Teaching Portfolio
Sound Hologram (Spring 2023)
Students in my Experimental Sound Synthesis class created unique 3D soundscapes inspired by pop-up books. Using the wavefield synthesis speaker array created for the SxL lab in the School of Design (PI: Daniel Rosenberg Munoz), these immersive soundscapes were visited by a small group of guests at the end of the spring semester in 2023.
Technical Assistant: Miles Scharff
Project assisted by CMU's Center for Arts in Society Borderlines initiative
BAWL - Between Air and Waterlines (Fall 2021)
Students in Carnegie Mellon University's Integrative Design, Arts and Technology (IDeATe) Network, provided an evening of explorable art and music experiences in the College of Fine Arts Great Hall on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021,
"Between Air and Waterlines" combined ideas of ecological musicking, site-specific sonic creation, animation, electronic logic and interactive systems. Participating classes included Real-time Animation, Electronic Logics && Creative Practice, Exploded Ensemble and the Tartan Tuba Band.
Harmony II Creative project - Sound Poetry in Compound Ternary structure
This was the semester during which the campus switched to remote learning after Spring break. In order to put the theory into practice in lieu of a typical quiz, a creative project was given to students to work through in the remaining weeks of the semester. The project takes the structural format of a compound ternary form and asks the students to reimagine the possibilities afford by such formal device. By drawing references to the idiom of sound poetry, the project prompts the students to:
1. Write a short text in either prose or poetry
2. Deconstruct the words to form sonic phonemes
3. Use the deconstructed phonetic sounds as musical materials to be developed under the tripartite form.
Listen to a selection of the student works here
Carnegie’s Monocle
“Carnegie’s Monocle” is a collaborative investigation between CMU’s School of Art and School of Music courses Real-Time Animation (DeYoung) and Experimental Sound Synthesis, IDeATe network, and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Oakland) to explore contents from the library’s special collections and its architectural design, through augmented reality and site-specific sound installation.
The project engages with the library’s unique collection of electronic music instruments, historic sheet music, as well as the library’s own cultural significance to the city. The sound installations mix re-synthesized recordings of the collection of songs celebrating locales around Pittsburgh with current-day site-specific recordings of these locations in 2019. The locations presented in the exhibitions are: The Duquesne incline, South Side, Shade Side, and the Library itself.
Inspired by songs with titles such as The Iron Horse Etude, South Side Polka, Shady Side Mazurka, and The Carnegie Library March, sourced from the library’s Historical Pittsburgh Sheet Music Collection, these soundscapes present a sonic genealogy of the city transforms through time and space.
For more information please visit:
http://animatedsoundscapes.wixsite.com/carnegiesmonocle
In the Press:
https://www.carnegielibrary.org/something-old-something-new-part-2-carnegies-monocle/
https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/june/carnegie-library-ar-app.html
ESS @ Philpps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
From late April to September, 2018, the Serpentine Room at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens was transformed into an enchanting landscape as part of the Summer Flower Show. Located on the west wing of the original Glass House from 1893, this winding room was the temporary home for a lush plantation in vibrant array of colors, where one might also spot the forest giants emerging from the earth to join the spectacle. As one walked through the space, you will also find yourself immersed in an ocean of sounds coming speaking to you from all directions, generated by tiny computers hidden amongst the foliage to guide, invoke, illuminate, and accompany your experience in this space. These soundscapes were created and designed by Carnegie Mellon University students enrolled in the class Experimental Sound Synthesis which explores the intersections of music and technology within the fields of sound design, experimental music, and installation art.
For more information, please visit: http://essphipps18.wordpress.com
In the Press: https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/phipps-summer-show-is-bizarre-and-essential/
F in the Chat - a live interactive and networked performance streaming via Twitch
About the event:
Building on the success of November’s Democracy in Action, Exploded Ensemble continues its research into remote music-making with F in the chat, an interactive concert presented on Twitch.tv that gives the audience the power to transform sound, video, and musical structure throughout the experience.
Framing a concept of new beginnings and possibilities, F in the chat featured original works by members of the ensemble, exploring the theme through audiovisual compositions, gestural communication, and performative objects.
Every Possible Utterance @ MuseumLab
About the event:
George Louise Borges’ short story “The Library of Babel” serves as the inspiration for Every Possible Utterance. an evening of art, technology and engineering that incorporated sculpture, musicians and performers. The event occurred at MuseumLab, formally known as the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny.
The first half of the even included exploration and interaction with sculptures and roving musicians. The second half presented live visual art in concert with musical performance and animation. The audience experienced sights and sounds created by artists, designers, and performers from across the CMU Community.
The creative team and faculty mentors for this project included: Heidi Wiren Barlette and Robert Zacharias (Activating the Body class), Johannes DeYoung (Animation Stuio), Jesse Stiles and Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh (Exploded Ensemble).
For more informations please visit:
https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/december/every-possible-utterance.html
https://ideate.cmu.edu/about/news-and-announcements/2019/december/every-possible-utterance.html
Subsurface (2018)
About the event:
For the second consecutive year, CMU students illuminated the dark corridors and winding passageways of a limestone mine with art installations, musical performances and costumed movement.
Subsurface: Site-Specific Sight & Sound is a one-hour interdisciplinary festival that drew 250 attendees to the inactive underground mine in Brady’s Bend, Armstrong County. The mine is estimated to be twice the size of the world’s largest building.
The festival is a collaboration among students and faculty from CMU’s College of Fine Arts, School of Computer science, the BXA Intercollege Degree Programs, and IDeATe Network.
The faculty members involved in the event are Scott Andrew (Activated Anamorphs class), Roger Danneberg (School of Computer Science), Jesse Stiles and Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh (Exploded Ensemble).
For more information, please visit:
https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2018/december/subsurface-festival.html
About the Ensemble: http://www.explodedensemble.org
In the Press:
https://www.wesa.fm/post/limestone-mine-hosts-second-subsurface-art-event#stream/0