Exercise 11

Exercise 11: Introduction to RTcmix

In our History 3 unit, we learned about Max Matthews and his work inventing the Music-N series of computer music languages (Music 1, Music 2, etc.). These languages pioneered many important concepts that are still with us, such as the wavetable oscillator and unit generators.

This week we’ll get a taste of a later incarnation of a Music-N language called RTcmix. The original version of this language, called Cmix, was developed by Paul Lansky at Princeton University in the 1980’s. (We listened to some of his music in that history unit.)

You work with RTcmix by writing a score (or script) using a plain text editor, and then submitting this for playback. Working with a text-based computer music language is very different from working with a graphical programming language like Max. We want you to experience some of these differences.

Goals

We’re learning how to...

  • get started making sound with RTcmix,
  • work in its simple programming language,
  • play notes that you specify exactly, and
  • harness the power of randomness and looping to create textures.

How to Do This Exercise

  1. Open up the RTcmix Tutorial.
  2. Install the RTcmixShell program on your computer, and learn how to open and play RTcmix scores with it. The Running Scores section of the tutorial covers this.
  3. Follow the tutorial through section 5, Looping and Randomness.
  4. Write one RTcmix score that uses the WAVETABLE instrument to play a series of long, overlapping, swelling notes, creating a restful ambient passage. Do this by constructing a loop, in which only one note plays within a single iteration of the loop. At this point, you know how to specify pitch only in terms of frequency. Let this free your mind. (And remember the formula for beat frequencies.) Use randomization to choose your pitches and pan positions. Be conservative with your amplitudes when stacking up a lot of simultaneous notes — 5000 is a good starting point for each note. RTcmixShell has a clipping indicator that will flicker when you start to clip, and you then should hear obvious distortion when playing sine waves.
  5. Submit your score below.

Submission

  • Be sure you satisfied the criteria listed above.
  • Submit your RTcmix score in Canvas.

Grading Criteria

This exercise is graded pass/fail. You must submit the exercise by Thursday midnight to be eligible for a pass.

Your score must

  • operate correctly and
  • implement the functionality described above.

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