Computer-Assisted Composition with OpenMusic
OpenMusic is a graphical programming environment designed to help composers with their writing.
Objectives
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to use a graphical programming environment as part of a composer's activity. Familiar with the interface and features of OpenMusic, they will be able to create patches using music editors and use algorithmic generation of musical sequences. They will also have acquired a basic understanding of musical formalization and studied models used in 20th and 21st century music
Public
Composers, musicians, teachers and any person interested in computer-assisted composition.
Prerequisites
- Knowledge of music theory, participants must be able to read notes and rhythms
- Good knowledge of engraving software (Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, etc.)
- Basic knowledge of mathematics: arithmetic, geometry (triangles, Pythagorean and Thales theories, symmetry, airs), understanding of powers, equations with a variable, statistics, etc
- Mastery of the use of the main features of the Macintosh computer (knowledge and handling of the keyboard and mouse, creating and managing files and folders, navigating menus, starting an application)
- Basic knowledge of Zoom for online courses
Training Period and Organization
12 hours of training, every Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. from November 7 to December 12, 2024
Online Class, In English
8 students maximum
Program
Certain details of the training program are subject to modification as the software on which it is based evolves.
Thursday, November 7
Discovering and using the OpenMusic interface (Workspace, Listener, and patches)
Creation of patches, the main data types
Audio and MIDI configuration. Preferences and external synthesizers
Editors <note> <chord>, <chord-seq>, random music sequence generation, transposition.
Exercise: generate a random monophonic musical sequence.
Thursday, November 14
The different types of musical notation in OM: proportional notation and metric notation (<chord>, <chord-seq>, <voice>, <multi-seq>, <poly>).
Microtonality in OM. XML export.
Building random sequences.
Exercise: generate a polyphonic score sketch (in engraving software) including microtonal chords.
Thursday, November 21
Spectral style: harmonic series / distortions / interpolation.
Iteration (1): <mapcar> and the lambda function.
Building spectra, arpeggios.
Exercise: generate a sequence from spectral material.
Thursday, November 28
“Technomorphic” models of spectral music.
Iteration (2): introduction to <omloop>.
Controlling dynamic processes from curves.
Exercise: generate with an iterative evolution of a material.
Thursday, December 5
Composing with acoustic models.
Spectral analysis.
Recovering and processing spectral analysis results into a musical sequence.
Exercise: generate a sequence based on acoustic analysis (f0, chord-sequence analysis, partial tracking).
Thursday, December 12
Audio in OpenMusic. The Sox library.
An example of a workflow combining audio and symbolic notation in OpenMusic.
Creating audio sequences in OM.
Final exercise: knowledge assessment MCQ.
Educational Resources and Techniques
- This professional training class will be taught online.
- Technical requirements: Participants should download OpenMusic prior to training.
- For best results, please use two screens for this class and a good internet connection.
- Class Format: Class is taught in English. Training alternates between presentations, explanations on theory, studying examples to analyze, and hands-on exercises.
- Didactic Materials: presentations. A class guide will be given at the beginning of each training session and all com-plementary files will be given as needed.
Supervision
- A technical session will be held on the first day of training to ensure all participants have the necessary equipment.
- Attendance controlled; signature of an attendance sheet required every afternoon.
- Delivery of a certificate of achievement.
Assessment
- Assessment of knowledge in the form of a multiple-choice questionnaire.