Required Courses

DA 510  Audio Techniques  (1.5 credits) Although digital sound production has become incredibly accessible with the advent of programs like Garageband and Audacity, deep knowledge of the function of these systems and subsequent skill with sound manipulation has not followed at the same rate.  This course will prepare students to work with music and sound for both artistic and commercial purposes.  Acoustic theory and processing techniques will provide a foundation for the exploration of sound waves in other audio courses.  Students will produce several creative sonic projects in this course.

DA 560 Camera Techniques (1.5) This course introduces students to editing techniques, and develops critical listening and viewing skills by experiencing and discussing historic and contemporary examples of time based media. Individual project in digital editing are created and critiqued. Each student will come away with the understanding of film and video making language, basic production skills, and a historical overview.

DA600 History of Multimedia Art (3 credits) The use of  "multiple-media" in art has existed for centuries.  Opera, for example, combines the written word, elaborate set and costume design, dance, staging, singing, and many other arts.  However, the term "multimedia" is typically reserved for the combination of media within the electronic and digital arts.  This course will explore the salient experiments in multimedia since the advent of the late modern period, as well as their philosophical underpinnings.  Students will leave the course with the knowledge to place their own work within a larger creative context, as well the tools to address issues of "meaning" in contemporary digital arts culture.

DA 610 Media on the Internet (3) Examination of how audio and video can be produced for Internet use, including digital audio formats, real-time streaming, and commercial issues of distributing media on the Internet. Special attention is given to developing distributed, asynchronous audiences, and issues including related intellectual property rights and licensing. Students will also explore emerging technologies and new financial models for distributing media on the internet.

DA 615 Digital Media Programming (3) This class addresses the computer-programming techniques that allow students to employ and extend open source digital media programming environments including Pd/gem, Csound, SuperCollider, ChucK, and AthenaCL, and Processing. Similar commercial software (Max/MSP/Jitter) and Pro Tools© will be available on Goucher’s campus during residencies so students can familiarize themselves with commercial systems.

DA 650 2D-Design for Print and Web (1.5) This course introduces students to digital photography and illustration in making art.  Students broaden their understanding of such topics as visual composition, color theory, typography, and narrative flow.  Possible areas covered: various perception and notation techniques, expression, time, symmetry and asymmetry, proportion, perspective, dimensions in space, visualization, illusion, rhythm and typography.

DA 655 3D-Modeling (3) This course introduces students to computer based 3-D modeling along with understanding the concepts of theoretical relationships of space and architecture. Students will apply basic three-dimensional processes and materials as well as develop the students' ability to analyze form and space relationships.

DA 675 Capstone (6) Students participate in the conception, creation, and distribution of a multimedia arts project. In collaboration with faculty, the student shall conceive the project, develop funding sources and apply for grants, develop and execute a PR campaign, and realize some aspect of the creative content. The student may work with a team of other content providers and producers to experience the workflow and teamwork approach common to commercial production houses. Students will produce a professional portfolio appropriate to their career path. The student’s work will be critiqued by the faculty as well as members of the professional community.