An Application of Max/MSP in the Field of Live Electro-Acoustic Music. A Case Study Oles Protsidym Faculty of Mosic, McGill University, Montreal Aognst 1999 Thesis snbmitted to the Facuity of Gradnate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the rrguirements for the degree of Masar of Arts in Cornputer Applications in Music @ Oles Pmtsidym, 1999 The author bas granted a non- L'auteia a accord6 une licence non exclusive licence allowing the National Li* of Canada to Bibiiotbkqut nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or se1 ceprodirire,*, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfq vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electrdc fomüts. la fmede microfiche/Iiim, de reproâuction m papier ou sur format The author =tains ownership of the L'auteur cansave la Propriété du copyright in tbis thesis. N* the droit d'auteur qpi protège cette diese. thesis nor subdal extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent êtn imprimés reproduced without the avthor's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Cana! For many yean the integration of real-time digital audio signal processing with dynarnic control has been one of the most significant issues facing live electro-acoustic music. While real-time electroacoustic music systems began to appear as early as the 1970's. for approximately two decades a lack of portability and prohibitive cost restricted their availability to a limited nurnber of electronic music studios and research centers. The rapid development of computer and music technologies in the 1990's enabled desktop-based real-time digital audio signal processing, making it available for general use. The introduction of the MaxfMSP programming language in the 1990's ushered in a new era in electro-acoustic music by bringing a new unified environment for real-tirne digital signal processing and dynamic control to a w ide audience. The potential of the MaxlMSP programming environrnent for applications to live electro-acoustic music is the subject of this thesis. A prototype example of a real-time electro-acoustic music system based on MaxIMSP is developed and discussed. Sommaire L'intégration du traitement de signaux audio-numériques en temps réel avec le contrôle dynamique a pendant longtemps constitué un des enjeux les plus significatifs dans le domaine de la musique électro- acoustique "live". Alon que des systèmes électro-acoustiques en temps réel firent leur apparition dès le début des années soixante-dix, leun problèmes de portabilite, ainsi que leur coût élevé. limitaient leur disponibilité à quelques studios de musique électronique et centres de recherche. Le développement rapide des technologies informatiques et musicales dans les années quatre-vingt-dix a permis l'avènement des systèmes de traitement "desktop-baseâ" des signaux audio-numériques, les rendant ainsi accessibles à tous les intéressés. L'arrivée du langage de programmation Max/MSP dans les années quatre-vingt-dix inaugura une nouvelle ère dans la musique électro-acoustique, mettant un nouvel environnement de traitement de signaux en temps réel et le contrôle dynamique à la disposition d'un public plus vaste. Le potentiel de l'environnement de programmation MadMSP pour les applications à la musique électro-acoustique en direct constitue le sujet de ce mémoire. Un exemple d'un tel système sera présenté et discut6. First of al1 1 would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Bruce Pennycook for his continuous support, understanding and guidance throughout years of my study and research at McGill. His cornpetence, insight, and willingness to explore uncharted tecritories were always inspiring. Another person who provided valuable assistance to this work is Mr. Zack Settel, who, despite his busy schedule, was always available and willing to give extremely useful suggestions related to the software design. 1 would also like to thank my colleagues. especially Geoff Martin and Elbert McLaughIin, whose presence at McGill enriched my learning environment. Special thanks to Sean Ferguson and Mrs. Anne Holloway for proofreading this text, as well as to Helen M. C. Richard. Mrs. Claire Richard and Mr. Zack Settel for tnnslating the abstract into French. I would like to acknowledge al1 of my friends in Lviv and Montreal. for their good will and help, especially Myroslava, w hose love and support is al ways appreciated. Finally, there are no words to express my thanks to my parents who helped me to understand what is truly valuable in this world and who taught me to find my own path. Their love, understanding and care are beyond imagining. An Application of Max/MSP in the field of Live Electro-Acoustic Music. A Case Stndy Table of Contents 2, Real.Time Eleetro-Acoostic Music Systems------------------------------------ -4 2 Electr~-Aco&ic Music ---------- ----- ------------------------------- -4 2.1 .1 .General CIassification and Selected Definitions----------------5 2.1 2 Performance Modes of Electro-Acoustic Music-------------------- 9 2.1 -3 Discussion------------- ----..