Composing Interactive Music: Techniques and Ideas Using Max / Edition 1

by Todd Winkler

Overview

Interactive music refers to a composition or improvisation in which software interprets live performances to produce music generated or modified by computers. In Composing Interactive Music , Todd Winkler presents both the technical and aesthetic possibilities of this increasingly popular area of computer music. His own numerous compositions have been the laboratory for the research and development that resulted in this book.

The author's examples use a graphical programming language called Max. Each example in the text is accompanied by a picture of how it appears on the computer screen. The same examples are included as software on the accompanying CD-ROM, playable on a Macintosh computer with a MIDI keyboard.

Although the book is aimed at those interested in writing music and software using Max, the casual reader can learn the basic concepts of interactive composition by just reading the text, without running any software. The book concludes with a discussion of recent multimedia work incorporating projected images and video playback with sound for concert performances and art installations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262731393
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	01/26/2001
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.72(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Todd Winkler is an award-winning composer whose works for interactive technology and mixed media have been performed at major international festivals. He is Assistant Professor of Music at Brown University, where he is Director of the MacColl Studios for Electronic Music.

Table of Contents

Preface
I INTRODUCTION, HISTORY, & THEORY
1 Introduction and Background
Components of an Interactive System · Enhancing the Roles of
Performer and Composer · Audience Reception and Participation
· A Brief History of Interactive Composition
2 Interaction: Defining Relationships Between Computers
and Performers
Performance Models · Musical Form and Structure · Instrument
Design and Limitations
II PROGRAMMING FOUNDATION
3 Graphic Programming with Max
Brief Overview of Programming Languages · Introduction to Max
· How Max Handles MIDI · Chapter Summary
4 Program Structure and Design
Approaches to Programming · Handling Data in Max · Data
Storage Objects: Storing and Recalling Information · Other Max
Data Storage Objects · Messages: Data Types and Display ·
Data Flow: Moving Information Through the System · C Programming Objects
· Efficiency and Memory Management · Debugging
5 Interface Design
Basic Principles of Interface Design · Building Interfaces in Max
· Max's Interface Objects · User Feedback · Computer
Input Devices · Interface and Encapsulation: A Programming Example
III CORE COMPONENTS
6 The Computer as Listener: Analyzing and Storing
Performance Data
Listening to Music · Analysis: What Can Be Understood? · Time
· Improving Listerer Data · Space · Identifying Musical
Features and Tracking Changes Over Time · Efficient Useof
Listener Objects
7 Composer Objects
Creative Responses to Listener Data · Composer Object Design
· Types of Composition Algorithms · Transforming Musical Material
· Constrained Pitch Output: Comparative Programming Examples
· MelodicContour: A Progressive Study in Generatve Methods ·
ParamColl: Parameter Analysis and Playback · Sequencer Methods
· Humanizing Algorithms: The Computer as Performer
IV ADVANCED TECHNIQUES AND CONCEPTS
8 Sound Design
MIDI Limitations for Listener Objects · Participation By
Musicians Playing Nondigital Instruments · Composer Objects for
Timbre Selection, Creation, and Manipulation · Synthesis Design
and Control Parameters · System-Exclusive Messages ·
Automated Mixing and Multitrack Parameter Control · Interactive
Signal Processing · Basic Categories of Signal Processing
· Compositional Approaches Using Interactive Signal Processing
· Scaling Problems and Solutions · The Future of Max: Audio
Input, Signal Processing, and Sound Synthesis
9 Score Objects: Compositional Strategies, Structures,
and Timing Mechanisms
Compositional Strategies · Score Objects · Performance
Synchronization Techniques · Score Structure Examples: Models
of Score Objects · Score-Following Overview
10 Interactive Multimedia and New Controllers
Interactive Music in Screen-Based Works · Interactive Music in
Multimedia Performance Works · Displaying Graphics in Max ·
New Controllers and Multimedia Performance Systems · Making Music
Through Movement
Appendix: Master List of Examples
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Robert Rowe

Beyond a clear and thorough introduction to Max programming, Todd Winkler's Composing Interactive Music presents and explains a comprehensive theoretical framework encompassing the major issues inthe field.

Cort Lippe

For users of the programming environment Max, wishing to explore its full potential as an interactive music and multimedia tool, Todd Winkler's Composing Interactive Music is an indispensable guide. More importantly, Winkler's contribution to the interactive computer field shows both practical and conceptual originality.

Endorsement

Beyond a clear and thorough introduction to Max programming, Todd Winkler's Composing Interactive Music presents and explains a comprehensive theoretical framework encompassing the major issues inthe field.

—Robert Rowe, Music Technology Program, New York University

From the Publisher

For users of the programming environment Max, wishing to explore its full potential as an interactive music and multimedia tool, Todd Winkler's Composing Interactive Music is an indispensable guide. More importantly, Winkler's contribution to the interactive computer field shows both practical and conceptual originality.

—Cort Lippe, Director, The Hiller Computer Music Studios, University at Buffalo-SUNY

Beyond a clear and thorough introduction to Max programming, Todd Winkler's Composing Interactive Music presents and explains a comprehensive theoretical framework encompassing the major issues inthe field.

—Robert Rowe, Music Technology Program, New York University