Chair, Rhythm & Low-End Studies
Officer of Instruction
Doctorate in music. Long-tenured member of the faculty. Scholarship in percussion as civic object. Office hours posted at the Annex each term.
Announcements of the Faculty & General Catalogue of Courses
for the Academic Year One Thousand Nine Hundred Eighty-Five & Six
Chef Menteur Highway · Eastern New Orleans · The Republic
I. From the Provost
It is with measured pride that the Faculty present the courses enumerated herein. The R&B/HIP-HOP INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY SOFTWARE ACADEMY holds, as it has since its founding, that the study of rhythm, lyric, and civic life constitutes a single discipline, and that the careful student is owed an honest catalogue, honestly kept.
Admission is by audition and interview. The course of study leads, after four (4) academic years in residence, to the degree of Bachelor of Composition. All instruction is conducted in the buildings of the Chef Menteur campus unless otherwise noted.
II. Calendar of the Academic Year
| Sept. 9 (Mon.) | Registration opens. Dormitories accept arrivals. |
| Sept. 16 (Mon.) | Instruction begins, all departments. |
| Nov. 27–Dec. 1 | Thanksgiving recess. |
| Dec. 16–20 | Midyear examinations. |
| Jan. 13 (Mon.) | Spring term begins. |
| May 5–9 | Final examinations. |
| May 17 (Sat.) | Commencement exercises, the Quadrangle. |
III. Courses of Instruction
Courses numbered 100–199 are open to candidates of the first year. Numbers above 200 require the prerequisites noted, or the written consent of the instructor of record.
RLS 101
3 cr.
Fall / Spring
Foundations of the 808. Introductory survey of the Roland TR-808 and its descendants. Sine-wave sub-bass, ghost notes, swing quantization, and the cultural transmission of the kick drum from Miami to Memphis.
RLS 214
4 cr.
Fall
Bounce, Triggerman & the Second Line. Field-study course in the bounce idiom. Students transcribe call-and-response patterns, attend two (2) sanctioned block functions, and submit a 12-bar composition keyed to the Triggerman break.
RLS 318
3 cr.
Spring
Sub-Harmonic Architecture. Advanced seminar in low-frequency room behavior, standing waves, and the engineering of trunk-tuned playback systems.
LYR 102
3 cr.
Fall / Spring
The Couplet and the Cypher. Survey of end-rhyme, internal rhyme, multisyllabic chains, and the oral tradition from the dozens through the present catalogue. Weekly recitation required.
LYR 226
3 cr.
Fall
Narrative Persona & the First-Person Witness. Workshop in the construction of the speaking subject. Readings from Hughes, Brooks, and contemporary regional figures. Final portfolio: one (1) sixteen-bar verse plus exegesis.
LYR 341
3 cr.
Spring
Rhetoric of the Hook. The four-bar refrain as classical figure. Anaphora, epistrophe, and the commercial chorus.
CCS 110
3 cr.
Fall
The American Storefront. The independent label, the corner studio, the barbershop, and the record stand as civic institutions. Site visits required.
CCS 233
4 cr.
Spring
Soundmark, Servicemark, Trademark. Introduction to filings, registrations, and the legal protection of sonic identity. Cross-listed with the Department of Lyric & Oratory.
IV. The Faculty
Officer of Instruction
Doctorate in music. Long-tenured member of the faculty. Scholarship in percussion as civic object. Office hours posted at the Annex each term.
Officer of Instruction
Doctorate in rhetoric with an MFA in writing. Recipient of the Bulletin Prize for distinguished teaching. Office hours posted at Seminar 4 each term.
Officer of Instruction
Juris doctor with a master's in cultural studies. Practicing intellectual-property counsel. Faculty advisor to the Bulletin's editorial board.
Officer of Instruction
Working bandleader, percussionist, and field recordist. Teaches the practicum portions of RLS 214 in residence at the Annex.
V. Examinations & Standing
Examinations are held at the close of each term. A student whose standing falls below the rank of satisfactory in any course shall, upon recommendation of the instructor, be required to repeat the term's work. Honors are conferred by vote of the Faculty upon those whose course of study reflects, in the judgment of the committee, a sustained excellence of craft and citizenship.