jalkio@cc.helsinki.fi (06/14/91)
Are there any books on Csound or software music synthesis and algorithms in general? Reading the Csound docs is a bit "experimental" if you have stepped to this kind of system from commercial hardware synthesizers :-) Oh, and I would like to get recommendations about which languages/systems are good to make music with. I have a NeXTstation and enough hard disk space (about 700MB) to do some composition. I thought that Csound is "the best" but then I heard that it isn't so spectacular. Jouni
bweeks@sirius.UVic.CA (Brent Weeks) (06/14/91)
I would recommend: "Elements of Computer Music" by F. Richard Moore, Prentice Hall, 1990. Lots of stuff on software synthesis, and more, all centered around cmusic "The Music Machine" ed. by Curtis Roads, MIT Press, 1989. Compilation of Computer Music Journal articles 1980-1985 Brent Weeks bweeks@fermat.uvic.ca
cook@roger (Doug Cook 756-1460) (06/15/91)
In article <1991Jun13.210000.1@cc.helsinki.fi> jalkio@cc.helsinki.fi writes: >Are there any books on Csound or software music synthesis and algorithms >in general? Reading the Csound docs is a bit "experimental" if you have >stepped to this kind of system from commercial hardware synthesizers :-) You might check out Richard Moore's recent book; I believe it's titled _Fundamentals_of_Computer_Music_, or something very similar to that. It's a plug for cmusic, which is Moore's own software synthesis environment. A classic book on software synthesis is by Dodge and Jerse, the title of which escapes me at the moment. That book has examples in Music V, upon which Csound is based. >I thought that Csound is "the best" but then I heard that it isn't so >spectacular. Csound has a lot of power if you have the time and patience to sit down and use it. However, it's frequently a pain in the butt to use. It's sort of like programming in a musical version of FORTRAN. But it definitely gets the job done; one of my recent compositions was a four-minute quadraphonic piece realized with four 105,000-note Csound scores (a max of 885 sounds per channel per second). Try that with MIDI and you'll quickly discover why people still use Csound despite its quirks. -Doug Doug Cook |"Much is being said, my lords, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and CS | but nothing is being done." University of California | -Jeff Beck Davis, CA |
rreid@DPW.COM (r l reid ) (06/18/91)
In article <1991Jun13.210000.1@cc.helsinki.fi> jalkio@cc.helsinki.fi writes: >Are there any books on Csound or software music synthesis and algorithms >in general? Reading the Csound docs is a bit "experimental" if you have >stepped to this kind of system from commercial hardware synthesizers :-) The CSound manual is actually quite good for that - has a tutorial and everything. But for background, get hold of these: Computer Music Charles Dodge and Thomas Jerse Schirmer Books Elements of Computer Music F Richard Moore Prentice Hall >Oh, and I would like to get recommendations about which >languages/systems are good to make music with. I have a NeXTstation and >enough hard disk space (about 700MB) to do some composition. You have the necessary hardware. As for language, it depends an awful lot on what you intend to do with it. Most everyone I know who does software synthesis uses a little bit of everything. >I thought that Csound is "the best" but then I heard that it isn't so >spectacular. Such generalizations serve no purpose. Csound has certain advantages (rather complete documentation being one of them) while cmix has total flexibility (but very little documentation). Saying that "CSound isn't so spectacular", tho is a real slap in the face - would you prefer to write you wavetables by hand? Ro