Introduction to Computer Music
Computer music comes in four basic forms. The
first, and among the oldest, is MIDI. MIDI provides a pratical interface
between real electronic instruments and your computer, allowing you to
record music played live on an instrument, play recorded MIDI music using
any MIDI instrument, stack instruments ontop of eachother, and so on. This
page will have little to do with MIDI.
The second form (which is what my personal efforts
focus on), I will call module-tracking. A module is the digital equivolent
of sheet music. Similar to MIDI in this respect, modules are loaded into a
tracker-program (similar in some respects to a player-piano), which can
decode the module and convert it flawlessly (assuming the module type is
fully implemented in the tracker-program) into computer music. The
principle difference between MIDI and module-tracking, is that 'tracking'
does not in any way shape or form, require knowledge of an instrument.
Quite simply, people who know nothing about music theory, can stumble their
way through the tracking process, and create nice-sounding music, largely
unlike the MIDI form. This page will largely focus on module-tracking.
The third and newest form, is called KOAN
technology. This format is basically a hybrid version of module-tracking,
except that it involves something new: self-generating algorithms. Simply
speaking, KOAN technology allows you to write bits of songs and
progressions, and then run it through the KOAN player, which infinitely
remixes the music you just programmed. The potential of this form of music
for commerical use (in supermarkets, elevators, video games, and so on) is
noteworthy, as it allows two minutes of written music to be reshaped into a
never-repeating ambience of 40 minutes or more. Although I am very
interested in this, I will only include links to related sites here as I own
none of the software needed to produce this music.
The fourth form is MP3. MP3s are digital audio files
using mpeg audio-compression technology. Mpeg is still a standard in video
compressio as well. Anyways, mp3s can store all the audio-information from
a CD audio-track in a tight digital file. Pretty neat. The compression
rate goes about a megabyte of data per minute of song-- not bad eh?
Full-versions of songs in .mp3 format (.mp3 is their file-name extension)
are basically illegal to possess unless you personally own an original
recording of the same. However, full-version songs-- live, bootleg, and
commerically recorded-- are available all over on the Internet. I
personally have over a gig's worth, and many student's computers on the local
network here on campus have .mp3s publically available. For lots of
information, goto mp3.com.