ABSTRACT
The foundations of computer music were laid down even before the term “digital” was applied to computers. In each case, composition using binary codes aided the musician in creating a piece of music in machine-readable form. In early computer music environments, playback or recording of the synthesized result may frequently have involved additional editing using the analog tape medium. The laptop computer is the Swiss Army Knife of music, capable of performing whatever tasks are necessary with all manner of indispensable hardware components and software. The ability to represent analog musical information in this way provides the composer and musician with many options for managing, playing, editing, and performing music. Direct digital synthesis creates a sound from numeric values generated through the use of a computer music programming language. The digital oscillator is the sound-generating circuit or program of a computer-based music system.
