Electronic Music and Sound Design 2 – Max 8

FOREWORD

by Richard Boulanger

With their Electronic Music and Sound Design: Theory and Practice with Max and MSP the master teachers and composers – Alessandro Cipriani and Maurizio Giri have produced a series of “interactive and enhanced books” that present the stu- dent of computer music with the finest and most comprehensive electroacoustic curriculum in the world. By “illustrating” the text with a wealth of figures and clearly explained equations, they take the reader “under the hood” and reveal the algorithms that make our computing machines “sing”. By using David Zicarelli’s incredibly powerful and intuitive media-toolkit – Max to create hundreds of syn- thesis, signal processing, algorithmic composition, interactive performance, and audio analysis software examples, Cipriani and Giri have provided the means for students to learn by hearing, by touching, by modifying, by designing, by creat- ing, and by composing. On page after page, and with Max patch after Max patch, they brilliantly guide the student to a deeper knowledge and understanding that is guaranteed to release their musical creativity in new and profound ways.

As we all know, digital cameras are so “smart” today that it is virtually impos- sible to take a bad picture. But how to frame and freeze a moment in time, and then to have that frozen moment “speak” through time – no camera can do that. A “photographer” does that. And it takes a great teacher, a great men- tor to help a student “see” what is right before their eyes. How does a great teacher do this? They practice what they preach, and they teach by example. This is exactly what Cipriani and Giri do in this series. Electronic Music and Sound Design is filled to overflowing with working and teaching examples, models, and code. It is a treasure chest of riches that will enlighten and inspire the 21st century musician, audio artist, and designer to make the most of their “instrument” – the computer itself. They are teaching the next generation how to play it!

Today, brilliant design provides us with intuitive tools and systems that “anyone” can make work; but understanding how they actually work, and understand- ing how one might actually work with them – that is the challenge. Innovation doesn’t spring from accidents and good luck. For sure, turning knobs can pro- duce some crazy sounds, but a collection of crazy sounds is far from musical. As Varese would say, “music is organized sound”. I would humbly expand this by saying that “music is structured sound”, “music is sculpted sound”; music is the manifestation and articulation of “thought forms” that we resonate with and share, “mind models” that spring fourth from “sound understanding”. The masterpieces of tomorrow’s Audio Art will reveal a vision that comes into focus as today’s students grow in their appreciation and understanding of how things work and how to work with them, and Cipriani and Giri are paving the way for an age of audio enlightenment.

I firmly believe that this series by Cipriani and Giri, these “interactive and enhanced books”, in which definition and design, in which theory and practice, in which compositional advice supported by an analysis of historical master- works are all so tightly coupled with audio examples and editable and working Max and Max for Live patches, set the stage for the next generation of innova- tors. This book is essential for young and creative computer musician who have the tools and want to know how they work and how to work with them. In Electronic Music and Sound Design, Cipriani and Giri feed the hands, they feed the ears, and they feed the minds of the students in ways and to a degree that no computer music textbook has ever done.

Volume 1 moved from basic audio to software synthesis, filtering, spatialization, and some MIDI, with a great introduction to Max and a good assortment of Max tricks. Along the way, they introduced and covered a lot of synthesis and signal processing theory. The book is structured with a “theoretical and practical” chapter to be studied in parallel. A unique collection of Max patches is provided, in “presentation” mode, so that the theoretical concepts can be “explored”. There is audio ear training, chapter tests, activities, suggested projects and mod- ifications, and a unique glossary of terms, at the end of each chapter. In fact, each chapter begins with a set of “learning objectives” and “competencies”, and a list of prerequisites (usually the contents of the previous chapters). The chapters are filled with exercises, activities, assignments and end with a quiz. It is a great curricular model. I am a particular fan of Chapter 3 on Noise, Filters, and Subtractive Synthesis as it is a great balance of practical, mathematical and theoretical. The “practical” chapters feature full Max Patches ready to be modified, repaired, expanded, and explored. In addition to the theoretical and practical chapters, there are two “Interludes” that focus on Max programming. In addition to all the patches featured in the “text”, Cipriani and Giri provide a huge library of abstractions (they call them “macros”) that make programming and design even more efficient. There are many solutions, optimizations, and tricks revealed in this collection too, and it is worth some serious study as well. It is truly amazing how much computer music you are learning and how much Max you are learning – at the same time!

