Apyuxjj.110
net.music
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ihnss!eagle!mhuxa!mhuxj!pyuxjj!rlr
Wed Feb 24 16:25:51 1982
Re: music for synths
    I am also a synthesizer player and amateur home recordist.  Regarding
music for synthesizers, if you are referring to transcriptions of synthesizer
music, your best bet would probably be (as pur-ee!sa stated in his followup to
your news item) colleges and conservatory libraries.
    One problem with such transcriptions/scores is that most *electronic music*
(for synthesizers or other such instrumentation) is "layered" (i.e.,
multi-tracked or overdubbed).  It would be impractical to play all of the
"parts" at once, even if one had several machines to play them on.
    If what you wanted were the "patches" or settings required to duplicate the
timbres used in the piece, these would very likely not be included in the score
(except possibly in a rough form).  I have yet to find any *really* interesting
literature on the design of sound by synthesizer, though with a pre-patched
synthesizer (descended from the Minimoog, using the following "patch",
where '-->' means 'sound going through' and '<--' means  'voltage controlled
by' :
(VCO's + noise)-->lowpass VCF (<--keyboard+LFO+envelope)-->VCA (<--envelope)
  (VCO's may actually be controlled by LFO and keyboard and/or other things)
  (This configuration is duplicated on most synth "boxes" on which patchcords
   are not used to implement a sound path)
   ... as i was saying; though with a
pre-patched synthesizer, it should be possible to develop a library of
timbres designed for generic synthesizer usage.  But aside from owner's
manuals (which present mediocre patches) there doesn't seem to be
much.
    Another problem with such scores is that they probably don't exist!!  Since
a good deal of *electronic music* is either aleatory (composed using chance)
or improvisatory in nature, scores are not a likely output of such endeavors.
Those compositions which are more timbral (using mainly sound textures instead
of melodies, harmonies, notes, and all that stuff) are especially difficult
to score. (again, descriptions of patches might be useful, but ...)
    Computer generated music is another story.  The scores are actually control
input to the music synthesis program(s), provided you accept such control input
as a "musical score" (some people don't think of any of this as music at all!).
Computer music literature, although often cryptic to analog synthesists,
contains a great deal of info on research done in the area of sound synthesis/
analysis (psychoacoustics,  timbral duplications,  real-time synthesis).
Bell Labs library services has a computer music bibliography (at least they
used to), and Stanford Univ's computer music group has a LOT of GREAT
papers on sound synthesis.  Hubert Howe's book *Electronic Music Synthesis*
is a really great book in that it explains a lot about 'analog' synthesis,
and then goes into a great discussion on what computer music is all about,
though it's not a great way to learn to use the language he describes in there.
    Well, I hope I was of some assistance.  My advice is to experiment with
your own sounds rather than to attempt to reproduce sounds/pieces.  Good luck!
If you're interested in any of the literature I've described, or if you have
any questions or whatever, please contact me at the address below.
				Rich Rosen pyuxjj!rlr
P.S. Do you think there's a market for net.music.elec ?