of Microprocessors

8 MUSICAL ApPLICATIONS OF MICROPROCESSORS
ble sound like a vast collection of musicians through the use of overdubbing
and reverberation techniques. The same studio can facilitate the rapid playing
of music either by actually speeding up the tape or by relieving concern
over the errors made during rapid playing.
The use of computers allows great but well-controlled complexity to be
built up because the music can be programmed. The programming process is
nothing more than notation of the music according to a rigid set of rules. In
many computer-based music systems using purely digital synthesis techniques,
there is no practical limit to the speed of playing or to the number of
instruments or sounds that may be simultaneously present. The only penalty
for adding additional parts is a longer waiting period during one phase of the
music production.
Complexity in sound may also be quite subtle. Many natural sounds are
really quite complex when described in terms of the fundamental parameters
of sound. One interest area of many researchers is precise analysis of natural
sounds, some of which are not normally easily repeatable. With information
gleaned from the analysis, new sounds may be synthesized that resemble the
original in controlled ways or emphasize one or more of its characteristics.
Certainly, a musician working with electronics is not limited by the
degree of sound complexity possible.
Increased Spontaneity
Finally, a minority of people are looking for more randomness or spontaneity
in the performance ofmusic through the use ofelectronics. The wider
range and greater ease of control of electronic instruments makes manual
improvisation easier and more interesting.
Computers may generate and use random sequences to control some or
all of the parameters of a sound. Certain mathematical processes, when used
to control sound, lead to interesting, unpredictable results. Natural
phenomena may also be captured electronically and used to control sound.
One example is the use of brain waves as a control source for one or more
oscillators. An entire record album has been created using fluctuations in the
earth's magnetic field as a control source.
Certainly, a musician working with electronics is limited only by his
own imagination.
The Fundamental Parameters of Sound
All music, whether it is conventional or electronic in origin, is an
ordered collection of sounds. Accordingly) a working knowledge of the
physics ofsound is necessary to understand and intelligently experiment with
the degree of control of sound offered by the use of computers in electronic
music.