A real-time computer music synthesis system.

Abstract

A real-time sound synthesis has been developed at the Computer Music Center of The University of Texas at Austin. This system consists of several stand alone processors that were constructed jointly with White Instruments in Austin. These processors can be programmed as general purpose computers, but are provided with a number of specialized interfaces including MIDI, 8-bit parallel, high-speed serial, two-channel analog input (18 bit A/D’s, 48-kHz sample rate), and four-channel analog output (18 bit D/As). In addition, a basic music synthesis language (Music 56000) has been written in assembly code. On top of this, a symbolic compiler (Patchwork) has been developed to enable the algorithms which run in these processors to be created graphically. And finally, a number of efficient time domain numerical models have been developed to enable the construction, simulation, control, and synthesis of many musical acoustics systems in real time on these processors. Specifically, assembly language modules for cylindrical and conical horn sections, dissipative losses, tone holes, bells, and a number of linear and nonlinear boundary conditions have been developed.