DOCSLIB.ORG

Chiptune Synthesis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chiptune Synthesis - UFEE63-30-3 - A modern implementation of chiptune synthesis by Philip Phelps (#03974520) Summary A chiptune can be broadly categorised as a piece of music produced by sound chips in home computer/ games systems popular in the 1980s into the 1990s. The synthesis techniques often employed in chiptunes involve the careful control of the hardware features available in the sound chips. Such chips generally featured a limited number of simple oscillators with simple waveforms such as square, triangle, pseudorandom noise, and so on. In order to create more interesting sounds, chiptune composers rely on software synthesis structures that are used to configure the sound chip to alternate between waveforms, and to alter the pitch of the oscillators. MaxMSP is a graphical programming environment developed by Cycling’74. This report documents the reasons behind the decision to choose MaxMSP for the design and implementation of a software synthesiser for the creation of chiptunes. The report presents the detailed research into the sound hardware, and software used for composing chiptunes, exposing the differences in user interface design between modern composition software tools such as MIDI sequencers and historic composition tools such as trackers. Several pieces of historic software are examined; with elements of each user interface being assessed for inclusion in a modern software synthesiser user interface. The report also explains in detail the internal hardware structure of several popular sound chips (such as the General Instruments AY-3-8910) and examines several examples of software structures used to control the hardware synthesis structures inside the chips. The report documents the design of numerous software modules (programmed in the MaxMSP environment) and explains how each module can be combined to form the software synthesiser. Several block diagrams are included, explaining the internal structure of various modules, along with detailed maintenance notes for each module to help other programmers continue development of the system. The report assesses the computational efficiency of the produced synthesiser, and suggests several possible improvements that could be made in this area. The development of an “external” MaxMSP object in the C programming language is also documented, with fully commented source code provided. - i - Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Dr. David Creasey for his support and helpful comments during the project, and Dr. Barbara Savage for the conversations that inspired several diagrams in the introduction chapter. The author would also like to thank Gareth Morris (gwEm) for the guidance regarding Atari chiptune terminology, Max Matthews, Miller Puckette and the Cycling’74 team for creating MaxMSP, and to my mother for help during the proof reading. - ii - Table of contents Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................... 1 1.1 Motivation ............................................................................................1 1.2 Chiptune sound character..........................................................................5 1.3 Introduction to MaxMSP and PureData ...........................................................5 1.4 Objectives ............................................................................................7 1.5 Strategy ...............................................................................................8 1.5.1 Design strategy .................................................................................8 1.5.2 Project management strategy.............................................................. 11 1.5.3 Software development strategy............................................................ 13 1.5.4 Report structure management ............................................................. 15 1.5.5 Testing strategy .............................................................................. 16 1.6 A brief overview of MIDI .......................................................................... 18 1.7 Trackers vs. MIDI sequencers .................................................................... 19 1.8 Layered systems ................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2 Interface considerations .................................................................. 25 2.1 Choosing the development environment....................................................... 25 2.1.1 Environment decision ........................................................................ 27 2.2 Historic interfaces................................................................................. 27 2.2.1 Historical sound design interface influences ............................................. 28 2.3 Modern interfaces ................................................................................. 34 2.3.1 Genetic algorithm ............................................................................ 34 2.3.2 Possible solution to “tracker instrument numbers” problem .......................... 35 2.3.3 Parameter storage ........................................................................... 