The purpose of this class is to explore bold and exciting new musical applications of computers and digital technology. In other words, we get to make it up as we go along!. So this may not be the most coherent and unified pedagogical experience that you will ever have, but it should be a fun term.
This year we've decided to focus on 'modeling' with an aim towards investigating methods for addressing and controlling various musical models. Although we won't be concentrating as much on interface/human factors aspects of what we do this term, we will be exploring interesting ways of mapping what we do into higher-level control systems.
We're also using the word 'modeling' in a very loose fashion; we'll be looking building control-models for higher-level compositional work as well as sythnesis and signal-processing models directly involved in generating sound. We'll be working with some existing applications (especially analysis/resynthesis packages) as exemplars of particular modeling approaches, too. And algorthmic stuff! Spectral things! Neural nets! Hey -- we do it all!
Check the syllabus; each week we'll try to get up patches, etc. that
we do in class. If we're able, we'll also link in some interesting
web sites and other resources.
Such is life.
Here are a few links to software that we probably will be using in class:
At this point, we assume that you sort-of know your way around our studios and hardware. Please let us know if you are having problems gaining access to our facilities or getting equipment to work for you.
If you are having difficulty understanding the programming paradigms
we are using, or getting the hardware/software to work for you, be
sure to talk to us. We'll be happy to sit down and work through
any issues with you!
I'll try to keep up with linking in class patches and examples,
but I may fall behind. Yell at me when I do.
It's always a good idea to make an appointment to see me, even during my purported office hours, because I often have to run around campus like a maniac doing strange, computer-music stuff. You can also call on the phone, but please refrain from calling my home much after 11:00 PM or my wife will mutter evil curses that will affect Your Future. Relevant phone numbers are:
I say this every year, and generally people believe it (I think): by this point in your career the last thing you should be worrying about is a grade. The main thing is to find something that you'd really like to do and then do it. Please don't try to impress us with your consummate knowledge and skill, we are more impressed by people who do things. Honest!
Hope you enjoy the class!