ABSTRACT
Moving from soldering circuits to composing with software required a mental adjustment for the composers. Composing with circuits in the tradition of Tudor and Mumma was a real-time, action–reaction medium. What made microcomputer music different was the concept of computer memory as an adjunct to human memory. As microcomputers became more powerful and standardized during the 1980s, the emphasis on music for computers shifted mostly to the use of software. Software has in many ways equalized the opportunities for electronic music composers. The graphical user interface, developed by Xerox and made popular first by the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, provided a less daunting working environment for the musician and composer who stopped short of learning a programming language. The potential uses of electronic music have expanded exponentially through the availability of programs for making music with a personal computer. The processing power required to deliver high-quality synthesis has only recently become commonplace on personal computers.
