Eastman Computer Music Center (ECMC)
CMP 226 : Introduction to Computer Music Techniques
Course syllabus for
semester 2, spring 2008
Staff email addresses and phone numbers:
| 274.1575 |
| 585.325.6976 | 803.413.3841 (cell) |
| 585.794.3384 |
| 203.767.8143 |
| 443.845.3991 |
| 585.285.2467 |
Hardcopy documentation available in the rear of the MIDI studio (room 54) :
Manuals and related documentation for studio hardware, such
as the Fatar, Marimba Lumina and dk10 MIDI controllers, and for
software applications such as Sound Hack, CDP, Reaktor, Kontakt, Cubase
and MAX/MSP,
are available in separate numbered cardboard folders.
Please be certain to return printed documentation to the correct location after use.
Additional documentation is available on the Documentation page
of the ECMC web site:http://ecmc.rochester.edu/ecmc/docs.html
N.B. : Many of the class handouts you will be given, reprinted from manuals and tutorials
provided by the vendors of music software applications, only provide very
rudimentary information (e.g. screenshots), and often concentrate almost
exclusively on
how to use the application, providing little if any information
on the digital signal processing resources available within the application.
For supplementary information on
many of the DSP and synthesis procedures we will be examining, such as
convolution, phase vocoders and granular synthesis, you are encouraged to
consult The Computer Music Tutorial by Curtis Roads. A copy of this
book is available for use in ECMC room 53, and another
copy also is available at Sibley Library
(MT56.R628 C73 1996).
Optional supplementary readings
from the Roads text are included in the reading assignments below.
Course Grading : Three individual appointment tests and a semester project
- Week of Feb. 12 and 14 : TEST 1: digital signal processing techniques using using:
- Sound Hack
- the HyperPrism mastering plugins
- the CDP (Composers Desktop Project) software
(20 % of final grade)
- Week of March 18, 20 : Test 2 : covering
software synthesis using Reaktor
(20 % of final grade)
- Week of April 8, 10 : Test 3 : covering interactive MIDI processing using
MAX/MSP (20 % of final grade)
- A final semester project, due MONDAY, MAY 5 , counts for 30 % of your semester grade.
- Class participation counts for the final 10 % of your grade.
Supplies for semester 2:
A course fee of $5.00 covers the cost of all of the
manuals and other handouts you will receive this semester.
CDR and CDRW discs, DVD -r,+r, -rw and +rw discs and other supplies can be purchased
at any time, as needed. Check the price on the list outside room 53,
pay the cashier and bring us your receipt.
Concerts and multimedia shows sponsored this semester by the ECMC :
- The ECMC will present two concerts this semester:
- 8:00 pm March 7 in
Kilbourn Hall, featuring works by guest composer Reginald Bain, Luis Pena
ad ECMC composers; and
- 8:00 pm March 27 at the Visual Studies Workshop auditorium,
31 Prince Street, featuring works by guest composer Joel Chadabee and
ECMC composers.
Presentations by Bain and Chadabee on their recent music and activities
will be scheduled during the afternoon on these concert dates in the MIDI studio.
- This year's 12th annual collaborative ImageMovementSound
film/music/dance festival productions will be presented in April.
- We will present a concert of works realized in the studios this term
on Monday, May 5 at 6:00 in room 120.
Weekly Assignments for Semester 2
[Throughout this syllabus optional readings -- recommended but not
required -- are enclosed within square brackets and displayed in a smaller font]
Unit 1 : (1) DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING SOUND MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES
Software applications: (1) Sound Hack, (2) HyperPrism mastering plugins
and (3) Composers Desktop Project (CDP)
Week 1, Jan. 15, 17 :
Principal topic: Sound modification resources of Sound Hack
Tues : Semester overview; establishment of lab times; introduction to ECMC Mac Pro system wozzeck;
AIFF soundfile format; playing soundfiles with the iTunes digital media
player; backing up files to CDs, DVDs and flash drives on the Mac;
using Sound Hack; phase vocoders ; time warping and pitch shifting
Thurs: convolution; cross-synthesis; modulation of signals; ring modulation; copying files between
igor, wozzeck and other ECMC systems
Reading assignment:
- Sound Hack class handout
- [Roads, Curtis, The Computer Music Tutorial:
- Modulation, Bipolar and unipolar signals, Ring Modulation,
pages 215-221
- The Phase Vocoder, pages 566-570 (up to Window Closing) ]
Labs and individual Studio Work :
- If you are new to Mac OSX systems, learn your way around the Mac desktop,
the dock and the Mac filesystem. Make sure yuo know how to back up files to
cd and dvd discs and flash drives on wozzeck.
- Experiment with several of the Sound Hack DSP resources, especially
with the phase vocoder, convolution and ring modulation.
When you create a sound you may want to use in your compositional work later this semester
save it as a disk soundfile in your folder.
