Computer-Composed Music - Essay Example

Computer Music Introduction One of the most important innovations in electronic music is perhaps the use of computers. The types of computers used vary from general-purpose machines, large mainframes to digital circuits that are designed specifically for use in music production or performance. Digital computers have a number of musical applications that can be classified into five basic groups. These include sound synthesis; music composition; theoretical, acoustical and musicological research; music printing and music notation processing; and information retrieval and data processing. In virtually all of the above mentioned fields, there have been a considerable amount of experimentation and research. Sound synthesis has particularly stood out as the most advanced and widespread activity. Evidence of the advancement of computer music includes the Computer Music Association, the Computer Music Journal and the annual International Computer Music Conference. This paper investigates the various ways in which computers are utilized in the music industry. Computer composition Computer composition is a complementary process to sound synthesis because the composition may lead to sound synthesis. An artist may decide to use selected composition programs when making a composition. The composer may subsequently stop using the computer and take the computer results in form of a printout, which he/she may decide to transcript to instrumental performance. Otherwise, the composer may decide to convert the composition results into electronic sounds using other computer programs for sound synthesis. After the composition and subsequent instrumental performance or sound synthesis, the composer may decide to use scores that are already composed in his/her sound composition. When the composer chooses to utilize the latter option, then he/she essentially presents his/her score into a computer readable form, which means that the computer acts as a data translator. It is important to note that computer composition is just a method but not a style. Essentially, music composers can use computers to write all music genres, including novel and traditional music. For a composer, the beauty of using computers in music composition and synthesis is not in recreating styles of music that are already known, but in creating new musical expressions that are as a result of computer-related technological developments. Presently, music composers need a compiling language that is made up of statements that are either musical or quasi-musical, coupled with a comprehensive library that provides compositional operators. Such compositional operators may be written as closed subroutines implying that a music composer’s system will be analogous to other computer languages that are used for other functions like FORTRAN, which is for mathematicians. There are two major impediments in the development of a computer language for musical purposes. The first is the challenge of allocating sufficient money, time and other required resources. The second challenge is the determination of what should be included in the subroutine library. That is, stating precisely what small decision-making and activity units go into music composition. Unlike in mathematics, where predefined modes of thinking and formulas guided definition of subroutines, it is a daunting task to define music composition modules. The earliest computer-composed music was Illiac Suite for String Quartet (1957), which was done Lejaren Hiller, a composer, and Leonard Isaacson, a mathematician. It was made up of four experiments that used a programmed computer to generate integers randomly, each representing different musical elements like rhythms, dynamics, and pitches that were selected thereafter using programmed rules of composition. Commendable advances have been made in the area of computer-composed music since the aforementioned Hiller’s composition of 1957. Today, there are a myriad of music applications that can be used in composing music using computers. These programs and applications fall into broad categories that include Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), Audio Editors, and Audio Plug-ins (Anthony, 2013). DAW is the main software piece that is used in recording, mixing, composing, editing and rendering out the final composition. Each of the application that falls under the DAW classification is made up of a unique set of tools and features. However, all DAWs share the aspect of providing the composer with a digital workspace that is sufficient for composition of music. Some of the common features that virtually all DAWs share include an audio editor, a virtual mixing console, a virtual piano or sequencer that comes in handy when creating or editing MIDI performances. They also have virtual instruments, various plug-ins, and a main arrangement area that serves as the platform for composing and arranging performances and songs (Anthony, 2013). Examples of DAWs include Apple Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, and Propellerhead’s Reason. Audio Editors, on the other hand, are used for editing and manipulating audio files after they are composed and stored on the computer. The manipulation and editing is necessitated by the need to clean audio files, say when they have unwanted noise and the composer wants to remove it, or even by utilitarian and creative purposes. An example of an audio editor that is used to remove noise from an audio file, and other related functions is iZotope RX. It is specifically designed for the purposes of repairing audio files. An example of an Audio Editor that is used for utilitarian and creative purposes is ReCycle (Anthony, 2013). It is basically used to make additions, like creative effects, to an audio file. Plug-ins refers to software pieces that plug into a digital music workstation to give it extra functionality. Plug-ins normally fall into two main categories, sound processing and sound generating plug-ins. Once one selects the appropriate DAW, he/she gets plug-ins in order to enhance the functionality of the selected DAW. Both sound processing and sound generating plug-ins can be bought from third-party developers at different prices. The distinction between music composition using computers and sound synthesis is increasingly becoming blurred. This has occurred as the former becomes better in terms of sophistication, and as the latter is increasingly being accomplished with the use of compositional structures that borrow less features of traditional musical syntax. Androgeny, which was written by Barry Truax in the year 1978, is a good example of the increasingly thin line between sound synthesis and composition. Computer sound synthesis Computer sound synthesis refers to the electronic production of sound using computers. To accomplish this, the computer produces an electrical signal representing a sound wave. The signal’s voltage fluctuations represent the pressure