Jan-Peter Herbst

Desktop Music Production 1 (Module Leader; lectures)

This module will introduce you to relevant techniques and technologies for computer-based music production. Areas covered will include the basics of sequencing, sampling and a range of other sound processing techniques, as well as their creative application. You will also explore approaches to arrangement in production. Through practical work, both technical and creative, you will develop your critical listening and production skills. Seminars will support the application of production techniques and ideas.

Advanced Desktop Music Production (MA) (Module leader; lectures and seminars)

On this module, you will professionalise techniques in computer-based music production. Focusing on modern approaches to music production, the module will deepen your skills in sound design using original synthesis and sampling as well as recording in a digital environment. This will involve multi-software workflows, the expressive use of hardware controllers and hybrid techniques combining digital and analogue processing that combine both an ‘inside the box’ approach with outboard dynamics and effects units. You will develop advanced skills in digital audio project data management required for collaborative professional work. Furthermore, you will learn sophisticated editing, mixing and mastering techniques unique to digital music production. As a critically informed production expert, you will analyse production concepts using critical listening, and research and apply various in-formation on contemporary music production found in manuals, tutorials, instructional videos and mix-throughs or derived from in-depth case studies.

Postgraduate Research Seminar (MA by Research, PhD)

From Thomas Edison’s phonograph to modern instrument libraries, popular music has been inextricably linked with music technology. This seminar will explore technological advancements and the effects they had on popular music production and genre aesthetics. There will be lecture elements (theoretical, and practical demonstration) on the history of production practices in general and of particular genres like alternative rock, metal, reggae and EDM – from the 1970s to the most recent histories. Open-format, group-centred analyses and joint discussion will look at various technologies and genres based on the group’s interest and expertise. Production within this seminar is defined widely and can comprise live music (i.e. music festivals, dancehalls/sound systems).

Desktop Music Production 1 (Module Leader; lectures)

This module will introduce you to relevant techniques and technologies for computer-based music production. Areas covered will include the basics of sequencing, sampling and a range of other sound processing techniques, as well as their creative application. You will also explore approaches to arrangement in production. Through practical work, both technical and creative, you will develop your critical listening and production skills. Seminars will support the application of production techniques and ideas.

Desktop Music Production 2 (Module Leader)

Building on the skills and knowledge acquired in Desktop Music Production 1 or AFM1208 Technology for Music, this module will provide further study of the techniques of computer-based music production. Techniques examined in-depth will include synthesis, sequencing, sampling, editing, processing and mixing techniques, as well as their creative application. Issues of pre/post production and arrangement will also be explored. You will also continue to study musical arrangement within a computer-based production context. You will explore these topics through practical technical and creative work that will improve your techno-fluency and abilities in detailed critical listening. Seminars will support the application of production techniques and ideas.

Final Year Project

Final Year Project (FYP) is a 40-credit module taken in your final year. The module will allow you to focus on a detailed research project of your own devising. The Project may be a dissertation on a single topic or cover any aspect of your studies: composition, production, audiovisual / soundtrack composition, remix, interactive sound design, integration of sound with other digital media etc. For those focusing on composition, the module aims to foster your musical, aesthetic and creative thinking about structuring extended timeframes in music composition and digital media, or, of a mini-album length set of works, or soundtrack portfolio to existing / original images. For those focusing on recording or other technical-based projects the module aims to foster a deep level of understanding of a specific area of study. Remix projects sit between composition and production and need to demonstrate an original compositional voice combined with technical realisation using the potential of the modern DAW. Projects may also combine musicological research with creative practice. Each student is assigned an individual tutor, to whom a project proposal is submitted for approval and who is responsible for overseeing and assessing the outcome of the project.

Advanced Desktop Music Production (MA) (Module leader; lectures and seminars)

On this module, you will professionalise techniques in computer-based music production. Focusing on modern approaches to music production, the module will deepen your skills in sound design using original synthesis and sampling as well as recording in a digital environment. This will involve multi-software workflows, the expressive use of hardware controllers and hybrid techniques combining digital and analogue processing that combine both an ‘inside the box’ approach with outboard dynamics and effects units. You will develop advanced skills in digital audio project data management required for collaborative professional work. Furthermore, you will learn sophisticated editing, mixing and mastering techniques unique to digital music production. As a critically informed production expert, you will analyse production concepts using critical listening, and research and apply various in-formation on contemporary music production found in manuals, tutorials, instructional videos and mix-throughs or derived from in-depth case studies.

