Music Software Projects New York University Adjunct Instructor Scott Burton

MSP Introduction Professor Background Plan for Semester First half: Programming submissions weekly Build foundational components Develop idea for app 1 Quiz Second half: Develop app on your foundation Demo your “product” at the end 2 Quizes Periodic tests will check functionality as well as domain knowledge Programming phases will evolve towards our final product Part of final grade is class vote for best product  Usually one or two special guests (professional musicians)

MSP Introduction... Class Objectives: Build some software Build it in the music domain Build it well ? Clear Testable As simple as possible Performs - speed/size Unit, Integration and Regression Tested Conceptual Integrity It works! Has Users (heavy ones)! Implement living specs provided as spreadsheets Build a cool app in the music domain Attain some domain knowledge along the way! Student Objectives – Musician? First musical experience? Favorite genre? Favorite artist? Teacher Objectives

MSP Introduction (cont) Grading: Weekly programming phases 3 tests for 20% Demo of final app Class participation Attending all classes will help your grade Missing more than two classes will hurt your grade If you are going to miss a class email me in advance

Where is the math in music? Pitch – Tone or “Note” Pitch Sequences -> Melody Scale Mode Key or “Pitch class” Pitch Combinations -> Harmony Interval Chord Rhythm Tempo Meter – groupings, stresses Timbre or Tone Harmonics What makes sounds unique Song Structure Q: Can we quantify what sounds “good” ?

The notes available in “western” music What is an octave and why is it so special? Why are their 7 tones in a key (8 including octave)? Why are there 12 divisions to an octave? Why can’t there be more divisions to an octave? Why has the western 12 tone scale we accept today been “adjusted” over the last few centuries?

How do we define pitch? Represented as the frequency in Hz of the “Fundamental” (or most pronounced pitch) Approximately 20-20k range for humans It all starts with the vibrating string Harmonic Series produces harmonic ratios Harmonics = Overtones = Partials Integer multiples of a base frequency Overtones are not all harmonious (even and odd) We will be focusing on the harmonious ones...

Assignment For Next Week Set up development environment on your laptop Choose language Choose sound toolkit Choose GUI framework Generate a 400Hz tone for 5 seconds Questions?

IBM Recruits Musicians in 1959