Experimental Music Studios

Experimental Music Studios
Computer Music Project
School of Music Admissions
UIUC Admissions
University of Illinois

Electroacoustic music activities at the School of Music have earned the University of Illinois an international reputation as a leader in the field of contemporary art music. Known for significant creative and technical developments in electronic and computer music composition, the University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios were founded in 1958 by Lejaren Hiller and were the first of their kind in the western hemisphere. Faculty members and students working in these studios have been responsible for many of the major developments in electro-acoustic music over the years including the first developments in computer sound synthesis by Lejaren Hiller, expanded gestural computer synthesis by Herbert Brün, the creation of the Sal-Mar Construction by Salvatore Martirano and the Harmonic Tone Generator by James Beauchamp. Today the facility continues as an active and productive center for electro-acoustic and computer music composition, education and research. Numerous prestigious awards have been won by faculty and students for their work in the studios.
The present facilities include ten specially-designed studios for sound generation, processing, and recording. Scott Wyatt, composer and Professor of composition and theory, is the director of the Experimental Music Studios. Professor Sever Tipei serves as the manager of the EMS Computer Music Project. Access to all EMS facilities is primarily through course enrollment. Music students working within the studios include: composition majors, performance majors, music education majors, and musicology majors. Numerous non-music major students (including students from Theatre, Dance, Electrical and Computer Engineering, LAS, Physics, Biology and Computer Science) also regularly enroll in EMS courses.

EMS Mission Statement
Since the 1958 founding of the Experimental Music Studios, its mission has been defined as the following:
- to educate undergraduate and graduate student composers, performers and teachers in the history, techniques, theories, composition, realization and performance of electroacoustic and computer music with the prime focus directed toward concert art music and the contemporary arts;
- to provide extensive education, awareness and experience with contemporary sound synthesis, recording, signal processing, compositional techniques (including national and international associated compositional trends) to allow our students and faculty to maintain a leadership role within the contemporary fine arts and contemporary electronic arts;
- to increase knowledge, creative potential and creative achievement through a balanced approach of research and performance;
- to disseminate and maintain the highest level of professional standards for the instruction, creation, research and performance of electroacoustic and computer music.