---- ------ ----- ------------- 1s 22 DigitPl Audi0 Signal Prwessing------------ ----------- ------------------- 16 2.2.1 Digital Audio Signal Rocessinp: General Overview----------- 16 223Hardware Based Digital Audio Synthesis--- ------------- 2 1 2 2.3 Software Based Digital Audio Synthesis--------------- 22 23 Control Environments for Real-Time Electro-Acoustic Music Systems---- --- _I__C_________________ 26 2.3.1 Historical Background -- -27 23.2 Music Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) -- 28 2.3.3 MIDI Controllers-- ------- 29 2.4 Prognmmiiig Paraclips for Real-The Electro-Acoustic Music Systems -- --- 3 1 3. Developing a Prototype Solution for Live Electro-Acoustic Music System in the MAXlMSP Programming Environment: A Case Study-------------- -40 3.1 " Yonge Street Variations" :System Analysis----------------------------- -41 32Cenerd System Design------------- ---------------------------- -44 33 Digital Audio Signal Processing: Designhg a Software Implementation of the Externa1 Hardwam ------------- ---- ------------ ------------- -47 3.3.1 Sampler Instrument Design------------------------- -47 3.3.2 Audio Effect Processor Unit Design-------------------------- 50 3 -3-3 CD-ROM Drive- ---- -------- --------- 5 1 3 3.4 Mixing Board --- -------- 52 3.4 Dynamic System Control: Devetophg Control Structures-------------- 54 3 -4.1 Control of Time-Based Events - 54 3.4.2 Control of MIDI based events ---- 55 3.4.3 Control of DASP events - 57 35 Grapbicai User Interface - 59 4, Concinsion----------------.----------------------- 65 5, Refennces------------------------------ ------- ---- 67 . 6. ~ibilogmphy----------------------------------------*------------------ 70 Appendix A "Yonge Street Variationsy': System Setop----------------------------76 Appeadix C Tonge Street Variations": Technical Requirements-------------% Appendir D CD-ROM Content--------------------------------- 97 Appendix E CD-ROM----------- __________U_U_Y98 Introduction 1. Introduction Since its inception. live electro-acoustic music has presented many hurdles to composers, performers and music tepchers. The limitations of standard notation. the lack of a versatile delivery medium, gaps in performance tradition and music education, led to the situation where most electro-acoustic pieces had to be performed under the composer's guidance, and were often literally "unperformable" without the composer's assistance. The rapid development of music and computer technologies, and its influence on industries, changed and improved electro-acoustic music hardware and software each year. At the same time, progress in the music and computer industry brought many hardware and software dependency problems in i ive electro-acoustic music performances since many original compositions required some original specific hardware and software which is no longer widely available. This situation led again to the case where the live electro-acoustic music performance process was not only guided or assisted by composers, but very often composers became the main supplien of their own equipment for specific concerts or installations. Introduction The revolutionary changes in music and computer technologies in the 1980's opened a new era for the development of live electro-acoustic music. The introduction and subsequent development of desktop computing. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), digital audio, and Compact Disc (CD) technologies with al1 varieties of the format (CD-DA. CD-ROM. ECD and others) gave new possibilities for live electro- acoustic music. The increase of microprocessor power in the late 1980's and 1990's enabled real-time digital audio signal processing (DASP)and the development of new real-time digital audio signal processing programming environments. The release of MAX Signal Processing (MSP) for the Apple PowerPC platforrn in 1997 was a culmination of this process and combined a real-time desktop DASP and dynamic control in one programming environment. Though some problems of live electro-acoustic music have been discussed in the past (Austin and Washka 19% (1 1, Pennycook 1997 [21, Lippe. Settel. Puckette, Lindemann [3/)rnany of these issues remain relevant. To my knowledge. no fully satisfactory solutions to hardwarekoftware dependence problems have been developed. The primary objective of this thesis is to undertake research and to examine new possibilities for hardware/software independency, and to develop a prototype solution using