Music 215A study guide – In addition to the collection of resources listed below, UCI music librarian Scott Stone has compiled a study guide of readings relevant to this course.
Advanced Reverberation Part 1 and Part 2 – by Paul White, from Sound on Sound magazine, October and November 2001.
Algorithmic composition – A collection of essays on algorithmic composition, with sonic, musical, and visual examples in Max, by Christopher Dobrian
The Art of Noises – futurist manifesto in the form of a letter to his friend Balilla Pratella, by Luigi Russolo, 1913
Audio file formats – “Creating AIFF Audio Formatted Files” [and WAVE files] by Paul Bourke
Audio Queue Services Programming Guide – Apple’s model for audio programming in MacOS and iOS
Beyond the Pan Pot - A Plea for the Depth Dimension – by Alex Case
Computer Music Journal – Professional journal of technical topics in computer music
Core Audio – Audio programming API for MacOS and iOS
Core Audio APIs – Audio programming API for Windows
“Cross-Domain Mapping”, Chapter 2 of Conceptualizing Music: Cognitive Structure, Theory, and Analysis, by Lawrence M. Zbikowski, pp. 63-95. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. [Scroll down to the Table of Contents and click on “Chapter Two Cross-Domain Mapping”.]
David Cope – Website of writings, compositions, and software by computer music composition professor.
The Decibel – An explanation of the term as it's used to discuss sounds in the real world. The same principles apply when talking about digital audio, except that the 0 dB reference amplitude in digital audio is usually the greatest amplitude the system can produce, rather than the softest sound we can hear.
Digital Audio – An introduction by Christopher Dobrian
Don Norman – Expert on user interface design
Event Priority in Max (Scheduler vs. Queue) – Article by Cycling ’74 programmer Joshua Clayton
The Experience and Perception of Time – in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
"Experimental Music: Doctrine" – from Silence by John Cage, 1937.
Fletcher-Munson curves – Wikipedia entry, showing the conclusions of some early cognitive experiments on the subjective perception of loudness as a function of frequency and amplitude (see also Robinson-Dadson curves)
"The Future of Music: Credo" – from Silence by John Cage, 1937.
Guide to Sound Objects – a scholarly summary by Michel Chion of Pierre Schaeffer's groundbreaking work and writings on musique concrète.
How Hearing Works – An explanation of the human auditory system
Improving Your Stereo Mixing – by Paul White, from Sound On Sound magazine, October 2000
Introduction to Digital Filters (with Audio Applications) – Complete online textbook by Julius O. Smith
Java Documentation – The official documentation for Java 8 Standard Edition
The Java Tutorials: Sound – Explanation of how audio and MIDI are handled in Java
Leonardo Journal – Journal of technological and media arts
Leonardo Music Journal – Journal of technological music
"The Liberation of Sound" – Collected writings of Edgard Varèse, 1936-1962, edited by Chou Wen-chung, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Autumn - Winter, 1966), pp. 11-19.
