~ICMC 2015 - Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 2015 - CEMI, University of North Texas
tion of Peabody with Johns Hopkins in 1977 gave the conservatory access to the computers and expertise available at
the University and made possible the Conservatory's entrance
into computer music. Under the direction of Geoffrey Wright
and with the gracious assistance of Leland Smith, SCORE
and MUS10 was installed on the Johns Hopkins DEC PDP10. Barry Vercoe provided Music 11, which was run on a
Johns Hopkins PDP-11/45 computer in the Chemical Engineering Department. Later, F. Richard Moore and Gareth
Loy provided Cmusic to Peabody. Ultimately Csound became our primary computer music langauage during this period. Initially, DAC systems were not allowed on the shared
mainframe university computers, so Dexter Morrill at Colgate
kindly converted our sample files to audio. Finally, with the
department-sized DEC PDP-11/45, DAC/ADC systems were
attached. Visiting professor Vladimir Ussachevsky donated a
commercial DAC/ADC system for our exclusive use.
McGregor Boyle arrived at Peabody in 1982. The studio
bought its first computer that year, an IBM PC-XT. Although
too slow to make sound, the computer was harnessed to generate triggers and continuous control voltage signals through
a specially designed DAC/ADC to control the Moog synthesizers in real-time and in polyphony. This hybrid system
worked well, but when MIDI came out in 1983 the "pmusic" control language written by doctoral student Rob Mari
was converted to process MIDI as well.
Wright and Boyle founded the Computer Music Consort in
1983. This professional performing ensemble has appeared
at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C, and at Symphony
Space in New York City, among other places. A gift allowed Peabody to create a lecture series, the Friedberg Lectures, which has featured speakers such as Roger Reynolds,
Paul Lansky, Stephen McAdams and Max Matthews. Wright
also founded the Combined Laboratory for Audio Interdisciplinary Research (CLAIR) in 1984. CLAIR has overseen
research in Brain-Generated Music, among other topics.
Peabody added a second studio, now known as Production
Studio 312, in 1991. Both studios at that time were primarily MIDI studios, with the familiar racks of MIDI gear filling
the space. Over the years the department has continued to
expand, and now occupies a suite of five rooms on the third
floor of the Conservatory. The original studio is now known
as the Teaching Studio 314, and it is where most classes are
held. The other two studios are the Digital Performance Studio 309, which is the home of our Yamaha MIDI grand piano,
and the Digital Arts Studio 307, a collaborative learning environment for our students.
In 1989, Peabody joined its Electronic and Computer Music Studios into the Peabody Computer Music Department
(PCM) and began offering degrees with the creation of the
Master of Music in Computer Music degree. We were assisted by Hopkins Computer Science students, one of whom
was Daniel Barrett. The PCM faculty has at times included
technology specialists Edmund Pirali, Ichiro Fujinaga, and
Craig Sapp. Over subsequent years Peabody graduates have
had an enormous impact on the Computer Music community. Our alumni can be found all over the world in music
production and teaching institutions. A Bachelor's degree in
Computer Music began in 2004, and now there is an optimal
balance between undergraduate and graduate students.
Being situated in a conservatory has had a considerable influence on Peabody Computer Music. There are over a thousand concerts a year at the conservatory, so many composers
tend to focus on writing music that combines computer music with live performance. We find that there is an increase in
young, skilled performers who are technically experienced.
In addition to our own concerts and those of the Composition Department, we are also called on to assist the Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Opera Departments when they have
technical needs. We also assist our sister institution, the Yong
Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, which we helped to
found and with whom we have an ongoing relationship. Exchange students can study in a joint degree program at both
institutions.
Today Peabody students can be found participating in the
ICMC and SEAMUS Conferences, as well as being awarded
international prizes. Last year, for example there were four
Peabody students performed at ICMC, and this year we will
have four presenting their work at SEAMUS.
Some notable Peabody alumni include Michael Hedges, an
extraordinary guitarist who released several recordings for
Wyndham Hill records and performed all over the world; Richard Dudas, who worked at IRCAM and Cycling74 and now
is on the faculty at Hanyang University in Seoul; Seongah
Shin is on the faculty at Keimyung University (South Korea); Matthew Burtner, now Associate Professor of music at
the University of Virginia; Elizabeth Anderson, a successful
composer now based in Europe; Lynn Kowal, Darren Otero,
and Bijan Olia, all successful film composers based in Hollywood; Chris Mandra, who created the original website for
National Public Radio; Michael Straus, now Assistant Dean
for Facilities and Technology at Oberlin Conservatory; Margaret Schedel, Asssociate Professor of Music at Stonybrook
University; Juha Ojala, who teaches at the University of Oulu
in Finland; Griffin Cohen, composer and sound designer for
video games at Firaxis; and Yiyi Cui, now teaching at Dailan
University in China.
2. LOOKING FORWARD
2.1 International Collaborations
Peabody Computer Music collaborates with studios and colleges worldwide, and in recent years especially with Asian institutions. In April 2014 PCM participated in the Handmade
Project with Guling Street Avant-Garde Theatre [7] (Taipei)
and Keimyung University (South Korea)[8].
Handmade was hosted primarily by PCM alumna Sandra
Wuan-Chin Li, who is music director of Guling Street AvantGarde Theatre. Handmade featured music from musicians
and students in Baltimore, Seoul, and Taipei. Five pieces
from Peabody Computer Music students were presented in
concert, including (Scribble by Robby Neubauer, Mirage by
Sunhuimei Xia, Beijing Impression by Yiyi Cui, Papi Flu
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