Programming (music)

• 1. Introduction

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  Since the 1950s, music programming has given composers and pop artists a way to generate instrument sounds through software and electronic devices. No live performer is required. The practice has spread into genres as different as rock, jazz, and contemporary classical music across many parts of the world. How a sequence of code came to substitute for live musicians is a question with a long answer. That answer begins in a computer science laboratory, and from there it runs through recording studios, pop charts, and home computers.

• 2. Languages of Sound

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  Alda is a music coding language aimed at two kinds of people. The first is musicians who do not know how to program. The second is, as Alda's own documentation describes it, programmers who "do not know how to music." That phrasing captures something real about music programming: it asks practitioners to hold two different domains in mind at once. Each coding language in the field carries its own level of difficulty and its own set of functions.

  At the far end of the complexity scale is LC. Unlike existing unit-generator languages, LC can directly represent microsounds and the manipulations involved in microsound synthesis. Its documentation describes it as providing objects, library functions, and methods that other music coding languages cannot match. Both Alda and LC belong to a longer history of digital synthesis. That history reaches back to the first computer programs ever designed to generate musical sound.

• 3. Max Mathews and MUSIC-N

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  Max Mathews created MUSIC-N, the first family of digital synthesis programs and languages. Programs including MUSIC I, MUSIC II, and MUSIC III formed a progression, each incorporating new technology that expanded what music programming could accomplish. MUSIC II introduced the table-lookup oscillator. MUSIC III added the unit generator, a concept that functioned as a building block for music programming software going forward.

  The unit generator gave developers a modular component they could recombine in new ways to build new sounds. The acoustic compiler was the other major development from this lineage. It enabled, as its documentation described it, "an unlimited number of sound synthesis structures to be created in the computer." Each successive program in the MUSIC-N family brought more flexibility and utility. That progression eventually carried the technology beyond academic computing and into the hands of artists making commercial music.

• 4. Electric Rhythm Machines

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  Around the 1950s, electric rhythm machines began appearing in popular music, offering artists a way to create percussion sounds more easily than before. J. J. Cale, Sly Stone, Phil Collins, Marvin Gaye, and Prince were among those who used these devices. The machines available through the 1950s-1970s included the Side Man, Ace Tone's Rhythm Ace, Korg's Doncamatic, and Maestro's Rhythm King.

  In 1979, guitarist Roger Linn released the LM-1 drum machine computer. Its purpose was to help artists achieve realistic-sounding drum sounds. The LM-1 offered eight distinct drum sounds: kick drum, snare, hi-hat, cabasa, tambourine, two tom toms, two congas, cowbell, clave, and handclaps. Each sound was recorded individually. The machine captured them at 28 kilohertz, which helped them sound convincingly real.

  Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and Madonna were among the artists who adopted the LM-1. These developments contributed to a broader range of new electronic instruments including the Theremin, the Hammond organ, the electric guitar, the synthesizer, and the digital sampler. Technologies such as the phonograph, the tape recorder, and the compact disc further allowed artists to create and produce sounds without live musicians at all.

• 5. The Sound of the 1980s

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  Gated reverb, vocal reverb, delay, and harmonization defined the popular music palette of the 1980s. Synthesizers and drum machines shaped that same sound alongside master bus mix-downs and tape. Music programming had become widespread enough by this time to generate real controversy in the recording industry.

  Recording artists in the 1980s increasingly confronted a fundamental shift. Many were recording their beats through programming rather than hiring a live drummer. The traditional methods of making and recording music were changing. The tools that came next moved the practice further still, from dedicated hardware into software available on personal computers.

• 6. The DAW Era

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  FL Studio, Avid Pro Tools, Apple Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, and GarageBand are among the software programs that now carry music production. By the early 2000s, digital audio workstations, or DAWs, had made computer-based music production the standard approach. Artists could edit, record, and mix music files without any physical instruments. Most DAWs operate using MIDI technology, which handles communication between electronic instruments, computers, and related devices.

  Cockos Reaper, Propellerhead Reason, Steinberg Cubase Pro, Magix Samplitude Pro X, Bitwig Studio, and other programs extend the list further. Some DAWs require less technical expertise than others, making music production accessible to beginners working on their own. Music programming, which once demanded specialized academic equipment, now runs on personal computers available to individual artists working from home.