Digital Audio I

MUS 482, Fall 2002

MW 12:00-12:50, CA 045/147

Instructor: Dr. James Harley

Office: CA 138, tel: 236-2001

Class Website: www.mnstate.edu/harley/mus482/ csound files (from 2001)

Office Hours: MWF 10:00, or by appointment

Dodge, Charles & Thomas A. Jerse. Computer Music, 2^nd edition

Bianchini, Riccardo & Alessandro Cipriani. Virtual Sound

Diskettes (Macintosh)

CD-Rs (blank)

We will be learning about digital audio, sound synthesis, and signal processing. The readings from the Computer Music text will provide the foundation for the principles and techniques. The Virtual Sound text will be used to direct the practical work in the studio, where you will be able to apply the concepts you are learning to actual examples of audio you will create. The main focus of the studio work will be oriented toward Csound, a (freely available for all platforms) computer language for working with audio. We will also work with Max/MSP, a graphic object-oriented programming environment for working with audio and MIDI. This program is installed on the computer in CA 045, and must be purchased in order to create your own applications on your own (Macintosh only) computer. There is now a utility to enable Csound instruments to run within Max/MSP.

Students will be expected to keep up with the readings, and will be required to present selected topics to the class. Regular studio time working with the audio software is critical, and you will be expected to spend at least 3 hours per week to that end. Regular studio assignments will need to be completed in a timely fashion. You will complete a final project in the form of an audio creation/composition that will be presented in a public concert early in Winter term.

The other component of the course relates to the history of computer music. You will need to do regular listening to the assigned recordings, and you will keep a Listening Log which will be evaluated at Mid-term and at the end of term. Criteria for this work will be handed out and discussed in class.

The final exam will comprise questions relating to the readings over the course of the term along with selected discussion of techniques explored using the software.