Publication Date

1974

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Steg, Paul O., 1919-1995

Degree Name

M. Mus. (Master of Music)

Legacy Department

Department of Music

LCSH

Computer music

Abstract

A digital computer has been used in the production of ink drawings which may be used as a stimulus for musical performance. This document contains theoretical support for such a method of composition, a descrip­tion of the procedure used for musical realization, and an analysis of a computer program that produced some of the drawings. One of the most important theoretical bases of this project is the assumption that an amalgamation of randomness and order can exist. Through the use of a quasi-random number generator included in the com­puter programs to determine the specific characteristics of the drawing, and through the influence of the composer’s general stipulations, the author has obtained computer drawings that reflect the interaction of randomness and order in such a way that the drawings may be distin­guished as variants of a single system. It is possible for a performer to use these drawings as a stimulus for a musical realization in which the premises influencing the inter­pretation parallels the premises that produced the drawing. Since the drawings suggest only formal contexts, it is probable that each indi­vidual interpretation of any one of them will result in a musical varia­tion of previous interpretations. This thesis also contains photographic reductions of the drawings which are the products of the project described herein.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.||Includes illustrations.

Extent

44 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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