IAP 2015 Activities by Category - Music

Ellena Popova, Naomi Schurr

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

What we do: Ring tower bells in permutations (n!), like Paul Revere (and a bunch of English people) at Old North Church and Church of the Advent in Boston.  Learn change-ringing, the traditional British style of ringing bells. We follow mathematical patterns instead of sheet music to ring up to 8 large tower bells with each bell controlled by a single rope. 

Change ringing = Combinatorics + Music. Those changes in the order of the bells’ sounding that constitute a method are governed by 4 rules:  (a) no bell may move more than one position at each change/row; (b) each bell sounds once in each row; (c) no row is repeated; and (d) the ringing begins and ends in Rounds.

Curious?  Learn more on our group website, under the "Ring with Us" section: http://bellringers.scripts.mit.edu/www/, or just come on out and join us!

Please wear comfortable, warm clothes. No previous musical experience necessary.  IAP is a great time for first-time learners!  We often go out to eat after practice, and you are welcome to join us. The Guild of Bellringers is a secular organization. All are welcome.

Meet in Building 66, Green Building side, at the designated times (or let us know if you'll be there a little later, so we can wait for you.) T-fare to the tower is provided.

Sponsor(s): Guild of Bellringers
Contact: Ellena Popova, 301-648-4105, bellringers-contact@mit.edu

---

Ringing at Church of the Advent

	Jan/07	Wed	06:30PM-09:30PM	Meet bldg 66, 6:30pm, or Church of the Advent 7pm
	Jan/14	Wed	06:30PM-09:30PM	Meet bldg 66, 6:30pm, or Church of the Advent 7pm
	Jan/21	Wed	06:30PM-09:30PM	Meet bldg 66, 6:30pm, or Church of the Advent 7pm
	Jan/28	Wed	06:30PM-09:30PM	(CANCELED)

Rehearsal starts at 7pm, so we will meet in Building 66 at 6:30 to take the T to the Church of the Advent, which is in Beacon Hill. T fare is provided. Wear warm clothes as we will walk from Charles MGH station to the Church.

---

Ringing at Old North Church

	Jan/10	Sat	10:30AM-01:00PM	Meet bldg 66, 10:30a, or Old North Church, 11am
	Jan/24	Sat	10:30AM-01:00PM	Meet bldg 66, 10:30a, or Old North Church, 11am
	Jan/31	Sat	10:30AM-01:00PM	Meet bldg 66, 10:30a, or Old North Church, 11am

Rehearsal starts at 11am, so we will meet in Building 66 at 10:30am to take the T to Old North Church, which is in the North End.  T fare is provided.  Wear warm clothes as we will walk outside, and the tower may be cold.

Grace Leslie, Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT Media Lab

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/05
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This project-based course will provide students with a basic understanding of neurofeedback and brain-computer interface systems using EEG (electroencephalography).  Lectures will cover the design of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems, an introduction to EEG sensing and analysis, and creative and assistive applications of BCI, including a historical overview of systems designed by doctors, scientists, musicians, and artists. Students from complementary disciplines will be assigned to small groups for hands-on development projects working towards the creation of a new BCI concept using a commercially available dry-electrode EEG. Students with experience in cognitive science, computer programming, and/or real-time digital music or video software are encouraged to join.

 

Sponsor(s): Media Arts and Sciences, MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Grace Leslie, E14-348D, 617 452-5736, GLESLIE@MIT.EDU

---

	Jan/07	Wed	09:00AM-12:00PM	E15-341
	Jan/09	Fri	09:00AM-12:00PM	E15-341
	Jan/12	Mon	09:00AM-12:00PM	E15-341
	Jan/14	Wed	09:00AM-12:00PM	E15-341
	Jan/16	Fri	09:00AM-12:00PM	E15-341
	Jan/21	Wed	09:00AM-12:00PM	E15-341

Grace Leslie - Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT Media Lab

Forrest Larson, Circulation/Reserves Associate, Lewis Music Library

	Jan/22	Thu	06:00PM-08:00PM	14E-109
	Jan/28	Wed	06:00PM-08:00PM	(CANCELED)

Enrollment: Contact twiggy@mit.edu to sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

Come and sight-read some of the great chamber music in the Lewis Music Library’s score collection! Discover music you didn’t know about – pick up search tips for finding music in the Barton catalog – make beautiful music with other string and woodwind players and pianists.

