Music Creation Focus

Senior Comprehensive Project Proposal

You will be emailed a proposal submission link and directions by October 15 of your junior year and a reminder email on November 15. You must submit your proposal by January 15. If your committee requires you to revise your proposal, your updated documents will be due by the first Monday following spring break. A separate timeline will apply to students graduating earlier or later than usual. Please submit the following:

1. Senior Comprehensive Analytic Paper Proposal Annotated Bibliography: Please submit an annotated bibliography that includes ten relevant peer-reviewed scholarly sources that map out the existing literature on your topic. This bibliography should ideally include 2–3 canonical sources that cover a broader background related to your topic, as well as more specific sources relating to your exact argument or methods. Annotations should indicate both the point of view of the author(s), critical evaluation of the source, and the pertinence of the article/chapter/book to your proposed essay. An annotation’s length may range from several sentences to a few paragraphs, depending on the source. These sources should be cited in Chicago style. Submit as a PDF. 
    
2. Senior Comprehensive Analytic Paper Proposal: Please submit a 250-350 word proposal for an argument-driven academic essay that will engage with and contribute to recent and relevant scholarship in the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, sound studies, and/or music theory. We highly recommend that you choose a paper topic that intersects with your creative practice. You will need to engage with the ideas of specific authors from your bibliography in your proposal. A central goal of the proposal is to describe the current state of research on this area and articulate how you will do something new that adds to this literature. Your paper must include some musical analysis and you should indicate which repertoire of music will be the focus of your essay. You should propose a project that can be successfully argued within 2,500 words. Please visit this link for essential steps to ensuring a successful proposal, and this link for permissions-restricted access to a few successful previous proposals. Submit as a PDF. This paper is completed in MUSC 490.
    
3. Project Proposal: Describe your EP, which should be 15-20 minutes in length. You must address the central conceptual themes that motivate the EP as well as the genre and style traditions you will draw from. While 50% of the EP should contain material that originates in a class under the supervision of the music faculty, please detail plans for further recording, songwriting, producing, and mixing/mastering for the project.
    
4. In-Progress Portfolio: Please submit a portfolio of at least 7-10 minutes of recordings. Recordings do not have to be finalized, and can be in different stages of development.

 

Senior Comprehensive Project Presentation

At the beginning of the academic year, students will be assigned a date for their presentations. You will receive a link and directions to submit your materials by February 15. Four weeks before the presentation, students must digitally submit the following for review. Students will receive written feedback on these files within one week of submission.

1. Submission of Materials:
        a: Portfolio of music: Submit a folder of recorded music totaling 15-20 minutes. Each sound file should represent the final recording, with a title and track listing number. The audio files should be formatted to reflect those titles without unnecessary file extensions like “v2”, “finalMix”, etc.
        b: Liner notes, using this document as a template: At the top of the document, students must include a minimum 200-word description, which explains the central conceptual themes that motivate the album. The liner notes should then list and describe each track included in the portfolio, briefly explain how choices in texture, instrumentation, arrangement, songwriting and/or engineering reflect the themes underlying this collection of music. Students may also choose to write about the poetic themes if lyrics are included. Make sure to list any contributing instrumentalists and any collaborating songwriters/producers in your description.
        c: Slideshow presentation: A slideshow presentation, totaling 10 minutes, including a selection of at least two tracks from the EP’s music. The presentation will outline the EP’s central themes, using audio/visual examples and a track-by-track analysis—drawn from the liner notes—as it relates to the core focus of the portfolio, including relation to particular musical genres, styles, or traditions. If there are lyrics to the songs, the student should include these on the slides when presenting the music
    
2. Presentation:
        a: Students will give a final presentation, totalling 10 minutes in length, which selects the most exemplary music of their portfolio to demonstrate the breadth of their work to their faculty and colleagues. 

3. Assessment:
        a: The audio file component of the project must be delivered in accordance with best practices for file management and basic level setting.
        b: Each senior project component is graded Pass with Distinction (PD), Pass (P), or Fail (F). The portfolio is worth 60%, the presentation 10%, the comps paper 20%, and the liner notes 10%. Notwithstanding your comps paper counting for only 20% of your overall comps assessment, you must receive a PD or P on your comps paper in order to receive a PD or P as your final comps grade. In other words, you cannot pass your comps with a failing comps paper.