- Practice copying files back and forth between your folders on igor
and wozzeck
- If you haven't already done so, clean up your folders on both the Windows
and Mac systems, removing
files that are not immediately needed, and archiving any files you wish
to save to a cd or dvd disc.
Assignment for TEST 1
For your first graded appointment (week of
Feb. 12 - 14), create at least one musically useful example of sound modification
of a source soundfile with Sound Hack
and save this ouptput to a new soundfile.
Take notes on how you created this new soundfile
so that you could re-create it from within Sound Hack, if necessary,
or create similar types of modifications to the same or other source soundfiles.
Week 2, Jan. 22, 24 :
Principal topic: HyperPrism mastering plug-ins
Tues : mastering; HyperPrism EQ, compression and reverberator plug-ins;
convolution reverberation
Thurs: amplitude and frequency modulation; HyperPrism pitch shift, delay line and modulation plug-ins
Reading assignment:
- The class HyperPrism handout
- [Roads, Curtis, The Computer Music Tutorial:
- Amplitude modulation, pages 221-224
- Frequency modulation, up to , pages 224-235]
Labs and individual Studio Work :
Learn how to use the HyperPrism mastering plug-ins from within host applications
such as Cubase to modify the amplitude, pitch and timbre of soundfiles
Assignment for TEST 1, week of February 12, 14:
Create a very short Cubase sequence that includes at least
three soundfiles, and apply
HyperPrism plugin "effects" to modify each of these soundfiles
Week 3, Jan. 29, 31 :
Principal topic: The Composers Desktop project (CDP)
Tues : Introduction to the CDP sound processing software package; the SoundShaper
graphic interface;
the ProcessSF commands; filter, pitch, reverb, echo
Thurs: granual and texture functions; frequency domain and phase vocoder operations;
algrorithmic composition tools
Reading assignment:
The CDP class handout
Labs and individual Studio Work :
Learn how to use several of the sound modification resources available in
the CDP software package
Assignment for TEST 1, week of February 12, 14:
Create at least one signal processing
or algorithmic composition example using CDP software.
Unit 2 : SOFTWARE SYNTHESIZERS
Software applications: (1) the Sound Forum "Minimoog" application;
(2) Reaktor
Week 4, Feb. 5, 7 :
Principal topics: analog and digital synthesizers; basic synthesis techniques;
the Sound Forum "Minimoog" software synthesizer
Tues : the Sound Forum
software synthesizer; oscillators; fixed waveform synthesis; amplitude
and filter envelopes
Thurs : filter design; frequency, amplitude and ring modulation techniques;
some basic synthesis techniques: additive,subtractive, granular, modulation
Reading assignment:
- The Sound Forum class handout
- [Roads, Curtis, The Computer Music Tutorial:
- Fixed-waveform table-lookup synthesis through Algorithm for a Digital oscillator, pages 90-93
- Subtractive synthesis, pages 184-193 ] available on Blackbaord
Labs and individual studio work:
Learn how to use the Sound Forum synth to construct various types of
"classic" synthesis algorithms.
Finish preparations for your graded appointment next week.
Week 5, Feb. 12, 14 : GRADED APPOINTMENT covering Unit 1 material.
No regular class or labs this week.
During your individual graded appointment we will play, discuss and edit:
- your Sound Hack example;
- your HyperPrism mastering effects plug-in example; and
- your CDP example
(See ASSIGNMENTS for week 1, week 2 and week 3)
You will be asked to make some (non-permanent) editing changes to one of these
examples.
Also, I will ask you a few questions on signal processing and synthesis procedures
covered in class and in the reading assignments, such as convolution,
ring modulation, amplitude modulation or frequenc modulationy,
low pass filtering, or how oscillators work.
Week 6, Feb. 19, 21 :
Principal topic: Introduction to Reaktor
Tues: Getting started with the Reaktor software synthesis application;
playing, editing and creating ensembles, instruments, macros
and modules; panels used to control variables
Thurs: under the Reaktor hood: a look at what is actually
going on in the Sound Forum synths; a look at the construction of several
of Reaktor's preset ensembles
Reading assignment:
Reaktor class handout documentation : pages to be assigned in class
Labs and individual studio work:
Learn the basic operation of Reaktor, and review the resources covered in class this week
Week 7, Feb. 26, 28
Principal topic: more advanced Reaktor synthesis and signal processing techniques
Tues : Additive, subtractive and granular synthesis procedures in Reaktor;
creating your own Reaktor ensembles and macros
Thurs: Reaktor (concluded); creating your own synthesis algorithms
Reading assignment:
Reaktor class handout documentation : pages to be assigned in class
Labs and individual studio work:
- Review and experiment with the Reaktor resources covered in class this week.
Build some of your own macros and ensembles.
Assignment for TEST 2, week of March 18, 20:
- During your second graded appointment
we will look at, play and edit (make temporary alterations to) two
synthesis examples you have created with Reaktor.