Postgraduate Research Seminar (MA by Research, PhD)

From Thomas Edison’s phonograph to modern instrument libraries, popular music has been inextricably linked with music technology. This seminar will explore technological advancements and the effects they had on popular music production and genre aesthetics. There will be lecture elements (theoretical, and practical demonstration) on the history of production practices in general and of particular genres like alternative rock, metal, reggae and EDM – from the 1970s to the most recent histories. Open-format, group-centred analyses and joint discussion will look at various technologies and genres based on the group’s interest and expertise. Production within this seminar is defined widely and can comprise live music (i.e. music festivals, dancehalls/sound systems).

Desktop Music Production 1 (Module Leader; lectures)

This module will introduce you to relevant techniques and technologies for computer-based music production. Areas covered will include the basics of sequencing, sampling and a range of other sound processing techniques, as well as their creative application. You will also explore approaches to arrangement in production. Through practical work, both technical and creative, you will develop your critical listening and production skills. Seminars will support the application of production techniques and ideas.

Desktop Music Production 2 (Module Leader)

Building on the skills and knowledge acquired in Desktop Music Production 1 or AFM1208 Technology for Music, this module will provide further study of the techniques of computer-based music production. Techniques examined in-depth will include synthesis, sequencing, sampling, editing, processing and mixing techniques, as well as their creative application. Issues of pre/post production and arrangement will also be explored. You will also continue to study musical arrangement within a computer-based production context. You will explore these topics through practical technical and creative work that will improve your techno-fluency and abilities in detailed critical listening. Seminars will support the application of production techniques and ideas.

Final Year Project

Final Year Project (FYP) is a 40-credit module taken in your final year. The module will allow you to focus on a detailed research project of your own devising. The Project may be a dissertation on a single topic or cover any aspect of your studies: composition, production, audiovisual / soundtrack composition, remix, interactive sound design, integration of sound with other digital media etc. For those focusing on composition, the module aims to foster your musical, aesthetic and creative thinking about structuring extended timeframes in music composition and digital media, or, of a mini-album length set of works, or soundtrack portfolio to existing / original images. For those focusing on recording or other technical-based projects the module aims to foster a deep level of understanding of a specific area of study. Remix projects sit between composition and production and need to demonstrate an original compositional voice combined with technical realisation using the potential of the modern DAW. Projects may also combine musicological research with creative practice. Each student is assigned an individual tutor, to whom a project proposal is submitted for approval and who is responsible for overseeing and assessing the outcome of the project.

Advanced Desktop Music Production (MA) (Module leader; lectures and seminars)

On this module, you will professionalise techniques in computer-based music production. Focusing on modern approaches to music production, the module will deepen your skills in sound design using original synthesis and sampling as well as recording in a digital environment. This will involve multi-software workflows, the expressive use of hardware controllers and hybrid techniques combining digital and analogue processing that combine both an ‘inside the box’ approach with outboard dynamics and effects units. You will develop advanced skills in digital audio project data management required for collaborative professional work. Furthermore, you will learn sophisticated editing, mixing and mastering techniques unique to digital music production. As a critically informed production expert, you will analyse production concepts using critical listening, and research and apply various in-formation on contemporary music production found in manuals, tutorials, instructional videos and mix-throughs or derived from in-depth case studies.

From Thomas Edison’s phonograph to modern instrument libraries, popular music has been inextricably linked with music technology. This seminar will explore technological advancements and the effects they had on popular music production and genre aesthetics. There will be lecture elements (theoretical, and practical demonstration) on the history of production practices in general and of particular genres like alternative rock, metal, reggae and EDM – from the 1970s to the most recent histories. Open-format, group-centred analyses and joint discussion will look at various technologies and genres based on the group’s interest and expertise. Production within this seminar is defined widely and can comprise live music (i.e. music festivals, dancehalls/sound systems).

