Creativitas is a course exploring the powerful blending of creativity and technology, demonstrating how STEM knowledge can be a tool for artistic expression. While enrolled in Creativitas students will explore this intersection by designing and programming their own digital musical tools, and learning how to use technology to shape sound and create original music. Through hands-on projects, they will learn the fundamentals of music technology, sound synthesis, and digital composition, culminating in a short musical performance.

This two-day online intensive provides a preview of the full Creativitas program, offering students the opportunity to explore how music technology shapes the landscape of contemporary music and how research in this field is driving the future of musical practice. Professors and students from MIT will introduce core concepts in the design of new music technologies and share their current research and creative work in music composition and performance. Through a combination of lectures and hands-on activities, students will gain insight into the creative and technical potential of music technology.

Syllabus

• Session 1: Music Technology as a Research Area

• 8:00-9:30 HKT Saturday October 11

• What research in music tech looks like

• Overview of current research from MIT, Stanford, Goldsmith’s, and Georgia Tech

• Session 2: Electronic music performance tools

• 10:00-11:30 HKT Saturday October 11

• Sound synthesis

• Modular synthesis

• Live Coding

• Session 3: DJ Culture and Technique

• 8:00-9:30 HKT Sunday October 12

• Evolution of DJ performance

• Turntables and digital DJing techniques

• Session 4: AI and generative music practice

• 10:00-11:30 HKT Sunday October 12

• Machine learning vs. generative AI in music composition

• Agentic AI as musical partners