Methods of Music Creation on Computers

Jin-Yong Lee

#1: MIDI.

Basically, a series of messages that are sent to a host synth or sound generator for play.

Very small file size.

Catch: will sound different depending on synth!

Also lots of different interpretations of the standard between DAWs, hardware, synths....

So a little early history.

1987: Roland MT-32 (dedicated synth unit)

Designed for amateur musicians but was also used a lot in games

Also the AdLib sound card (but that was more FM synthesis)....

General MIDI Era (1991 - 1999) 1991: MIDI Manufacturers Association

(MMA), Japan MIDI Standards Committee (JMSC) create General MIDI 1 standard

128 instruments, 1 drumset, 24-note polyphony minimum, 16 MIDI channels at once (#10 reserved for drums)

Quickly outpaced specialized synths such as the MT-32

Proved rather limiting, so Roland and Yamaha created their own GS and XG standards, respectively, in addition.

1996: MSFT licenses parts of Roland's Sound Canvas-55 (SC-55) sound map (albeit at considerably worse quality ^^')

1997: AAPL licenses same, but the implementation is slightly different.

General MIDI Level 2 Era (1999 - )

1999: GM2 standard introduced

256 instruments,10 drumsets, 32-note polyphony, still 16 channels

Tried to balance out against GS (317+ ins., 10+ drums) and XG (676+ ins., 9+ drums) standards

But now MIDI was to the side as CD audio and trackers became more prevalent.

But it still lives very strongly

Hardware synthesizer boards and drum controllers still rely on MIDI controls

Software synthesizers (Steinberg VSTi, Creative SoundFont, Apple Audio Units) have grown significantly...and MIDI control support is very common among them to allow for easier porting.

Still a vibrant MIDI community around.

Examples of MIDI

Hardware: MT-32, Sound Canvas series, PSR/MOTIF series

Software: S-YXG50, VSC-MP1, TTS-1

DAW: Cakewalk, Cubase (MIDI-centric), Logic, FL Studio (secondary)

#2: Tracker

Music is not written in standard notation at all! Instead, it's typed and written/read vertically.

Generally uses samples and/or chip sounds, though this is changing recently

Samples are kept alongside the modules.

Very popular among demoscene, chiptune, electronic music enthusiasts

Brief history?

Took off in the mid-1980s with the Commodore Amiga

Its 4-channel sound chip (Paula), which relied on samples, proved popular for electronic composers – tended to use Ultimate Soundtracker and later Protracker

Soon trackers for Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum created – used the chip's sound generator (PSG) instead for the most part due to hardware limitations.

Amiga -> DOS Transition

1990s – the growth of wavetable-based soundcards such as the Gravis Ultrasound (GUS) and SoundBlaster 16 (SB16) led to a migration to the DOS ecosystem

Along with this came new software – Scream Tracker, Fast Tracker, Impulse Tracker.

Even used in some games (notably Unreal Tournament)

Post-2000s

Also declined with the growth of storage space, CD-quality audio

However, the community, while much smaller than the MIDI one, still lives through their genre, as well as the demoscene

Growth in attempting to create trackers and/or modules for other old systems (GB, NES, Megadrive are common)

In addition, emulation of older chips has expanded their growth among chiptune fans.

Examples of tracker software

Classic: FastTracker, Impulse Tracker, ProTracker

Modern: OpenMPT (Windows), Renoise, Milkytracker.

Most newer ones retain a classic Amiga/DOS-style interface, OpenMPT being the major exception.

Thus OpenMPT tends to be popular among newer users for its native Windows interface.

#3: Loops (briefly)

Use of a repeated waveform or note sequence in a work

This is not new to music at all, really

But in the case of computer music, it helps by giving prefabs to allow composers to focus on other areas. Or, just make music entirely out of them!

Quick rundown

Started with Sonic Foundry's ACID in 1998

Its revolutionary use of ACID Loops propelled the use of loops in other DAWs and general music making

Logic began using Apple Loops in 2004 – over 20k packed in, comes with easy utility to make your own

Also frequently used in GarageBand.

...and is that it?

...not really, but these are three of the main ways.

Even here there are a great number of variations – in MIDI, for instance, once can drag notes, use piano rolls, have keyboard controllers, even import info from a tracker, etc.