An introduction to concepts and methods for the creative use of technology in music, with a focus on music creation using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Students will work on a series of creative projects using a range of techniques, within a hands-on environment. The students’ work will be informed by an introduction to the fundamental theoretical context (acoustics, digital and analog sound, MIDI), as well as analytical listening and discussion. Topics will include digital audio sampling and editing, signal processing, and basic synthesis techniques. No previous experience required. This course has been specifically designed to be taught remotely. It will be instructed through a combination of written and video materials, live online discussions, creative and analytical exercises and projects, and online small group sessions for feedback and questions. While instruction will be online, the course is open to any student, whether on or off campus. Students on campus will have the opportunity to check out a laptop as well as additional music tech equipment for the duration of the block. However, this “extra” equipment is not required for a successful completion of the course. Students who are not on campus will work on their own laptops, using the same DAW software as those on campus, and completing the same projects and assignments. Students who successfully complete this course will have the opportunity to participate in additional recording workshops at the CC recording studio at a later time, when it is safe to do so

An introduction to operatic conventions from the origin of opera in the late Renaissance to the present day. Sociological elements behind the presentation of opera will be discussed as well as concepts in staging and production. 1 unit -- Brink

What’s the state of jazz after 100 years of existence? A week-long trip to New Orleans will give us vibrant answers to this question. But first we must learn the history from minstrelsy traditions of the nineteenth century to revolutionaries of the twenty-first century like Kamasi Washington and Esperanza Spalding. To get close to this history, we reflect on the cultural, economic, and technical forces at play, and the racial orders which structured the music industry and the music’s stylistic development. We explore the fact that jazz is distinctly Black American Music and yet how it became constructed as “America’s Classical Music.” We apply what we learn to the jazz scene in Colorado Springs before taking our expertise across state lines. We then examine how the past informs the present with our fieldwork in NOLA for the third week of the Block. Here, we consider how ideas/ideals of jazz have been preserved and how the genre continues to innovate and germinate in one of its primary origin cities. 1 unit - Doktor

Students review elementary general music education in school settings while planning lessons, delivering instruction, and designing assessments guided by the national and Colorado music standards. Students become familiar with pedagogies for teaching music at the elementary level. Educational materials, teaching techniques, lesson plans, and connections to core subjects are studied. The practicum includes lab time in elementary music classrooms. 1 unit - Hanagan

How do people use sound and music to access alternate states of consciousness and otherworldly realms? This course explores the connection between music, sacred soundscapes, and spiritual perception across a range of musical practices and belief systems. Through a number of different case studies from around the world, we will investigate the essential role of sound and melody in conjuring mystical and extrasensory states of being across social and regional contexts. Our study will include environmentally-based sound explorations, where we explore techniques involving deep listening and sound painting. We will contextualize sacred and spiritual soundscapes within religious and cultural frameworks: exploring trance, possession, and intoxication from a musical perspective. Various sensorial exercises will heighten our awareness of sound and space – including breath, silence, and movement. By illuminating how sound moves within and across human bodies, we will explore how music enables transcendent experiences of ecstatic and otherworldly realms.

What’s the state of jazz after 100 years of existence? A week-long trip to New Orleans will give us vibrant answers to this question. But first we must learn the history from minstrelsy traditions of the nineteenth century to revolutionaries of the twenty-first century like Kamasi Washington and Esperanza Spalding. To get close to this history, we reflect on the cultural, economic, and technical forces at play, and the racial orders which structured the music industry and the music’s stylistic development. We explore the fact that jazz is distinctly Black American Music and yet how it became constructed as “America’s Classical Music.” We apply what we learn to the jazz scene in Colorado Springs before taking our expertise across state lines. We then examine how the past informs the present with our fieldwork in NOLA for the third week of the Block. Here, we consider how ideas/ideals of jazz have been preserved and how the genre continues to innovate and germinate in one of its primary origin cities. 1 unit - Doktor