Perfecting the Playlist

The playlist has become a steady fixture in our
lives, presented by
professional DJs in clubs and on the radio around
the world. In this short
course we will explore what it means to "perfect
the playlist" - how to
approach pacing, harmonic mixing, and selection in
a set. We will explore
making genre-specific playlists (such as acid,
house, or ambient), as well
as making eclectic, non-genre specific, "mood"
based playlists (such as
"Early AM Fog" or "Winter Clarity"). In taking
this class students will hone
their aesthetic listening skills, as well as music
research (or "digging") skills.
The playlist is a fertile ground for further
compositional exploration - how
one's own music might fit alongside the work of
others, or how the dynamic
flow or changing density of a playlist may inform
composers' approach to
their own work. Students will become better
affective listeners, and better
playlist makers, after taking this course.
Course requirements - students need to have access
to a laptop and DJ
software like Rekordbox, Virtual DJ or Ableton
Live. The course will
primarily use Rekordbox and Ableton Live, and
there may also be live
demonstrations of CDJs.