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computer music

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
term used to describe music composed or performed with the aid of a computer. The first substantial piece of music composed on a computer was the Illiac Suite (1956) by the avant-garde composer Lejaren Hiller (1925–94). Computer music can be divided into two distinct production techniques: MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface—see electronic music ) and software synthesis. In MIDI production a computer is used to control the outputs of synthesizers and signal-processing devices. Software synthesis, however, involves the use of a computer to mathematically represent and manipulate sounds. This technique was created in the late 1950s by a team headed by Max Mathews at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J. The techniques were further advanced by Godfrey Winham and Hubert Howe at Princeton. Today major centers of software synthesis include the Institute for Research and Coordination of Acoustics and Music (IRCAM) in Paris, the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics…
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Full text Article computer music

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
term used to describe music composed or performed with the aid of a computer. The first substantial piece of music composed on a computer was the Illiac Suite (1956) by the avant-garde composer Lejaren Hiller (1925–94). Computer music can be divided into two distinct production techniques: MIDI…
| 405 words
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Full text Article computer music

From Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology
Computers have had a variety of effects on the performance, rendering, and composition of music. At the same time, the sound capabilities of standard personal computers have improved greatly, and music and other sounds have become an integral part of games and educational software. After the…
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Full text Article Mathews, Max Vernon

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1926–2011, American engineer known as the father of computer music, b. Columbus, Nebr., grad. California Institute of Technology (B.S., 1950), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1954). At New Jersey's Bell Labs in 1957, Mathews wrote the first computer program, called Music, that allowed…
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Full text Article music

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
For information on types of music see such articles as absolute music ; aleatory music ; chamber music ; church music ; computer music ; electronic music ; jazz ; program music ; rock music ; serial music ; and…
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Full text Article computer-generated music

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
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Full text Article Computer-based music system

From BCS Glossary of Computing and ICT
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Full text Article Electro-acoustic music

From The Harvard Dictionary of Music
Music that is produced, modified or reproduced by electronic means, including computer hardware and software, and that makes creative use of those technologies. The character of electro-acoustic music depends to some degree on the technology employed, but the term refers to the medium and not a…
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Full text Article Smith, Leland (Clayton) (6 Aug. 1925, Oakland)

From The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
He studied with Milhaud at Mills College (1941–43, 1946–47), then with Sessions at the Univ. of California (M.A., 1948), and in Paris with Messiaen (1948–49). He taught at the Univ. of Chicago (1952–58) and Stanford Univ. (beginning 1958). Many of Smith’s compositions from the 1950s are based on…
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Full text Article electronic music

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
or electro-acoustic music, term for compositions that utilize the capacities of electronic media for creating and altering sounds. Initially, a distinction must be made between the technological development of electronic instruments and the music conceived to utilize the inherent advantages of these…
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Full text Article Dodge, Charles (Malcolm) (5 June 1942, Ames, Iowa)

From The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
Studied at the Univ. of Iowa (B.A., 1964), Columbia (with Chou and Luening; M.A., 1966; D.M.A., 1970), and Princeton (with Winham, 1969–70); has taught at Columbia (1970–77) and at Brooklyn College (from 1977), directing the Center for Computer Music. He wrote some works for traditional performers ( …
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