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195 lines
7.2 KiB
195 lines
7.2 KiB
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<H1><A ID="SECTION00400000000000000000">
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Preface</A>
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</H1>
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<P>
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This is a book about using electronic techniques to record, synthesize,
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process, and analyze musical sounds, a practice which came into its modern form
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in the years 1948-1952, but whose technological means and artistic uses have
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undergone several revolutions since then. Nowadays most electronic music is
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made using computers, and this book will focus exclusively on what used to be
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called "computer music", but which should really now be called "electronic
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music using a computer".
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<P>
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Most of the computer music tools available today have antecedents in earlier
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generations of equipment. The computer, however, is relatively cheap and the
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results of using one are easy to document and re-create. In these respects at
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least, the computer makes the ideal electronic music instrument--it is hard to
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see what future technology could displace it.
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<P>
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The techniques and practices of electronic music can be studied (at least in
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theory) without making explicit reference to the current state of technology.
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Still, it's important to provide working examples. So each chapter starts with
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theory (avoiding any reference to implementation) and ends with a series of
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examples realized in a currently available software package.
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<P>
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The ideal reader of this book is anyone who knows and likes electronic
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music of any genre, has plenty of facility with computers in general, and who
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wants to learn how to make electronic music from the ground up, starting
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with the humble oscillator and continuing through sampling, FM, filtering,
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waveshaping, delays, and so on. This will take plenty of time.
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<P>
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This book doesn't take the easy route of recommending pre-cooked software to
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try out these techniques; instead, the emphasis is on learning how to use a
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general-purpose computer music environment to realize them yourself. Of the
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several such packages available, we'll use Pd, but that shouldn't stop you
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from using these same techniques in other environments such as Csound or
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Max/MSP.
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<P>
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To read this book you must understand mathematics through intermediate algebra
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and trigonometry; starting in Chapter 7, complex numbers also make an
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appearance, although not complex analyis. (For instance, complex numbers are
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added, multiplied, and conjugated, but there are no complex exponentials.) A
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review of mathematics for computer music by F. Richard Moore
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appears in [<A
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HREF="node202.html#r-strawn85">Str85</A>, pp. 1-68].
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<P>
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Although the "level" of mathematics is not high, the mathematics itself is
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sometimes quite challenging. All sorts of cool mathematics is in the reach of
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any student of algebra or geometry. In the service of computer music, for
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instance, we'll run into Bessel functions, Chebychev polynomials, the Central
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Limit Theorem, and, of course, Fourier analysis.
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<P>
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You don't need much background in music as it is taught in the West; in
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particular, Western written music notation is not needed. Some elementary bits
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of Western music theory are used, such as the tempered scale, the A-B-C system
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of naming pitches, and terms like "note" and "chord". Also you should be
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familiar with terms of musical acoustics such as sinusoids, amplitude,
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frequency, and the overtone series.
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<P>
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Each chapter starts with a theoretical discussion of some family of
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techniques or theoretical issues, followed by a series of examples realized
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in Pd to illustrate them. The examples are included in the Pd distribution,
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so you can run them and/or edit them into your own spinoffs. In addition,
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all the figures were created using Pd patches, which appear in an electronic
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supplement. These aren't carefully documented but in principle could be
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used as an example of Pd's drawing capabilities for anyone interested in
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that.
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<P>
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I would like to thank some people who have made it possible for me to write
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this. Barry Vercoe is almost entirely responsible for my music education.
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Meanwhile I was taught mathematics by Wayne Holman, Samuel Greitzer, Murray
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Klamkin, Gian-Carlo Rota, Frank Morgan, Michael Artin, Andrew Gleason, and many
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others. Phil White taught me English and Rosie Paschall visual composition.
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Finally, my parents (one deceased) are mighty patient; I'm now 47. Thank
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you.
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<P>
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<P>
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HREF="node5.html">Foreword</A>
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<ADDRESS>
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Miller Puckette
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2006-12-30
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