The Department of Music moved one step closer to launching a new Ph.D. program in Computer Music and Multimedia after the University faculty voted to approve the proposal at its Oct. 5 meeting. As soon as the Brown Corporation officially approves the program later this year, the department can start accepting applications to fill three places for the 2005-2006 academic year.
In addition to offering an undergraduate concentration in computer music and multimedia, the music department currently admits two or three students each year for an M.A. in the field. The M.A. degree will probably be phased out as the Ph.D. program develops. "We're in the process of revamping the whole curriculum," said Todd Winkler, chair of the music department.
As doctorates become increasingly necessary for music researchers and educators, expanding the curriculum to attract new talent has become one of the department's priorities. Brown currently loses prospective music students to universities such as the University of California-Berkeley, Princeton University and Columbia University, which have offered doctoral studies focused on computer music and research since the 1980s and 1990s.
But Winkler said that to his knowledge, the new program's emphasis on the integration of digital media is unique among American universities. And he hopes that introducing a doctoral degree will distinguish Brown as a leader in the developing area of multimedia art. "We're hoping we might steal some of the best students away," Winkler said.
While many people's understanding of electronic music may be limited to thumping techno, Winkler described the genre as "real-time interactive media," completely removed from cheesy dance music.
"Lots of people agree the way all these fields are going is to have all these things combining," Winkler said. "The computer allows all media to be represented with numbers and available for computation. That's what's made this era unique."
A series of changes in conjunction with the addition of the doctoral program aim to maximize technology and enhance the focus on computer music and multimedia, where, Winkler said, "We've carved out a specialty for ourselves."
The Ph.D. program proposal outlines five new courses specifically for graduate students, among them MU 286: "Topics in Digital Media Research and Production," MU 287: "Topics in Computer Music Theory and Analysis" and MU 289: "Designing Large-Scale Multimedia Projects."
Some other changes aimed at enhancing Brown's focus on computer music and multimedia will accompany the addition of the doctoral program.
The computer music and multimedia program hired two new faculty members this fall: program co-director Butch Rovan and technical director Thomas Ciufo Ph.D. '04, who completed his Ph.D. in the field through the Independent Doctoral Studies Program. Rovan's background in electronics - he has invented a few instruments - has strengthened the technical component of the concentration. There is an ongoing search to fill one additional position in the program.
The new program will utilize existing resources and also benefit from some upcoming renovations. The MacColl Studios in Steinert Hall include five studios, one of which is a professional recording studio. All of the studios are equipped for computer music and multimedia research, and some will undergo a partial renovation this summer in preparation for the Ph.D. program. Though the studio facility is 31 years old, each studio contains Apple computers, Kurzweil synthesizers, DAT recorders, sound systems and a variety of MIDI controllers and sensing systems. Winkler said the video processing, playback and projection capacities already in several of the studios will prove especially useful for the Ph.D. program.
"It is a program that not only examines more traditional areas of computer music and music composition, sound synthesis and performance, but also places emphasis on combining computer music with audio and video installations," Winkler said.
The three students expected to enroll next year will be required to take 13 courses over five years and pass a three-hour oral preliminary exam in their third year. Winkler said the department hopes to offer three Computer Music and Multimedia graduate courses each year in addition to existing undergraduate offerings.
The degree's interdisciplinary approach will also be complemented by opportunities in up to 50 courses deemed relevant in the departments of Visual Arts, Computer Science, Modern Culture and Media, Theatre, Speech and Dance, and Creative Writing. This year two music graduate students are already working on their dissertations with professors of other departments - Rebecca Schneider in the theater department and Wendy Chun in MCM.
Winkler said he also looks forward to increased interaction with the Department of Digital Media at RISD. "We're hoping more and more to plan the curriculum, exhibitions and symposia together. Maybe even some classes will be jointly taught between Brown and RISD faculty," Winkler said.
After three years of courses from the improved curriculum, each doctoral candidate will work on a final dissertation that integrates the three key components of the program - technical knowledge, music theory and scholarship, and artistic performance - into an original creative work.
"We're hoping they'll do original technical research, which will then be shown in artistic content and written about with historical background," Winkler said. He added that while he hopes the supporting paper on the dissertation's theory and historical context will demonstrate strong scholarship, the overall purpose of the degree is to produce original creative work.
"Ultimately, we want the artwork to be spectacular," Winkler said.
