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Proposal: Center for Computer Research in Acoustics and Music

From: John M. Chowning	

The Departments of Music and Computer Science, ten years ago,
began their support of computer music at a time when many universities
considered such work to be anti-humanistic and/or trivial.  At the time
it was an open question as to the contribution technology could make to
music, but of the two applicable technologies, analog and digital, the
former seemed to hold the greater promise.  Thus, we have witnessed a
decade of the proliferation of synthesizers of every imaginable sort and
a corresponding saturation by the recording industry and composer community
of `synthesized sound', of which the most notable example was
`Switched On Bach'.  Synthesizers are marvelously useful for generating
great amounts of electronic sound where the composer has a minimum of
control.  

Stanford was the first to develop a self-contained, interactive system for
direct digital synthesis using computers supported by powerful
synthesis and composition programs.  There are two particularly visible
indicators which affirm both the initial foresight of the Department
of Music and our success at achieving what we set out to do; first,
we have been supplying in recent years a growing number of universities,
including Columbia, Princeton, Carnegie-Mellon, Michigan State, Colgate,
with our programs and special knowledge; second, we have been asked by
Pierre Boulez, composer-conductor and a major international figure,
to participate in the planning for, and research within, the
Institute de Recherche et Coordination d'Acoustique Musicale which
is being built as part of the Centre Beaubourg in Paris and which Boulez
will direct beginning in 1975.  It is significant that in the plans for this
institute and in an increasing number of universities, the primary research tools
for acoustics and composition are computers rather than analog synthesizers.

At the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory we have developed programs and
techniques for the simulation of moving sound sources in reverberant spaces,
the composition of music, the editing of manuscripts, and the analysis and
synthesis of complex signals, some of which are startlingly simple in their
implementation and novel in conception.  While the progress of this research
has certainly been enhanced by the high level of technological expertise at
the A.I. Lab., it has been equally dependent upon the cross-disciplinary
skills of the researchers themselves.  It is this inter-disciplinary aspect
which has given our research its particular character and which circumscribes
our interests.

We have certainly benefited from our association with the A.I. Lab.;
however, we are a burden to that system.  It is clear that in order to continue
our work on a substantive basis we must become, to some extent, independent.
Independence requires support which requires an idea - therefore, this proposal.

Organization

We propose that the Department of Music continue the work with computers
by organizing a center for research in acoustics and music, contingent upon
our success at finding support outside of the university.  For the
following reasons the center would have a logical existence at Stanford:

	1. Our work in this area is already well-established and highly
regarded,
	2. We have the research momentum and a staff which reflects the
inter-disciplinary nature of the research,
	3. Stanford's balance between the technological and the humanistic
disciplines would provide an ideal nutrient environment for such a center.

The center should be organized in such a way that it has a direct
relationship to the academic program of the department, but should be
to some degree automonous in determining its research projects and staff.

Academic Contribution

	Teaching
Since 1966 the department has included in its curriculum the 220 series,
computer sound synthesis and composition.  These courses have been necessarily
small because of the limited computer time available to the students.
The center could provide the facilities and teaching staff for expanding
this program into a number of courses and seminars for both the general
student and the graduate student who has a special interest in acoustics and
electronic music.  Within the competence of the proposed staff are the
following courses and seminars.

		General Courses-
			Musical Acoustics
			Psychoacoustics
			Electronic music (repertory and analysis)
		Specialized Courses and Seminars-
			Digital sound synthesis
			Composing programs and algorithms
			Digital Processing and pertinent mathematics

	Research
In addition to the research projects of the staff (the outline of an NSF proposal
under preparation is attached), the center should support research projects of
specially interested graduate and undergraduate students from the university at large.
It has not been unusual in the past, for students from other departments, e.g.
computer science, psychology, to make significant contributions in the field
and this interaction should surely be encouraged.

	Composition
One of the very real difficulties in the past has been the acquisition of
sufficient computer time to compose works of large proportions.  Here,
the new technology can certainly help us.  As noted below (Equipment),
a special purpose processor can generate in real-time, complex muscical
works which take tens of hours of computation on the current PDP-10 system.
The center would be an open facility for composers in the Department of
Music.

We would propose a program where major guest composers are invited to
work at the center for specific periods of time.  This program would not only aid the
dissemination of our research results to the outside, but would contribute
to the general level of artistic activity on campus in the form of concerts
and lectures.  Interest in working at Stanford has already been expressed
by Ligeti and Xenakis.

Staff

	L. Smith, Professor of Music, Faculty advisor

	1.	J. Chowning	Music
	2.	L. Rush		Music
	3.	J. Grey		Psychology
	4.	J. Moorer	Computer Science

Location

There are advantages in maintaining our association with the A.I. Lab.

	1. There is no requirement for additional space
	2. We can buy a `piece' of a hardware engineer's time
	3. Our system can be an `invisible peripheral' to the PDP-10 system
	4. We have available to our system the PDP-10 software
	5. We benefit from the high level of technology - ideas breed ideas

We have discussed this matter with John McCarthy and he has agreed in principle
to our continued association, subject to the condition that we pay in
proportion to our use of the system.  Any proposals for support
which we submit, therefore, must first be perused and approved by him.

Equipment

The department now owns some excellent audio equipment which is kept
at the A.I. Lab.  Most of this was bought from the license income of
the spatial processing invention.

	1. 4-channel Scully recorder 			value	$4000.
	2. 4-channel Sony recorder				 1300.
	3. 4-channel Dolby noise suppressor			 1200.
	4. 4-channel amplifier speaker system			 1000.
	5. 1/2 and 1/4 in. tape					  500.
	6. reserve for equipment repair etc.			 1000.

There are two additional pieces of equipment we need in order to be
invisible to the PDP-10 system.

	1. PDP-11 45 mini-computer				$35,000.
	2. Special purpose acoustical processor		      c. 20,000.

Budget

In order to continue our research and buy the above capital equipment
we are preparing a proposal for NSF to cover the costs for a two-year
period.  We would approach foundations as well, given the university's
approval.  M.V. Mathews, Director of the Behavioral Research and Acoustics
Laboratory, Bell Telephone Laboratories, has offered his help in finding
support for the research and/or the center.