Syllabus

Computing for Sound Processing

Instructors

Georg Essl
Assistant Professor Computer and Information Science & Engineering
Office Hours: Wednesday 2-4 pm
Office: CSE Building, Room 342
Phone: (352) 392-1492
Email: gessl@cise.ufl.edu

Kristian Damkjer
Teaching Assistant
Office Hours: MWF 4 (10:40am – 11:30 am)
Office: CSE E312
Phone: 2-1188
Email: krislinn@ufl.edu

Course Goal

Enable students to use and extend current sound synthesis methods.

Course Objectives

Course Objectives: This course gives students in CISE, DAS, Music, Psychology, Physics and other related backgrounds, an opportunity to develop skills in sound processing.

The course emphasizes sound synthesis based on the physics of the sounding object, which is a recently developed method with active ongoing research. The objectives of the course include familiarity with available methodology as well as an understanding of the field to engage in novel contributions.

During the course each student will pick a semester-long project to explore the possibilities of the synthesis of a particular musical instrument or sounding mechanism in depth.

Grading

40% Class Project

30% 1 or 2 Mid-term exams

30% Quizzes and Exercises

Grading Scale

A's 100-90%
B's 80-89%
C's 60-79%
D's 50-59%
F 50-0%

Materials Required

Required Textbook:

Perry R. Cook “Real Sound Synthesis for Interactive Applications,” A K Peters, 2002.

Reading for each class will be assigned and students are expected to have regular and easy access to the textbook.

Optional Readings:

To be announced.

Computing needs:

Access to a computer with a C++ compiler and sound card. Operating systems: Windows, Linux or Mac OSX. Access to a private, personal computer is preferable (laptop is best!).

Special Needs

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.

Policies

1. Attendance is required at all classes. Should a class be missed, it is the student's responsibility to see that notes from the missed classes are obtained from a classmate and any work assigned completed by their return. It is the student's responsibility to find out what was missed and still make the deadlines. Repeated or excessive tardiness to class will not be tolerated. The same stance is taken toward the repeated or excessive use or interruption due to cell phones and/or any other devices or personal situations which detract from the focus and progress of the class.
2. All students of The University of Florida are expected to conduct themselves in a reasonable and professional manner at all times as described in the Student Honor Code; please refer to The Code for specifics.
3. Time in a Lab will be reserved at posted times for use by this class. All reserved and open times will be posted and monitored by the lab staff. You must return the lab to the normal condition after each use or your use privileges will be suspended.
4. UF Software Copyright Policy: All faculty, staff and students of the University of Florida are required and expected to obey the laws and legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator. Because such violations are also against the University polices and rules, disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate.
5. Each student is required to maintain an email account, either through the University, the Alachua Freenet, or a private service provider (i.e. America On Line, CompuServe, et al.). Urgent class information may be communicated through email, so students are expected to check email regularily.
6. This class will abide by the University of Florida's honesty policy regarding cheating and use of software, details of which are located at: http://ifasstat.ufl.edu/nrs/Acahon.htm.
7. The phone numbers and contact sites for university counseling services and mental health services can be found at: http://www.counsel.ufl.edu/default.asp?res=high.

Readings:

Please do the reading before class. (Why? Lectures and readings may cover different material, there may be a quiz, it will help you internize stuff and so forth.) Exception is the first day of class!

Exercises/Quizzes:

The small exercises may be assigned once a week or less. Random quizzes may be handed out.

Class project:

By the third week everybody has to decide on a project for the class. Details are to be decided.

Tentative Class Outline

Week 1: Monday: Welcome (Teaser: Cook Chap 16)

Wednesday: Digital Audio Signals (read before class: Cook Chap 1) Rehearsal Quiz (not affecting grade).

Friday: Sampling (read before class: Cook Chap 2)

Week 2: M: Intro to the Physics of Musical Instruments (optional handouts)

W: Instruments, Filters (Cook Chap 3)

F: Filters (Cook Chap 3)

Week 3: W,F: Modal Synthesis (Cook Chap 4), W: Instrument/Sound Project Proposal Due.

Week 4: M,W,F: FFT, Modal Analysis (Cook Chap 5, 4.6)

Week 5: M,W,F: Physical Modeling (Cook Chap 9)

Week 6: M,W,F: Introduction to Excitation (Cook Chap 11, Chap 14)

Week 7: M,W,F: Excitation Points (Cook App C, optional handouts)

Week 8: M,W,F: Physical Modeling in 2 and 3D (Cook Chap 12)

Week 9: M,W,F: Stochastic Physical Modeling (Cook Chap 13). W: Midterm (material through Week 8)

Week 10: Spring Break

Week 11: M,W,F: Spectral Modeling, Voice (Chap 6)

Week 12: M,W,F: Vocoders and Filter Banks (Chap 7). Project Progress Report Due.

Week 13: M,W,F: Subtractive and LPC (Chap 8)

Week 14: M,W,F: Sound Effects Processing (optional handouts)

Week 15: M,W,F: to be decided. F: Midterm (optional, material week 9 through 14)

Week 16: M,W: Project Demos.

Optional topics to be covered if time permitting: Introduction to Psychoacoustics, Introduction to New Interfaces for Musical Expression, A Brief History of Computer Music.