Martin Ilčík

Procedural Design

SAT afternoon

It takes a single operator to turn C# into a functional language for music programming – simply called D♭. With familiar syntax and full integration with C# libraries it allows to code whole orchestral pieces. This tutorial is designed as a live-coding session divided in two parts. In the first one you will experience the art of algorithmic composition and even non-musicians will produce their first music pieces. In the background you will get to know the theory of procedural modeling and formal languages that provide a basis to D♭. The second part introduces the exciting world of responsive music that adapts in real-time. We will discuss the choice of control parameters and explain which D♭ variables are state persistent. The key to responsive music programs is, however, an inevitable change in thinking about program design. You will learn to split the music into micro pieces which allow for fast changes of musical ideas in reaction to parameter changes.