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The Computer Music Tutorial (The MIT Press) Edition Unstated
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The Computer Music Tutorial is a comprehensive text and reference that covers all aspects of computer music, including digital audio, synthesis techniques, signal processing, musical input devices, performance software, editing systems, algorithmic composition, MIDI, synthesizer architecture, system interconnection, and psychoacoustics. A special effort has been made to impart an appreciation for the rich history behind current activities in the field. Profusely illustrated and exhaustively referenced and cross-referenced, The Computer Music Tutorial provides a step-by-step introduction to the entire field of computer music techniques. Written for nontechnical as well as technical readers, it uses hundreds of charts, diagrams, screen images, and photographs as well as clear explanations to present basic concepts and terms. Mathematical notation and program code examples are used only when absolutely necessary. Explanations are not tied to any specific software or hardware.
The material in this book was compiled and refined over a period of several years of teaching in classes at Harvard University, Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Naples, IRCAM, Les Ateliers UPIC, and in seminars and workshops in North America, Europe, and Asia.
- ISBN-100262680823
- ISBN-13978-0262680820
- EditionEdition Unstated
- PublisherThe MIT Press
- Publication dateFebruary 27, 1996
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions7.88 x 2.23 x 10 inches
- Print length1234 pages
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Product details
- Publisher : The MIT Press; Edition Unstated (February 27, 1996)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 1234 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0262680823
- ISBN-13 : 978-0262680820
- Item Weight : 5.3 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.88 x 2.23 x 10 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #968,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #101 in Digital Audio Production
- #129 in MIDI & Mixers
- #1,034 in Music Reference (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Curtis Roads (b. 1951) holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Media Arts and Technology (MAT) and in Music at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where he is also Associate Director of the Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology (CREATE). He studied music composition and computer programming at California Institute of the Arts, the University of California, San Diego (BA Summa Cum Laude with Highest Departmental Honors), and the University of Paris VIII (PhD Très honorable avec félicitations). From 1980 to 1986 he was a researcher in computer music at the MIT Media Laboratory. He then taught at the Federico II University of Naples, Harvard University, Oberlin Conservatory, CCMIX (Paris), and the University of Paris 8. He has led masterclasses at the Australian National Conservatory (Melbourne), Prometeo Laboratorio (Parma), Ionian University (Corfu), Goethe Institute (Rome), Kunitachi College of Music (Tokyo), Royal Conservatory (Aarhus), Catholic University (Porto), and the Zürich University of the Arts, among others. He is co-organizer of international workshops on musical signal processing in Sorrento, Capri, and Santa Barbara (1988, 1991, 1997, 2000). He served on the composition juries of the Ars Electronica (Linz) and the International Electroacoustic Music Competition (Bourges, France). Certain of his compositions feature granular and pulsar synthesis, methods he developed for generating sound from acoustical particles. A cofounder of the International Computer Music Association in 1979, he was Editor of Computer Music Journal (The MIT Press) from 1978 to 1989, and Associate Editor 1990-2000. His books include Foundations of Computer Music (1985, The MIT Press), Composers and the Computer (1985, AR Editions), The Music Machine (1989, The MIT Press), Representations of Musical Signals (1991, The MIT Press), The Computer Music Tutorial (1996, The MIT Press), Musical Signal Processing (co-editor, 1997, Routledge), L'audionumerique (1998, Dunod), The Computer Music Tutorial - Japanese edition (2000, Denki Daigaku Shuppan) and Microsound (2002, The MIT Press), which explores the aesthetics and techniques of composition with sound particles. A revised edition of L'audionumerique was published in 2007. A Chinese version of The Computer Music Tutorial was published as a national textbook in 2012. His music is available on compact discs produced by Asphodel, MODE, OR, the MIT Media Laboratory, and Wergo. His composition Clang-Tint (1994) was commissioned by the Japan Ministry of Culture (Bunka-cho). His electronic music collection POINT LINE CLOUD won the Award of Distinction at the 2002 Ars Electronica and was released as a CD + DVD on the Asphodel label (San Francisco) in 2005. In 2007 he received a National Science Foundation grant for research in algorithms for sound analysis (dictionary-based pursuit). He recently completed Composing Electronic Music: A New Aesthetic for Oxford University Press. He is currently working on a revised edition of The Computer Music Tutorial for The MIT Press, and a new set of electronic music entitled FLICKER TONE PULSE.
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The level of math is general enough for the attentive layman, yet not dumbed-down (I really should brush up on my trig, of course). If you want more detail on a subject, there are plenty of 'Suggested Reading' lists within. That's not to say the book skimps - it doesn't. I could go on, but a look at the Table of Contents says it better than I would.
I'll admit, though - this book doesn't go in-depth on traditional analog techniques. I assume it wasn't meant to, given the title and abundance of analog synth books at the time of publication. This book will help you transfer analog techniques into the computer realm, but to learn those techniques in detail, you may want to supplement this with another - probably older - book.
This book is essential. Of course, please don't buy it just to give it a one star because it didn't teach you how to use Fruity Loops - it's not that kind of "computer music" book. If you're genuinely interested in the subject matter, you won't regret owning it!
Here's a case in point: I'm interested in putting together a simple reverb unit. I know how comb and allpass filters work. How do I hook them together to make something that sounds decent? This book gives me a great overview, and then points me to Moorer 1979, which turns out to be *exactly* what I'm looking for.
Having this book on my shelf is like having a friendly colleague who knows all about the topic, and is willing to share and provide pointers. Wonderful.
Nevertheless, an interesting read sans the elf'in magic that makes computer music possible.
For me this is an awesome, well written reference book oriented on every aspect of digital audio.
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