bradr@bartok.Eng.Sun.COM (Brad Rubenstein) (07/31/90)
Music-Research Digest Sat, 28 Jul 90 Volume 5 : Issue 72
Today's Topics:
ASCII representation of music
this is the IRCAM research-paper list
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Date: 26 Jul 90 22:29:42 GMT
From: Dave Richards <daver%felix%dhw68k%zardoz.cpd.com%elroy.jpl.nasa.gov%sdd.hp.com@edu.ucsd>
Subject: ASCII representation of music
To: music-research@prg
Message-ID: <148632@felix.UUCP>
The article that prompted this has expired at my site, but I've been kicking
around an idea I had... since MIDI is pretty much spoken everywhere now, why
not use the midi number values for pitch representation (numbers 0-127)? This
is non-ambiguous with regard to octave, and eliminates the requirement to spell
accidentals correctly (is it F# or Gb), as well as the confusion associated
with the occasional double-flat or double-sharp, and E#, Cb, etc. These MIDI
numbers are not all that hard to memorize, at least for 2 or 3 octaves.
The simplest way of showing duration that I can think of is to simply use
integers representing the note value, eg: 1=whole note, 2=half note, etc.,
plus "." to indicate 1/2 the value. An alternate method would be to specify
the number of beats. Thus 1=1 beat, 4=4 beats, etc. The problem with that
is you wind up using decimals eg: .5, .25, etc. The first way is probably
better.
So with this system, any note is defined by two numbers. The numbers would be
separated by a symbol that also indicates normal, staccato, or legato. I like
the midi idea of not having to list things that don't change. In other words,
for several sequential notes on the same pitch, the pitch is only given for the
first note. Likewise, a series of notes with the same duration would only need
the duration listed once. A series of notes on the same pitch and the same
length would only need the separator.
A file header would be a good idea. Information contained in the header could
be: song name, composer/arranger, tempo, voice characteristics (timbre or patch
no. for a synth, etc), time signature, and key signature. (key signature is op-
tional because absolute note pitches are provided.) With the addition of ver-
tical lines to indicate measures, the system is essentially complete. Here's
the first line of "Happy Birthday" as an example.
(key note=C72)
3/4
| R2 67-8 - | 69-4 67- 72- | 71-2 67-8 - | 69-4 67- 74- | 72-2
Dave
[ Moderator's note: this system is OK, but for real music research it has a
lot of drawbacks. Researchers interested in music representations must look
at the standard alphanumeric representations, DARMS, Plaine and Easie, and
IML. For a discussion of these, see one of the many standard references, or
read chapter 3 of my thesis - Stephen Dowland Page, "Computer Tools for
Music Information Retrieval", Diss. D.Phil. Oxford 1988, which suggests
why alphanumeric representations are NOT good for music research. There
is also a bibliography of 80 references on input systems (including
encoding languages) in my thesis. Another useful and recent article is
in the 1987 edition of the Directory of Computer Assisted Research in
Musicology, ed. Walter B. Hewlett and Eleanor Selfridge-Field (Menlo
Park, CA: Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities).
PLEASE let's stop inventing more encoding languages!!! - S ]
------------------------------
Date: 27 Jul 90 17:08:48 GMT
From: Vladimir Orlt <vo%philmtl@net.uu.uunet>
Subject: this is the IRCAM research-paper list
To: music-research@prg
Message-ID: <1388@philmtl.philips.ca>
As promised, here is a copy of the IRCAM research paper summary that I
obtained at the IRCAM offices. French titles/remarks are translated in
[] brackets (by myself). Language versions of each paper are also included.
All titles are copied with original grammatical errors (to the best of my
proof-reading knowledge).
The price for each paper is 15F (about $3 US)
unless otherwise indicated; the prices do not include mailing charges.
The IRCAM address is not included, but I'm sure some of you have it.
I have other documentation, mostly pamphlets, which I picked up as well.
I'll summarize these if anyone is interested, but don't ask me to type them
in to the net; it would be best to ask for these at IRCAM by mail.
