The musician-machine interface in digital synthesis
The musician-machine interface in digital synthesis
The introduction of digital techniques has allowed sound to be manipulated with greater precision and acoustic fidelity than is possible using analogue equipment, and the advent of microcomputer-controlled digital synthesizers is overcoming the limitation that the digital sound synthesis languages cannot usually operate in real time. An important advantage of computer systems is that, since the data must be prepared in a structured form, it can readily be stored and reused whenever needed. However, weaknesses exist in the design of the interface between the musician and the system in existing languages. It is the purpose of this thesis to discuss how this problem has been tackled and to suggest improvements which might be made in the future. Most pieces realized so far feature the computer as a sound synthesizer, but digital systems can also be used to process both live and prerecorded material. After preliminary discussion of the factors leading up to the establishment of digital sound systems, there follows a description of the general-purpose languages with special reference to Music 5 and Music 10 at the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music in Paris. The problems relating to the use of these systems for sound processing are then considered as well as the applications of microprocessor technology. Finally, the compositional applications of the medium are presented in relation to the work of composers such as Jean-Claude Hisset, and some examples are drawn from the author's own ~Prisms~ for piano and computer-synthesized tape.
University of Southampton
1980
Haynes, Stanley
(1980)
The musician-machine interface in digital synthesis.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The introduction of digital techniques has allowed sound to be manipulated with greater precision and acoustic fidelity than is possible using analogue equipment, and the advent of microcomputer-controlled digital synthesizers is overcoming the limitation that the digital sound synthesis languages cannot usually operate in real time. An important advantage of computer systems is that, since the data must be prepared in a structured form, it can readily be stored and reused whenever needed. However, weaknesses exist in the design of the interface between the musician and the system in existing languages. It is the purpose of this thesis to discuss how this problem has been tackled and to suggest improvements which might be made in the future. Most pieces realized so far feature the computer as a sound synthesizer, but digital systems can also be used to process both live and prerecorded material. After preliminary discussion of the factors leading up to the establishment of digital sound systems, there follows a description of the general-purpose languages with special reference to Music 5 and Music 10 at the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music in Paris. The problems relating to the use of these systems for sound processing are then considered as well as the applications of microprocessor technology. Finally, the compositional applications of the medium are presented in relation to the work of composers such as Jean-Claude Hisset, and some examples are drawn from the author's own ~Prisms~ for piano and computer-synthesized tape.
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Published date: 1980
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Local EPrints ID: 459064
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/459064
PURE UUID: 78348c21-1110-4cf7-9945-8b0cfbe06869
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 17:03
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 17:03
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Author:
Stanley Haynes
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