Learning objectives
At the end of the course students will have THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING of the essential historical lines of music from the 20th century to contemporaneity. They will then be able to identify the most appropriate texts to deepen the specific research fields of their study paths with JUDGMENT AUTONOMY. They will have acquired the necessary KNOWLEDGE TO APPLY to critical listening of music as an artistic expression and form of knowledge and expression of thought. Without requiring analytical and technical skills in music, however, it is necessary to acquire sufficient COMMUNICATION SKILLS to describe the experience of listening to music with correct terminology. Students will also acquire the LEARNING SKILLS needed to understand piece of music in order to identify their particular traits and traditions.
Prerequisites
No prerequisite beyond normal literary and historical formation guaranteed by upper secondary school. In particular, no previous music training is required.
Course unit content
The purpose of the course is to provide students, even without previous studies in music and musicology, with a set of skills useful for the study of the context of the production of contemporary living music and the analysis of the textual objects produced by it, in particular, the song and the video clip.
Starting from the assumption that the experience of popular culture is often unreflected, it is, therefore, necessary to develop skills and methodologies that allow one to approach a multimedia artefact such as the song in today's popular music.
The course will be organised with frontal lessons and classroom discussions of the multimedia examples proposed; the direct experience of listening will be central, from which we will move to set up analyses, comments and in-depth studies. During the lessons, the terminology necessary for an analytical description of listening experiences will be proposed and illustrated. In addition to the work on terminology construction and knowledge of the historical cultural context, considerable attention will be devoted to the analysis of songs understood as multimedia objects and the history of their technological musical mediations with the intention of placing a critical focus on how technological means are exploited to achieve the desired result in terms of communication. Another feature of the course will be the focus on the remediation of tracks and songs and their semantic re-signification through social networks.
Full programme
Bibliography for attending students:
In addition to the presentation and study of the topics covered during the course, attending students are required to be familiar with the following bibliography:
* Franco Fabbri, Around the clock. Una breve storia della popular music, Torino, Utet, 2008, NO cap. 8, 9, 10, 11, 21, 26, 27, 28;
* Richard Middleton, Studiare la popular music, Feltrinelli, 2001, cap I, VI;
* Paolo Peverini, Il videoclip. Strategie e figure di una forma breve, Meltemi, Cap. III;
* Marino, Gabriele e Tomatis, Jacopo, «non sono stato me stesso mai»: rappresentazione, autenticità e racconto del sé nelle digital identities dei trap boys italiani.
The exam for those attending will consist of a 2-hour written exam with an analysis of a multimedia text to be produced. Essentially, the examination contains theoretical questions plus an analysis of a text.
Students will also produce a short report of a maximum of 3 pages on the content of the workshops attended, which must be handed in by the day of the exam by e-mail to the professor.
Bibliography for non-attending students:
In addition to reading the presentation used for the course and studying the topics covered non-attending students are required to be familiar with the following bibliography:
* Franco Fabbri, Around the clock. Una breve storia della popular music, Torino, Utet, 2008, NO cap. 8, 9, 10, 11, 21, 26, 27, 28;
* Richard Middleton, Studiare la popular music, Feltrinelli, 2001, cap I, VI;
* Paolo Peverini, Il videoclip. Strategie e figure di una forma breve, Meltemi;
* Marino, Gabriele e Tomatis, Jacopo, «non sono stato me stesso mai»: rappresentazione, autenticità e racconto del sé nelle digital identities dei trap boys italiani;
* Franco Fabbri, Il suono in cui viviamo, Il Saggiatore, 2008, capitoli: Abbiamo un riff, o due, da p. 143; Don't Bore Us – Get To The Chorus. Serve la «noia» alle canzoni? da p. 197.
In lieu of the Workshop, they will also study:
* Le dispense del ing. Campanini, disponibili sulle pagine del corso nella piattaforma Elly
* William Moyland, L’arte della registrazione Comprendere e creare la qualità sonora, Milano, Hoepli, 2002, pp. 286: cap. 4, “Ascolto e valutazione del suono da parte dei professionisti dell’audio”, pp. 77-89; cap. 12, “Estetica e registrazione”, pp. 221-233; cap. 15, “Elaborazioni artistiche finali e panoramica sulle sequenze della produzione musicale”, pp. 273-286.
The exam for non-attending students will consist of a 2-hour written exam with theoretical questions to which will be added questions-commentary on a multimedia text to be answered according to the categories and skills acquired following the study of the bibliography.
Bibliography
The bibligraphy is too complex to be contained in this box. It is shown below, under the heading "extended program".
Teaching methods
During the lessons, mainly frontal moments will alternate with interactive moments with the students about video or audio examples proposed: ample space will in fact be dedicated to the direct experience of listening, from which the teacher will take the lead for analysis, comments and insights. During the lessons, the terminology necessary for a summary analytical description of the listening experiences will be proposed and illustrated. Useful materials for attending the course will be deposited on the ELLY platform.
Three workshops of 12 hours each are scheduled, dedicated respectively about recording music, psychoacoustics, and the use of music in advertising.
Assessment methods and criteria
The examination will take the form of a two-hour written exam at the end of the semester and on the official dates set by the Department. The examination - offered in two different ways depending on whether or not the students attend the course - will focus on the texts from the bibliography listed in the "extended programme" box and communicated on the ELLY platform, and on the ability to analyse a piece of music proposed during the examination. The exam will verify the student's understanding of the approach and contents of the individual texts indicated in the examination bibliography; it will also verify the student's ability to orientate him/herself in the musical and multimedia structures of the proposed works. Failure to understand the minimum contents of the course and the inability to express oneself in a manner appropriate to the subject matter will be grounds for failure. Knowledge of the contents of the bibliography, the ability to orientate oneself in the musical structures and to communicate content, analysis and judgements in an argued, competent and convincing manner will be assessed on a scale of thirty. The ability to elaborate further knowledge relevant to the in-depth study of the subject will allow for excellent results. Likewise, the ability to make integrated and transversal readings between the texts indicated in the bibliography.
Attending students will also be asked to produce an analysis of a multimedia text; while non-attending students will be asked questions aimed at testing their understanding of a musical-multimedia text through the skills learned from the texts in the bibliography.