36 Chapter 3 Synthesis considerations .................................................................. 37 3.1 Historic hardware synthesis...................................................................... 41 3.2 Historic software synthesis....................................................................... 42 3.2.1 Software with similar goals to the project ............................................... 45 3.3 Modern techniques ................................................................................ 46 Chapter 4 Summary of findings ....................................................................... 47 4.1 Major decisions – changes to objectives ....................................................... 47 4.2 Summary of findings .............................................................................. 48 4.3 Specifications and requirements ................................................................ 49 Chapter 5 Implementation ............................................................................. 49 5.1 MaxMSP terms and conventions ................................................................. 51 5.1.1 Fundamental concepts and terms.......................................................... 51 5.1.2 Commonly used objects ..................................................................... 53 5.2 Overview of system ............................................................................... 55 5.3 Synthesis ............................................................................................ 57 5.3.1 The [clockedseq~] abstraction ............................................................. 60 5.3.2 Arpeggiation and Portamento [arpporta~] abstraction ................................. 67 5.3.3 The [midiarpeggiator~] abstraction ....................................................... 70 5.3.4 The [midiportamento~] abstraction ....................................................... 73 5.3.5 The [lfo~] abstraction ....................................................................... 75 5.3.6 Oscillators ..................................................................................... 77 5.3.7 Amplitude envelope structure.............................................................. 80 - iii - 5.3.8 Ringmodulation............................................................................... 82 5.3.9 The [envelope~] abstraction ............................................................... 85 5.4 Interface components ............................................................................ 88 5.4.1 The [Interface] abstraction................................................................. 88 5.4.2 [midinotefilter] abstraction ................................................................ 91 5.4.3 [filterprocessing] abstraction .............................................................. 92 5.5 [editor] GUI abstraction.......................................................................... 95 5.5.1 Control methods.............................................................................. 96 5.5.2 Step sequencers .............................................................................. 97 5.5.3 Envelopes..................................................................................... 100 5.5.4 [calculator] patch........................................................................... 101 5.5.5 [mixer~] patch............................................................................... 102 5.6 Communication and storage of parameters .................................................. 105 5.6.1 [transportdata] abstraction................................................................ 108 5.6.2 [convertdata] abstraction.................................................................. 109 5.7 Improving computational efficiency........................................................... 110 5.8 Custom MaxMSP external........................................................................ 112 5.8.1 Requirements specification................................................................ 112 5.8.2 Implementation ............................................................................. 113 5.8.3 Problems and abandonment ............................................................... 115 Chapter 6 Conclusions
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chapter 3: Data Transmission Terminology
