Music 192d: Creative Processes in Popular Music Recording

Term Paper Option

For 1/3 of your grade in this course, you have the option of either taking a Multiple Choice Final, in class on the assigned day for the final, or submitting a term paper. The Final will be substantially the same in style and content as the midterm; it will be cumulative, and it will have 75 questions. This page describes the term paper option.

Term Paper Option: Critical Analysis

(1) You are to write an in-depth, critical analysis of a recording by one of the artists covered in this class, other than the particular recording that was assigned. In this analysis you should relate the work to other works in the artists' repertoire, and to works by other artists. You should focus on EITHER the songwriting or on the production, but not both, as an inducement to cover one of these topics in depth. Tie in what you know about the artists' personal lives and creative styles to inform your analysis of their work. You are expected to bring outside resources to bear on these issues, such as published articles, interviews, biographical information, and information from the WEB; and you are expected to incorporate into your paper some connections to recordings not studied in the class. You may write an analysis about an artist not covered in this class only if you obtain prior permission from Lonny Chu or Dan Levitin. (Don't wait to until the last week of class to ask for permission or we'll know that you procrastinated that long.)

(2) As an alternative to the above, you may write an in-depth research paper on a particular producer, engineer, or record label, but such papers must also receive prior approval from Lonny Chu or Dan Levitin.

For either option, Do NOT write more than 10 pages. Include a bibiography and a title page (not counted in the 10 page maximum).