UC San Diego Professor Shlomo Dubnov Receives Award to create new online course
By Trisha Kholiya
UC San Diego Music Professor Shlomo Dubnov recently earned an award from the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Innovative Learning Technology Initiative to develop a new online course about sound, music and culture. Dubnov’s online course, titled “Sound in Time,” will outline basic acoustic concepts relevant to music making and how they are related to perception and formation of mathematical constructs in music, such as tuning and scale systems. The class will also illustrate the increasing complexity and abstraction of music concepts over time, from early music to electronic and experimental music and music’s connection to culture through political economy.
“What is unique about this course,” Dubnov explained, “is that it combines aspects of engineering (acoustics, sound synthesis), perception, music technology, algorithmic models of musical style, together with critical and hands-on experience of traditional and experimental music, providing both historical and multi-cultural understanding of music.”
Dubnov’s online course will be produced by the company Kadenze.com known for its focus on STEAM education. The students will be able to watch course videos, use musical software and read course materials online to learn the subject matter. Students will also receive feedback from teaching assistants and instructors on various online assignments, and the instructor will remain in contact with the class via emails over the course of the ten-week class.
“Students will gain practical knowledge in recording, editing and creating musical and sonic compositions, as well as gain critical knowledge and vocabulary for appreciating musical works of various cultures, periods and aesthetic ideals,” Dubnov said.