    Chapter 3: Data Transmission CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 1 Sequence 3 Terminology (1) • Transmitter • Receiver • Medium —Guided medium • e.g. twisted pair, coaxial cable, optical fiber —Unguided medium • e.g. air, seawater, vacuum CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 2 Sequence 3 1 Terminology (2) • Direct link —No intermediate devices • Point-to-point —Direct link —Only 2 devices share link • Multi-point —More than two devices share the link CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 3 Sequence 3 Terminology (3) • Simplex —One direction —One side transmits, the other receives • e.g. Television • Half duplex —Either direction, but only one way at a time • e.g. police radio • Full duplex —Both stations may transmit simultaneously —Medium carries signals in both direction at same time • e.g. telephone CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 4 Sequence 3 2 Frequency, Spectrum and Bandwidth • Time domain concepts —Analog signal • Varies in a smooth way over time —Digital signal • Maintains a constant level then changes to another constant level —Periodic signal • Pattern repeated over time —Aperiodic signal • Pattern not repeated over time CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 5 Sequence 3 Analogue & Digital Signals Amplitude (volts) Time (a) Analog Amplitude (volts) Time (b) Digital CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 6 Sequence 3 Figure 3.1 Analog and Digital Waveforms 3 Periodic A ) s t l o v ( Signals e d u t 0 i l p Time m A –A period = T = 1/f (a) Sine wave A ) s t l o v ( e d u 0 t i l Time p m A –A period = T = 1/f CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 7 (b) Square wave Sequence 3 Figure 3.2 Examples of Periodic Signals Sine Wave • Peak Amplitude (A) —maximum strength of signal, in volts • FreQuency (f) —Rate of change of signal, in Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second —Period (T): time for one repetition, T = 1/f • Phase (f) —Relative position in time • Periodic signal s(t +T) = s(t) • General wave s(t) = Asin(2πft + Φ) CS420/520 Axel Krings Page 8 Sequence 3 4 Periodic Signal: e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Chiptuning Intellectual Property: Digital Culture Between Creative Commons and Moral Economy
    Chiptuning Intellectual Property: Digital Culture Between Creative Commons and Moral Economy Martin J. Zeilinger York University, Canada [email protected] Abstract This essay considers how chipmusic, a fairly recent form of alternative electronic music, deals with the impact of contemporary intellectual property regimes on creative practices. I survey chipmusicians’ reusing of technology and content invoking the era of 8-bit video games, and highlight points of contention between critical perspectives embodied in this art form and intellectual property policy. Exploring current chipmusic dissemination strategies, I contrast the art form’s links to appropriation-based creative techniques and the ‘demoscene’ amateur hacking culture of the 1980s with the chiptune community’s currently prevailing reliance on Creative Commons licenses for regulating access. Questioning whether consideration of this alternative licensing scheme can adequately describe shared cultural norms and values that motivate chiptune practices, I conclude by offering the concept of a moral economy of appropriation-based creative techniques as a new framework for understanding digital creative practices that resist conventional intellectual property policy both in form and in content. Keywords: Chipmusic, Creative Commons, Moral Economy, Intellectual Property, Demoscene Introduction The chipmusic community, like many other born-digital creative communities, has a rich tradition of embracing and encouraged open access, collaboration, and sharing. It does not like to operate according to the logic of informational capital and the restrictive enclosure movements this logic engenders. The creation of chipmusic, a form of electronic music based on the repurposing of outdated sound chip technology found in video gaming devices and old home computers, centrally involves the reworking of proprietary cultural materials.
    [Show full text]
  • Theory, Experience and Affect in Contemporary Electronic Music Trans
    Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música E-ISSN: 1697-0101 [email protected] Sociedad de Etnomusicología España Strachan, Robert Uncanny Space: Theory, Experience and Affect in Contemporary Electronic Music Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música, núm. 14, 2010, pp. 1-10 Sociedad de Etnomusicología Barcelona, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=82220947010 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative TRANS - Revista Transcultural de Música - Transcultural Music Revie... http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/a14/uncanny-space-theory-experience-... Home PRESENTACIÓN EQUIPO EDITORIAL INFORMACIÓN PARA LOS AUTORES CÓMO CITAR TRANS INDEXACIÓN CONTACTO Última publicación Números publicados < Volver TRANS 14 (2010) Convocatoria para artículos: Uncanny Space: Theory, Experience and Affect in Contemporary Electronic Music Explorar TRANS: Por Número > Robert Strachan Por Artículo > Por Autor > Abstract This article draws upon the author’s experiences of promoting an music event featuring three prominent European electronic musicians (Alva Noto, Vladislav Delay and Donnacha Costello) to examine the tensions between the theorisation of electronic music and the way it is experienced. Combining empirical analysis of the event itself and frequency analysis of the music used within it, the article works towards a theoretical framework that seeks to account for the social and physical contexts of listening. It suggests that affect engendered by the physical intersection of sound with the body provides a key way of understanding Share | experience, creativity and culture within contemporary electronic music.
