Music 680: Special Topics in Music Theory (Spring 2006) - Programming for Sound Synthesis

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wednesdays 4:30-7:10 pm, Music B40

Instructor: Christopher Burns

email: cburns at uwm dot edu

office: Music 367

office hours: Monday afternoons, 2-4 pm or by appointment

Course description: Study of the acoustics, mathematics, and programming techniques required to synthesize digital audio "from scratch" with the Common Lisp Music and Pd environments. Consideration of aesthetics and compositional technique, including study of historical and current repertoire composed with these methods. Students will complete short programming and composition assignments and a final creative project.

This course is listed for credit towards the Digital Arts and Culture Certificate Program.

Prerequisites: Open to juniors, seniors, and graduate students in the Music Department and the DIVAS program; others admitted by consent of the instructor. Prior experience with programming is not required.

Grading policy: Semester grades will be determined in accordance with the following priorities.

Participation 15%

Assignments 40%

Final project 45%

Attendance is required; students who miss three or more class meetings will receive reduced grades.

Course materials: Listening assignments (scores and recordings) for the course will be on reserve in the Music Library; readings are available via electronic reserve. (Computer Music Tutorial and Microsound are both authored by Curtis Roads and published by MIT Press). The Common Music and Pd software environments are freely available and may be downloaded from commonmusic.sourceforge.net and crca.ucsd.edu/~msp respectively. The Common Lisp Music and source code are available at ccrma.stanford.edu/software/clm. The course website is at www.uwm.edu/~cburns/680-spring-2006 and will include lecture notes, code resources, and longer explanations of the weekly assignments.

Course schedule:

January 25: course introduction

topics:

basics of acoustics and digital audio

introduction to LISP

history of Music N synthesis languages, the unit generator concept

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Digital Audio Concepts," pp. 5-48

lecture notes

assignment 0:

get started with Lisp!

February 1: additive synthesis

topics:

fourier synthesis / bandlimited waveforms

amplitude and frequency envelopes

synthesis parameters derived from analysis, algorithmic generation of synthesis parameters

non-sinusoidal oscillators

UPIC as a form of additive synthesis

introduction to CLM

listening:

James Tenney For Ann (Rising)

Brigitte Robindore L'Autel de la Perte et de la Transformation

Julio Estrada Eua-on

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Additive synthesis," pp. 134-156

lecture notes

sample additive synthesis code

assignment 1 (due February 8):

code an additive synthesis instrument in CLM which can provide an arbitrary number of oscillators

February 8: wavetable synthesis

topics:

introduction to Pd

sampling-rate conversion, DAC waveform reconstruction, linear interpolation, sinc interpolation

looping short wavetables, complex loop construction for samples

soundfile playback

listening:

Paul Lansky Table's Clear

Bill Schottstaedt Wait For Me!

Lukas Ligeti Delta Space

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Sampling," "Multiple Wavetable Synthesis," "Wave Terrain Synthesis," pp. 115-133, 157-167

code resources

class interactive file

assignment 2 (due February 15):

new: scheme up a technique for generating additive synthesis data algorithmically, and compose a short etude using that method

[old: code a sample-playback instrument in Pd with time-variant looping]

February 15: subtractive synthesis

topics:

filter types: highpass, lowpass, bandpass, notch

filter parameters: passband, stopband, transition region; bandwidth / Q relationship

filter sources: analog-style waveforms, sample playback

time-variant filters

listening:

Luciano Berio Momenti

Milton Babbitt Philomel

Pauline Oliveros I to IV

Paul Lansky Night Traffic

Anthony Braxton [with Richard Teitelbaum] Open Aspect #3

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Subtractive synthesis," pp. 184-212

code resources plus butterworth.cl and moog.lisp from the CLM-3 distribution

class interactive file

assignment 3 (due March 1):

compose a short piece using the CLM environment and any of the synthesis techniques covered so far

February 16: special event - Alvin Lucier at Milwaukee Art Museum, 6:15 pm

February 22: no class meeting - rescheduled for February 16

March 1: modulation synthesis I

topics:

ring modulation, amplitude modulation, single-sideband modulation, frequency modulation

listening:

Karlheinz Stockhausen Mantra

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Bipolar and Unipolar Signals," "Ring Modulation," "Amplitude Modulation, "Frequency Modulation," pp. 213-236

code resources

assignment 4 (due March 8):

new: create a complex (multi-operator) modulation instrument in CLM

[old: create a complex (multi-operator) modulation instrument in Pd]

