Module: Audio and Sound Design

Module Specifications..

Current Academic Year 2023 - 2024

Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title	Audio and Sound Design
Module Code	CM555
School	School of Communications
Module Co-ordinator	Semester 1: Andreas Aurelio Rauh Ortega Semester 2: Andreas Aurelio Rauh Ortega Autumn: Andreas Aurelio Rauh Ortega
Module Teachers	Marcos Dias Andreas Aurelio Rauh Ortega
NFQ level	9	Credit Rating	10
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

None
Array

Description

The aims of the module are twofold: 1. To develop a critical understanding of the use of sound and music in emerging media an. 2. To give students a practical introduction to the planning and implementation of audio and music components in time based and responsive mixed media projects

Learning Outcomes

1. To be able to record audio suitable for the production of music, voiceover, foley, ADR, and other uses in the media industries.
2. Show proficiency in the use and application of location recording technologies.
3. Manipulate, edit and produce sound recordings using digital software.
4. Appraise the work of sound artists, sound designers, and other professionals in the audio industries.
5. Produce a major sound work for integration with media environments, including legacy and emerging media.
6. Design and produce sound for linear and responsive media
7. Mix sound from both musical and environmental sources.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	12	Theory and Case Study based
Seminars	24	Lab session practice based, demonstration & feedback sessions
Assignment Completion	40	Assignment 1
Assignment Completion	60	Assignment 2
Independent Study	54	independent learning time
Directed learning	60	Researching relevant techniques, artists and sound works
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Module Delivery
This module is delivered through a series of lectures, workshops, seminars, resource-based learning and demonstrations.

Hearing and spectral content of sound:
Frequency domain, fundamentals, harmonics, subharmonics & overtones. Principles of hearing:-Psycho-acoustics Principles of reproduction: monitoring, speakers and environment

Sound Design for Moving Image
Recording source audio for moving images. Foley recording and design Film Soundtrack and music

Digital Audio Recording.
Microphone Techniques & Location recording The recording studio for dubbing and voice over & Multi-track recording.

Multimedia Sound and Music
The semiotics of sound and music; cymatics; sound/colour theories; synaesthesia; sound narratives; silence; acoustic ecology.

Synthesis and Sampling;
Sound synthesise: additive, subtractive, modulation and granular MIDI

Digital Signal Processing
Multi-track Mixing: Editing, Effects & Processing:( equalisation, compression and reverberation)

Audio for responsive/ interactive environments:
Sound design for installations Sound design for games, Algorithmic Audio composition.

Sounds in Spaces
Theory and practice of how humans perceive sounds in spaces; potential practical applications for emerging media projects; use of spatial audio software for audiovisual production.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	100%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown
Project	Produce a piece of mixed audio ( studio and environmental sounds) for time-based media.	30%	Week 6
Project	To produce a major sound work or sound installation.	50%	Week 12
Project	Written component of the major sound work or sound installation (exegesis), with rationale, production report, and self-reflection sections.	20%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; 1 = A resit is available for all components of the module 2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module 3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Barry Blesser & Linda-Ruth Salter: 2007, Spaces Speak; are you listening?: Experiencing Aural Architecture, MIT Press,
Alan Licht: 2007, Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories, Rizzoli, New York,
Sean Cubbitt: 0, Digital Aesthetics,
Altman, Rick, ed.: 1992, Sound Theory/Sound Practice, Routledge,
Nisbett, Alec: 1995, The Use of Microphones, Focal Press,
Jean_Francois Augoyard: 2006, Sonic Experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds, McGill, Montreal,
Matt Woolman: 2000, Sonic Graphics: Seeing Sound, Thames & Hudson, London,
David Gibson: 1998, The Art of Mixing,
Dan Hosken: 2012, Music Technology and the Project Studio, 1, Routledge, 9780203804
Daniel W. Hosken: 2015, An Introduction to Music Technology, 1, Routledge, New York, 9780415825726
Bernie Krause: 2016, Wild Soundscapes, Yale University Press, 9780300218190
R. Murray Schafer: 1993, The Soundscape, Destiny Books, 9780892814558
Joshua Tucker: 2019, Making Music Indigenous, University of Chicago Press, 9780226607160
Jonathan Sterne: 2012, MP3, Duke University Press, 0822352877

Other Resources

None

Update to MSc. title and to reflect developments in the field -

Programme or List of Programmes

GDEMED	Graduate Diploma in Emerging Media
MADP	Masters in Documentary Practice
MSCEM	MSc in Emerging Media

Date of Last Revision

01-FEB-12

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