12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best intro to the techniques of algorithmic composing, December 15, 2005
This review is from: Composing Music with Computers (Music Technology) (Paperback)
This book is relevant to several different audiences including computer scientists, mathematicians, and AI researchers. However, this book is most directly aimed at musicians/composers who are interested in algorithmic composition. The book artfully introduces computer science and mathematics concepts to those with music backgrounds, and then also explains some music concepts to those with a more technical background. Some composers will never have a need to compose algorithmically, no matter which tools they have, and others will see immediately how to employ algorithms in their work. For those in the middle,Composing Music with Computers is an essential guide. That said, the book may have been even more valuable to such readers with a greater range of worked-out examples.
Throughout the body of the text,there are helpful illustrations with musical material provided at every appropriate juncture. These illustrations tend to be short and didactic, however, rather than elaborated and evocative.The most useful bridge between theory and practice is provided by chapter 7, a group of three case studies showing in greater detail how musical material can be derived from algorithmic techniques. In particular, the case study, titled "From content to form", shows how to generate chordal material using a collection of generative modules and then to shape that material with a group of "moulding rules". For example, Moulding Rule Two states that '"all ascending sequences. . . of notes are slurred in order to form an articulatory unit". At the end of the discussion is a measure of music for six instruments, complete with articulations, that clearly demonstrates the musical potential of the formalizations that are the subject of the book.
Beyond that, the accompanying CD-ROM includes many applications for algorithmic composition in full-blown or demonstration versions. These include Roger Dannenberg's Nyquist language, the OpenMusic programming system developed by Gérard Assayag and Carlos Agon at IRCAM, a prototype of Music Sketcher, an algorithmic composition tool designed by Daniel Oppenheim and his colleagues at the IBM Computer Music Center, and several others. There are entries for both Windows and Macintosh platforms, with documentation and supporting material. The CDROM alone makes the book well worth the investment for a serious study of algorithmic composition. With this toolbox, readers can immediately test their ideas using established and relevant software.
This book addresses a field that is widely practiced but little described: probably the closest equivalent is Phil Winsor's "Automated Music Composition", published in 1989. Not only is the book needed, but it is exceptionally well-written and, above all, clear. Composers, student or otherwise, will find a valuable resource for ideas, software, algorithms, and their underlying mathematics. This lucid and scholarly text will be read not only by computer musicians, but by everyone with an interest in the artistic possibilities of technology.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great learning experience, August 6, 2001
This review is from: Composing Music with Computers (Music Technology) (Paperback)
I am neither a musician or a computer programmer by trade but have a strong interest in both topics.
I have been looking for just this type of book for a couple of years now. It provides an excellent balance of detail and overview and seems to cover more maths in an interesting way than I have seen before.
It provides a couple of good case studies which are reasonably easy to follow and before I knew I was up and running with my own generated tunes.
I haven't even started on the CD yet!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Demystifies computer-generated music, July 14, 2001
This review is from: Composing Music with Computers (Music Technology) (Paperback)
I always had problems getting to grips with the math behind computer music. This the first book I found which talks you through comprehensibly. There are loads of diagrams and helpful examples. Hasn't made it to the shelf since I bought it!
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