Inside computer music / Michael Clarke, Frédéric Dufeu, Peter Manning.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clarke, Michael, 1956- author.

Dufeu, Frédéric, author.

Manning, Peter, 1948- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computer music--History and criticism.

Computer music.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xv, 415 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"This publication (the text and the software) aims to explore the relationship between new technical innovations in computer technology for music and the creative practice of composers employing these new techniques. It asks: does the new technology lead to new sounds and new ways of structuring music, and if so how? What are the creative options, sonic and structural, presented by new software and hardware? How can these be manipulated and shaped to form music? How have particular composers developed successful working methods in using this technology? To answer such questions a set of case studies have been examined in depth, specific works in which composers have adopted new techniques, whether developed by themselves or by others. Each of these works has been researched from a number of different perspectives: the technical and musical background, the technology employed in the particular work and, through music analysis, the musical outcome. Innovative approaches have been employed both in undertaking and presenting this research. On the one hand, it has been important to find appropriate ways of presenting the musical potential of what are often highly technical processes. On the other hand, it has been necessary to find ways of analyzing music that often evades even the most basic fundamentals of traditional music analysis: notes, harmonies, or instruments"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Technology and Creativity in Computer Music

Combining text and software to explore computer music from the inside

The pursuit of new perspectives in the analysis of electronic and computer music

Nine case studies from the history of computer music

1. John Chowning: Stria

Contexts for Stria

Max Mathews and the beginnings of software for computer music

Jean-Claude Risset and timbral synthesis

John Chowning and the evolution of FM synthesis

Inside Stria

The golden ratio

Timbre and FM synthesis in Stria

The golden ratio in the context of FM synthesis

Stria's synthesis algorithm

Structure of an event

Timing and duration

Frequency parameters

Attack and decay

Spatialization and reverberation

Envelope functions

The terminal interface

The shape of Stria

Conclusions

2. Barry Truax: Riverrun

Contexts for Riverrun

The birth and early development of granular synthesis

Inside Riverrun

Riverrun: Technique, form, and structure

Granular synthesis in Riverrun and the GSX system

Tape techniques

Spatialization in Riverrun

Sections and streams

Section 1

Transition from Section 1 to Section 2

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

3. Philippe Manoury: Pluton

Contexts for Pluton

First steps in the development of technologies for live computer music

The pioneering contributions of IRCAM

The development of the IRCAM 4X synthesizer

Philippe Manoury: The background to the composition of Pluton

Inside Pluton

The global form and materials of Pluton

Constitution of the digital environment for the performance of Pluton

The Trevor sampler module

Gumbos: FFT-shaped oscillators

The pitch shifter module

The frequency shifter

The reverberation modules

The quadraphonic spatialization module

Mapping the piano performance to the real-time environment

The score follower: A virtual listener to the pianist's performance

Integrating the performance into the development of electroacoustic processes

Markov sequences: Generating virtual scores from the piano performance

The interactions between the piano and the computer through the musical work

Section I Toccata

Section II Antiphony

Section III Sequences

Section IV Modulations

Section V Variations

4. Hildegard Westerkamp: Beneath the Forest Floor

Contexts for Beneath the Forest Floor

The World Soundscape Project and the evolution of soundscape composition

New directions in the development of the World Soundscape Project

Hildegard Westerkamp and her influences on soundscape composition

Inside Beneath the Forest Floor

Recording as part of the creative process

Field recording locations in British Columbia

The raw materials of Beneath the Forest Floor

Digitally processing the environmental sources

Isolating sounds from their original environment: Equalizing and gating

Reversing and looping

Extending materials over time with delay and reverberation

The Doppler effect

Transposing and harmonizing

Assembling the processed sound files into premixes

The environmental materials through the structure of Beneath the Forest Floor

Section 1 Opening

Section 2 Storm

Section 3 Water

Section 4 Ending

5. Francis Dhomont: Phonurgie

Contexts for Phonurgie

Background and early career

Musique concrete and the birth of Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM)

New directions for GRM: From analog to digital

The birth of SYTER

Dhomont, Quebec, and GRM

A final homage to musique concrete within Dhomont's Cycle du son

Inside Phonurgie

The materials of Phonurgie

The sound sources

Synthesis

Sampling of preexisting works

Indoor object recordings

Instrumental recordings

Field recordings

Processing the sound sources

Basic transformations

Complex transformations

Successive sound transformations

Building reservoirs of sound materials

Improvising with sounds and processes: Sequences-jeu

Exploring empirically software environments and SYTER

Editing the materials into the final mix

The structure of Phonurgie

6. Trevor Wishart: Imago

Contexts for Imago

The Composers Desktop Project

The development of Sound Loom as a composing resource

Inside Imago

From a single source to a variety of processed sound files

Successive Sound Loom processes

Assembling the work

The Opening of Imago

The Gamelan section

The large-scale structure of Imago

7. Jonathan Harvey: Fourth String Quartet

Contexts for the Fourth String Quartet

First steps exploring the possibilities of electronic and computer music

The IRCAM dimension

Inside the Fourth String Quartet

Inspiration and structure

Acoustic compositional techniques

Melodic cycles

Rhythms

Electroacoustic techniques

Loop buffers

Phase vocoders

Granulation

Reverberation and biquad filters

Harmonizers

Spatialization

Performing the electroacoustic part of the Fourth String Quartet

Summary of the integration of acoustic writing and electronics

8. Cort Lippe: Music for Tuba and Computer

Contexts for Music and Tuba and Computer

Early exploration of the possibilities of computer music

From composing software to real-time synthesis: The road to IRCAM

The IRCAM Musical Workstation and Max

Inside Music for Tuba and Computer

General form and materials

The digital environment for the performance of Music for Tuba and Computer

The sigmund~ object and the oscillators module

The two samplers S and T

The Toto synthesizer

Harmonizer, noiser/phaser, frequency shifters

The FFT processors

Allpass filters and reverberation

Spatialization and stereo output

Global control of the digital environment

Instrumental and electronic interactions through Music for Tuba and Computer

9. Natasha Barrett: Hidden Values

-The Lock

Contexts for Hidden Values

The early evolution of spatial technologies

The development of sound diffusion systems for performance

John Chowning

Surround sound techniques

Ambisonics

The IRCAM Spatializer (Spat)

Vector base amplitude panning (VBAP)

Natasha Barrett and spatial projection

Inside Hidden Values

The musical materials of The Lock

Barrett's software environment for the playback and spatialization of materials

Three-dimensional positioning and movements operated by IRCAM's Spatialisateur

Sound source positioning

Playback of prerecorded trajectories

Sound images

Rotations

Image transpositions

Spatial randomization

Spatialization and dramatization in the structure of The Lock

Conclusions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780190659646

0190659645

9780190659653

0190659653

OCLC:

1140380705

Publisher Number:

99985605715