Abstract for Computer Music Talk Sept.26 [1986] by Chris Brown

Title: Music with a Real-time Interactive Signal Processor

Composer, pianist, and instrument-builder Chris Brown has been developing a homemade electronic instrument over the last three years that automatically performs signal processing and mixing of acoustically produced sounds in response to the pitch, volume, and rhythmic characteristics of the music being performed. This instrument uses primarily analog electronic modules whose voltage controls are digitally generated by a Rockwell AIM microcomputer with homemade interface.

The computer's mode of response changes during the course of piece, this becoming a structural element in musical compositions. The thesis of this work has been that timbral changes can be used rhythmically as structural elements in the same way that harmonic or melodic changes are used in traditional music. A software environment for exploring this idea has been developed using Forth and assembly language. The hardware and software instruments will be described during the talk, and then recordings of music produced on the system will be played.

Chris Brown studied composition with William Brooks and electronic music with Gordon Mumma at UC/Santa Cruz and David Rosenboom at the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music. He hold an M.F.A from Mills and currently teaches computer arts at the SF Art Institute. He has performed his music throughout the U.S. and has been a featured composer/performer at four New Music America Festivals.