SYLLABUS

MUSIC, SCIENCE, and TECHNOLOGY

(timings are tentative)

Fall 2003

September 3

Get acquainted, organizational. What kind of music is this ? Historical and aesthetical justifications.

Computer Sound Synthesis

September 10, 17, 24, October 1, and 8

Making sounds from scratch. Digital sound synthesis techniques (additive, granular, FM, etc.). Using DIASS, a Digital Instrument for Sound Synthesis. A little psychoacoustics. Synthesizers and MIDI.

Visit to the Computer Music Project (CMP) - TBA

Visit to the Experimental Music Studios - TBA (later in the semester)

Music and Mathematics

October 15, 22 and, 29

Musical parameters (degrees of freedom). How to compose experimental music using: stochastic distributions, set theory, group theory, game theory, Markov chains, fractals, genetic algorithms, "chaos" theory (complex dynamic systems), information theory and other theories with fancy names.

Application

November 5, 12, and 19

Composing a short piece collectively; using computer generated sounds.

Sonification, Visualization, and Virtual Environments

December 3, and 10

Sonification of complex scientific data. Computational science and vizualization. Auditory displays - challenges in finding a suitable mapping between the space of data and that of sound. Recognition of time patterns and the ear's power of discrimination.

Virtual environments. Complementarity between vizualization and sonification; the need for redundancy. A new type of composer, a new type of scientist: new tools and changing paradigms.

Possible visit to the CUBE in Beckman - (tentative)

TBAFinal Paper presentations

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