220b-winter-2009/hw1

Homework #1: Timbre-scapes

Due date: 2009.2.2 11:59:59pm (or thereabout), Monday.

Reading

• Real-Sound-Synthesis:
  • chapter 3
  • sections 4.0, 4.1, and 4.2
  • chapter 10
• skim through articles on chance music, John Cage's Music of Changes (also see listening page), and the I Ching

Specification (part 1 of 2): Crafting Timbres with FM

• check out the FM synthesis/drone examples here, in particular
  • FM synthesis basics in ChucK
    • fm-by-hand.ck : fm synthesis, 1::samp at a time
    • fm-synth.ck : more commonly used FM synth basis, setting sync to 2
    • fm-synth2.ck : yet another way to do FM synthesis in ChucK, via the Step UGen
  • time varying Drone example (from class)
    • Drone-1.ck : FM synthesis with SinOsc modulating a SqrOsc
    • Drone-2.ck : the above with an added, time-varying "demon bunny" filter
    • Drone-3.ck : layering three of the above, controlling each independently
    • fm-mod.ck : interpolating FM synthesis parameters, example from class
• using FM synthesis in ChucK, create the following:
  • 3 different "static" timbres
    • building blocks: oscillators, filters, etc.
    • experiment with various parameters such as carrier frequency, modulator frequency, index of modulation, etc.
  • 3 time-varying timbres
    • building blocks: oscillators, filters, time-based control code
    • can be a "drone" (but doesn't have to be)
    • the time-varying process(s) should be somehow coupled to one or more of the FM/filter parameters
  • next, take a timbre from above, and apply an ADSR envelope to "carve" out an attack, decay, sustain, and release
    • test this by making some bleeps and bloops

Specification (part 2 of 2): Computer Music of Changes

• explore and employ controlled randomness and chance, and compose a musical statement
  • macro-level structure/form: as an exercise, the piece should contain at least 3 sections (think about the flow and relationship between sections)
  • think about how to leverage randomness to controllably generate passages...
  • potential parameters that can be influenced by chance:
    • pitch
    • rhythm
    • meter
    • timbre / synthesis parameters (e.g., FM parameters)
    • dynamics
    • tempo
    • texture
    • many, many others
  • plan/score your composition somehow, pay attention to the above, and especially to the control of timbre
  • take advantage of the timbre, time-varying control, and "bleepin'"/note/pitched event capabilities you've developed in part 1
  • write ChucK programs to generate the different passages/sections/layers; for each, run/record the program multiple times, tweak parameters, and choose the best result for each part.
  • put them together in audacity/ardour, or a bigger ChucK program

=== Brainstormin' === (to think about for HW2, woot!)

• without writing any code, imagine and think through how you might map a cellular automata to:
  • create/help create a piece of music
  • control timbre
• no right/wrong answers - just try to think it through
• if you want, convey what you come up with in words, diagrams, etc. (you won't need to implement any of this in a future assignment - this is a thought excercise)
• (nothing to turn in for hw1)

Deliverables

turn in all files by putting them in your Library/Web/220b/hw1/ directory, and then linking to them from your Library/Web/220b/hw1.html

• 1) your static timbres (part 1): 3 chuck files
• 2) your time-varying timbres + bleeps/bloops (part 1): 3 chuck files + 1 bleepin' chuck file
• 3) your Computer Music of Changes musical statement (part 2): chuck files + final mix
• 4) a short README text (readme.txt) file that:
  • conveys your ideas/comments in constructing each program
  • contains instructions on running your programs
  • describes any difficulties you encountered in the process
• 5) your hw1.html should link to these files (optionally, you can include your README in your hw1.html)