Open to MIT students, faculty, and staff. String and woodwind players and pianists wanted for each session. Music stands and light refreshments provided.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Forrest Larson, 14E-109, 617-253-0982, twiggy@mit.edu

Elaine Hansen, Cally Perry, Naomi Schurr, Ellena Popova

	Jan/05	Mon	07:00PM-09:45PM	26-310
	Jan/12	Mon	07:00PM-09:45PM	26-310
	Jan/19	Mon	07:00PM-09:45PM	26-310
	Jan/26	Mon	07:00PM-09:45PM	(CANCELED)

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

An introduction to the traditional British way of ringing bells called change ringing. Because of the way the bells are hung in a church tower, we do not ring tunes on the bells. Instead, we ring permutations of the bell orders by following particular mathematical patterns. It's music! It's a realtime multiplayer orientation game! It's the most fun you'll ever have counting to eight!  Come give it a try. No previous musical experience necessary. All are welcome.

Sponsor(s): Guild of Bellringers
Contact: Ellena Popova, bellringers-contact@mit.edu

Teresa Neff, Lecturer, Music

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

Museums are mostly about seeing and sometimes touching the exhibit.  Music, however, is different.  Music is about listening and if the topic is musical performances of the past, then how can we experience this in a museum or any other setting? Can the participant (rather than just the curator) manipulate elements of a performance?  Can the participant be a part of the performance?

This IAP class will explore using an interactive historical performance application designed to recreate the Handel and Haydn Society’s 1815 performance of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. This class will also brainstorm additional uses for this type of application, both in a museum setting and on the web.

 The only records of this 1815 performance are written; i.e., scores, newspaper reviews, and commentaries.  By creating an interactive installation, the exhibit visitor will be able to listen to history. This, when combined with an examples of the Hallelujah Chorus sung in the 20th and 21st centuries, will highlight in an audible way, the changes in performance practice from the 19th century to today.

 

Activity Leader and Contact person:   Teresa Neff, MTA

tneff@mit.edu

Other instructors:

Gary Van Zante, MIT Museum

Justin Casinghino, MTA

Sponsor(s): Music and Theater Arts
Contact: Teresa Neff, tneff@mit.edu

---

Facing the Music: Recreating Performance

	Jan/08	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	TBA, Bring laptop or ipad to each class
	Jan/15	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	TBA, Bring laptop or ipad to each class
	Jan/22	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	TBA, Bring laptop or ipad to each class
	Jan/29	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	TBA, Bring laptop or ipad to each class

This IAP class will explore using an interactive historical performance application designed to recreate the Handel and Haydn Society¿s 1815 performance of Handel¿s Hallelujah Chorus. This class will also brainstorm additional uses for this type of application, both in a museum setting and on the web.

Teresa Neff - Lecturer, Music

Jeffrey Pearlin, MIT GSL Systems Administrator

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: Ears, Eyes

Celebrating ten years, this crash course in all things Heavy Metal will have you Head Banging in no time! Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal, including who’s awesome, who isn’t, why louder DOES mean better, and so much more! 

Topics include: musicology; culture and iconography; history and development; why Judas Priest rules; why Metallica used to; and why Lemmy IS God.

This multimedia extravaganza promises to cover everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal!

If you think that Poison is Metal (they're not), that ümlaüts häve nö pläce in the Ënglish längüage (they do), and can't tell the difference between Black Sabbath and Bon Jovi (hell, if you think Bon Jovi is listenable, for that matter), then you can't afford to miss this series. This is guaranteed to be the most BRUTAL class ever offered at MIT!

Visit metal.mit.edu for more information and more metal.

WARNING: This series most definitely goes to 11!  Earplugs optional.

Sponsor(s): Global Studies and Languages
Contact: Jeffrey Pearlin, 14N-308, 617 253-9776, pearlin@mit.edu

---

Heavy Metal 101: Music and Culture

Jan/08

Thu

05:00PM-06:00PM

14N-313

A one-hour introduction to Heavy Metal. Topics include the musicology of Heavy Metal as well as an examination of Heavy Metal culture.  This multimedia extravaganza covers everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal!

WARNING: This seminar most definitely goes to 11!  Earplugs optional.

---

History of Heavy Metal: Part I

Jan/15

Thu

05:00PM-06:00PM

14N-313

A one-hour seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.  Topics include Hard Rock, Archetypal Heavy Metal, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).

Warning: This seminar most definitely goes to 11!  Earplugs optional.

---

History of Heavy Metal: Part II

Jan/22

Thu

05:00PM-06:00PM

14N-313

A one-hour seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the early 1980s through the early 1990s.  Topics include Power Metal, Thrash, the Big 4, post-Thrash, Grunge and New American Metal.

Warning: This seminar most definitely goes to 11!  Earplugs optional.