Linear interpolation – Wikipedia entry
Max Documentation – Web version of the Max Reference Documentation that comes with the Max application
A Method for Computer Characterization of ‘Gesture’ in Musical Improvisation – Description of a computer cognition research project, by Christopher Dobrian
Microphone Techniques: Live Sound Reinforcement – PDF document, 1.4 MB, a Shure Educational Publication
MIDI – An introductory essay by Christopher Dobrian
MIDI file format – Standard MIDI File (SMF) specification 1.1
MP3 Learning Object – A tutorial on MPEG I Layer 3 by Nathaniel Tull Phillips
MSP Tutorials – Web version of the MSP Tutorials that come with the Max application
Music and Computers – A Theoretical and Historical Approach – Online textbook/course by Phil Burk, Larry Polansky, and others
Music Technology Facilities – A thorough description of all technological facilities for sound and music in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine
Ocarina: Designing the iPhone’s Magic Flute – Article by programmer Ge Wang
120 Years of Electronic Music – An online history
Programming Electronic Music in Pd – An online text by Johannes Kreidler
Programming New Realtime DSP Possibilities with MSP – Article by Christopher Dobrian
Reactable – An innovative computer music instrument with a Maxlike interface
Robinson-Dadson curves – Wikipedia entry, showing the results of some later experiments on the subjective perception of loudness as a function of frequency and amplitude, comparable but not identical to the results of the earlier Fletcher-Munson curves
Rudiments of Max – Excerpt from an old version of the Max documentation
Sound Waves and Music – Tutorial on the physics of sound
The Soundcraft Guide to Mixing – PDF document, 2 MB
Start Developing iOS Apps Today – Apple tutorials on basics of iOS programming
Stevens’ power law – Wikipedia entry
Strategies for Continuous Pitch and Amplitude Tracking in Realtime Interactive Improvisation Software – Article by Christopher Dobrian
The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music – Complete online textbook by Miller Puckette
Tutorial on MIDI and Music Synthesis – Provided by the MIDI Manufacturers Association, written by Jim Heckroth
W3C: Web Audio API – Specification for the Web Audio API
Web Audio API – Online version of an O'Reilly e-book by Boris Smus
Weber-Fechner law – Wikipedia entry, theorizes the relationship between empirical stimulus (measurable physical phenomena) and human perception of the stimulus
Android Developer Tools – Includes Eclipse, the ADT plugin, and the Android SDK
Audacity – Free open-source cross-platform audio editing application
ChucK – A free audio/music programming language optimized for live coding
Csound – A free programming language for audio and music synthesis
CsoundPad – A free implementation of Csound for iPad by Jason Timm
Drum Kit – An online “drumming” program by Ron Winter
Eclipse – Integrated Development Environment for various programming languages
Gibber – Web Audio API-based environment for writing music and graphics code in JavaScript
JavaScript – Object-oriented web-based programming language
Max – Object-based graphical multimedia programming environment
MuLab – Free open-source cross-platform digital audio workstation application
NetBeans – A free IDE for Java and other programming languages
Notepad++ (Windows) – Free text editor with automatic formatting for programming
Ohm Studio – A free digital audio workstation application for online collaboration
Pd – PureData open-source object-based audio programming environment similar to Max
PortAudio – Cross-platform open-source C library for audio I/O programming
REV – A software instrument that focuses on the use of reversed sound sources
RGB MusicLab – An application that converts image documents into music algorithmically
SuperCollider – A programming language for realtime audio/music synthesis
SynthPond – An algorithmic composition application for iPhone and iPod Touch
TextWrangler (Mac OS) – Free text editor with automatic formatting for programming
Web Audio API – Audio programming in HTML 5
Web Audio Demos – Collection of Web Apps using the Web Audio API, with source code
Web Audio API Demos – Another collection of Web Apps using the Web Audio API, with source code
Whitney Music Box – A software realization of phase relationships between geometry, time, and musical tone, by Jim Bumgardner
Xcode – Swift IDE for Mac OS and iOS programming
App Inventor – Object-based environment for Android application development
Chrome Music Lab — Diverse Web Audio apps for music, with some source code
Code Academy – Beginner course in JavaScript programming
Codelab – A collection of various Max resources
Codelab.fr – Discussion forum of Max for francophones
Computer Music Programming – Examples in Max programming by Christopher Dobrian
Cycling ’74 User Forum – Discussion of Max/MSP/Jitter
EarLevel Engineering – Nigel Redmon posts a blog of well made and comprehensible tutorials on many topics of digital audio
JavaScript – Reference for the JavaScript language
JavaScript Guide – Mozilla Developer Network lessons on JavaScript programming
JavaScript Tutorial – W3Schools lessons on JavaScript programming
Khan Academy – Online beginner course in JavaScript and Processing programming
Tutorials for Max/MSP/Jitter – Collection of tutorials written by electronic music professor Peter Elsea
Web Audio API – Audio programming in HTML 5
Akihiko Matsumoto – Artistic works made in Max by Akihiko Matsumoto
