Band Machine Ensemble (Omar Medina)
Module code
M-JP-EBDMAC
Curricular domain
Practical Classes
Credits
4
Group size
5 to 12 students
Number of course weeks
15
Class duration
90 - 120 minutes.
Total contact hours
32 hours
Study load
80 hours
Form / content / level
Prerequisites
Admitted to year 2 Jazz & Pop. This subject can only be followed on-campus.
NOTE that selecting one elective band is compulsory in the second year Jazz & Pop. In years 2, 3 and 4 students Jazz & Pop can select up to two elective bands per year in total.
Competencies
Aims
Acquiring and developing ensemble playing skills in repertoire of the relevant style.
Improving stage performance.
Relation to other modules
This module is related to the main subject module.
Content
This elective empowers students to lead and innovate within a music ensemble by integrating cutting-edge technology into live performance and composition. Participants explore tools such as electronic instruments (e.g., synthesizers, MIDI controllers), effects processors (guitar pedals, loop stations), and software platforms like MaxMSP, Ableton Live. The course emphasizes collaborative experimentation, blending acoustic and electronic elements to redefine traditional ensemble dynamics.
Mode(s) of instruction
Band rehearsals and performances.
Material & Tools
Handed out by the instructor (where applicable).
Student activity
Generating internal publicity for the band's concerts, and selecting repertoire.
Examination and assessment
Mode(s) of assessment
Assessment by the band instructor at the end of each semester.
Criteria
Creativity, technological knowledge and practical skills, improvisation, musical interaction, intonation and tunings, reading skills, sound conceptualisation, tonal balance, preparation, building technological live setup, active participation and attitude.
Pass requirements
The student has completed this module if being awarded a minimum grade of 5.5 at the end of the second semester.
Examination procedure
Written assessment by the instructor at the end of both semesters. Assessment at the end of the autumn semester is formative and expressed in terms of satisfactory/unsatisfactory. It indicates a student's progress in this module. No ECs are awarded and there is no resit. Modules can only be absolved, and ECs awarded, after the end of the spring semester. The end-of-semester assessments comprise evaluations of students' performance during the rehearsals and public performances.
Resit options
Module summary
This module allows students to develop a technological setup for live playing, using hardware or software, possibly in combination with acoustic instruments, developing a range of skills in planning, playing, improvising and creating, alone and together, in a multi-faceted technological landscape.