<p> Modular synthesis is a continually evolving practice. Currently, an effective taxonomy for analyzing modular synthesizer design does not exist, which is a significant barrier for pedagogy and documentation. In this dissertation, I will define new taxonomies for modular control, patching strategies, and panel design. I will also analyze how these taxonomies can be used to influence the design of musical applications outside of hardware, such as my company Unfiltered Audio's software products. Finally, I will present Euro Reakt, my collection of over 140 module designs for the Reaktor Blocks format and walk through the design process of each.</p>

<p> Catalyzed by the invention of magnetic tape recording, audio production has transformed from technical to artistic, and the roles of producer, engineer, composer, and performer have merged for many forms of music. However, while these roles have changed, the way we interact with audio production tools has not and still relies on the conventions established in the 1970s for audio engineers. Users communicate their audio concepts to these complex tools using knobs and sliders that control low-level technical parameters. Musicians currently need technical knowledge of signals in addition to their musical knowledge to make novel music. However, many experienced and casual musicians simply do not have the time or desire to acquire this technical knowledge. While simpler tools (e.g. Apple's <i>GarageBand</i>) exist, they are limiting and frustrating to users. </p><p> To support these audio-production novices, we must build audio-production tools with affordances for them. We must identify interactions that enable novices to communicate their audio concepts without requiring technical knowledge and develop systems that can understand these interactions. </p><p> This dissertation advances our understanding of this problem by investigating three interaction types which are inspired by how novices communicate audio concepts to other people: <i>language, vocal imitation,</i> and <i> evaluation</i>. Because learning from an individual can be time consuming for a user, much of this dissertation focuses on how we can learn general audio concepts offline using crowdsourcing rather than user-specific audio concepts. This work introduces algorithms, frameworks, and software for learning audio concepts via these interactions and investigates the strengths and weaknesses of both the algorithms and the interaction types. These contributions provide a research foundation for a new generation of audio-production tools. </p><p> This problem is not limited to audio production tools. Other media production tools&mdash;such as software for graphics, image, and video design and editing&mdash;are also controlled by low-level technical parameters which require technical knowledge and experience to use effectively. The contributions in this dissertation to learn mappings from descriptive language and feedback to low-level control parameters may also be adapted for creative production tools in these other mediums. The contributions in this dissertation can unlock the creativity trapped in everyone who has the desire to make music and other media but does not have the technical skills required for today's tools.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from 1st page of PDF file (viewed Feb. 9, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes sound files of examples in 44K stereo. and 96K formats. Includes bibliographical references: P. 143.

<p> Kulitta is a Haskell-based, modular framework for automated composition and machine learning. A central idea to Kulitta's approach is the notion of abstraction: the idea that something can be described at many different levels of detail. Music has many levels of abstraction, ranging from the sound we hear to a paper score and large-scale structural patterns. Music is also very multidimensional and prone to tractability problems. Kulitta works at many of levels of abstraction in stages as a way to mitigate these inherent complexity problems.</p><p> Abstract musical structure is generated by using a new category of grammars called probabilistic temporal graph grammars (PTGGs), which are a type of parameterized, context-free grammar that includes variable instantiation, a feature usually only found in grammars for programming languages. This abstract structure can be turned into full music through the use of constraint satisfaction algorithms and equivalence relations based on music theoretic concepts. An extension to an existing algorithm for learning PCFGs provides a way to learn production probabilities for these grammars using corpora of existing music. Kulitta's modules for these features are able to be combined in different ways to support multiple styles of music.</p><p> Kulitta's important contributions include (1) algorithms and a generalized Haskell implementation to support PTGGs, (2) additional formalization of existing musical equivalence relations along with a new equivalence relation for modeling jazz harmony, (3) an empirical evaluation strategy for measuring the performance of automated composition algorithms, and (4) the extension of a machine-learning algorithm for PCFGs to support a much broader category of grammars (inclusive of PTGGs) via the use of an oracle. Kulitta's musical performance is also promising, demonstrating both stylistic versatility and aesthetically pleasing results.</p>

Laptop performance---performance on a standard computer system without novel controllers, usually by a solo musician---is an increasingly common mode of live computer music. Its novelty is diminishing, however, and it is frequently described as being uninteresting. Laptop performance often lacks the sense of effort and active creation that we typically expect from live music, and exhibits little perceivable connection between the performer's actions and the resulting sound. Performance software designs tend to constrict the flow of control between the performer and the music, often leading artists to rely on prepared control sequences. Laptop performers become "pilots" of largely computerized processes, detracting from the live experience. / This thesis project presents an alternative software interface that aims to bring a sense of active creation to laptop performance. The system prevents the use of prepared control sequences and allows the live assembly of generative musical processes. The software resembles a freehand drawing interface where strokes are interactively assembled to create looping and cascading animated figures. The on-screen animation is mapped to sound, creating corresponding audio patterns. Networks of strokes are assembled and manipulated to perform music. The system's use of freehand input infuses the music with natural human variability, and its graphical interface establishes a visible connection between the user's actions and the resulting audio. / The thesis document explores the above issues in laptop performance, which motivated this research. Typical examples of performance software are presented, illustrating the interface design patterns that contribute to this situation. The thesis software project is presented, describing its goals, design and implementation. The properties of the interface are discussed in light of the project's initial objectives. It is concluded that the system is a solid step toward a novel approach to laptop performance software.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Villanova University, 2008. / Computer Science Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1993. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-155). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

The past half-decade has seen progress in methodology and reusable components available to designers of music authoring tools. This thesis examines currently prevalent architectures for music making software and applies currently available technical means to update design methodology and architectural patterns for the next-generation of tools. It aims to map the various categories of advances and the manner in which they relate to each other, to the problem of building these tools. The focus is on conceptualization. The thesis aims to understand, from historical perspectives, as well as from perspectives provided by other domains, the fundamental problems encountered in the process of designing authoring tools. / Issues examined include building rich visual and interactive interfaces for authoring, the use of multiple notations and formalisms to describe multiple aspects of musical structure, end-user extensibility and end-user script ability. The results of design experiments implementing core ideas are documented, and the manner in which the ideas from these prototypes may be applied to the construction of real-world tools is discussed. As far as possible, the thesis investigates existing tools, frameworks, design ideas, and architectural possibilities that scale. In conclusion, the manner in which the investigation relates to the future of authoring tools, and to problems faced by contemporary artists and tool-makers is discussed.

This study will prove the fact that computers provide unprecedented opportunities to create music. Several distinct levels of computer participation can exist in the creative process. The lowest level, involving record-keeping functions, results in programs that serve as compositional aids. The intermediate level incorporates stochastic (literally "random") processes on a limited basis, and represents the midpoint between computer-assisted and computercomposed works. The highest level focuses on the design of algorithms that result in compositions determined in most of their details by stochastic processes and computer decision making. Although there is no clear dividing line between levels of computer/composer interaction, it is possible to characterize the degree to which the computer has provided outcomes for a given work, from low-level random generation of pitches to high-level Markovian chain distributions. / Department of Computer Science