Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and application of new and existing computer software technologies and basic aspects of music, such as sound synthesis, digital signal processing, sound design, sonic diffusion, acoustics, electrical engineering, and psychoacoustics. The field of computer music can trace its roots back to the origins of electronic music, and the first experiments and innovations with electronic instruments at the turn of the 20th century.
Csound is a domain-specific computer programming language for audio programming. It is called Csound because it is written in C, as opposed to some of its predecessors.
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
James Tenney was an American composer and music theorist. He made significant early musical contributions to plunderphonics, sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, process music, spectral music, microtonal music, and tuning systems including extended just intonation. His theoretical writings variously concern musical form, texture, timbre, consonance and dissonance, and harmonic perception.
Open Sound Control (OSC) is a protocol for networking sound synthesizers, computers, and other multimedia devices for purposes such as musical performance or show control. OSC's advantages include interoperability, accuracy, flexibility and enhanced organization and documentation. Its disadvantages include inefficient coding of information, increased load on embedded processors, and lack of standardized messages/interoperability. The first specification was released in March 2002.
David Rosenboom is a composer, performer, interdisciplinary artist, author, and educator known for his work in American experimental music.
Larry Polansky is a composer, guitarist, mandolinist, and professor emeritus at Dartmouth College and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a founding member and co-director of Frog Peak Music :. He co-wrote HMSL with Phil Burk and David Rosenboom.
Frog Peak Music is a composer's collective that produces and distributes experimental works, and functions as a home for its artists. It was co-founded in 1984 by Jody Diamond and Larry Polansky.
Real-Time Cmix (RTcmix) is one of the MUSIC-N family of computer music programming languages. RTcmix is descended from the MIX program developed by Paul Lansky at Princeton University in 1978 to perform algorithmic composition using digital audio soundfiles on an IBM 3031 mainframe computer. After synthesis functions were added, the program was renamed Cmix in the 1980s. Real-time capability was added by David Topper, John Gibson, Brad Garton, and Douglas Scott in the mid-1990s. In addition, support for TCP socket connectivity, interactive control of the scheduler were added, as well as the ability to embed the synthesis engine into fully featured applications such as Max/MSP.
Max Vernon Mathews was an American pioneer of computer music.
Algorithmic composition is the technique of using algorithms to create music.
JSyn is a free API for developing interactive sound applications in Java. Developed by Phil Burk and others, it is available on GitHub. JSyn has a flexible, unit generator-based synthesis and DSP architecture that allows developers to create synthesizers, audio playback routines, and effects processing algorithms within a Java framework that allows for easy integration with other Java routines.
Live coding, sometimes referred to as on-the-fly programming, just in time programming and conversational programming, makes programming an integral part of the running program.
Nick Didkovsky is a composer, guitarist, computer music programmer, and leader of the band Doctor Nerve. He is a former student of Christian Wolff, Pauline Oliveros and Gerald Shapiro.
Gino Robair is an American composer, improvisor, drummer, percussionist, and magazine editor. In his own music work, he plays prepared/modified percussion, analog synthesizer, ebow and prepared piano, theremin, and bowed objects. Robair resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.
Mark Trayle, born Mark Evan Garrabrant was a California-based musician and sound artist working in a variety of media including live electronic music, improvisation, installations, and compositions for chamber ensembles. His work has been noted for its use of re-engineered consumer products and cultural artifacts as interfaces for electronic music performances and networked media installations.
pForth(Portable Forth) is a portable implementation of the Forth programming language written in ANSI C. It differs from the other distributions of Forth in that it strives for portability over performance.
The Experimental Music Studios (EMS) is an organization or center for electroacoustic and computer music, focusing on synthesis and concert performance of art music, founded by Lejaren Hiller at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1958.