---

History of Heavy Metal: Part III

Jan/29

Thu

05:00PM-06:00PM

14N-313

A one-hour seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the early 1990s to the present.  Topics include Extreme Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, and Experimental/Avant-garde Metal.

Warning: This seminar most definitely goes to 11!  Earplugs optional.

Jean Rife, Lecturer in Music

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/31
Limited to 12 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

Class on Movement, Relaxation, and Concentration Skills for Performers.

Will utilize various techniques including yoga techniques to enhance movement, relaxation and concentration skills for performers.  Yoga mats may be provided.

This is a class for performers (mostly theatre and music, but could include public speaking)  Instructor is a performer herself, and has been deeply influenced by several practices including Alexander Technique, The Taubman Method for Piano, Vision Therapy, breathing practices, and especially yoga.  She is a certified yoga instructor and teach a class called Yoga for Musicians at the Longy School.  At MIT, she teaches chamber music and lead wind sectionals for the orchestra.

Sponsor(s): Music and Theater Arts
Contact: Jean Rife, 617 253-4964, jeanrife@mit.edu

---

Movement, Relaxation and Concentration

	Jan/13	Tue	12:00PM-04:00PM	TBA
	Jan/14	Wed	12:00PM-04:00PM	TBA
	Jan/15	Thu	12:00PM-04:00PM	TBA

Will utilize various techniques including yoga techniques to enhance movement, relaxation and concentration skills for performers.  Yoga mats may be provided.

 

Jean Rife - Lecturer in Music

Generoso Fierro

Jan/11

Sun

06:00PM-07:30PM

50-030

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)

Get to know your campus radio station (WMBR) as DJ Generoso teaches you various skills of doing a radio show. Then, learn some history of WMBR (the first punk rock radio show in the USA), have a tour of the station.  EVENT STARTS PROMPTLY AT 6PM.  LATE ATTENDEES WILL NOT BE ADMITTED.OPEN ONLY TO WMBR Current MIT Students, Staff and Faculty.

Sponsor(s): WMBR Radio
Contact: Generoso Fierro, 50-030, bovine@wmbr.org

Rachel Downing

Jan/10

Sat

02:00PM-05:00PM

W20-491

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Come learn Cha Cha, or improve your technique if you already know the basics. Cha Cha is a fun Latin dance rhythm that is easy to learn. We'll use teaching techniques from Choreographed Ballroom Dancing, also known as Round Dancing, to get you dancing in no time. (Visit icbda.com for more information about Choreographed Ballroom Dancing.) No partner or dance experience needed.

Free for MIT students; $10.00 for others.

Sponsor(s): Tech Squares
Contact: Rachel Downing, squares@mit.edu

Michael Andrews

Jan/29

Thu

02:45PM-04:00PM

Killian Recital Hall, Rehearsal: Mon. Jan. 26, 1-4:30pm

Enrollment: Contact Michael Andrews (mjandr@math.mit.edu)

This annual concert gives those in the mathematics community, together with family and friends, a chance to perform for each other. Come to play or listen.

Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Michael Andrews, E17-301B, mjandr@math.mit.edu

Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, Lecturer

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/31
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Intermediate to advanced performance level, pref. w/ensemble

This course provides an opportunity for flutists to improve their instrumental skills in a traditional, large flute ensemble configuration, while learning and performing interesting music in a wide range of musical styles from the 16th -21st centuries.  Bass flute, alto flutes and piccolos will be made available for students to play. The ensemble may also divide into smaller groupings.

Prereq: Intermediate to advanced performance level, preferably with some previous experience playing in musical ensembles. 

Enrollment: maximum 15 students,  by audition or permission of instructor

Sponsor(s): Music and Theater Arts
Contact: Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, suellen@mit.edu

---

MIT Flute ensemble

	Jan/05	Mon	02:00PM-04:00PM	4-152
	Jan/08	Thu	02:00PM-04:00PM	4-152
	Jan/12	Mon	02:00PM-04:00PM	4-152
	Jan/15	Thu	02:00PM-04:00PM	4-152
	Jan/22	Thu	02:00PM-04:00PM	4-152
	Jan/26	Mon	02:00PM-04:00PM	4-152
	Jan/29	Thu	02:00PM-04:00PM	4-152

This course provides an opportunity for flutists to improve their instrumental skills in a traditional, large flute ensemble configuration, while learning and performing interesting music in a wide range of musical styles from the 16th -21st centuries.  Bass flute, alto flutes and piccolos will be made available for students to play. The ensemble may also divide into smaller groupings.

Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin - Lecturer

Chris Snyder, Julie Frakes

Jan/24

Sat

02:00PM-05:00PM

24-115

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: None

Singers, musicians, and theater-lovers!

What better way to get acquainted with the humor of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan than one of their most famous productions, with equally silly pirates and soldiers? We'll informally sing through The Pirates of Penzance. Folks singing lead roles will be selected electronically during the first week of January, and we'll have some informal rehearsal opportunities available for those less familiar with the music.

If you wish to sing a lead role, please fill out this form by Fri 1/9/15: http://goo.gl/PFAW4E  If you wish to sing with the chorus, no RSVP needed (though it's helpful for us to predict attendance).

Depending on interest and available space, we may also be accompanied by orchestra! If you're interested in playing, let us know on the form.

Synopsis: Frederic is a pirate's apprentice until his 21st birthday -- but what is a "birth day" when you're born on the February 29 of a leap year? Will he fulfill his duty to the pirates, or will he side with the Very Model of a Modern Major-General (and his Very Eligible Bachelorette of a Daughter)?

Sponsor(s): Gilbert and Sullivan Players
Contact: Chris Snyder, 617 253-9401, SNYDERC@MIT.EDU

Pawel Romanczuk, Instructor

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/24
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

SMALL INSTRUMENTS - Musical Instrument Building and Performance

Polish composer and instrument builder Pawel Romanczuk started Małe Instrumenty ("Small Instruments") in 2006. He explores new sounds using a wide array of small instruments - found, rebuilt from spare parts, or designed from scratch - from toy pianos to homemade child-sized cellos.  Inspired by the soundtracks to old Polish animated films, the instruments used in the group’s sonic experiments feature an ever-expanding array of instruments, children’s toys, and strange musical inventions. Małe Instrumenty’s music reveals the unique colors of sound, from the beautiful to the surprising to the insightful.  For more information visit maleinstrumenty.pl

Romanczuk’s one-week residency at MIT involves a daily 3-hour workshop in instrument building and composition for MIT community and students, culminating in a public concert at the MIT Museum on Friday, January 9.  Participants will have the opportunity to create their own instruments, develop techniques to play them, and create an ensemble for live performance.

Activity leader: Pawel Romanczuk

Contact Person: Evan Ziporyn

 

Sponsor(s): Music and Theater Arts
Contact: Evan Ziporyn, 10-283, 2-2302, zipo@mit.edu

---

Sessions- 3-hour workshops + concert

	Jan/05	Mon	02:00PM-05:00PM	N52-199 (MIT Museum), workshop
	Jan/06	Tue	02:00PM-05:00PM	N52-199 (MIT Museum), workshop
	Jan/07	Wed	02:00PM-05:00PM	N52-199 (MIT Museum), workshop
	Jan/08	Thu	02:00PM-05:00PM	N52-199 (MIT Museum), workshop
	Jan/09	Fri	02:00PM-08:00PM	N52-199 (MIT Museum), workshop
	Jan/09	Fri	05:00PM-08:00PM	N52-199 (MIT Museum), Concert

These will be five 3-hour workshops in instrument building and composition for MIT community and students, culminating in a public concert at the MIT Museum on Friday, January 9.  Participants will have the opportunity to create their own instruments, develop techniques to play them, and create an ensemble for live performance.

 

Pawel Romanczuk - Instructor

Rupak Chakraborty

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Fee: $20.00 for purchasing sticks, trash cans, and auxiliary drums.

Instructors: Rupak Chakraborty + guest co-instructors
Tues Jan 6 & Thurs Jan 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29, 08:05-10:05pm, W20 Basement Conference Room (W20-027). Final Performance on Friday Jan 30, 8pm.

Enrollment limited to 10 participants: Must apply here.

Learn how to drum on trash cans from the MIT Live Music Connection! We are so excited for the 4th rendition of TCD, where you will fast become a stick twirling, long-haired, face-melting, solo-crushing, jam-exploding, drumming phenomenon. Well, most likely. What we can guarantee is that, if you have a basic musical background (and even if you don't) you will get a solid primer on drumming technique, rhythm, jamming, and even collaborative writing - all on authentic steel 31 gallon trash cans. Genres will include inspirations from: jazz, rock, funk, hip hop, r&b, and music of the Senegalese persuasion. Have no fear, we've done this before!

Join us - we've got some awesome instructors that have signed on as well to help make you groove like you're ulna is on fire!

There will be a wait-list when more than 10 people sign up.

Sponsor(s): Live Music Connection
Contact: Rupak Chakraborty, RUPAK@MIT.EDU