Batchelor Max Tutorials – Tutorial videos on Max by Peter Batchelor
Baz Max/MSP Tutorial – A set of video tutorials demonstrating various audio and video techniques in Max/MSP/Jitter
Bicycle Built for Two – Audio recording of an early example of digital sound synthesis, by Max Mathews
Drum Kit – A drum sample player programmed in Flash by Ron Winter
Eclipse and Java for Total Beginners – Free video tutorial in the form of 16 lessons
Fanfare – An interactive musical Flash animation by Aude Picault and realized by Zanorg
Gesture Follower – Research project by the team on Realtime Musical Interactions at IRCAM
Light Music – A gestural music/video performance by Thierry De Mey and Jean Geoffroy
MCMMax – Examples of mapping motion capture data directly to musical information by Christopher Dobrian
Rhythmicon – Demonstration of 1931 electric rhythm generator and some other subsequent rhythm machines
6 pianos – An algorithmic improvisation done in Max/MSP by Maurizio Giri
SLABS – A music controller developed by professor David Wessel at UC Berkeley, which sends multiple streams of signal data from pressure- and location-sensitive touchpads to Max
The Sound of Sorting – 15 sorting algorithms visualized and sonified in 6 minutes by Timo Bingmann
Tesla coil music – "In the Hall of the Mountain King" played on musical Tesla coils
Theremin - Classic performance on one of the first and most extraordinary electronic instruments by its foremost virtuosa, Clara Rockmore
Umezaki video tutorials – Professor Kojiro Umezaki explains certain Max objects on his YouTube channel
Electronic Music – A sonic history of classic works of electronic music
Electronic Music History in 476 Tracks – A collection of historical works of electronic music
Freesound.org – A website providing thousands of royalty-free sound samples
Women Making Electronic Music – Seven hours of electronic music by women composers
Cipriani, Alessandro, and Giri, Maurizio. Electronic Music and Sound Design – Theory and Practice with Max/MSP. Rome: Contemponet, 2010.
Cope, David. The algorithmic composer. Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 2000.
Cope, David. Computer models of musical creativity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005.
Cope, David. Computers and musical style. Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 1991.
Cope, David. Experiments in musical intelligence. Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 1996.
Dodge, Charles and Thomas A. Jerse. Computer Music: Synthesis, Composition, and Performance, 2nd ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.
Harries, Dan. The new media book. London: BFI Publications, 2002.
Kahn, Douglas. Noise, water, meat : a history of sound in the arts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999.
Loy, Gareth. Musimathics, v. 1 and 2. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2006.
Manovich, Lev. The language of new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
Manzo, V.J. Max/MSP/Jitter for Music “A Practical Guide to Developing Interactive Music Systems for Education and More”. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Miranda, Eduardo Reck. Composing music with computers. Oxford; Boston: Focal Press, 2001.
Miranda, Eduardo Reck. Computer sound synthesis for the electronic musician. Oxford; Boston: Focal Press, 1998.
Miranda, Eduardo Reck. Computer sound design: synthesis techniques and programming. Oxford; Boston: Focal Press, 2002.
Miranda, Eduardo Reck. New digital musical instruments: control and interaction beyond the keyboard. Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2006.
Miranda, Eduardo Reck. A-life for music: music and computer models of living systems. Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2011.
Moore, F. Richard. Elements of Computer Music. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Norman, Donald. The Design of Everyday Things. UCI Langson Library ANTPAC listing with a link to online edition of the book, available with UCI login.
Ornstein, Robert. "The Problem of Temporal Experience". On the Experience of Time. Chapter 1, pp. 15-24. Westview Press, 1997 (originally published in 1969).
Puckette, Miller. "Interprocess Communication and Timing in Real-time Computer Music Performance". Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, pp. 43-46. San Francisco: ICMA, 1986.
Puckette, Miller. The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music (Links to an external site.). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co., 2007. Also published online at the above link.
Roads, Curtis, et al. The Computer Music Tutorial, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996. The single greatest concentration of computer music information.
Rowe, Robert. Interactive Music Systems. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993.
Rowe, Robert. Machine Musicianship. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
Schank, Roger C. and Robert P. Abelson. Scripts, plans, goals, and understanding : an inquiry into human knowledge structures. Hillsdale, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1977.
Wardrip-Fruin, Noah and Montfort, Nick. New media reader. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003.
Zbikowski, Lawrence M. Conceptualizing Music: Cognitive Structure, Theory, and Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
This page was last modified on September 16, 2016
by Christopher Dobrian
dobrian@uci.edu