Composing Music with Max (OART-UT 1097)

The foundations of Max, a powerful visual programming language for music and multimedia, will be covered in this course. We will examine how computers can be utilized to create situations for music creation, performance, and collaborative improvisation as well as applied to building interactive, generative music. In addition to learning Max’s fundamental building blocks, we will also use fundamental music theory as a tool to better understand music making. We will create programs that examine rhythm, melodies, chords, scales, and recognize other qualities of music like timbre, texture, and dynamics while taking into consideration the principles of harmony, melody, and rhythm defined in basic music theory. The final will require you to develop a collaborative piece of interactive computer music, a collaborative performance environment, or another final project that has been discussed and agreed upon together. This class does not require any prerequisite programming skills or prior music theory knowledge.

Open Arts Curriculum (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 3 Weeks

Sections (Summer 2024)


OART-UT 1097-000 (5611)
05/20/2024 – 06/10/2024 Mon,Tue,Wed,Thu,Fri
9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)
at Washington Square
Instructed by Aguilar, Gustavo

Art on the Edge (OART-UT 1019)

Taking off from the practices of medium-based art categories, this course is structured across key topics in contemporary art – “art of today, produced by artists who are living in the twenty-first century”. During the semester, via the framework of readings, projects and assignments, we will consider the importance of the visual arts in the larger context of society. Each week we will look at a different topic, which will be organized around key concepts, artists and artwork examples. The main goal is to allow us to contemplate the process of interaction between visual art, history, cultural, socio-economical, and technological forces. The stress of our gatherings will be on the artist as a thinker and a maker.

Open Arts Curriculum (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2023)


OART-UT 1019-000 (13644)
09/05/2023 – 12/15/2023 Mon
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Early afternoon)
at Washington Square
Instructed by Aguilar, Gustavo