This workshop explores and discusses notions of authenticity in modern rock and metal productions. After introducing theories on authenticity exemplified by three case studies within the genres of rock, alternative rock and indie rock (U2, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys), the workshop will focus on production practices in rock and metal since the 1980s. This includes issues such as the ‘loudness war’, heaviness, rhythmic and harmonic complexity, artificiality and staging, as well as extended range of instruments and the sonic spectrum. Four case studies of modern rock and metal (Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Contortionist, Periphery) serve to demonstrate modern hyper-real production practices which give rise to questions around authenticity. Finally, two songs (Architects – Gone With The Wind, 2016; Between The Buried And Me – Millions, 2018) will be analysed in smaller groups to experience production practices of modern rock and to enhance interest in this form of music.

Desktop Music Production 1 (Module Leader; lectures and seminars)

This module will introduce you to relevant techniques and technologies for computer-based music production. Areas covered will include the basics of sequencing, sampling and a range of other sound processing techniques, as well as their creative application. You will also explore approaches to arrangement in production. Through practical work, both technical and creative, you will develop your critical listening and production skills. Seminars will support the application of production techniques and ideas.

Computer Composition 2 (Module Leader; lectures and seminars)

Building on the skills and knowledge acquired in Computer Composition 1, this module will provide further study of the techniques of computer music including synthesis, sequencing, sampling, editing, processing and mixing, and an exploration of the creative potential of these techniques. Throughout the year students will be introduced to:

• Advanced concepts of synthesis and sampling
• Advanced sequencing and editing techniques
• Basic processing and mixing techniques
• Advanced aesthetic concerns of using computers for composition

In parallel, throughout the year students will develop creative projects using the above techniques and aesthetic reflections.

Popular Music Studies (Lectures only)

The module aims to enable you to develop an understanding of popular music within specific cultural and musical contexts, encouraging you to respond imaginatively and intellectually to the study of various examples. You will study a range of popular music genres, focusing on various case studies. These will be used to explore the interface between popular music and several disciplines within musicology, such as music technology, philosophy, critical musicology and gender studies, synthesising theoretical, technological and philosophical approaches.

Musicology of Production (Lectures and seminars)

This module will introduce you to the study of music production from a musicological perspective. The focus of the module will be on understanding the ideas that circulate in the study of production. Teaching and learning concentrates on three main areas of study including the technological contexts and repertoire, analysis techniques appropriate to production and critical writings on the subject.

Researching Music, Technology and Performance (Interim Module Leader; lectures and seminars)

This module will develop knowledge and understanding of approaches to research in the area of popular and contemporary music practice (including music technology and music performance) to a high level by introducing key issues, themes and approaches to research. The course will introduce a variety of research and approaches which will provide the basis for investigating students’ own topics of research. The module concentrates on four main areas of study including ethnomusicology, analysis of music, performance studies and music production.

Individual Project

The Individual Project is a 40-credit module taken in final year. The module will allow you to focus on a detailed research project of your own devising. The Individual Project may be a dissertation on a single topic or cover any aspect of your studies: composition, production, interactive sound design, integration of sound with other digital media etc. For those focusing on composition, the module aims to foster your musical, aesthetic and creative thinking about structuring extended timeframes in music composition and digital media. For those focusing on recording or other technical-based projects the module aims to foster a deep level understanding of a specific area of study. Each student is assigned an individual tutor, to whom the Project Proposal is submitted for approval and who is responsible for overseeing the assessment of the outcome of the project.

Postgraduate Research Seminar (MA by Research, PhD)

Music technology and popular music are inextricably linked. Even though music technology has been integrated into various music curricula and examination regulations for some years, there is still a gap between formal regulations and concepts for educational practice. Within German-speaking countries respective research has been neglected, so that practice-based lesson material by researchers and practitioners is still scarce, limited in scope, and not systematically covering all areas of the field. This seminar deals with the opportunities, chances and challenges of integrating music technologies into popular music education. In addition to the discussion of existing methods and approaches in German literature, we will get acquainted with concepts and curricula in the UK, US, Australia and Scandinavia – all being countries with an established tradition of teaching music technology and popular music. Collectively we will experience teaching approaches from those countries and discuss how these might be adopted to a different educational context. The seminar finally aims at refining the approaches of the different national curricula, manuals and class books to create concepts for the individual educational contexts at Swiss schools and music schools.

