a week-by-week basis maintain their practical and creative development, using the workshop to raise issues and solve problems.
    • Finally, the workshops provide a forum by which students can begin to explore their own ideas and practice using lecture and tutorial materials as inspiration and points of departure.
    Further, students will be presented with additional theoretical and/or practical materials. The materials expand on the topic and compliment, reinforce and extend the concepts presented.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    This course consists of up to 48 hours of direct contact or structured non-contact - 4 hours per week over 12 weeks for the seminars and workshops, where students will play an active role in the practice, refinement, consolidation and extension of their knowledge and understanding. In addition students will spend a minimum of 108 non-contact hours over the duration of the course on self-initiated learning and research, reading, writing, practice and assessment in order to pass the course, making the minimum workload 156 hours.

    Learning Activities Summary

    In order to be relevant, contemporary and up-to-date, this course uses a reflexive ‘just-in-time’ organisation that adjusts its structure and delivery according to the most current changes in the field, lecture-centred research practice and peer-student interest. The structure of the course is broken down into three sections. Each section consists of a number of weeks dedicated to the section topic and more specific sub-topics that vary according to changes in the field. Each of the topics is supported by theory and practice through lectures, tutorials and workshops. More information about the format of the classes can be found in the section “LEARNING AND TEACHING MODES”.

    Introduction to Interaction Design and the Sonic Arts

    This section broadly examines the field through subtopics such as: the history of performance interfaces; the field of interaction design, the sonic arts and the intersection between the two; key technologies, concepts and issues.

    Key Areas of the Field

    This section compartmentalises the field into a number of broad creative and technical areas that will be examined and assessed through subtopics such as: virtual reality, augmented reality, hyper-instrumentation, wearable technology, ubiquitous computing, interactive improvisation and composition, interface technologies, reactive / augmented / network music, mobility, machine listening.

    Case Studies and Future Developments

    This section examines specific and current example/s and trends in interaction design and the sonic arts by dissecting the example through the theory, practice and creative methods and samples presented in the previous sections.

    Specific Course Requirements
    EMU Facilities Access Provisions

    This course will involve using the resources of the Electronic Music Unit (EMU). This includes facilities such as studios, recording spaces and digital audio workstations.

    In order for students to complete the course they must gain ongoing and permanent access to EMU. Access and use of EMU is based upon  completing the EMU Access Test.

    More information can be found here:
    https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/courses/25086

    Other Expectations

    Except where otherwise indicated by the lecturer, tutor or workshop instructor – mobile phones, laptops, PDAs, recording devices and other similar technology must be switched off before lessons or classes begin, and kept off for the duration.

    Small Group Discovery Experience

    The University of Adelaide has committed to a pedagogical approach that incorporates several aspects of scholarship. A key component of the Beacon of Enlightenment strategic pedagogical approach is that all students commencing in 2014 will experience a "Small-Group Discovery Experience" (or SGDE for short) in at least one course in every year of their degree program.

    The Core Concepts upon which the SGDE pedagogical approach is based include goals that students will discover (or rediscover) learning as Intellectual Challenge, and develop a Scholarship of Discovery to inspire them toward learning and lifelong learning.

    To accomplish this learning journey, students will develop research skills, and learning and teaching delivery modes used will require students to engage actively with their discipline content. This active learning process will engender a commitment to knowledge for its own sake, and consequently learning to follow an investigation, in a disciplined fashion, wherever it may lead.

    You will undertake SDGE to discover the various rapidly evolving relationships that exist in the theory, practice and vocation of sound, interaction and performance and its links to current technology and creativity in your tutorial.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Name Description  Due %

    Learning
    Outcomes

    Type
    Group Discovery Students will be required to fully participate and engage with the weekly lecture topic and associated materials by producing a summary that forms the foundation of a small group discovery experience in each tutorial. Note - Late submissions not permitted. Ongoing 20 2,3,4 Summative
    Interactive Portfolio Students will fully participate and engage with the workshop topics and ancillary materials through a range of weekly in-class and out-of-class practical exercises. Note - Late submissions permitted (refer to "SUBMISSION - Late Submission" for information on penalties) Weeks 4, 7 and Mid-Semester Break (Week 2) 20 2, 3, 4 Summative
    Name Description  Due %

    Learning
    Outcomes

    Type
    Research
    Paper
    Students will complete an essay examining an area or topic in the field that is directly related and builds toward their major practical project. In short, the essay will form the foundation for the project by examining the concepts of interaction and how creative practitioners use interaction in their practice and creative works. Note - Late submissions permitted (refer to "SUBMISSION - Late Submission" for information on penalties) Week 12 30 2,3 Summative
    Name Description  Due %

    Learning
    Outcomes

    Type
    Creative
    Project
    Students will complete a major project in the field of Interaction Design and the Sonic Arts. The major project will represent a synthesis of creative, technical and theoretical concepts presented during the course. Late submissions are permitted for a maximum of 2 days (refer to "SUBMISSION - Late Submission" for information on penalties)

    Week 15

    30 2, 3, 4 Summative

    Due Dates:
    Specific information regarding due dates is provided on myUni.

    Formative Assessment:
    Classes will contain embedded formative assessment tasks that may include student presentations, discussions, practical exercises, demonstrations and out-of-class work that will enable students to engage with the practical and theoretical concepts presented in order to complete their summative assessments.

    Assessment Related Requirements
    Hurdle Assessment

    All students must complete the requirements under “SPECIFIC COURSE REQUIREMENTS ‘EMU Facilities Access Provisions’”. Students who fail to complete these items may be deemed to have failed the course.

    Attendance Expectation & Penalty

    Students are expected to attend all classes. If a student fails to attend at least 70% of tutorials or workshops in a course the student may be deemed to have failed that course, irrespective of assessments completed. Students who arrive 10 minutes or later after the start of a class will be marked as absent.

    Leave of Absence – Sickness, Compassionate and Professional Development

    Extenuating circumstances may occasionally affect a student’s ability to participate in a rehearsal, workshop, class, lecture, tutorial or performance. In such cases a student should email their course coordinator regarding the circumstances within 7 days and include the following information:

    • Type of Leave: Sick Leave, Compassionate Leave or Professional Development Leave
    • Student Name
    • Student ID
    • Dates of Leave
    • Total Number of Days
    • Reason for Absence
    • Supporting Documentation (e.g. medical certicificate, counsellor note etc)
    Assessment Detail

    Refer to “ASSESSMENT SUMMARY”

    Submission

    Assessments and Exams

    Students must be available during the identified University teaching, academic and examination periods. Students are not entitled to sit an examination or submit an assessment at another time, nor are they entitled to any other concessions if an examination or assessment conflicts with a planned vacation or special event. Results from assessments and examinations are usually sent to students via email and/or myUni.

    Late Submission

    Assignments where late submissions are permitted and that are submitted after the due date and time will incur a 2% penalty (from the assignment total of 100%) per day (24 hour period) for a maximum of 7 days (including weekends and public holidays )

    Example:
    • an assignment that is 3 days late: raw score of 80% - 6 marks lateness deduction = 74% final mark.
    Note:
    • typically this does not apply to assessments where the assessment is conducted at a fixed time and location, such as an exam, workshop, practical test, performance or presentation – please refer to the individual assessments for further information.
    • for work with a formal extension, these penalties will apply from the extended due date.

    Cut-off date

    There will be a cut-off date for each assignment 7 days (including weekends and public holidays) after the original due date unless otherwise stipulated on MyUni. Work will not be accepted after the cut-off date, and a mark of zero will automatically be awarded for the assignment.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.