[ This report has been added to the archive under the title "ircam.papers",
for anyone who wants a copy in the future. - S ]
regards,
Vlad Orlt
vo@philmtl.philips.ca
---- START
RAPPORTS DE RECHERCHE ET PUBLICATIONS
[ research reports and publications ]
No 1 La recherche a l'IRCAM en 1977
[ research at IRCAM in 1977 ]
G. Bennett [ french and english ]
No 2 Unite electronique destinee a la transformation
du son en temps reel, programmable et controlable
par l'instrumentiste
[ Electronic unit used for real-time sound transformation,
programmable and controllable by the instrumentalist ]
R. Causse [ french ] 20F
No 3 Computer facilities for music at IRCAM, as October 1977
J. Gardner [ english ]
No 4 A one Card 64 Channel Digital Synthesizer
G. di Giugno [ english ]
No 5 Real-Time Synthesizer Control
M. Matthews [ and ] G. Benett [ english ]
No 6 The use of the linear Prediction of speech
in computer music application
J.A. Moorer [ english ]
No 7 Musica, Programme de codage de la Musique
[ Musica, a music-coding program ]
G. di Poli [ french ] 20F
No 8 Musical Acoustics
J.C. Risset [ english ] 20F
No 9 The development of Digital Techniques:
a turning point for electronic music?
J.C. Risset [ english ]
No 10 Paradoxes de hauteur
[ Paradoxes of pitch(?) ]
J.C. Risset [ french ]
No 11 Hauteur et Timbre des Sons
[ Pitch(?) and timbre of sounds ]
J.C. Risset [ french ]
No 12 Low Dimensional Control of Musical Timbre
D. Wessel [ english ]
No 13 Perception of Timbral Analogies
D. Ehresman/D. Wessel [ english ]
--- No 14 is not listed ---
No 15 Computer-aided model of stereophonic systems
B. Bernfeld/B. Smith [ english ]
No 16 A digitally programmable filter
M. Rozenberg [ english ]
No 17 About this reverberation business
J.A. Moorer [ english ] 20F
No 18 A composer's notes on the development and implantation
of software for a digital synthesizer
N.B. Rolnick [ english ]
No 19 La recherche a l'IRCAM en 1978
[ research at IRCAM in 1978 ]
G. Benett [ french and english ]
No 20 Constant High Q bandpass filters
M. Rozenberg [ english ]
No 21 On coupling between vocal tract and voice source
J. Sundberg [ english ]
No 22 Chest vibrations in singers
J. Sundberg [ english ]
No 23 Archivage numerique des sons
[ Numeric archiving of sounds ]
J.C. Risset [ french ]
No 24 Le systeme de traitement de signaux digitaux "junior"
[ "Junior": a digital-signal processing system ]
J.L. Delatre [ french ]
No 25 The computer as a sound porcessor
S. Haynes [ english ]
No 26 Inharmonique
Analyse de la bande magnetique de l'oeuvre de J.C. Risset
[ analysis of the tape of J.C. Risset's composition(?) ] 20F
D. Lorrain [ french ]
No 27 The sequential drum
M.V. Matthews [ english ]
No 28 Harmony and Nonharmonic Partials
M.V. Matthews and J. Pierce [ english ]
No 29 La recherche a l'IRCAM en 1979
[ research at IRCAM in 1979
[ no author mentioned ] [ french and english ]
No 30 Une panoplie de canons stochastiques
[ A panoply of stochastic canons ]
D. Lorrain [ french ] 20F
No 31 Density of Spectral Components: Preliminary Expermiments
A. Gerzso [ english ]
--- No 32 is not listed ---
No 33 Aspects dynamiques du phrase de la trompette
[ Dynamic aspects of trumpet phrasing ]
D. Morrill [ french and english ] 20F
No 34 Sons multiphoniques aux instruments a vent
[ Polyphonic(?) wind-instrument sounds ]
M. Castallengo [ french ] 20F
No 35 Chant
De la synthese a la voix chantee a la synthese en general
[ Singing
From synthesis to the singing voice to synthesis in general ]
J.B. Barriere/Y. Potard/X. Rodet [ french ] 25F
No 36 Formes
Composition et ordonnancement de processus
[ Forms
Composition and process ordering ]
P. Cointe/X. Rodet [ french ] 25F
No 37 L'image auditive: une metaphore pour la recherche
musicale et psychologique sur l'organisation auditive
[ The aural image: a metaphor for musical and psychological
research into auditory organization ]
S. McAdams [ french ] 25F
No 38 Nouvelles techniques instrumentales
Composition et formalisation
[ New instrumental techniques
compostion and formalization ]
G. Assayg/ M. Castallengo/C. Malherbe [ french ] 25F
No 39 La station de travail musical 4X
[ The 4X musical workstation ]
O. Koechlin [ french ] 25F
No 40 Fusion spectrale et la creation d'images auditives
[ Spectral fusion and auditory image creation ]
S. McAdams [ french ] 25F
No 41 La composition assistee par ordinateur
[ Computer-aided composition ]
F. Lerdahl/Y. Potard [ french ] 25F
------ END (the last item is No 41)
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End of Music-Research Digest