Communications of the ACM
Composing Musical Portraits Through a Computer
Rodney Waschka, a professor of arts studies at North Carolina State University and the program director of arts studies and the Arts NOW Series, creates musical portraits using computer technology.
Credit: DeluxeVectors.com
North Carolina State University professor Rodney Waschka takes data from pictures, book covers, audio, and other sources to make a portrait of a person.
The technique is based on the work of Virgil Thomson, a 20th century composer and music critic who also conducted musical portraits, but by having the subject sit in front of him and creating music by looking at them.
"The mapping of images to sound using a computer program is not new, but the use of this technique to create this type of portrait piece is a new extension of Thomson's idea," Waschka says.
The process of creating computer music consists of digital synthesis, in which sounds are created or modified, and algorithmic composition, in which either a person or a machine determines what is going to be utilized in the piece.
Waschka's portraits take on a style that can range from jarring and ethereal with abstract sounds reverberating through an imagined scape.
Waschka continues to make music and teach others about composing music in his class "Music Composition with Computers," in which students regularly write their own computer music and programs.
From Technician Online (NC)
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