I’ve enjoyed my time so far and do feel like this unit has pushed me to learn new skills, both as a musician and an academic. On the academic side, learning new skills such as Harvard referencing, where to find academic sources and how to cite them has really helped me to write higher quality essays that have more validity at a university level. Another skill that helps me both academically and as a musician, is the level of analysis and critical thinking regarding music that we’ve been doing in class. A specific example of this being Schaeffer’s concept of sound objects as a way of describing sonic textures. Being able to describe sounds in this way, and to have a better ability to analyse and talk about music, will definitely help me in my own practices as an artist. It will help me have a greater understanding of the work I make, how to present it and if it truly represents what I’m aiming for.
A more musical skill that I learnt and really cherish from this unit is a basic understanding of modular synthesis. It’s a way of working that I’ve been interested in trying for a while and I’m really pleased that I’m now confident enough to use VCV Rack in my own creative processes. It has become something I regularly return to, for both ideas and pure play. For me, modular synthesis fuses a gap in my process that allows me to create intuitively whilst still working “in the box” and I really value this new way of exploring ideas.
In the future, I’m really interested to dive into experimental live performance. I’m really interested in this as I feel that it’s the next step in my own creative work as an artist. Specifically, I’d like to learn more about improving electronic music with the goal of creating live sets with elements of spontaneity.
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