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Digital Music Interactions
A software-based interactive music and performance system
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omputer Music can be many things: the integration of technology and musical performance,
the synthesis of new and unique sounds through the use of computer processing, complex and interwoven pastiches
of familiar and unfamiliar sounds... there is no one definition of the term. Regardless of the definition,
Computer Music composers and performers have been creating and bringing to life beautiful and challenging musics for
over fifty-years. As technology advances and computer software and hardware becomes more powerful and cheaper than
ever before, computer musicians are able to expand their craft in ever-changing ways. We have reached a point with the
spread of the Internet and powerful home computers that a new generation of musicians is growing up with a level of
comfort with technology that has never been seen before. In short, young musicians are growing up using computers
in all aspects of their lives - including music.
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But while Computer Music's history and alignment with today's technological landscape make it seem like a
natural genre for the young musicians of the Twenty-First Century to explore, the vast majority of young classical
musicians are never exposed to Computer Music. The field is currently small, not well publicized, and more often than
not given a cursory mention at best in the final chapters of music history and theory texts. The
Digital Music Interactions Project - with the aid of the Peabody Conservatory Computer
Music Department and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Educational Resources (CER)-
seeks to engage young musicians with a suite of compositions designed to demonstrate certain basic computer music
performance techniques. By giving young performing musicians a set of fun and musically challenging pieces that show them how their
interest in computer technology can be married to their love of music, the DMI project hopes to introduce these young musicians
to the field of computer music.
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The initial release of the Interactions Etudes through this project concentrate on three instruments that have long and
exciting traditions within computer music performance - Piano, Flute, and Violin. Not only are these instruments very
common instruments for young musicians in general, their distinct characteristics and sounds lend themselves easily
to different computer music methods of processing and modification. For each instrument, there are four Interactions
Etudes available for download from this site, each composed specifically to demonstrate either
Playing with Tape, Digital Delays, Real-Time Sampling,
and Playing with Pedals and Other Devices. The scores are available as .pdf
documents which students and teachers can print out from their own computers or view on their computer monitors. Accompanying
each score are detailed instructions on the technologies and playing practices that are used in that specific piece. And audio
versions of each piece, either in MP3 format or as AIFF files, are also available for download.
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© 2003 R. Hamilton / Johns Hopkins University . All rights reserved.
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