ZDK_34 Sound studies II (practice)

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Filip Johánek (lecturer)
Mgr. Marie Sedláková (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Filip Johánek
Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Ing. Alena Albíniová
Supplier department: Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of DAW (digital audio workstation). Interest in recording technology, sound in its wider possible usage, not only musical. There is no required knowledge and familiarity with practice of recording technique.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Students will learn the basic approach to creating sound atmospheres through synthesis in the context of field recording (phonography) or audiovisual film. The aim of the course is to try to create technically usable sound atmospheres.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, learners will be able to:
select and prepare an appropriate technique for capturing and recording various layers to create a sonic atmosphere through synthesis as specified
record the appropriate layers for creating a sonic ambience and technically evaluate them
Syllabus
  • Block 1
  • Explanation of the course content and description of the assignment. All activities in the semester in this course will be directed towards mastering the capture of technically sound recordings for creating sonic ambience through synthesis. Building on the previous semester (context of field recording (phonography), location sound vs. studio sound, acoustic ecology) + repetition of working with recording equipment + sharing and explaining the structure of borrowing.
  • Block 2
  • Project preparation in Reaper, mono, stereo, export, analysis. Consultation and discussion of ongoing projects.
  • Block 3
  • Raymond Murray Schaffer: Keynotes, signals, soundmarks. Gordon Hempton: the search for "natural" sound x the reality of today. Listening to intermediate parts of the recordings and reflection, discussion.
  • Block 4
  • Listening to sound layers of the resulting atmospheres in Reaper + exports.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • The Sonic Witness: On the Political Potential of Field Recordings in Acoustic Art. Fiebig, G.. Leonardo Music Journal : LMJ : journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology Volume: 25 (2015) ISSN: 0961-1215 Online ISSN: 1531-4
  • STERNE, Jonathan. The Sound Studies Reader, Routledge, 2010. ISBN-13: 978-0415771313
  • FLAŠAR, Martin. Elektroakustická hudba (Electroacoustic Music). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015. Elportál. ISBN 978-80-210-7944-1. html url PURL epub info
  • VIERS, Ric. The location sound bible : how to record professional dialogue for film and TV. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2012, xv, 354. ISBN 9781615931200. info
  • Zvukem do hlavy : sondy do současné audiokultury. Edited by Michal Rataj. 1. vydání. Praha: Český rozhlas, 2012, 175 stran. ISBN 9788073312299. info
  • KYLOUŠEK, Petr and Petr DYTRT. Pierre BOURDIEU, Pravidla umění. Vznik a struktura literárního pole (Les Regles de l'Art. Genese et structure du champ littéraire) (Rules of Art: Genesis and Structure of the Literary Field). Překladatelé. 1. vyd. Brno: Host, 2011, 496 pp. Teoretická knihovna, č. 27. ISBN 978-80-7294-364-7. URL info
  • ŘIHÁČEK, Tomáš. Zvukové prostředí města a jeho vliv na prožívání. 1. vydání. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Mezinárodní politologický ústav, 2009, 240 stran. ISBN 9788021048096. info
  • HANÁČKOVÁ, Andrea. Český rozhlasový dokument a feature v letech 1990 - 2005: Poetika žánrů. Disertační práce. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého Olomouc, 2008. info
  • VLACHÝ, Václav. Praxe zvukové techniky. 3., aktualiz. a dopl. vyd. Praha: Muzikus, 2008, 297 s. ISBN 9788086253466. URL info
  • RATAJ, Michal. Elektroakustická hudba a vybrané koncepty radioartu : problematika vymezování tvůrčích pozic v prostředí akustických umění z pohledu domácí scény radioartu. 1. vydání. V Praze: Kant - Karel Kerlický pro AMU, 2007, 160 stran. ISBN 9788086970318. info
  • LICHT, Alan. Sound art : beyond music, between categories. Edited by Jim O´Rourke. 1st pub. New York: Rizzoli, 2007, 303 s. ISBN 9780847829699. info
  • STERNE, Jonathan. The audible past : cultural origins of sound reproduction. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003, xvi, 450. ISBN 9780822330134. info
  • THOMPSON, Emily Ann. The soundscape of modernity : architectural acoustics and the culture of listening in America, 1900-1933. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002, ix, 500. ISBN 0262201380. info
  • GUATTARI, Félix. The three ecologies. 1st pub. London: Athlone press, 2000, xv, 174 s. ISBN 0-485-00408-9. info
  • SCHAFER, R. Murray. The soundscape : our sonic environment and the tuning of the world. Rochester: Destiny Books, 1994, xii, 301. ISBN 0892814551. info
Teaching methods
Theoretical preparation, discussion, practice.
Assessment methods
Class attendance is assessed. One unexcused absence is allowed. A condition for completing the course is the submission of the assignment to the submission room in the information system according to the deadline in the syllabus in the organizational guidelines. Those who do not submit a functional and completed assignment by the deadline cannot receive a grade of "Z".
Language of instruction
Czech
Study support
https://is.muni.cz/auth/el/phil/jaro2025/ZDK_34/index.qwarp
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every other week.
Teacher's information
The main output of the task is:

A project in Reaper submitted as a complete packaged folder consisting of a minimum of three (3) stereo atmospheres, five (5) mono bustle tracks, and one (1) stereo bustle track running from left to right. There is no need to do any processing. The necessary condition is to maintain a max true peak of less than or equal to -1.2 dBFS. In this project you will only be addressing the volume ratios of individual tracks, or specific sections within tracks, so that the sonic ambience sounds as close as possible to what it would sound like if it were made on a single recording and could theoretically sound like somewhere. The aim will be to create a natural sounding ambience for use as a backdrop for a scene in an audiovisual film.

So your work will be an effort to realize a sound fiction that sounds like reality or we are able to reflect it as reality in audiovisual images.

Assignment information Record all sounds (no need to submit) at 96,000 Hz and 24 bit resolution + photo documentation for each sound captured.

To submit:

A. Photos of each recording

B. Total output from the recordings up to a sampling rate of 96,000 Hz and bit depth of 24 bits, 2-5 minutes in length as a Reaper project. You can work in other software, but I still want you to turn in the assignment in Reaper, as it is everywhere on campus, it is almost free, and it guarantees compatibility between different listening locations. So if you work in other programs, output the finished tracks to Reaper so we can see all the s

The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/ZDK_34