I’ve saved (what is in my opinion) the best for last: synthesized instruments. Synthesizers are one of my main research interests.

Week 10

Reading due Wed, Oct 29

  • Théberge, Paul. 1997. “‘Live’ and Recorded: MIDI Sequencing, the Home Studio, and Copyright.” In Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology, 214–41. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.
    • Discussion leader: Judith
  • Pinch, Trevor, and Frank Trocco. 2004. “Shaping the Synthesizer.” In Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer, Revised edition, 53–69. Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England: Harvard University Press.

Homework due Sun, Nov 2

Write a short response (~500 words) to this week’s readings, discussing how the tension between human vs. machine, analog vs. digital, nostalgia, etc. plays out in your own instrumental world.

Week 11

We won’t be having class on Wed, Nov 5 because I’ll be traveling to Minneapolis for the annual Society for Music Theory conference! Instead I’ll ask us to do kind of virtual, asynchronous class session.

If you are interested in the conference (it’s cool! if you like music theory!), you can pop into the free livestreamed sessions. The conference runs Nov 6–9. Important note: the times are given in CST because the conference is in Minneapolis, so subtract one hour to get to EST. Another video game paper is “Tracing Percussion Orchestration in Early NES Soundtracks (1983-1987): Understanding Coded Parameters Through FFT Analysis”, and the two sessions on Expression in Vocal Music are also relevant to our seminar topic.

Reading and homework due Wed, Nov 5

  • Read Lavengood, Megan L. 2019. “Timbre, Genre, and Polystylism in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.” In On Popular Music and Its Unruly Entanglements, edited by Nick Braae and Kai Arne Hansen, 209–34. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18099-7..
  • Post one (1) question for me to answer on Teams. I’ve made a special channel for this called “Lavengood Sonic 3 discussion”. I’ll do my best to answer these quickly or when I have downtime at the conference.

Homework due Sun, Nov 2

  • Post at least twice more in the “Lavengood Sonic 3 discussion” channel, either as a reply to my reply or to another student. Please try to make your comments substantive, not just “nice job!” or “I agree!” Try to make it something equivalent to having participated in a normal class session.

Week 12

Reading due Wed, Nov 12

  • Eidsheim, Nina Sun. 2019. “Race as Zeros and Ones: Vocaloid Refused, Reimagined, and Repurposed.” In The Race of Sound, 115–50. Listening, Timbre, and Vocality in African American Music. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11hpntq.8.
    • Discussion leader: Britt
  • Galuszka, Patryk. 2025. “The Influence of Generative AI on Popular Music: Fan Productions and the Reimagination of Iconic Voices.” Media, Culture & Society 47 (3): 603–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437241282382.
    • Discussion leader: Trey

Homework due Sun, Nov 16

TBD