Computer Composition 1 (Module Leader; lectures and seminars)

This module has been designed to provide training in the use of computer music software within a computer music context. You will be learning: software for composition, sequencing and production, studying audio and synthesis theory, and listening to historic and contemporary works. You will then demonstrate the development of your knowledge and skills through a number of formative and summative tasks.

Computer Composition 2 (Module Leader; lectures and seminars)

Building on the skills and knowledge acquired in Computer Composition 1, this module will provide further study of the techniques of computer music including synthesis, sequencing, sampling, editing, processing and mixing, and an exploration of the creative potential of these techniques. Throughout the year students will be introduced to:

• Advanced concepts of synthesis and sampling
• Advanced sequencing and editing techniques
• Basic processing and mixing techniques
• Advanced aesthetic concerns of using computers for composition

In parallel, throughout the year students will develop creative projects using the above techniques and aesthetic reflections.

Popular Music Studies (Lectures only)

The module aims to enable you to develop an understanding of popular music within specific cultural and musical contexts, encouraging you to respond imaginatively and intellectually to the study of various examples. You will study a range of popular music genres, focusing on various case studies. These will be used to explore the interface between popular music and several disciplines within musicology, such as music technology, philosophy, critical musicology and gender studies, synthesising theoretical, technological and philosophical approaches

Individual Project

The Individual Project is a 40-credit module taken in final year. The module will allow you to focus on a detailed research project of your own devising. The Individual Project may be a dissertation on a single topic or cover any aspect of your studies: composition, production, interactive sound design, integration of sound with other digital media etc. For those focusing on composition, the module aims to foster your musical, aesthetic and creative thinking about structuring extended timeframes in music composition and digital media. For those focusing on recording or other technical-based projects the module aims to foster a deep level understanding of a specific area of study. Each student is assigned an individual tutor, to whom the Project Proposal is submitted for approval and who is responsible for overseeing the assessment of the outcome of the project.

Postgraduate Research Seminar (MA by Research, PhD)

Popular music is much more characterised by music technology than most other music. As early as in the 1960s, musicologists such as Carl Belz, Wilfried Mellers and Hermann Rauhe stressed the relevance of studio technology for popular music. Despite this finding, little research was done on music production, partly due to the lack of a common platform. Since 2005 however, with the establishment of the „Association for the Art of Record Production“, this new field of cross-disciplinary research began to flourish.

This postgraduate seminar deals with the production of popular music from a music and media analysis perspective. As a starting point, we reconstruct the historical development of phonography. In this context, we also focus on the change of the recording studio and respective professions. Subsequently, we will analyse musical, technical and aesthetic characteristics of specific production styles, concentrating on influential producers and sound engineers, famous studios and record labels plus genre-specific production practices and circumstances. We will not only observe these influences but also analyse the interrelation of the musical material with their socio-cultural and economic contexts.

Please note: Since mainly academic music professionals determine this field of research, participants should have practical experience as a musician, producer, sound engineer, or in another music industry profession.

This workshop explores and discusses notions of authenticity in modern rock and metal productions. After introducing theories on authenticity exemplified by three case studies within the genres of rock, alternative rock and indie rock (U2, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys), the workshop will focus on production practices in rock and metal since the 1980s. This includes issues such as the ‘loudness war’, heaviness, rhythmic and harmonic complexity, artificiality and staging, as well as extended range of instruments and the sonic spectrum. Four case studies of modern rock and metal (Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Contortionist, Periphery) serve to demonstrate modern hyper-real production practices which give rise to questions around authenticity. Finally, two songs (Architects – Gone With The Wind, 2016; Between The Buried And Me – Millions, 2018) will be analysed in smaller groups to experience production practices of modern rock and to enhance interest in this form of music.