Using experiments from your lab and individual studio
work as a starting point, create and perfect two Reaktor synthesis
algorithms for this test, and for possible use later in this semester.
- Compositional etude: Create a short 10-20 second Cubase MIDI
sequence. For sound sources in this sequence, use
only the Reaktor ensemble patches that you have created.
Unit 3 : REAL-TIME and INTERACTIVE MIDI and
AUDIO PROCESSING
Software resources: MAX/MSP
Week 8, March 4, 6
Principal topic: Interactive MIDI and audio processing performance and composition
resources of the MAX application
Tues: Introduction to MAX and to some basic MAX objects;
examination of example MAX patches and subpatches; using MAX Help
and the MAX tutorials
Thurs: MIDI control of MAX and MAX control of MIDI;
additional MAX objects and how they work; editing and altering example MAX patches
Reading assignment:
Class handout for MAX : pages to be assigned in class.
Labs and individual studio work:
Practice running MAX patches and making alterations and additions to these patches
Week of March 10 - 14: Spring Break. No classes or labs.
Week 9, March 18, 20 : GRADED APPOINTMENT
covering Unit 2 material:
No regular class or labs this week. During your individual graded appointment, we will look at:
- Two of your Reaktor patches ;
we also will make temporary edits (changes) to these patches.
- The Cubase sequence you have made with these patches
(see week 7 assignment)
I also will ask you a few questions on synthesis concepts discussed in
class, such as "additive synthesis" or "low frequency oscillator."
Week 10, March 25, 27
Principal topics: MAX (concluded) and MSP
Tues: Creating MAX patches, using example patches as models; planning out
patches as algorithms
Thurs: synthesis resources of MSP; example patches incorporating MSP objects and
signal paths
Reading assignment:
MAX/MSP class handout: pages to be assigned in class
Labs and individual studio work:
- Begin designing and building your own MAX patches
- Try creating a couple of MAX sound synthesis or processing patches using
MSP objects
Assignment for Test 3, week of April 8, 10 :
During your final graded appointment
we will look at, play and edit (temporarily change)
one of your MAX patches
SEMESTER PROJECT ASSIGNMENT:
In preparation for your appointment next week, plan out in detail your
semester project. A couple of possibilities are provided below, but I am open to others
as well. Think creatively and have some fun with this project.
- a 3 - 6 minute composition, employing a variety of MIDI and acoustic
sound sources, mixed down to a stereo cd or, for multichannel projects,
played from the computer or from a DVD-A disc. You can employ all of the
studio resources covered this year within this project.
- a real-time performance employing one or more MAX or Reaktor
patches you have created
Week 11, April 1, 3
Regular classes and labs will not meet. Individual appointments will be scheduled
during which we will discuss, in detail, your ideas, progress and
source material to date for your semester project.
Week 12, April 8, 10 : GRADED APPOINTMENT
covering Unit 3 material:
During this appointment we will play, discuss and edit
one of your MAX patches. I also may ask you a couple of questions about
interactive MIDI and object-oriented programming concepts discussed in class.
The TAs will post office hour sign-up times during which you can meet with
them to obtain help with any technical questions or problems related to
your semester project.
Week 13, April 15, 17
Principal topics: Some additional resources in the MIDI studio
Tues: Using the Kaoss Pad and Bitstream MIDI controllers; the Jitter
video application
Thurs: A brief introduction to the Super Collider 3 synthesis and
algorithmic composition programming environment
Reading assignment:
Class handouts on the Kaoss Pad, Bitstream controller and Super Collider 3
Labs and individual studio work:
- Obtain help from the TAs with any technical or musical issues relating to
your semester project
- Try out the Kaoss Pad and Bitstream controllers and
Super Collider 3
Week 14, April 21 - 25 : Jury week. No classes or labs.
Work on your semester project. If you need help, sign up for an
appointment with one of the TAs during their posted office hour times.
Week 15, April 29, May 1
Regular classes and labs will not meet. Appointments will be scheduled
during which we will look at your semester projects. The TAs will post office
hours during which they will be available to help you with final preparations
of your project.
A concert of works produced in the studios this term will
be presented on Monday May 5 at 6:00 in room 120.
Setup (involving everyone) and teching of each piece will begin at 4:30.
If your project is on a cd, it is due in time for teching one hour before the
class concert. If your project requires the use of one of our laptop computers,
it is due by noon on Sunday May 4,
ready for transfer to an ECMC laptop.
When your project is completed, archive all of the soundfiles you wish to
save onto CD or DVD discs or onto a flash drive and remove ALL of your files
from the hard disks of wozzeck and igor (unless you wish to work further with
some of these files during May and/or over the summer).
Any student wishing to use the ECMC studios over the summer, or next fall,
should advise me before the end of the semester, so that your
name will be included in the list of authorized student users.
We will delete the accounts and all files of users who do not let us know of their
intention to continue working in the studios.