University of South Carolina
School of Music
MUSC 336
Introduction to Computer Music
Fall 2019
MUSC 336 | E-book | Biblio
Learning: Max | MIDI | MSP | Notation | Reason | History | Audacity
C O U
R S E M O D U L E S |
1. |
Course & Studio
Introduction |
2. |
Interactive Music
Programming & MIDI |
3. |
DSP & Synthesis |
4. |
Notation
|
5. |
Sequencing
|
 |
Sound Editing &
Transformation |
News
Due Fri., Dec. 13, 3 pm:
- Project #5 Audacity: Sound Editing & Transformation (via e-submission)
- Exam 3: Reason, Audacity & Music & Computers Ch. 4-5 (in my SOM box, R101)
- Return your Studio B key to R101
Homework
Read Burk, et al, Music and Computers by Dec. 6
- Ch. 4 The Synthesis of Sound by Computer
- Ch. 5 The Transformation of Sound by Computer
Quotable
 |
There are no theoretical limitations to the performance of the computer as a source of musical sounds, in contrast to the performance of ordinary instruments. |
 |
|
— Max Mathews
|
|
Textbook (Open Access)
Phil Burk, Larry Polansky, Douglas Repetto, Mary Roberts and Dan Rockmore.
Music and Computers: A Theoretical and Historical Approach, 2011 Archival Version. {E-book}
Chapter Overviews
Ch. 1 (pdf); Ch. 2 (pdf); Ch. 3 (pdf); Ch. 4 (pdf); Ch. 5 (pdf); See also: Module Overviews
Course Documents
- Syllabus (pdf)
- Computer Music Studio B
- Links for Students
Projects
- Max: Programming with Max & MIDI – Due: Mon., Oct. 7
- Part A: Preparatory Homework (pdf)
- Part B: Random Music Generator (pdf)
- MSP: DSP & Synthesis – Due: Wed., Oct. 30
- Part A: Preparatory Homework (pdf)
- Part B: Additive & FM Synthesis (pdf)
- Reason 1: Redrum (pdf) – Due: Fri., Nov. 15
- Reason 2: Sequencing (pdf) – Due: Wed., Dec. 4 or Fri., Dec. 6
- Audacity: Sound Editing & Transformation (pdf) – Due: Wed., Dec. 13, 3 pm

Module Overviews
- Interactive Music Programming
- Max Programming (pdf)
- MIDI (pdf)
- DSP & Synthesis
- Notation
- Sequencing, Sampling & Mixing
- History
- Sound Editing, Transformation & Analysis
- Special Topics
- Ableton Live – Fluid music making software
- Csound – A sound and music computing system
- IRCAM Forum – An international community of musical and artistic research
- PureData (Pd) – An open source visual programming language for multimedia that is very similar to Max
- Sonic Visualizer – Visualization, analysis, and annotation of music audio recordings
- SuperCollider 3 – An open source programming language for real-time sound synthesis and algorithmic composition
- SPEAR – Sinusoidal partial editing analysis and resynthesis
Learning
- Max
- MSP
- Notation
- Reason
- History
- Audacity
Magazines, Ezines & Journals
- Computer Music Journal
- Computer Music Magazine
- Create Digital Music (CDM)
- Electronic Musician
- Keyboard Magazine
- Leonardo Music Journal
- MusicRadar
- MusicTech
- Sound on Sound
- Synthtopia
Cloud Storage & Data Compression
- Dropbox
- Zip file (format)
Online Music Distribution
- Bandcamp
- SoundCloud
What's Next?
- MUSC 540 Projects in Computer Music
- Computer Music Creative Activity & Research
References
Burk, Phil, Larry Polansky, Douglas Repetto, Mary Roberts and Dan Rockmore. 2011. Music and Computers: A Theoretical and Historical Approach, Archival Version. Hannover, NH. {E-book}
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