The LSU Center for Computation and Technology is giving high school and middle school students interested in music and programming a chance to combine their passions at the Programming Summer Music Camp from July 27-31.
The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and Friday’s session is extended from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jesse Allison, LSU assistant professor of experimental music and digital media, will teach the students how technology and the arts can come together during the $115 program.
“It’s a pretty big endeavor, but we’ve got it set up now that it’s going to be really fun,”
Allison said. “We’re going to be teaching them how to make their own instruments inside of web browsers. They’ll learn some programming, some user interface stuff, some stuff about music theory and composition.”
Students will have the chance to “learn to program in javascript to live code music in a web browser,” according to the camp’s information page on the Center for Computation and Technology’s website.
According to the website, the camp is a beginner course, but even students who possess a background in programming or a background in music will be able to learn new skills and apply their knowledge throughout the week.
“It would be incredibly rare if we had any students who had any background in actually programming for music,” Allison said. “There might be some people who have done music and there might be some people who have done programming, but for the most part, everybody is going to be a beginner in some area.”
The week finishes with a live concert on Friday where students present their final projects. Students will have the opportunity to display their work in front of family members, who are invited to attend the concert.
Allison said the concert is the best part of the week. He said seeing the students learn and try things out is fun, but seeing the kids display their work to an audience is really cool.
“Everyone is really excited at that point,” Allison said. “They’ve put a lot of hard work into things and want to show what they can do.”
The students’ work mixes programming and music, something Allison said is evident in his own work. Allison said he was a programmer first and began to bring elements of programming along when he studied music.
He said today’s music displays a mix of the arts and technology.
“As far as the music nowadays, it’s incredibly rare to find music that hasn’t been blended technology in some way or other,” Allison said.
You can reach Jack Woods on Twitter @Jack_TDR.