Hallo, Ian Remmler hat gesagt: // Ian Remmler wrote: > I'd like to get into composition and synthesis, but I am > completely new to this stuff. linux-sound.org has lots of > pointers, but since I don't have much background it's hard to > tell what is worth looking into. A page with example sounds or > music from the various packages would be helpful I think. As Pd and Csound have already been recommended I would also direct you to take a look at SuperCollider. I don't have any hands-on experience with it (I use Pd almost exclusively for about five years) but from what some friends who use it tell me, it may also fit well into your field. It is a text based synthesis and composition language whose syntax looks nicer than Csound to my eyes. Anyway if you spend some days with each of the three you should get a feeling for what kind of synthesis environment you like, and if it's indeed more working with text based interfaces or if you prefer graphical patcher software like Pd (or Omsynth). Although I often program with text languages like C++ or Python, I found, that for doing artistic work, software with a graphical representation of the data flow like Pd fits my tastes better. So I would recommend to not rule out one of the two approaches (txt vs. gui) in advance. All of these programs benefit immensly from a fair bit of a theoretical background, which you can only get from books, IMO. I would very much recommend to get hold of Dodge/Jerse: "Computer Music". It's the best introduction into the topic of Computer-based synthesis. Another slightly older, but very good book is Moore: "Elements of Computer Music". I like it even more than the Dodge/Jerse, but some important topics are missing because of its age, e.g. granular synthesis. I would avoid Roads: "Computer Music Tutorial" for now, it is more an encyclopedia than an introductory book. As soon as you have learned the basics, here's my secret weapon for even more stuff to learn about computer music: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citeseer Ciao -- Frank Barknecht _ ______footils.org_ __goto10.org__
