UMass Lowell Dept. of Computer Science
COMP 2120 / MUED 2120 — Sound Thinking
Spring 2016 Semester, Section 201
Prof. Jesse M. Heines and Prof. Gena Greher
Notes for Class No. 1
Brief Course Orientation and Introduction to Creating Instruments with the MaKey MaKey Board
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
A video of this class is (or will be) posted at:
http://echo360.uml.edu/heines2016/comp-mued2120.html
Handouts and Materials
Openings / Announcements / Reminders
Please do the following tasks *before* our next class
(1) Read the Course Syllabus carefully
(2) Complete your registration for this class using the Google form posted at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/166cx_uRhYJ24qoI-zMrs1dpWVyOw5iloQ-ojjF41lv4/viewform
(3) Join the class discussion forum at http://piazza.com/uml/spring2016/comp2120mued2120
Class Notes
Related reading for this class: Syllabus
Brief Discussion of Administrative Info
Please read the course syllabus carefully
- it contains a great deal of very important information
- we will review this information in greater detail in our next class
Look over the course website home page at http://soundthinking.uml.edu
Join the class forum at http://piazza.com/uml/spring2016/comp2120mued2120
Course Sections: COMP 2120 vs. MUED 2120
- implications for GenEd credit
- correcting your course section
Grading: the assignments you hand in will account for 100% of your grade
- at this time we are not planning any exams in this course
Attendance is critical
- we do a lot of spontaneous things in class
- we never know exactly how these things are going to turn out!
- class discussions are vital to understanding the concepts and exploring
their implications
- we expect everyone to participate in discussions, regardless of how
shy you may be
- “there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers”
- attendance will be taken in each class and your attendance percentage will be counted as a regular assignment
grade
Contact us for help via e-mail or phone or by stopping in
- see the course syllabus for our phone numbers and office hours
- note that Jesse has given you his home phone number
- if you need help with computer assignments you may call any day, including weekends, until 10:00 PM
- Jesse’s office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Olsen Hall on North campus
- Gena’s office hours are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Durgin Hall on South campus
- note that Jesse also posts his public appointment calendar at http://teaching.cs.uml.edu/calendar
When e-mailing us:
- note that the university uses extensive filters on incoming e-mail to auto-delete
junk mail and pornography
- therefore, your e-mail must have a proper subject header or it
may get deleted before we even see it
- be sure to start that subject header with our course number:
COMP 2120 or MUED 2120
- always e-mail both of us unless you know that the issue is specific to one of us
- we really do teach this course together, and both of us are responsible for everything in the course
Please give us the e-mail address you *really* use
The URL for our course website is http://soundthinking.uml.edu
- that URL will redirect to
- please report any aspects of the course website that do not work to Jesse
- the course website provides an index with links to:
- contact information for us, including Jesse’s home phone number for help with computer problems
We have set up a Piazza class discussion forum at http://piazza.com/uml/spring2016/comp2120mued2120
for you to ask questions of us and your classmates
- please go to that site and create an account for yourself using your full first and last names
- the login page is at https://piazza.com/signup
- this is the easiest and quickest way to get a question answered, either by one of us or by a fellow student
- by posting questions there, everyone will see the question and answer
- other students may answer it before we can!
- note that while you must have an account to use this site, you can post questions anonymously
- if you e-mail a technical question to us directly, we will most
likely repost it to the forum with our answer
- of course we won’t do this if your question is about something
personal
- if you don’t want us to repost your question to the forum, be sure
to tell us so in your e-mail
Bring your laptops to class
- most classes will include lab sessions where we will help each other
- you are welcome to have your laptop open during class
Part 1 – Design and implement your own “instrument.”
Part 2 – Create a composition for your “instrument.”
Part 3 – Devise a system of notation for your composition.
Part 4 – Write a reflection on your experience.
Part 5 – Present your “instrument” to the class and perform your composition.
Priming the Pump — Your Imagination!
- MaKey MaKey – An Invention Kit for Everyone
- Musical Paintings with MaKey MaKey
- MaKey MaKey Music Examples
- Remixing Sir Duke with MaKey MaKey
- Conductive Fiber with MaKey MaKey
- MaKey MaKey Instruments
- The Landfill Harmonic
- Experimental Notation
-
Junkestra
