Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Composing Electronic Music ...................................................................
In This Chapter
Checking out sequencers, digital audio workstations, and computerized music notation
Visiting digital sound libraries
Looping your compositions
Scrapbooking with your computer
Y
our average electronic home-recording musician has to know almost
as much about computers as he or she does about music itself. The
amount of necessary (and unnecessary) pieces of music hardware and soft-
ware is constantly growing and evolving, so much so that many musicians
long for the days when a four-track tape recorder was the height of home-
recording technology.That said, electronic music is here and likely to stay. This chapter introduces
you to many of its advantages and limitations.Software and Hardware for Composition..................................................
If you’re the type of musician who likes to spend as much time experimenting
with technology as writing and recording music, then learning how to use
new technology isn’t much of a problem. There is a fascinating array of new
instruments and programs to work with, from ultra-sensitive microphones
that can record insects’ voices and the steady slurping of deciduous trees, to
keyboards with three playable sides to each key that can produce microtones
and previously impossible chord constructions.However, if you’re the type of musician who has to be dragged kicking and
screaming to the 21st century of home recording, then the playback capabili-
ties of a MIDI theremin probably don’t interest you. And that’s okay. If this is
the case, there are really just a few software — or combined software and
hardware — packages that come in handy.