    [Show full text]
  • Greenstreet Publisher 3
    2002 - 2005 Issues 1 to 10 ZXF10: 53 LOOKING FOR UNIQUE? ZXF merchandise: treat yourself to a piece worked a lot better had it been of 21st Century ZX Spectrum memorabilia... full cover) - a homage of sorts to the artwork of John Harris (who designed the cover to the original Spectrum manual, introduction booklet and Interface 1 & Micro- The ZX Spectrum on Your PC drive manual). Issue 6's cover "well-written and superbly presented" - took me ages and was inspired by Micro Mart Oliver Frey's CRASH issue 36 cover. Downloaded over 2,000 times and featured on Issue 7's cover was a detail from a the Retro Gamer cover disk, this guide to photo of my own Spectrum soft- Spectrum emulation on the PC is the perfect ware collection (passed through a introduction for ex-Spectrum users returning to whole cocktail of PSP fiters). Issue their first ever computer. Written by ZXF editor 8 - a popular cover, apparently - Colin Woodcock, The ZX Spectrum on Your is testament to what you can do PC teaches you how to use modern PC with a digital camera and a sand emulators to play all those old favourites, as pit on a bright Sunday morning well as some of the more advanced features (sorry to those of you who imagin- on offer too. You've read the electronic ed me digging away on a beach version, now enjoy the luxury of a profession- somewhere, but the ZXF expense ally printed paperback! account wouldn't stump up the bus fare). Issue nine was straight- 78 page paperback $11.99 (about £6.60) forward - a Christmassy 3D stero- gram featuring Horace (I'd always thought that Spectrum sprites might lend themselves particularly well to stereograms and wanted ZXF Mug to experiment).
    [Show full text]
  • Videogame Music: Chiptunes Byte Back?
    Videogame Music: chiptunes byte back? Grethe Mitchell Andrew Clarke University of East London Unaffiliated Researcher and Institute of Education 78 West Kensington Court, University of East London, Docklands Campus Edith Villas, 4-6 University Way, London E16 2RD London W14 9AB [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT Musicians and sonic artists who use videogames as their This paper will explore the sonic subcultures of videogame medium or raw material have, however, received art and videogame-related fan art. It will look at the work of comparatively little interest. This mirrors the situation in art videogame musicians – not those producing the music for as a whole where sonic artists are similarly neglected and commercial games – but artists and hobbyists who produce the emphasis is likewise on the visual art/artists.1 music by hacking and reprogramming videogame hardware, or by sampling in-game sound effects and music for use in It was curious to us that most (if not all) of the writing their own compositions. It will discuss the motivations and about videogame art had ignored videogame music - methodologies behind some of this work. It will explore the especially given the overlap between the two communities tools that are used and the communities that have grown up of artists and the parallels between them. For example, two around these tools. It will also examine differences between of the major videogame artists – Tobias Bernstrup and Cory the videogame music community and those which exist Archangel – have both produced music in addition to their around other videogame-related practices such as modding gallery-oriented work, but this area of their activity has or machinima.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Computer Music Week 1
    Introduction to Computer Music Week 1 Instructor: Prof. Roger B. Dannenberg Topics Discussed: Sound, Nyquist, SAL, Lisp and Control Constructs 1 Introduction Computers in all forms – desktops, laptops, mobile phones – are used to store and play music. Perhaps less obvious is the fact that music is now recorded and edited almost exclusively with computers, and computers are also used to generate sounds either by manipulating short audio clips called samples or by direct computation. In the late 1950s, engineers began to turn the theory of sampling into practice, turning sound into bits and bytes and then back into sound. These analog-to-digital converters, capable of turning one second’s worth of sound into thousands of numbers made it possible to transform the acoustic waves that we hear as sound into long sequences of numbers, which were then stored in computer memories. The numbers could then be turned back into the original sound. The ability to simply record a sound had been known for quite some time. The major advance of digital representations of sound was that now sound could be manipulated very easily, just as a chunk of data. Advantages of employing computer music and digital audio are: 1. There are no limits to the range of sounds that a computer can help explore. In principle, any sound can be represented digitally, and therefore any sound can be created. 2. Computers bring precision. The process to compute or change a sound can be repeated exactly, and small incremental changes can be specified in detail. Computers facilitate microscopic changes in sounds enabling us to producing desirable sounds.
