MUSI 2350

Truthfully, if you're looking for an interesting class to take - this isn't it. The content delivery, imho, is super dry and I struggled to stay awake whenever we were in the lecture hall. Discussions were mandatory attendance, but it was honestly a waste of time. Everyone essentially sat on their phone or laptop the entire time (this depends on your TA though). Once COVID hit, I can't honestly say that I attended a single class. Grading is done by your TA so I can't speak for everyone, but it was pretty much an A for submitting every time. I did have prior experience with Logic / sound design though. After COVID, exams were still closed book but the weight of the exams were lowered immensely. That said, it's not too difficult to study for. He gives you a study guide and if you grind Quizlet for a solid 2 days, you should get a pretty high school.

Luke Dahl is an interesting guy, but he's definitely passionate about the topic of the course and it shows. You have four compositions that you have to work on throughout the semester, using technologies taught in discussion. The main lecture is more focused on the history of music and computers while the discussion is more application. As a STEM student, sometimes the lectures can be a bit dry as they are more history focused, but it's palatable. Overall, good class. #tCF2020

I definitely recommend this course! You learn a lot about electronic music and it challenges you to think about what is music. There was one midterm and a final you really have to study a lot for, but he gives a study guide for it. There were 4 compositional projects and my TA was pretty chill in grading it. There is a discussion section every week but they ended early most of the times. #tCF2020

Definitely a pretty easy integration elective for the BACS majors like myself out there. The material and lectures are rather boring and dry, with what I think is too much emphasis on the history of the subject rather than teaching us tools and techniques to create music on our own. While we are enabled to create our own music, I don't think it's given enough focus. Most of the content doesn't go very in-depth nor is very thought provoking. But, the assignments are graded pretty easily and the tests are not that difficult so you can't go too wrong honestly.

Basically agree with everyone here. Your grade is made up of four compositions (8%, 10%, 12%, and 15% of your grade), a midterm (10%), a concert write-up (5%), your final (15%), and your discussion participation (25%). You have "required" textbook readings, but they don't teach you anything you won't learn from going to lecture or reviewing the slides. This is a super easy class—I had friends who only went to discussion, never lecture and have gotten an A no problem—but it's honestly really boring. As a person interested in music and went to every lecture, I can say I didn't get as much out of it as I wanted to, with very dull content that sometimes barely relates to technology. The most interesting part of this class is your compositions, which can be challenging to make, and are only what you focus on in your discussion. Dahl goes through the slides super quickly, so you're better off not going to lecture and writing your notes at your own time. I had a great TA, Matias, who did his best to give us A's if he thought we tried, but there are other easy A classes that are much more interesting. Probably wouldn't recommend overall.

Your grade for this class will consist of two exams, four compositions (where you make your own music), an essay about a concert you attend, and participation in your discussion section.

Luke is really passionate and knowledgeable about the subject, which is evident if you go to lecture. However, if you really don't care about this subject and want the easy A, there's no need to go to lecture (but you still have to go to the discussion).

Lectures only cover content for the exams (which are both online and on Collab, so take that as you will) and do not talk about the compositions. But, your TA should help you with constructing your music pieces, though be ready to put in extra work in order to figure out how to use the DAW software.

All in all, if you want an easy A class, this is it! You don't need to go to lectures or do any of the readings and TAs are easy graders (plus online Collab tests)! Though, you do need to put in some work to complete the compositions and write the essay on a musical piece.

Professor and the lectures:
Professor Luke Dahl is really passionate and pretty knowledgeable about this subject. Most of the lectures were decently interesting in my opinion, so I would recommend going. Though you don't necessarily have to go in order to be successful in this course. This semester, during the middle of some lectures he decided to add bonus questions (and gave the answers in class) in our midterm/exam in order to reward people who actually go to class.

Course:
- Composition projects (45%): There are 4 in total. Those are not difficult to do, but be sure to invest some time to brainstorm ideas, experiment with sounds and learn the DAW software. You mostly won't need weeks to work on these projects, but start at least a couple of days before the deadline. Grading varies depending on which TA you get. Some TA will just give you 100 as long as you fulfill the rubric requirements. I happened to get a more strict TA. I got points off even though I fulfilled all rubric requirements, but still I didn't get anything lower than an A on composition assignments. By the end of this semester I was surprisingly impressed with some of the pieces that I managed to create.

- Exams (25%): There are 2 exams, one midterm (10%) and a final (15%). Exams cover lecture materials. Again, go to class. But if you skip, review course slides and do the exam study guides to prepare for the exams.

- Concert write-up (5%): During the semester you have to attend at least one concert of music made by new technologies. The professor will provide a list of those events. Afterward you will choose a specific piece to write a report on. I enjoyed the one that I went to. It was pretty interesting and the one that I went to had a pretty cool sound system that I think was utilized pretty well for some of the pieces. I would say that it was a little bit difficult to reach the 750 words requirement.

- Discussion attendance (25%)

Overall this was not a difficult course. I do think that the materials are fun and interesting (imo). I enjoyed some topics more than the others, but I definitely don’t think the material is “boring”. I highly recommend just going to class and learning about it in real time. During class Luke plays samples of the music/sound/pieces that we are currently discussing, which really helps in aiding the learning experience and makes the class less dull.

#tCFF23

The class is pretty easy. I never showed up to lecture, did the homework without too much effort and was easily able to end with an A. Lab section is mandatory (w/ read your name out style attendance), but most people would show up and just do work for my other classes. TAs are super chill and are always willing to help you on your composition assignments.

The material is genuinely pretty interesting, but not many people show up to lecture since it isn't required to succeed in the class. Professor Dahl is super passionate about the subject, so I feel bad that not many people show up to his lecture. Exams are easy, just look over the slides and you should be able to get an A easily.

If you're looking for an easy CS integration elective or GPA boost, this is the one to take. Assignments are fun and material is interesting.

#tCFF23

This is a great class to take if you're looking for a CS elective! The course consists of lab/discussion and lecture, but hardly anybody goes to lecture. The discussions are definitely important though, since that's where you actually learn about music composition and how to use the editing software for assignments. From the few times I attended lecture in the beginning of the semester, homework assignments aren't really talked about at all. It's mostly music/technosonics history, which is content that is covered on exams. Slides are always posted on Canvas. In addition to 4 music compositions, there are 2 exams- a midterm and a final. Both are take-home and extremely easy. Music composition grading depends on your TA, but I always got over 90 on my assignments even when they were submitted last-minute (I thought most of them were terrible). There's also a performance write-up (paper), which I think might've been 5% of the grade. Sia is EXTREMELY kind, understanding, and communicative. Go for him if you can! Definitely recommend this course; you'd probably actually enjoy it a lot if you put genuine effort into the class/work. #tCFF23

Easy course, and overall agree with everyone else's reviews here. Course structure and expectations are still the same as previous reviews.

Your grade is made up of four compositions, a midterm and final exam, a concert write-up, and discussion participation. They no longer assign any readings, and honestly, you don't even need to go to lectures if you just want the A with minimal effort. Exams are online and are generally freebies. Although, I would still advise you to go to discussions, since that is when they will do all of the teaching for how to compose music, which is basically all of your homework assignments. Lectures and materials seemed boring to me, but if you are really into the history of electronic music, then you should go to class. Otherwise, attendance for lecture isn't mandatory (attendance for discussion varies between TA's, since I had a TA that made attendance for discussion not mandatory, but I know another TA that does make it mandatory).

#tCFF23