Instructor: Juan Pablo Bello
Office: Room 626, 6th floor, 35 W 4th street
Office hours (Spring 2010): Wednesdays 2-5pm
phone: (212) 998.5736 (ext 85736)
eml: jp[lastname] [at] nyu [dot] edu
E85.2616 Colloquy in Music Technology
Course Information:
Meetings: Tuesdays 6.45 - 8.25pm
Studio F, 8th floor Ed. building.
Overview: This course serves as the Master’s Thesis preparation class. The class will cover thesis
proposal preparation, work plan, research methods, testing with human subjects, data analysis, presentation style, class discussions about published papers and theses.
Evaluation:
10 % Proposal and workplan, outline and bibliography, practice presentation and participation
90 % Thesis
(Important note: if you do not finish your thesis this semester, you will only get an “Incomplete Pass” if you successfully complete the first 10% of coursework, and submit a short report by April 27 showing significant progress according to your workplan.)
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Calendar:
Dates are tentative and subject to change
Week 1. Introduction, picking a topic/supervisor
Week 2. Invited Talk, Prof. Andrea McKenzie: Orchestrating your thesis (Click for slides), Questions
Week 3. Discussion: Thesis Proposal and Workplan
Week 4. Invited Talk, Dr. Kent Underwood: Tools for Research; Discussion: Introduction
Week 5. Discussion: Literature Review
Week 6. Invited Talk, Prof. Jane McCutcheon: Research with Human Subjects
Week 7. Discussion: Collecting data, experimental design
Week 8. Discussion: Analyzing data
(3/16. Spring break)
Week 10. Discussion: Thesis
Week 11. Invited Talk, Prof. Andrea McKenzie: Presenting your project (Click for slides), Example set
Week 12. Presentations
Week 13. Presentations
Week 14. Presentations
Week 15. Presentations
Important dates:
February 2: bring draft project proposal (2 pages)
February 16: submission thesis proposal and workplan (4 pages)
March 9: outline and bibliography (4 pages)
April 27: short progress report (4 pages) for those not defending this semester.
May 4: submission thesis report
May 10 and 11: Thesis oral defenses, details TBA (Please make sure to fill your Master’s Thesis Approval Form and bring to your defense)
Saturday 05/08, 3-6pm, Open House
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Submission of documents:
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1.Go to the course’s blackboard page (available under “Blackboard Classes” on your home page of the home.nyu.edu site).
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2.Select “Assignments” on the left navigation menu. Under the link of the current assignment, click on the “View/Complete Assignment” button. An “Upload Assignment” panel will open. Attach the files of your submission (see file naming conventions below), make comments if necessary and submit. Please note that saving your files do not submit to the instructor. For more detailed instructions, please visit this Blackboard Tutorial on the use of the Assignment tool.
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3.All files must be uploaded to the blackboard page before 11.55pm on the due date (a penalty will be applied for every day of delay - You should send me an email explaining the reasons for the delay).
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4.Only Portable Document Format (PDF) files will be accepted.
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5.Documents should be clearly identified as YourLastName_DocumentType (e.g. Bello_Proposal.pdf, Bello_Outline.pdf, Bello_Summary.pdf or Bello_Thesis.pdf). If more than one file is submitted, please add them into a zip file of the same name (e.g. Bello_Proposal.zip).
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6.Clearly indicate your name in the body of every file (at the top of the page).
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THESIS PREPARATION:
More information about the thesis preparation process and what is expected of the thesis report is available here (please read carefully):
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/technology/programs/graduate/requirements
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THESIS TOPICS, A FEW EXAMPLES:
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-Interactive Music for the Web
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-Auditory Cues and Spatial Displays: An Investigation for Short-Term Memory Enhancement
- Timbral Analysis of Balinese Gamelan
- CreativeTools: software developments for electroacoustic music
- Exploring Reactive Video Game Soundtrack Design with JMSL and JSyn
- Developing Controllers, Using The OSC Protocol: Practical Blueprints For Experimenting With OSC, Controllers, & Other Multimedia Devices
- The Influence of Music: The Effects of Music on Emotions in Computer-Animated Films
- Real-time Guitar Chord Recognition Using Max/MSP and the FTM Library
- Machine-Based Classification of Errors in Clarinet Performance
- Spaciousness in Recorded Music: Human perception, objective measurement and machine prediction
- A Subjective Comparison between the Listening Sweet Spot of an ITU 5.1 Surround System and Ambisonics in G-Format
- Mixing Scenarios For B+ Format Audio
- Embracing Mp3: mastering audio in the age of mobile music
- Design of Headphone-Based Binaural Audio Engine for Video Games
- Research on the effect of reflective surface to the focused sound
- Audio Post Production for Project Studio Users: A centralized methodology of audio post production techniques
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ORAL DEFENSES:
(these guidelines are tentative)
1. Presentations slots are 30 minutes long: 20 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes for questions. This time includes changeover time (the time it takes you to set up everything). You should bring the presentation on a laptop and try the projector and sound on the room beforehand. This is specially important for those of you who want to use any additional piece of equipment for the demonstration.
2. You should plan to be present during all presentations and participate of the discussion (ask questions, make comments).
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Online resources:
Please read the school’s statement on academic integrity. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated.
For all information pertaining research with human subjects (including tutorials):
An online forum for NYU music tech students:
http://www.nyumusictech.yuku.com
A database of past MM thesis in our program:
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/technology/research/masters_theses
A list of seminars and other music tech research events:
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/technology/media/seminars
The Music and Audio Research Laboratory:
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