Sound and Music Computing

The ANU Laptop Ensemble 2023 Concert Series will take place on June 2, 5, and 6 at Llewllyn Hall, ANU School of Music. Our students will perform 14 concerts over these three days. All concerts are open to the public and free of charge.

The ANU Laptop Ensemble Concert Series is the final assessment for our Sound and Music Computing students in 2023. Each concert will be around 40 minutes in length with 4-5 pieces of original ensemble computer music created by our students. These works involve custom music software, new interfaces for musical expression, novel modes of networked collaboration, and creative algorithms for composing music. Above all, these are creative experiments at the limits of current music technology.

To see previous performances by the ANU Laptop Ensemble in previous years, take a look at our YouTube Channel.

If you’re a student in the class, practical information about the concert series is here.

This course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts of music computing, including digital synthesis, algorithmic composition, and musical interface design. You will develop your knowledge by creating computer musical instruments in music programming languages and developing new computer music works to present in concert with an ensemble of other students.

Modern music technology exists at the forefront of computing practice and involves new live programming paradigms, human interface design, digital signal processing, networking, and machine learning. You will gain experience in these concepts and learn how to conceptualise and realise new computer music instruments, compositions, and performances.

Two course codes are available: COMP4350 and COMP8350.

SMC is open to students from computing, as well as those who meet the prerequisites from creative arts and other areas of the ANU.

If you have any issues with enrolment, please follow the instructions on this page to ask for a permission code.

If you’ve got questions about enrolling in the course, get in touch with Charles Martin.

Each week you will attend an interactive lecture and try out SMC concepts with Charles, and a collaborative workshop where you will create musical performances with your small ensemble of 4-5 new computer musicians. You will create a sound/music piece every week and perform as the “ANU Laptop Ensemble” in the end-of-semester concert series.

The best way to see what we do is to watch previous student’s performances in the on our YouTube channel.

If you have enrolled in SMC, or are thinking about it, and want to get started, here’s what to do:

1. Enrol in the course on ISIS and sign up for a workshop on MyTimetable.
2. Make sure you have a laptop and commit to attending all lectures and workshops.
3. Read through the tools page and install things on your laptop that you might need. Test them out and see if you can make a sound.
4. Have a look at the references page and browse through some of the readings to get a head start on learning about sound and music computing.

If you have any questions, check out the FAQ to see they have already been answered.

Finally, show up in week 1 ready to make some computer music!