Pop-production as problem-solving#
Dr Ben Swift
National Youth Science Forum ‘19
what’s a producer?#
someone who makes songs happen
pop songs run on catchy hooks, repetitive harmony, and processed synthetic sounds
programming as problem solving
modelling the domain#
music (n.)
a series of pitched events over time
the dimensions#
time — in beats
pitch — in MIDI note numbers (middle C is 60)
loudness — 0 is silent, 127 is loud
extempore#
a livecoding language for music, by Andrew Sorensen and me
don’t worry about the syntax — I’ll explain enough to follow along
pop music isn’t black magic
it’s a domain with structure — and code is great at exploring structure