Department of Music
News & Events
High Voltage Course Profiled by Death Metal Underground
Death Metal Underground recently conducted an interview with Josef Hanson to discuss MUR 145, High Voltage- Heavy Metal Music and its History. Check it out here!
University of Rochester Brass Choir presents its 4th Annual Halloween Spooktacular
EVENT: UR Brass Choir Halloween Spooktacular Concert—Welcome to my Nightmare
DATE: Saturday, October 27, 2012
TIME: 8:00pm
LOCATION: Strong Auditorium, University of Rochester River Campus
ADMISSION: Free!
The University of Rochester’s Strong Auditorium will become a phantasmal dreamscape filled with joy, fear, strangeness, and death, as the UR Brass Choir takes the stage to present Welcome to my Nightmare, its 4th annual Spooktacular concert extravaganza on Saturday, October 27 th at 8:00pm. The 30-member performance group comprised of diverse members of the university community will present rock, metal, and pop music re-purposed for brass instruments, including works by Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and Amy Winehouse, among others. In keeping with tradition, this concert will also feature guest low brass musicians from the Rochester community in a supersized low brass ensemble performing “Big Bottom,” a song made famous in the movie This is Spinal Tap, and “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. No fewer than four drummers and a host of other guest musicians will complete the roster of performers involved in this over-the-top show. Dramatic lighting, special effects, costumes, and interlude narration will add to the dream-like atmosphere in Strong Auditorium. Opening the show will be Chelsea Hans and Robert Hudson, talented jugglers who will set the scene for the nightmare to come…
The UR Brass Choir is celebrating its fifth year of existence under founder and director Josef Hanson. The ensemble has performed in a wide variety of venues, including Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and is dedicated to crafting performances that are a bit out of the ordinary, featuring everything from Renaissance music to fanfares to heavy metal.
The Spooktacular concert is free and open to the public, and no tickets are required. Parking is free in university lots all day on weekends. For more information, contact Josef Hanson at 585-273-5157 or josef.hanson@rochester.edu.
NOTE: This performance features strobe lighting and other special effects, and is not appropriate for very young children.
New Courses for Fall 2012
MUR 124: Signed, Sealed, & Delivered: Deals & Innovations that Changed the Record Industry Forever
2.0 credits, CRN #76922
Tuesdays 5:00-7:00pm, Todd Union room 202F
(course offered Sept. 4 - Oct. 9)
Bruce Pilato, instructor
No prerequisites
A look at the historical deals and innovations that have impacted the music business between 1877 to present. From ground breaking inventions to brilliant marketing initiatives to hushed back-room deals, this course will expose the key moments where the record industry changed forever, both for good and bad.
NOTE: This is a 6 week course
MUR 138: Introduction to Conducting
2.0 credits, CRN #78950
TR 12:30-1:30pm, Todd Union room 202F
Josef Hanson, instructor
Prerequisites: Ability to read music and proficiency on an instrument or voice (for participation in the small in-class ensemble)
This course is designed for students with little to no experience leading a musical ensemble. After mastering the basics of baton technique, beat patterns, preparations/releases, and cueing, students will gain hands-on experience leading a small ensemble comprised of fellow classmates playing instruments or singing. This course also addresses the joys and pitfalls of conducting choirs, jazz/popular music ensembles, pit orchestras, and a cappella groups. Each student will be given the opportunity to conduct a large instrumental ensemble as a “final exam.” Assignments will include short readings and research on various aspects of conducting, with the bulk of the course work taking place in class.
MUR 191: Art and Tech of Recording
4.0 credits, CRN #78187
MW 6:15-7:30pm, Computer Studies Building room 423
Stephen Roessner, instructor
No prerequisites
This course covers the acoustical and psychoacoustic fundamentals of audio recording including the nature of sound, sound pressure level, frequency and pitch, hearing and sound perception, reflection, absorption and diffusion of sound, sound diffraction, room acoustics, reverberation, and studio design principles. The course also provides practical experience in audio recording including an introduction to recording studio equipment, microphones and microphone placement techniques, signal flow, amplification, analog and digital recording, analog to digital conversion, digital processing of sound, multi-track recording and an introduction to mixing and mastering. Each student is required to complete a substantive recording project at the end of the course.
MUR 193: Computer Sound Design
4.0 credits, CRN #78208
TR 3:25-4:40pm, Computer Studies Building room 423
Instructor TBA
No prerequisites
The course is intended to provide students an historical overview and basic understanding of computer generated sound and music. The emphasis is on demonstrations and hands-on experience to enable students to gain a practical knowledge of sound and music production using computers. Fundamental topics include sound waveforms, time and frequency domains, timbre, digital audio, filters, and spatial audio. Sound synthesis techniques that are explored include wavetable synthesis, sampling, additive and subtractive synthesis, vocoding, frequency modulation, granular synthesis and physical modeling. Various sound synthesis software environments will be introduced and used throughout the course including Max/MSP, Pure Data, C-Sound and SuperCollider. Students will complete a major project at the conclusion of the course.
