AES Dublin 2019
Workshop W05
Thursday, March 21, 09:00 — 10:00 (Liffey Hall 2)
W05 - Computation and Procedural Literacy in Audio Engineering Education: Teaching the Art and Science Panel Discussion
Co-chairs:Nyssim Lefford, Luleå University of Technology - Luleå, Sweden
Charlie DeVane, Mathworks - Natick, MA, USA; University of Massachusetts Lowell - Lowell, MA, USA
Panelists:
Rebecca Stewart, Imperial College - London, UK; Queen Mary University London - London, UK
Jonathan Wyner, M Works Studios/iZotope/Berklee College of Music - Boston, MA, USA; M Works Mastering
Most technologies used in professional audio production are digital and involve some form of computational operation in the processing and delivery of an audio signal. Content is distributed in digital formats via digital platforms that utilize computation to search content and facilitate and generate listening experiences. Given this, it is reasonable to expect audio engineering curricula to include, alongside microphone techniques, acoustics and other fundamental concepts, some basic concepts in computer science and digital signal processing. However, within the teaching community, there is little consensus about what concepts are essential and where in the curriculum they might sit. If we mean to prepare students for long careers in our ever-evolving, digital world, these topics deserves deep consideration.
In other areas of media content creation, for example computer graphics, we have seen that innovation comes from technologies that enable low-level scripting of computational procedures. Similarly, technologies such as Arduino, Pd/MAX, etc. are inspiring musicians to make their own interfaces and thereby explore new modes of music composition and interaction. In audio, the enabling potential of computation is growing as well. How do we prepare our students to open new creative doors?
For over a decade, media educators in other domains have promoted “procedural literacy” (Mateas, 2005), and the importance of “[l]earning to become computationally expressive” (Bogost, 2005). This panel considers: where does computational thinking and computer science fit into audio engineering education? How do we or can we teach our students the art and science of computation? What concepts are most pertinent for today’s audio creators? How can we best prepare students for today and for what computation will make possible in the future? The panel will explore these questions and will provide some real-world examples of where knowledge of computation and procedural literacy has been important to industry audio engineers.