What Pd Can't Teach; What It Can

Pure Data's long appeal is partly owed to its visual layout and intuitive mode of use. This might lead one to consider it a useful pedagogical tool, even if it now meets stiff competition from glitzier and more user-friendly applications. In the author's experience, however, Pd's ambiguous location on the spectrum of virtualization makes it bad for teaching but gives it a far more important function for composers. In occupying an uncanny valley between the digital-as-digital and the digital-as-analog, it resists the general tendency of digital technology to obscure awareness of itself, that is, of the digital computer as the current high watermark of a longer history of rationalization. It thus pushes composers of computer music back towards the questions that are at the heart of their work. This dynamic is illustrated by the author's experience of developing and tinkering with a novel technique of sound synthesis.

Making Complex Music with Simple Algorithms, is it Even Possible?

Algorithmic composition is often limited to score generation, but may also include sound production. All levels from sound synthesis to the generation of a complete composition can be integrated into one monolithic program. A strict separation of the low level of sound synthesis and higher levels otherwise reserved for algorithmic composition is not necessary, information can flow between all levels. An interesting challenge in this kind of thorough algorithmic composition is to generate as complex music as possible with as little code as possible. The challenge has been accepted, successfully or not, in a series of compositions called Kolmogorov Variations. We discuss the techniques used in a few of the pieces as well as the promises and perils of this strict approach to algorithmic composition.

Physical modelling techniques for the dynamical characterization and sound synthesis of historical bells

Capable of maintaining characteristics practically intact over the centuries, bells are musical instruments able to provide important and unique data for the study of musicology and archaeology essential to understand past manufacturing and tuning techniques. In this research we present a multidisciplinary approach based on both direct and reverse engineering processes for the dynamical characterization and sound synthesis of historical bells which proven particularly useful to extract and preserve important information for Cultural Heritage. It allows the assessment of the bell’s 3D morphology, sound properties and casting and tuning techniques over time. The accuracy and usefulness of the developed techniques are illustrated for three historical bells, including the oldest recognized bell in Portugal, dated 1287, and two eighteenth century bells from the Mafra National Palace carillons (Portugal). The proposed approach combines non-invasive up-to-date imaging technology with modelling and computational techniques from vibration analysis, and can be summarized in the following steps: (1) For the diagnosis of existing bells, a precise assessment of the bell geometry is achieved through 3D scanning technologies, used for the field measurement and reconstruction of a 3D geometry model of each bell; (2) To access the modal properties of the bells, for any given (at the design stage) or measured geometry, a finite element model is built to compute the significant frequencies of the bell partials, and the corresponding modal masses and modeshapes. In the case of existing bells, comparison of the computed modes with those obtained from vibrational data, through experimental modal identification, enables the validation (or otherwise correction) of the finite element model; (3) Using the computed or experimentally identified modes, time-domain dynamical responses can be synthesized for any conceivable bell, providing realistic sounds for any given clapper and impact location. Although this study primarily aimed to better understand the morphology and sounds of historical bells to inform their conservation/preservation, this technique can be also applied to modern instruments, either existing or at design stages. To a larger extent, it presents strong potential for applications in the bell industry, namely for restoration and re-tuning, as well as in virtual museology.

Critical reading as an impediment for effective synthesis: Case of master 2 students

Writing an appropriate research paper requires evidently the mastery of effective synthesis. This paper intends to highlight students’ hindrances in producing a sound synthesis, particularly weak critical reading and proposes equally outlets for a sturdy comprehension. The motivation is linked with the slenderness of studies addressing critical reading/effective synthesis binary. This will have pedagogical implications regarding the teaching of synthesis. The researchers used purposive sampling with master two didactic students (39 students). Self-assessment of the teaching strategy, corpus analysis, and an eight-item student questionnaire were used. The findings indicated that the major problems surrounding the internalisation of good synthesis were related to the different operations required for critical reading. The paper put into evidence the necessity of integrating the subject of academic writing into the syllabi of Master didactic students, the design of adequate critical reading tasks, and urged equally the necessity of more condensed practice, both in-class and off-class. Keywords: Critical reading, effective synthesis, paraphrasing, shortness of instruction, master 2 students.

Contributions on Computer Music from the SBCM 2019

The Brazilian Symposia on Computer Music are events that foster a rich environment for exciting interdisciplinary discussion. In its 17th edition, in 2019, the event was held in São João Del Rei, MG. This special issue presents 5 selected papers from the conference's technical program covering different research fields like sound synthesis, music information retrieval, sound systems, and digital musical instruments.

Terompong Basic Tone Synthesis with Frequency Modulation Method

Terompong is a type of gamelan in Bali Province. This gamelan is commonly used in traditional ceremonies in Bali, especially the Dewa Yadnya and Pitra Yadnya. The terompong are striking instruments, where the bat is made of wood. The terompong is also a two-octave musical instrument composed of 10-12 small metal gong blocks. The gong blocks are arranged parallel, which makes the gong difficult to carry and has to stay somewhere if someone want to play. Of course, with this situation people find it difficult to learn the terompong because they are quite large and heavy. This problem could be solved by replace the original terompong with synthetic terompong. The synthesis referred here the synthesis of sound. In performing sound synthesis, the method used is Frequency Modulation (FM). The result of the synthesis carried out where the difference between fundamental frequency of the original tone and the synthesis tone is almost close to zero. The sound produced almost follows the original sound, but it can't follow the sound of metal being hit with a wooden club.