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Computer Music

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Springer Handbook of Acoustics

Part of the book series: Springer Handbooks ((SHB))

Abstract

This chapter covers algorithms, technologies, computer languages, and systems for computer music. Computer music involves the application of computers and other digital/electronic technologies to music composition, performance, theory, history, and the study of perception. The field combines digital signal processing, computational algorithms, computer languages, hardware and software systems, acoustics, psychoacoustics (low-level perception of sounds from the raw acoustic signal), and music cognition (higher-level perception of musical style, form, emotion, etc.).

Although most people would think that analog synthesizers and electronic music substantially predate the use of computers in music, many experiments and complete computer music systems were being constructed and used as early as the 1950s.

Because of this rich legacy, and the large number of researchers working on digital audio (primarily in speech research laboratories), there are a large number of algorithms for synthesizing sound using computers. Thus, a significant emphasis in this chapter will be placed on digital sound synthesis and processing, first providing an overview of the representation of audio in digital systems, then covering most of the popular algorithms for digital analysis and synthesis of sound.

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Abbreviations

A/D:

analog to digital

ADC:

analog-to-digital converter

ADSR:

attack time, decay time, sustain level, and release time

BoSSA:

bowed sensor speaker array

D/A:

digital-to-analog

DAC:

digital-to-analog converter

DAFX:

digital audio effects

DAW:

digital audio workstation

DFT:

discrete Fourier transform

DLS:

downloadable sounds

DSP:

digital signal processing

EMI:

experiments in musical intelligence

FFT:

fast Fourier transform

FM:

frequency modulation

FOF:

formes dʼonde formantiques

ICMC:

International Computer Music Conference

IDFT:

inverse DFT

IIR:

infinite impulse response

IP:

internet protocol

KLOrk:

Kalamazoo Laptop Orchestra

L2Ork:

Linux Laptop Orchestra of Virginia Tech

LEMUR:

League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots

LOL:

Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana

LORkAS:

Laptop Orchestra of Arizona State

LPC:

linear predictive coding

LTI:

linear and time invariant

MI:

mechanical index

MIDI:

musical instrument digital interface

MIR:

music information retrieval

MIREX:

music information retrieval evaluation exchange

MPEG4:

moving-picture experts group 4

MSE:

mean square error

MoPho:

Mobile Phone Orchestra

NIME:

new interfaces for musical expression

OLO:

Oslo Laptop Orchestra

OSC:

open sound control

PC:

personal computer

PCM:

pulse code modulation

PD:

pure data

PLOrk:

Princeton Laptop Orchestra

PM:

phase modulation

PhISEM:

physically informed stochastic event modeling

SAOL:

structured audio orchestra language

SARA:

simple analytic recombinant algorithm

SDIF:

sound description interchange format

SLOrk:

Stanford Laptop Orchestra

SNR:

signal-to-quantization-noise ratio

SRATE:

sampling rate

STFT:

short-time Fourier transform

TCP:

transmission control protocol

WASPAA:

IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics

XMF:

extensible music file

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, 35 Olden Street, 08540, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Perry R. Cook

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  1. Perry R. Cook
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Correspondence to Perry R. Cook .

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  1. Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University, CA 94305, Stanford, USA

    Thomas D. Rossing

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Cook, P.R. (2014). Computer Music. In: Rossing, T.D. (eds) Springer Handbook of Acoustics. Springer Handbooks. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0755-7_17

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