The Birth of Computer Music 1954-70'S
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The Birth of Computer Music 1954-70’s Early Experiments in “Computer-Assisted Composition” 1954 - Yannis Xenakis uses a computer to help compose Metastasis – Work for string orchestra with 61 solo parts – Computer used to calculate intervals and durations of string glissandi – Structure was based on the Fibonnaci series (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc.) "The work introduces a new concept of the melodic line. This line can be explained as the surrounding of tangential glissandi. By fanning the glissandi in a body of strings completely divided into solo parts, the piece exploits the continuity of the sound spectrum and creates areas and fields of sound of varying density. “ -Xenakis Graph of Metastasis m.309-314 1957 - Lejaren Hiller and Leonard Isaacson at the University of Illinois use the Illiac computer to compose The Illiac Suite for string quartet (Hiller was a professor of chemistry and an amateur composer. Isaacson was a graduate student in the Chemistry department.) • Computer was used to generate long strings of random numbers which were used to determine notes in the melody • Some numbers were used and some were skipped, based on certain rules such as: – Melody must begin and end on middle C – Certain leaps were forbidden Early Experiments in Computer- Generated Sound Bell Labs 1957- Max Mathews, scientist at Bell Labs (Murray Hill, NJ) • creates the first converter to put sound into a computer and another converter to get it back out “It was immediately apparent that once we could get sound out of a computer, we could write programs to play music on the computer.” -Mathews • creates Music I, the first sound-generating computer program, written in assembly code for an IBM 704 • one voice (monophonic), one waveform (triangle wave), no envelope controls • pitch, loudness, and duration could be controlled 1958- Mathews creates Music II, an improvement on Music I with four triangle- wave functions 1960 - Mathews creates Music III for an IBM 7094 (one of the computers to use the new transistor technology) – introduced unit generators, which could be used to build modular instruments – Introduced the concept of a “score” - notes could be specified in the order of their starting times and each note was associated with a timbre, loudness, pitch, and duration Musicians join the cause… 1961 - John Pierce (director of the communication sciences at Bell Labs) goes to the University of Illinois to learn more about their experiments – meets Hiller, Isaacson, and James Tenney, a graduate student composer – Hires Tenney allegedly to do psychoacoustics, but really to do computer music 1961 - Tenney composes “Noise Study” 1962 - Mathews and Joan Miller create Music IV for the IBM 7094 • Hubert Howe, Godfrey Winham, and Jim Randall at Princeton University run Music IV on the university’s IBM 7094 • Princeton improves Music IV, creating a more user-friendly version, Music IV-B 1963 - Mathews publishes “The Digital Computer as a Musical Instrument” in Science “At present, the range of computer music is limited principally by cost and by our knowledge of psychoacoustics… the method will become significant only if it is used by serious composers. At present, our goal is to interest and educate such musicians in its use…” Europeans join the cause 1964 - Jean-Claude Risset, a graduate student in Physics studying in Paris inspired by Mathews article aquires a grant to base his thesis on research at Bell Labs • Focuses his research on timbre • Begins by studying trumpet samples, analyzed with sound spectrograph and with the computer “I found that the most salient characteristic of brass tones was the fact that the spectrum varied with loudness, so as to increase the proportion of high-energy when the loudness increases … 1967 - Howe and Winham at Princeton finish a FORTRAN version of Music IV-B called Music IV-BF (1st version written in high-level, non-machine- specific language) 1967 - Richard Moore and Vladimir Ussachevsky join the team at Bell Labs, (Ussachevsky as “visiting composer”) • Moore converted samples into sound using a converter running on an IBM 1620. Composers from Princeton would drop off computer tapes to be converted. 1968 - Mathews, Miller, Moore, and Risset complete Music V, a major improvement to the Music-N series written in Fortran - improved modularity with linkable unit generators - improved score functions - was disseminated to studios for installation by punch cards (2 boxes full!) 1969 - Jean-Claude Risset’s Mutations composed at Bell Labs • Sculpts timbre development over time • Not note-oriented 1970 - Charles Dodge, a composer teaching at Princeton composed Earth’s Magnetic Field • Note-oriented composition • Uses graph of average magnetic activity recorded in 1961 to correspond to pitches The cause extends to other institutions… Stanford University • Following a visit to Bell Labs in 1964, John Chowning brings Music IV back to Stanford and installs it with David Poole on the department’s IBM 7094 • Converted samples using a PDP-1 computer in the Artificial Intelligence Lab • In 1966 Chowning and Poole write Music 10, a version of Music IV compatible with the new PDP-10 computer Stanford con’t. • In1966, John Chowning finishes a program which could calculate energy distributions between four loudspeakers (spatialization) • 1967-1971, Chowning experiments with vibrato and discovers the richs of frequency modulation. Among other timbres, he creates very rich brass- like tones and bell-like tones using only two oscillators • 1974 Yamaha licensed Chowning’s FM synthesis technique, patent issued in 1977 “Chowning explains the importance of the technique: “…you can get control over a very large timbral space with a very few knobs.” Stanford con’t. • 1975 - Stanford founds CCRMA (Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics) co- directed by Chowning and Leland Smith • 1977 - Stanford acquires grant money to commission The Samson Box, a digital synthesizer utilizing the patented technique of frequency modulation • 1983 John Pierce from Bell Labs joins CCRMA • 1987 Max Mathews from Bell Labs joins CCRMA IRCAM (Institute of Research and Coordination of Acoustics and Music) - Paris • In 1969, Jean-Claude Risset installs Music V on a Hewlett-Packard Computer (1st installation in Europe) at the Institut d’Electronique Fondamental • In 1970, President of France (Georges Pompidou) invites Pierre Boulez to create and direct a music research institute • In 1973 IRCAM was founded with Boulez as artistic director and Risset directing the computer department • Five departments Computer, Instrumental Performance, Electronic Music, Department of Pedagogy, Department of the Diagonal • In 1974 Max Mathews was appointed scientific advisor (spending 3 to 4 months a year in Paris) IRCAM con’t • IRCAM ran Music V, Music 10, and other software developed at Stanford on a PDP-10 and PDP-11 computer • By 1978, the large building for IRCAM was complete, with offices, lab space, recording studios, an anechoic chamber and the Espace de Projection, a black-box concert hall with adjustable acousti • In 1978 Risset left IRCAM because he was dissatisfied with the subordinate role of research (energies were devoted to the creation of music for public concerts).