variations of the desired sound. After the electrical signal is directed to a loudspeaker and amplifier, it becomes an acoustic signal that has all the characteristics of a sound wave. Electronic equipment that is capable of synthesizing sound are grouped into units that are referred to as sound synthesizers. Some of the sound synthesizers are designed for use in the synthesis of speech, but most are meant for use in synthesizing electronic music. Digitally produced electronic sounds are quickly replacing the use of synthesizers, oscillators, and other audio components, which have been the main resources used in the composition of electronic music. Digital programming and digital circuitry is not only cheaper, but it is also more accurate and versatile. Digital processing has advantages that have manifested themselves in the commercial recording industry, whose use of audio technology is being replaced by digital recording. The fundamental techniques for computer generated sounds include digital-to-analogue conversion, sign-bit extraction, and the use of analogue-digital hybrids. Sign-bit extraction was put into use in situations where there was serious musical intent. There still exists some interest in having digital-analogue hybrid systems, perhaps because signal processing may sometimes, especially during filtering and reverberation, take undesirably long periods even when super-fast computers are used. Digital-to-analogue conversion has been developed to become the epitome of computer sound synthesis. Its best version is perhaps a program developed in the US known as Music 5. Digital-to-analogue conversion is dependent on the sampling theorem. The theorem states that “a wave form should be sampled at a rate twice the bandwidth of the system if the samples are to be free of quantizing noise” (Hiller, 2013, p. 7). Since the auditory bandwidth ranges from 20 to 20,000 Hz, then the sampling rate should be 40,000 samples every second. However, 30,000 Hz is sufficient because anything above 15,000 Hz is seldom recorded by tape recorders (Hiller, 2013). Music 5 embodied an orchestration program, which virtually all the processes used in a studio producing classical electronic music. It specified unit generators based on standard wave forms, filters, modulators, adders, reverberators, and so forth. It also allowed users to freely and easily define their own generators. Due to its functionality, Music 5 became the prototype for worldwide software installations. One of its best forms was designed at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the 1970s. The program, which was known as Music 11, is a carefully designed system that includes a variety of new features like graphic score output and input. The program has been used in imparting sound manipulation to generations of young composers. In addition to the techniques of sound manipulation explained above, there are a number of other techniques available for use. For instance, composers are increasingly developing interest in analogue-to-digital conversion. This method allows recorded concrete sounds to be digitally processed. This method is more appropriate in composition because for the processing to occur, an analogue input has to be made, meaning that a human voice is involved. This therefore means that the final output will be a computer altered voice that is obviously better in quality than the original human voice. Another useful development that is worth mentioning here are the specialized digital machines that have been designed for aiding live music performances. These instruments are dependent on new microprocessor types and usually have specialized circuitry. However, as a result of the fact that these instruments need real-time conversion and computation, they are limited in terms of variety of timbres and versatility of the same. Undoubtedly though, the existence of a big and enthusiastic commercial market for these instruments will lead to advancement and improvement of these instruments. Despite the fact that some of the aforementioned instruments had specialized design that was meant for a particular composer, most are built with the objective of replacing analogue synthesizers and thus they are mostly equipped with traditional keyboards to aid the composition process. The most digital sound synthesis, especially advanced synthesis, is done in institutions such as universities. These institutions are the ones that usually come up with software that can be used by composers to come up with their compositions. It is however important to note that most of these software have functionalities that are almost similar because they have a common objective of composing and manipulating sound to make quality and artistic music. However, dedicated digital synthesizers differ slightly from their software counterparts in that the former frequently provide onboard accessibility, with controls in their front panel to view their functions. The latter, on the other hand, trump the former with the fact that they have additional functionality as opposed to dedicated digital synthesizers that are handicapped by the fact that their control system is mouse driven. Conclusion Science has led to undeniable increase of musical resources by availing to computer composers sounds that range from noise on the one extreme to pure tones on the other. Technology has enabled composers to rhythmically organize music leading to complexities and subtleties that were hitherto unattainable. It has given the composer the choice of having full control over his/her compositions, and the opportunity to do away with the performer, who would otherwise act as an intermediary between the composer and the audience. As detailed in the discussion above, computer music is made possible by features and software that facilitate the composition, editing and manipulation of sound with a view to producing the desired output. Some of the programs and applications that are used in composing music using computers include Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), Audio Editors, and Audio Plug-ins. DAWs record, mix, compose, and edit sound to come up with the desired composition. Audio Editors on the other hand edit and manipulate audio files after they are composed and stored on the computer. Lastly, Audio Plug-ins add desired functionalities to other applications and programs for composing music. Computer sound synthesis normally follows the computer composition, whereby the composed sound is refined to make the desired music. Reference List Anthony, R. 2013. “Beginner’s Introduction to Composing on the Computer – Software”. Accessed January 17, 2015, < http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/beginners-introduction-to-composing-on-the-computer-software--audio-19607 > Hiller, L. (2013). “Electronic Music”. Accessed January 17, 2015, < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/183823/electronic-music/27528/Computer-sound-synthesis > Read More