El Camino de Silicio is an electronic network designed to promote computer music in the Americas. It is an extension of a computer music exchange program between the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (University of California, San Diego ), the Laboratorio de Investigación y Producción Musical (Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires), and the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (Stanford University). The exchange program was funded from 1990-95 by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The network's mission is to foster collaborative research, music production, and education. It is a project of CRCA's research associate Bob Willey (bobw@carla.ucsd.edu).
The name for the network derives from
"El Camino Real
El Camino Real" (The Royal Highway),
a coastal road built in
California between 1769-1823.
It went for 600 miles (970 km) from
San Diego to Sonoma,
connecting 21 missions,
4 presidios (forts),
and three pueblos (civilian settlements)
built beside or near it.
Music ProductionAn archive of midi compositions for piano sound and synthesizer(s) is stored at CRCA.
The purpose of the NetJam group, Berkeley, is to stimulate musical collaboration by people all over the world, through organized sending of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) and other files (like sample data and MAX patchers). The members, styles, equipment, compositions, and associated documentation are organized as well. A number of computer platforms are supported (UNIX, Macintosh, IBM-PC, Amiga, Atari-ST), and means for hardcopy notation and audio reproduction of the composed music are provided. The NetJam is available via anonymous ftp from xcf.Berkeley.EDU (128.32.138.1) in the /misc/netjam directory.
Servio Marin (smarin@nunic.nu.edu) organized a new music festival in San Diego on April, 1995.
Stanford University has a few classes available online by anonymous ftp. The archive includes information on DSP and the Music Kit.
CRCA has a few items available for ftp, including Bob Willey's Hypercard Stack called "Introduction to Electronic Music". This stack is provides the user with a way to compare the waveform and spectra of basic sounds.
Bob Willey has begun a collection of Max patches at CRCA and plans to develop online study material. Other ftp archives for Max exist in other locations.
Brent Hugh has collected some references to educational programs, mostly IBM and for teaching piano.
The Amsterdam Catalogue of Composition Algorithms is a database organized by Alcedo Coenen (alcedo@mars.let.uva.nl) for composers and programmers involved in algorithmic composition. The ACCA project starts December 15 with a seminar at the University of Amsterdam.
Bob Willey's "Music Resources on the Internet" is a survey of some popular programs for using the Internet, and examples of what may be found relating to music. The paper is on the web and contains links to other sites.
There are many electronic discussions taking place through the USENET news program.
The Pacifica radio network is an important outlet for contemporary culture. Carl Stone (cstone@netcom.com) has been connected with them for many years and has collected some of the playlists from his programs.
Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University maintains a ftp server.
The IRCAM institute in Paris maintains an archive. They also have a Mosaic interface. "Ostinato", the informational newsletter of the Documentation Center of Contemporary Music comprizes, among many other things, detailed lists of concerts and festivals in France (and some abroad), informations for composers and interpreters, etc.
The CERL Sound Group at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign maintains a www server.
The Indiana University Library maintains a extensive list of music resources on the Internet.
Bruce Pennycook is the principal investigator behind McGill University 's Music Library of the Future. They are working on a new audio player which will include support for general midi files. The Mac version of the new Multi-Player should be released in about 1 month. The PC and X versions about 2 months later. They hope to link Text, MAPS (scores), MIDI, AUdio, QTime with common segment points.
A WWW front end for information on csound is available from Leeds University. They have the manual online.
Ruggero Andrea Ruschioni (roger@lsi.usp.br) reports a web site at the University of São Paulo's Laboratório de Sistemas Integráveis (Laboratory of Integrated Systems). They also have a ftp site with binaries for SGI and the major packages for synthesis. The idea is to provide a site for South America, it should be faster than connecting to the USA, and they will soon have fiber-optical connection to the outer world.
Craig Latta has compiled a list of frequently asked questions about electronic music.
Bob McQueer has put together the MUSENET MIDI Primer for basic information on the MIDI specification.
Jason Vantomme (vantomme@ILS.NWU.EDU) has compiled a bibliography on score following research.
The UCSD Music Library maintains a front end with information about UC and other music libraries.