March 8: modulation synthesis II

topics:

time-variant fm

Chowning's recipes for spectral modeling, Schottstaedt's recipes for oscillator configurations

listening:

John Chowning Stria and Phoné (quadraphonic playback in class)

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Multiple-Carrier FM," "Multiple-Modulator FM," and "Feedback FM," pp. 237-251

John Chowning, "The Synthesis of Complex Audio Spectra by Means of Frequency Modulation," Journal of the Audio Engineering Society vol. 21 no. 7 (September 1973), pp. 526-534

code resources: Pd basics, Pd frequency modulation, Pd complex FM

assignment 5 (due March 15):

implement one of Chowning's instrument simulations as a Pd or CLM instrument

March 15: granular synthesis

topics:

synchronous and asynchronous granulation

synthetic and soundfile granulation

frequency-domain effects of granulation

listening:

Curtis Roads Sonal Atoms

Matthew Burtner Fern

John Oswald Dab

Maja Ratjke Octo

reading:

Microsound "Granular Synthesis," "Varieties of Particle Synthesis," pp. 85-178

code resources: grani.ins

assignment 6 (due March 29):

compose a short piece using the CLM environment and granular synthesis

March 22: spring break

March 29: signal processing

topics:

delay-based effects: echo, flanging

sampling-rate conversion on delays: pitch-shifting, chorus

delay and filtering

listening:

Kaija Saariaho Pres

Brian Ferneyhough Time and Motion Study II

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Basic Concepts of Signal Processing", pp. 387-448

code resources: CLM, Pd

assignment 7 (due April 5):

create a delay-based "effects processor" of your own specification using Pd

April 5: signal / spatial processing

topics:

global reverberation

early reflections

impulse response synthesis

listening:

William Kleinsasser Double Concerto

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Sound Spatialization and Reverberation", pp. 449-492

code resources: CLM, Pd: schroeder.pd, allpass.pd, comb.pd

April 12: spatial processing

topics:

constant-power panning

Doppler shift simulation

reverberation and localization

listening:

Luigi Nono A Pierre. Dell'Azzurro Silenzio, Inquietum

Fernando Lopez-Lezcano iICEsCcRrEeAaMm (quadraphonic playback in class)

Olga Neuwirth Instrumental-Insel II aus "Bählamms Fest"

reading:

John Pierce, "Hearing in Time and Space," in Perry R. Cook, ed., Music Cognition, and Computerized Sound (Cambridge: MIT Press), 2001, pp. 89-104.

code resources: Pd, CLM, Pd octophonic playback

additional code: hrtf.ins, HRTF data, diffuse-map.lisp, fir-coeffs.lisp

final project proposal (due April 19):

a> write a composition using CLM and/or Pd and the synthesis techniques covered in the course

b> implement a complex synthesizer or signal processor in CLM or Pd and demonstrate its function

compositions and demonstrations will take place at the Electroacoustic Salon, May 18, 7:30 pm

April 19: physical modeling

topics:

Karplus-Strong synthesis, waveguide synthesis

listening:

Chris Chafe Transect

Interface [Dan Trueman & Curtis Bahn] sphism

Matthew Burtner s-morphe-s

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Physical Modeling Synthesis," "Source and Paramteter Analysis for Physical Modeling," and "Karplus-Strong (Plucked String and Drum) Synthesis," pp. 263-296

code resources: CLM: strategies and tricks, pluck.ins, flute.ins, piano.ins, strad.ins, singer.ins, prc-toolkit95.lisp

April 26: spectral modeling

topics:

windowed analysis

oscillator resynthesis

residual analysis and modeling

listening:

John Oswald/Grateful Dead Cease Tone Beam

Arturo Parra/Francis Dhomont Sol y sombra... L'espace des spectres

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial various sections pp. 534-577

Microsound "Windowed Analysis and Transformation," pp. 235-300

code resources: CLM

May 3: algorithmic synthesis

topics:

algorithmic generation of synthesis parameters

GENDYN as a instance of an algorithmic synthesis technique

feedback systems as algorithms

listening:

Agostino Di Scipio Audible Ecosystemics n. 2 (Feedback Study)

Thomas Gaudynski Rock

Iannis Xenakis s.709

reading:

Computer Music Tutorial "Waveform Segment Techniques,""Stochastic Waveform Synthesis," pp. 317-329, 338-345

code resources: CLM: stochastic.ins, Pd: waveshaper.pd, compressor~.pd, randomwalk.pd, peak-waveshape~.pd

May 10: course wrap-up

May 18: Electro-acoustic Music Center Salon #20, 7:30 pm - final project presentations