A Short History of Digital Sound Synthesis by Composers in the U.S.A

A new technology for music has emerged with unprecedented speed. Just over forty years ago, the first digitally-produced sounds gave pioneering composers from around the world a taste of vast new possibilities. Numerical experiments with sound became a logical extension of compositional interests that were pushing the boundaries of timbre, perception, new instruments and performance techniques, organization and paradoxically, indeterminism. At several centers including a small number in the U.S. interdisciplinary teams combined composition with research in musical acoustics, psychoacoustics, and artificial intelligence. Their musical works provide a timeline of progress in sound synthesis.