This course will provide an introduction to digital music, from the initial ‘cybernetic’ experiments of the 1950s to the evolution of software tools for synthesizing, processing, and analyzing sound to the development of music/audio-related hardware such as digital synthesizers, samplers, recorders, mixers, and workstations. An overview of musical genres utilizing digital technology will be presented (experimental, techno, dance, rap, ambient, etc.). Digital technology, including the revolutionary MIDI protocol, will be set into historical context, looking at musical and social developments and milestones, as well as related non-digital technology such as analog synthesizers and multi-track recorders.
