Deeper Listening

Composers rely on attentive listeners to communicate compelling musical narratives, modulate mood and emotion, and enhance a sense of connection and community. However, such focused hearing is ever harder to achieve in an increasingly fragmented age when we are bombarded by sensory impressions and sound is often background to other modalities.

This course will celebrate the power of listening, investigating the innovative musical, technological, and conceptual approaches that can increase focus, enhance wellbeing, and build powerful community through sound. Students will explore the work of Pauline Oliveros, electronic music pioneer and inventor of "Deep Listening" practice; the dazzlingly complex-yet-meditational vocalizations of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Stimmung; and Opera of the Future's current Wellbeing of the World project, among many other examples.

We will study cutting-edge technologies for capturing and distributing immersive audio, share the latest research into music's impact on physical and mental health, interrogate how AI can stimulate sonic surprises and serendipities, and study radical strategies for creating collective, participatory, audio-forward experiences.

Students will have the opportunity to realize several smaller projects and one large-scale project during the semester. In addition, several group listening sessions outside of MIT will be organized, including a special field trip to MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA) and RPI/EMPAC (Troy, NY) to experience the visionary sensory immersion rooms of James Turrell and others, and to visit the Center for Deep Listening that stewards Oliveros' practice.