    [Show full text]
  • Spsg Sn76489 User Manual
    SUPER PSG VST SN76489 SMS www.alyjameslab.com USER MANUAL 1.0 BY Aly James ©2013-2014 ALYJAMESLAB TABLE OF CONTENTS SUPER PSG VST ..................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3 INSTALLATION............................................................................................................................... 6 CONTROL PANELS ......................................................................................................................... 9 THE SN76489 PSG CHIP ................................................................................................................11 MAIN CONTROLS..........................................................................................................................15 SETTINGS .....................................................................................................................................17 AMP GENERATOR.........................................................................................................................19 PITCH GENERATOR .......................................................................................................................22 ARPEGGIATOR .............................................................................................................................25 SPECIAL - TIMERS & AY-EG ............................................................................................................27
    [Show full text]
  • General MIDI 2 February 6, 2007
    General MIDI 2 February 6, 2007 Version 1.2a Including PAN Formula, MIDI Tuning Changes and Mod Depth Range Recommendation Published By: The MIDI Manufacturers Association Los Angeles, CA PREFACE Abstract: General MIDI 2 is a group of extensions made to General MIDI (Level 1) allowing for expanded standardized control of MIDI devices. This increased functionality includes extended sounds sets and additional performance and control parameters. New MIDI Messages: Numerous new MIDI messages were defined specifically to support the desired performance features of General MIDI 2. The message syntax and details are published in the Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification version 1999 (and later): MIDI Tuning Bank/Dump Extensions (C/A-020) Scale/Octave Tuning (C/A-021) Controller Destination Setting (C/A-022) Key-Based Instrument Controll SysEx Messages (C/A-023) Global Parameter Control SysEx Message (C/A-024) Master Fine/Course Tuning SysEx Messages (C/A-025) Modulation Depth Range RPN (C/A-026) General MIDI 2 Message: Universal Non-Realtime System Exclusive sub-ID #2 under General MIDI sub-ID #1 is reserved for General MIDI 2 system messages (see page 21 herein). Changes from version 1.0 to version 1.1: o Section 3.3.5: changed PAN formula per RP-036 o Section 4.7: Added new recommendations per RP-037 Changes from version 1.1 to version 1.2: o Section 3.4.4: added recommendation for Mod Depth Range Response per RP-045 o V 1.2a is reformatted for PDF distribution General MIDI 2 Specification (Recommended Practice) RP-024 (incorporating changes per RP-036, RP-037, and RP-045) Copyright ©1999, 2003, and 2007 MIDI Manufacturers Association Incorporated ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
    [Show full text]
  • (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,994,744 B2 Chen (45) Date of Patent: Aug
    US007994744B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,994,744 B2 Chen (45) Date of Patent: Aug. 9, 2011 (54) METHOD OF CONTROLLING SPEED OF (56) References Cited BRUSHLESS MOTOR OF CELING FAN AND THE CIRCUIT THEREOF U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 4,546,293 A * 10/1985 Peterson et al. ......... 3.18/400.14 5,309,077 A * 5/1994 Choi ............................. 318,799 (75) Inventor: Chien-Hsun Chen, Taichung (TW) 5,748,206 A * 5/1998 Yamane .......................... 34.737 2007/0182350 A1* 8, 2007 Patterson et al. ............. 318,432 (73) Assignee: Rhine Electronic Co., Ltd., Taichung County (TW) * cited by examiner Primary Examiner — Bentsu Ro (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Browdy and Neimark, patent is extended or adjusted under 35 PLLC U.S.C. 154(b) by 539 days. (57) ABSTRACT The present invention relates to a method and a circuit of (21) Appl. No.: 12/209,037 controlling a speed of a brushless motor of a ceiling fan. The circuit includes a motor PWM duty consumption sampling (22) Filed: Sep. 11, 2008 unit and a motor speed sampling to sense a PWM duty and a speed of the brushless motor. A central processing unit is (65) Prior Publication Data provided to compare the PWM duty and the speed of the brushless motor to a preset maximum PWM duty and a preset US 201O/OO6O224A1 Mar. 11, 2010 maximum speed. When the PWM duty reaches to the preset maximum PWM duty first, the central processing unit sets the (51) Int.
