Instructor: Juan Pablo Bello
Office: Room 409, 383 LaFayette Street (Tower)
Office hours (Spring 2008): Wednesdays 2-4pm
phone: (212) 998.5736 (ext 85736)
eml: jp[lastname] [at] nyu [dot] edu
E85.2603: Digitally-Controlled Music Systems
Course Information:
Meetings (Spring 2008): Mondays 6.45 - 8.25pm
Studio F, 8th floor Ed. building.
Overview: This course overviews basic digital music technologies as relevant to composition, production, programming and research.
Evaluation: Students will be assessed by means of a mid-term examination (30%), 4 assignments (30%) and a final group project, including a report and a presentation (40%). Attendance and class participation will be taken into account when grading, including mandatory attendance to the Interactive Arts Performance Series (02/25 8pm).
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RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
In no specific order:
- Rumsey, F. and McCormick, T.: Sound and Recording: An Introduction. Oxford: Focal Press (2006, 5th. Edition)
- Winkler, T. Composing Interactive Music. MIT Press (1999)
- Roads, C. The Computer Music Tutorial. MIT Press (1996)
- Pohlmann, K. Principles of Digital Audio. MacGraw-Hill (1995)
- Zolzer, U. (Ed). DAFx: Digital Audio Effects. John Wiley and Sons (2002)
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Calendar and Lecture notes:
Lecture notes will be added and/or updated (as pdf files) as the course progresses. Dates are tentative and are subject to change
01/28 & 02/04: Basics of digital systems and MIDI
02/11: Introduction to Max
02/18: PRESIDENT’S DAY ---------------
02/25: DSP Fundamentals / MSP -- Interactive Arts Performance Series (8pm) --
03/03: DSP Fundamentals / MSP Part II
03/10: Sound Synthesis
03/17: SPRING BREAK --------------
03/24: Sound Synthesis (continued)
03/31: Mid-term examination (For examples of previous mid-term exams click here)
04/07: Sound Synthesis (continued)
04/14: Dr. Werner Goebl (McGill University): “Motion Capture of Piano Performance”
04/21: Music Information Retrieval
04/28: Project Presentations
(1) Connelly/Rignanese: The post-production process of game audio
(2) Kestian/Leonard: The state of modern Internet performance technology
(3) Rodriguez/Weichselbaum: Digital Audio Effects and their place in recorded music
(4) Kumar/Vierhaus: Granular synthesis and physical modeling techniques in modern composition
05/05: Project Presentations (cont)
(1) Davalos/Gonzales/Zhang: Live algorithms for music
(2) Li/Chang: Synthesis of the human voice
(3) Silber/Cho: Gestural control of musical systems
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Assignments:
Instructions for Assignments (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY):
1. Go to the course’s blackboard page (available under “Blackboard Classes” on your home page of the home.nyu.edu site). Go to “Control Panel” and select “Digital Dropbox” under the “Course Tools” list. Press both the “Add Files” and “Send Files” buttons, upload your file and complete all the information as requested.
1. All files corresponding to the assignment must be uploaded to the blackboard page before 12 midnight on the due date (a penalty will be applied for every day of delay - You should send me an email explaining the reasons for the delay).
2. Additionally to any patches required, the written solutions to every assignment should be on a single document containing the answers, diagrams (if any) and the discussion of results. This document will be preferably a pdf file. Word documents are also acceptable.
3. Be concise in your answers and comments. Go straight to the point.
4. Documents should be clearly identified as YourLastNameAssignment# (e.g. Bello3.pat and, Bello1.pdf). When you have more than one file as part of your submission, please add the files into a zip file of the same name (e.g. Bello3.zip, Bello1.zip).
5. Also, clearly indicate your name in the body of every file (at the top of your pdf or word document).
Assignments will be announced with sufficient time and published online. Penalties will apply to delays
Keep checking this space regularly for assignments and due dates.