Volume 2 is structured much like Volume 1 – starting each with chapter objec- tives and outcomes and ending with a quiz and a chapter-specific glossary of terms. In fact, it picks up where the first volume left off – starting with chapter 5! In general it features a more in depth coverage of topics and builds on what was learned in Volume 1. By this point, the student is more advanced in their understanding and skills and so more depth is presented and more difficult chal- lenges are assigned. As might be expected, in this volume three “Interludes” take the reader even deeper into Max with a focus on time and sequencing, advanced preset, data, time, polyphony, and score management and the idio- syncrasies of working with bpatchers, concluding with a major interlude focus- ing on Max for Live and the Live API that helps the reader to move all their studies into a rich and robust production and performance environment. As in Volume 1, the chapters are again organized in pairs with a theoretical chapter supporting a practical chapter.

Chapter 5 focuses on Digital Audio and Sampling and features some really exciting “sample-cutters” and “scrubbers”. Chapter 6 focuses on Delay Lines and associated effects such as comb-filtering and pitch shifting and culminat- ing in delay-line based synthesis – the famous Karplus-Strong plucked string algorithm. Lots of great sounds here. Chapter 7 focuses on Dynamic Processors, Envelope Followers, Compressors, Limiters, and their creative use – such as side- chaining. There are a lot of practical and useful performance tools here.

The game changer in the series, and the masterpiece of this book is what is covered in Chapter 8. Here Cipriani and Giri begin to teach the reader about the world of computer music and how to “speak” the language with some fluency – how to compose Audio Art. It is titled: “The Art of Organizing Sound: Motion Processes”. In it Cipriani and Giri present and analyze a number of masterworks, link to them on their website, and showcase some of the processes that define their uniqueness. Further, the compositional approach, and the aesthetic ideas of a number of innovative composers is cited. This chapter is not only filled with musical models, but also filled with some wonderful role models – including the inspiring compositions of Cipriani and Giri themselves. This chapter is so important at this point in the “course” because it establishes context and sets the stage for more expanded compositional work with the techniques that have been learned and the systems that have been built. This is where Cipriani and Giri teach the student to “see”.

Finally, Chapter 9 focuses on MIDI and gives us a deeper and more complete review of the MIDI spec and shows the ways that this knowledge and these messages can be applied in Max. This chapter sets the stage for the final Interlude that focuses on the incredibly important Max for Live application of the work thus far.

And so…

Volume 1 was fantastic. Volume 2 raises the bar and brings insights into the compositional process, new ideas on working with “time-forms”, and new ways to integrate signal processing and synthesis algorithms into a powerful perfor- mance and production tool via Max For Live. I can’t wait for Volume 3! Until then, I will close by saying that I am deeply honored to be associated with this great pedagogical milestone and to write the foreword for Volume 2. Moreover, I am so happy for all the students around the world who will learn so much from working their way through the text, the examples, the music, the quizzes, the projects – all under the guidance of these great teachers – Alessandro Cipriani and Maurizio Giri.

Max is the brilliant and inspired artistic creation of David Zicarelli and Miller Puckette. This software has revolutionized the field of computer music and made it possible for “musicians” to write software; for “musicians” to develop their own custom interactive systems. As such Max has liberated the artist, and revolutionized the field of computer music, and made possible the most incred- ible, diverse, and profound musical creations and performances.

For many years now, the international community of Max users, developers, and teachers has grown. Their numbers are vast, and the work that they have created and shared has been so inspiring; but to date, there has never been a full synthesis, signal processing, composition and production curriculum built on top of Max – not until now. The series of “interactive and enhanced books” under the title Electronic Music and Sound Design: Theory and Practice with Max and MSP clearly establishes Alessandro Cipriani and Maurizio Giri as two of the greatest and most important teachers of computer music in the world.
Dr. Richard Boulanger
Professor of Electronic Production and Design, Berklee College of Music Author and Editor of The Csound Book & The Audio Programming Book – MIT Press