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Go at your own pace
7 Sessions / 15 hours of work per session
Price
Premium membership $20/month (Preview session 1 free)
Credit Eligible ($600 USD)
Included w/ premium membership ($20/month)
Skill Level
Beginner
Video Transcripts
French, Spanish; Castilian, Chinese, English, Portuguese
Topics
Deep Listening, Soundscapes, Sound Editing, Acoustic Mapping, Acoustic Imprinting

Not available for purchase in India

Open for Enrollment

Introduction to Sound and Acoustic Sketching

Open for Enrollment
You can also start immediately after joining!

Would you like to enroll?

Enrollment for this course has closed. But you can enroll in a future offering (please select)

Enrollment has closed

Go at your own pace
7 Sessions / 15 hours of work per session
Price
Premium membership $20/month (Preview session 1 free)
Credit Eligible ($600 USD)
Included w/ premium membership ($20/month)
Skill Level
Beginner
Video Transcripts
French, Spanish; Castilian, Chinese, English, Portuguese
Topics
Deep Listening, Soundscapes, Sound Editing, Acoustic Mapping, Acoustic Imprinting

Not available for purchase in India

Course Description

Introduction to Sound and Acoustic Sketching will offer tools and practices  to inspire students to approach sound and acoustics as elements in the sketching stage of a design project.

The course provides students with foundational knowledge and practical tools to analyze and use soundscapes and acoustic impulse responses in projects. In addition, a basic taxonomy of sound terms will be introduced, allowing students to develop a language for communicating and establishing dialogues about sound with all stakeholders in an audiovisual project. The practical component of the course is anchored in exercises that allow students to experiment and assimilate the different aspects of sound and acoustic sketching, namely:

• Sound Walks – Students practice “deep listening”, “sound scripting” and sound recording;

• Sound Browsing and Retrieving – Students learn how to obtain free sounds (using the Free Online Sound Repository Freesound.com) and build up a scripted inventory in the process of sound design;

• Sound Editing – Students learn how to produce a creative sound montage based on their acoustic memory and a sound design script, using the free multi-platform sound editing software Audacity;

• Critical Sound Review – By comparing the sound sketch produced in this exercise with the actual recording of the sound walk, students can develop critical insights about the their conceptual perception and representation of an acoustic phenomena, in comparison with the factual recording of the same event;

• Acoustic Mapping by Impulse Response – Students learn how to record an acoustic impulse response from a physical space;

• Acoustic Imprinting by Convolution – Students learn how to imprint a pre-recorded acoustic response in an original audio content, producing an acoustic simulation for an architectural space, using free multi-platform sound programing environment Pure Data/Chuck.

Upon the completion of these exercises, students will produce two sound sketches: designing a soundscape based on their recollection of sound events, and simulating an acoustic space, based on analogous impulse responses from similar spaces.

Furthermore, students will gain introductory experience using the using the free online sound repository Freesound.com, the free multi-platform sound editing software Audacity and the free multi-platform sound programing environment Pure Data (or Chuck).

 

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schedule

This course is in adaptive mode and is open for enrollment. Learn more about adaptive courses here.

Session 1: Sound and Acoustics (December 3, 2024)
In this session, students will learn to distinguish between different elements in sound taxonomy, and sound facets and characteristics. We will also get familiar with the human hearing system. By the end of this session students will be able to comprehend basic acoustics and sound propagation in space.
13 lessons
1. Introduction
2. Hearing vs. Listening
3. A little more about Álvaro
4. What is sound?
5. Sound Taxonomy: Speech
6. Sound Taxonomy: Music
7. Sound Taxonomy: Noise
8. Sound Taxonomy: Acoustics
9. Describing Sound: Loudness
10. Describing Sound: Pitch and Timbre
11. Waves and Vibration
12. Frequency Spectrum
13. Conclusion
Session 2: Soundscapes and Sound Walk (December 10, 2024)
In this session, students will understand the Concept and origin of soundscapes and recognize Soundscapes according to Schafer’s Categories (sound signals, keynote sounds, soundmarks, geophony, biophony and anthrophony).
4 lessons
1. Introduction to Soundscape (Premium Exclusive)
2. Bioacoustics, Habitat, & Ambiance (Premium Exclusive)
3. Creating a Soundscape (Premium Exclusive)
4. Sound Walk Demo (Premium Exclusive)
Session 3: Sound Browsing and Retrieving (December 17, 2024)
In this session, students will learn how to browse and download sounds from freesound.org and understand how to create a repository of sounds according to a sound script.
5 lessons
1. Introduction (Premium Exclusive)
2. Preparing 1 Minute Sample (Premium Exclusive)
3. Uploading to Freesound.org (Premium Exclusive)
4. Building a Repository of Sounds (Premium Exclusive)
5. Conclusion (Premium Exclusive)
Session 4: Sound Editing and Soundscape Sketching (December 24, 2024)
This session will cover the basics of editing with Audacity. At the end of this session, students will understand the concept of soundscape sketch.
3 lessons
1. Building the Sound Sketch (Premium Exclusive)
2. Fine Tuning (Premium Exclusive)
3. Exporting and Conclusion (Premium Exclusive)
Session 5: Critical Sound Review (December 31, 2024)
In this session, students will develop a critical sense of analysis for different moments of a soundscape and understand the difference between factual recording of soundscapes and a designed soundscape.
3 lessons
1. Sound Focusing (Premium Exclusive)
2. Reviewing Sound Sketch (Premium Exclusive)
3. Conclusion (Premium Exclusive)
Session 6: Acoustic Mapping by Impulse Response (January 7, 2025)
In this session we will cover the concept of impulse response of architectural space.
3 lessons
1. The Impulse Response (Premium Exclusive)
2. Convolution (Premium Exclusive)
3. Conclusion (Premium Exclusive)
Session 7: Acoustic Imprinting by Convolution (January 14, 2025)
In this session, students will learn the concept of convolution and how to implement it with Ableton, MaxMSP or Chuck.
4 lessons
1. Preparing the Impulse Response (Premium Exclusive)
2. Convolution with Ableton Live (Premium Exclusive)
3. Convolution with ChucK (Premium Exclusive)
4. Real Time Convolution & Closing (Premium Exclusive)
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Learning Outcomes

Below you will find an overview of the Learning Outcomes you will achieve as you complete this course.

Instructors And Guests
What You Need to Take This Course
  • Equipment: Smartphone (Android/iOS), Computer with Installation Privileges, Headphones/speakers.
  • Software: Audacity, ChucK (optional)
Additional Information

PLEASE NOTE: Taking part in a Kadenze course For-Credit does not affirm that you have been enrolled or accepted for enrollment by the institution offering this course. Successfully completed For-Credit courses are recognized by the offering institution, and transferability of credits into or between institutions is at the sole discretion of the issuing and receiving institutions. Some institutions may require additional information from you in order to generate an official transcript from the institution. In addition, completion of a course for credit shows up on your Kadenze resume/portfolio, which can be valuable for presentation to potential employers, or schools to which you might apply.

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Please understand that posts which violate this Code of Conduct harm our community and may be deleted or made invisible to other students by course moderators. Students who repeatedly break these rules may be removed from the course and/or may lose access to Kadenze.

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