    [Show full text]
  • Computer Music
    THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF COMPUTER MUSIC Edited by ROGER T. DEAN OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2009 by Oxford University Press, Inc. First published as an Oxford University Press paperback ion Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Oxford handbook of computer music / edited by Roger T. Dean. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-979103-0 (alk. paper) i. Computer music—History and criticism. I. Dean, R. T. MI T 1.80.09 1009 i 1008046594 789.99 OXF tin Printed in the United Stares of America on acid-free paper CHAPTER 12 SENSOR-BASED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND INTERACTIVE MUSIC ATAU TANAKA MUSICIANS, composers, and instrument builders have been fascinated by the expres- sive potential of electrical and electronic technologies since the advent of electricity itself.
    [Show full text]
  • A Soft-Switched Square-Wave Half-Bridge DC-DC Converter
    A Soft-Switched Square-Wave Half-Bridge DC-DC Converter C. R. Sullivan S. R. Sanders From IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 456–463. °c 1997 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint or republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. I. INTRODUCTION This paper introduces a constant-frequency zero-voltage-switched square-wave dc-dc converter Soft-Switched Square-Wave and presents results from experimental half-bridge implementations. The circuit is built with a saturating Half-Bridge DC-DC Converter magnetic element that provides a mechanism to effect both soft switching and control. The square current and voltage waveforms result in low voltage and current stresses on the primary switch devices and on the secondary rectifier diodes, equal to those CHARLES R. SULLIVAN, Member, IEEE in a standard half-bridge pulsewidth modulated SETH R. SANDERS, Member, IEEE (PWM) converter. The primary active switches exhibit University of California zero-voltage switching. The output rectifiers also exhibit zero-voltage switching. (In a center-tapped secondary configuration the rectifier does have small switching losses due to the finite leakage A constant-frequency zero-voltage-switched square-wave inductance between the two secondary windings on dc-dc converter is introduced, and results from experimental the transformer.) The VA rating, and hence physical half-bridge implementations are presented. A nonlinear magnetic size, of the nonlinear reactor is small, a fraction element produces the advantageous square waveforms, and of that of the transformer in an isolated circuit.
    [Show full text]
  • The 1-Bit Instrument: the Fundamentals of 1-Bit Synthesis
    BLAKE TROISE The 1-Bit Instrument The Fundamentals of 1-Bit Synthesis, Their Implementational Implications, and Instrumental Possibilities ABSTRACT The 1-bit sonic environment (perhaps most famously musically employed on the ZX Spectrum) is defined by extreme limitation. Yet, belying these restrictions, there is a surprisingly expressive instrumental versatility. This article explores the theory behind the primary, idiosyncratically 1-bit techniques available to the composer-programmer, those that are essential when designing “instruments” in 1-bit environments. These techniques include pulse width modulation for timbral manipulation and means of generating virtual polyph- ony in software, such as the pin pulse and pulse interleaving techniques. These methodologies are considered in respect to their compositional implications and instrumental applications. KEYWORDS chiptune, 1-bit, one-bit, ZX Spectrum, pulse pin method, pulse interleaving, timbre, polyphony, history 2020 18 May on guest by http://online.ucpress.edu/jsmg/article-pdf/1/1/44/378624/jsmg_1_1_44.pdf from Downloaded INTRODUCTION As unquestionably evident from the chipmusic scene, it is an understatement to say that there is a lot one can do with simple square waves. One-bit music, generally considered a subdivision of chipmusic,1 takes this one step further: it is the music of a single square wave. The only operation possible in a -bit environment is the variation of amplitude over time, where amplitude is quantized to two states: high or low, on or off. As such, it may seem in- tuitively impossible to achieve traditionally simple musical operations such as polyphony and dynamic control within a -bit environment. Despite these restrictions, the unique tech- niques and auditory tricks of contemporary -bit practice exploit the limits of human per- ception.
    [Show full text]