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COMPUTER MUSIC / Re: Books: "Designing Sound" + "Electronic Music and Sound Design"

« on: May 12, 2012, 03:43:38 pm »

Thanks you two - great stuff. 

I'm not surprised by your advice - though it helps hearing it.  Expertise in anything comes from practice, etc.  And yes, I don't know the exact direction I want to go in. 

I do have Roads' Computer Music Tutorial, but haven't spent nearly enough time with it.

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COMPUTER MUSIC / Evolutionary Music

« on: May 07, 2012, 09:04:40 pm »

Just curious if anyone here has tried to compose 'evolutionary music'?  I just learned that such a formal term exists:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_music

I use genetic algorithms as search heuristics in a very different context (day job), but I think this approach could yield incredible possibilities for music composition.

I would love to be able to provide a 'framework' to listeners that evolves according to the iterations of the optimization routine within a 'suitably' predefined search space (instead of one sample path/realization of it, delivered on vinyl/CD, for example).  Ideally, the audience would be able to select the random seed/initial starting point in the search space.  This starting point would be presented to the listener in some meaningful context (e.g., their current GPS, location of birth, etc., to name the first few that come to mind).  

I'm sure the creation of evolutionary music and this delivery has been done (I just haven't seen it).  Probably some dusty java applet under the guise of a 'multimedia' project in 1998 (not that there's anything wrong with dusty java applets).  It's very feasible these days - particularly now that some music labels are delivering content on thumb drives.  

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COMPUTER MUSIC / Books: "Designing Sound" + "Electronic Music and Sound Design"

« on: May 07, 2012, 08:41:34 pm »

Has anyone here read the following two books?  I ordered them recently - I'm looking forward to teaching myself Max/MSP and/or PD later this year.

• Designing Sound, by Andy Farnell
• Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice with Max/MSP - volume 1, by Alessandro Cipriani, Maurizio Giri

I have a number of 'traditional' computer music books, but I bought these specifically because they are appear to be less theoretical and more hands on (nothing wrong with theoretical, IMO, I'm just looking to finally get my hands really dirty). 

Any other alternative recommendations specifically pertaining to Max/MSP and/or PD (beyond their help files)?  I don't have a lot of experience with either, but I'm attracted to both b/c of their insane flexibility (at least, that's my understanding - please correct me if I'm wrong and redirect me to 'right' software - I'm not opposed to straight C coding if that's what it takes, but I'd prefer leveraging existing/'modern' frameworks). 

I'd also love to hear of any music theory books that are approachable to a novice - perhaps I'll start a different thread for that.  I'm currently (very slowly) getting through Tymoczko's A Geometry of Music.  I don't have the proper music theory background for the book (e.g., I can't read sheet music), but I love the framework and inspiration it provides.