Brad Garton

1992 International Computer Music Conference, San Jose, California USA, 14-18 October 1992

The 1992 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) took place in San Jose, California, 14-18 October 1992. Below, we present reviews of the conference as a whole (with special reference to the paper sessions), written by Paul Berg (organizer of the 1986 ICMC), Rob Duisberg, and Carla Scaletti. Following these general remarks are separate reviews of each of the eight concerts, for which we thank Bob Pritchard, Todd Winkler, Rick Taube, Mara Helmuth, Jon Berger, Jon Hallstrom, and Brad Garton. We also provide a review of the one concert that was included

Recent Developments at the Columbia University Computer Music Center

Introduction Columbia University has had a long involvement with music technology, establishing one of the first, if not the first, research/music centers devoted to electronic music in the United States. Officially recognized in the late 1950s as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, the EMC was a hotbed of musico-technological work in the ensuing decades.! A few years ago I became Director of the Center-its new advisory board comprising Fred Lerdahl, Tristan Murail, and myself. We managed to secure a sizable boost in funding from the Columbia University Administration and from several external sources, and with this influx of new support we decided to rebuild a number of our studios and to undertake a major overhaul and revamping of the Centers facilities. We also decided to rethink the operation of the Center, seeking to renew the status it enjoyed for decades as an advanced and progressive workplace for musicians and researchers who use new music technologies. At that time we officially changed the name from the Electronic Music Center to the Computer Music Center (CMC) to better reflect the new organizational structure as well as the renewed research/music focus. We have since enjoyed a tremendous increase in activity at the CMC, with all of the attendant excitement and difficulties associated with explosive growth. Several months ago Dan Thompson asked if I would write a description of some of the changes that have taken place at the CMC for Current Musicology, perhaps thinking that some of what we do might be of interest to CM readers. Rather than merely describing hardware and software projects, I thought it might be more interesting for me to try to articulate my version of the philosophy driving what we now do at the CMC.2 What follows is an attempt to do just that. I feel I must apologize in advance for the decidedly personal tone of this article; however, the operation of the CMC is indeed a personal odyssey for everyone involved. One final caveat: what I describe is truly my own version of how the Center is, and it mayor may not reflect the actual reality of the CMC. I like to pretend that it does.