Assignment # 1 (Due date Mon. 02/25): 5%
Make a SIMPLE Max patch that uses the input of a MIDI keyboard such that: (1) the bend wheel is used to control pitch - make sure notes are turned off; (2) the MIDI keyboard is used as a controller - e.g. modulation, program change, bend wheel; (3) tables are used to graphically modify the MIDI input/output relationships in tasks (1) and (2); and (4) a few table configurations are stored on presets such that the user can navigate through and/or change those configurations at will. Note: Use as few objects as possible and document the patch thoroughly.
Assignment # 2 (Due date Mon. 03/10): 5%
On Monday 02/25 the class will attend the Interactive Arts Performance Series concert at NYU’s Loewe Theatre. Attendance is mandatory. Write a short (2 to 4 pages) report discussing: (a) the acoustics of the hall and overall sound quality; (b) the technical setup; (c) the use of digital technologies in the performance; and (d) general comments about the composition and performance strategies. Please try to frame the observations and discussion in your report in the context of the class.
Assignment # 3 (Due date Mon. 03/24): 10%
Make a Max/MSP patch that uses the pfft~ object to calculate the STFT of a digital signal such that:
(1) window overlap is half a window; (2) the magnitude spectra can be visualized using the scope~ object; (3) a Hamming window -- w(n) = 0.54 +0.46cos(2n/N), n = 0…N-1 -- is used to minimize leaking; and (4) the signal is filtered using a resonant, bandpass or notch filter.
In a short 1-2 pages report, discuss the effects of (not)using the Hamming window. Change the central frequency and bandwidth of the filter: how does that affect the filter coefficients? How is the sound affected? Please try to frame the observations and discussion in your report in the context of the class.
Note: Use as few objects as possible and document the patch thoroughly. Submit patch and report as a zip file named according to the conventions in the instructions above.
Assignment # 4 (Due date Mon. 04/14): 10%
Make a Max/MSP patch that plays a melody from a stored numeric sequence (chords are optional), such that the melody is replayed using complex sounds synthesized using at least (a) one linear and (b) one non-linear technique as reviewed in class (don't just copy the tutorial examples, do something in your patch that differs from the manual). Synthesis control parameters should be clearly visible and easily accessible to the user.
In a short 1-2 pages report, justify the architecture of your patch and your choice of synthesis techniques. Give a detailed account of the effect that modifying the synthesis control parameters has on the generated sound. Please try to frame the observations and discussion in your report in the context of the class.
Note: Use as few objects as possible and document the patch thoroughly. Submit patch and report as a zip file named according to the conventions in the instructions above.
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Projects and presentations:
Projects are 40% of total course marks and are organized in groups of 2. Please read carefully the following list of important dates, activities and instructions:
03/31: Project and group definition - this 2-page document should include a project title and extended abstract, the group members and a bibliographical references to at least 4 relevant documents.
04/28 & 05/05: Project Presentations and Reports - See Instructions below.
Instructions for Projects and Presentations (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY):
1. Presentations slots are strictly 25 minutes long: 15-20 minutes for the presentation and 5-10 minutes for questions. This time includes changeover time (the time it takes you to set up everything). You should bring the presentation on a laptop and try the projector and sound on the studio beforehand. This is specially important for those of you who want to use any additional piece of equipment for the demonstration.
2. You must be present during all presentations and participate of the discussion (ask questions, make comments). Your attendance and participation will be taken into account during grading.
3. The final project report, to be handled in print before the presentation (and uploaded to blackboard), should not exceed a max. number of 30 pages. Structure should be more or less as follows: introduction (including motivation), theoretical background, discussion of the state of the art and conclusions.
4. The report should include one page that clearly explains the roles and responsibilities taken by each one of the members of the group. All members should participate of the technical side of the work (research, implementation if applicable, etc) and of the presentation.
A non-exhaustive list of possible topics include:
- Auditory displays
- Digital audio effects
- Open Sound Control
- Live music performances over the Internet
- Audio for video games
- Audio applications online / mobile devices
- SuperCollider
- Physical modeling / Granular Synthesis
- Sound / Image transformations / Jitter
- Hearing aids and music
- Live algorithms for music
- Coding audio plugins
During office hours, the instructor will provide guidance and advise about the projects to be selected.
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