Virtual Music is about artificial creativity. Focusing on the author's Experiments in Musical Intelligence computer music composing program, the author and a distinguished group of experts discuss many of the issues surrounding the program, including artificial intelligence, music cognition, and aesthetics. The book is divided into four parts. The first part provides a historical background to Experiments in Musical Intelligence, including examples of historical antecedents, followed by an overview of the program by Douglas Hofstadter. The second part follows the composition of an Experiments in Musical Intelligence work, from the creation of a database to the completion of a new work in the style of Mozart. It includes, in sophisticated lay terms, relatively detailed explanations of how each step in the process contributes to the final composition. The third part consists of perspectives and analyses by Jonathan Berger, Daniel Dennett, Bernard Greenberg, Douglas R. Hofstadter, Steve Larson, and Eleanor Selfridge-Field. The fourth part presents the author's responses to these commentaries, as well as his thoughts on the implications of artificial creativity. The book (and corresponding Web site) includes an appendix providing extended musical examples referred to and discussed in the book, including composers such as Scarlatti, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Debussy, Bartok, and others. It is also accompanied by a CD containing performances of the music in the text.

The first of its kind, this is book consists of twenty-one essays describing the many different uses of the digital computer in the field of music. Musicologists will find that various historical periods-from medieval to contemporary-are represented, and examples of computer analysis of ethnic music are considered. Edmund A. Bowles contributes an entertaining historical survey of music research and the computer. Lejaren Hill here discusses computer composition, both in this country and in Europe, and gives a bibliography of composers and their works. A. James Gabura's essay describes experiments in analyzing and identifying the keyboard styles of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. There is also a section of particular interest to music librarians.

A must-have introduction that bridges the gap between music and computing The rise in number of composer-programmers has given cause for an essential resource that addresses the gap between music and computing and looks at the many different software packages that deal with music technology. This up-to-date book fulfills that demand and deals with both the practical use of technology in music as well as the principles behind the discipline. Aimed at musicians exploring computers and technologists engaged with music, this unique guide merges the two worlds so that both musicians and computer scientists can benefit. Defines computer music and offers a solid introduction to representing music on a computer Examines computer music software, the musical instrument digital interface, virtual studios, file formats, and more Shares recording tips and tricks as well as exercises at the end of each section to enhance your learning experience Reviews sound analysis, processing, synthesis, networks, composition, and modeling Assuming little to no prior experience in computer programming, this engaging book is an ideal starting point for discovering the beauty that can be created when technology and music unite.

Focuses on the role of the computer as a generative tool for music composition. Miranda introduces a number of computer music composition techniques ranging from probabilities, formal grammars and fractals, to genetic algorithms, cellular automata and neural computation. Anyone wishing to use the computer as a companion to create music will find this book a valuable resource. As a comprehensive guide with full explanations of technical terms, it is suitable for students, professionals and enthusiasts alike. The accompanying CD-ROM contains examples, complementary tutorials and a number of composition systems for PC and Macintosh platforms, from demonstration versions of commercial programs to exciting, fully working packages developed by research centres world-wide, including Nyquist, Bol Processor, Music Sketcher, SSEYO Koan, Open Music and the IBVA brainwaves control system, among others. This book will be interesting to anyone wishing to use the computer as a companion to create music. It is a comprehensive guide, but the technical terms are explained so it is suitable for students, professionals and enthusiasts alike.

Accompanying disc contains Melody Predictor (a program), Compose (a program), Fun, Déjà vu (a program), Backtalk, some tutorials, Alice (an interactive program), recorded performances of many of the works presented in the text, and MIDI performances of most of the music in the figures.

"He then describes a model that integrates these different aspects - an inductive-association computational process that can create music. Cope's writing style is lively and nontechnical; the reader needs neither knowledge of computer programming nor specialized computer hardware or software to follow the text."--Jacket.

Today's computers provide music theorists with unprecedented opportunities to analyze music more quickly and accurately than ever before. Where analysis once required several weeks or even months to complete¿often replete with human errors, computers now provide the means to accomplish these same analyses in a fraction of the time and with far more accuracy. However, while such computer music analyses represent significant improvements in the field, computational analyses using traditional approaches by themselves do not constitute the true innovations in music theory that computers offer. In Hidden Structure: Music Analysis Using Computers David Cope introduces a series of analytical processes that¿by virtue of their concept and design¿can be better, and in some cases, only accomplished by computer programs, thereby presenting unique opportunities for music theorists to understand more thoroughly the various kinds of music they study.Following the introductory chapter that covers several important premises, Hidden Structure focuses on several unique approaches to music analysis offered by computer programs. While these unique approaches do not represent an all-encompassing and integrated global theory of music analysis, they do represent significantly more than a compilation of loosely related computer program descriptions. For example, Chapter 5 on function in post-tonal music, firmly depends on the scalar foundations presented in chapter 4. Likewise, chapter 7 presents a multi-tiered approach to musical analysis that builds on the material found in all of the preceding chapters. In short, Hidden Structure uniquely offers an integrated view of computer music analysis for today¿s musicians.

The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music offers a state-of-the-art cross-section of the most field-defining topics and debates in computer music today. A unique contribution to the field, it situates computer music in the broad context of its creation and performance across the range of issues - from music cognition to pedagogy to sociocultural topics - that shape contemporary discourse in the field. Fifty years after musical tones were produced on a computer for the first time, developments in laptop computing have brought computer music within reach of all listeners and composers. Production and distribution of computer music have grown tremendously as a result, and the time is right for this survey of computer music in its cultural contexts. An impressive and international array of music creators and academics discuss computer music's history, present, and future with a wide perspective, including composition, improvisation, interactive performance, spatialization, sound synthesis, sonification, and modeling. Throughout, they merge practice with theory to offer a fascinating look into computer music's possibilities and enduring appeal.