Evolution in musical notation has been tied to the development of music theory and performance.

The conceptual basis of the UPIC system is described and discussed, in particular its relation to the work of its orginator, Iannis Xenakis, to the science of acoustics and to the development of an intuitive graphic imagery. A possible pedagogical approac h to musical creation using the resources of the UPIC is developed, and the particular pedagogical ethos of the system is emphasised. There follows a detailed description of the practical arrangements for a number of different workshop situations using the UPIC system in which the author has participated, and an evaluation of the outcomes of using the system in this way.

This article presents a full analysis of Crosstalk – a piece for tape by Michael Vaughan (1989). The methodological approach employed here develops its concepts and techniques from those of Music Semiology and Spectromorphology. The former provides the concept and method of semiological neutral inference – as applied by Nattiez (1982, 1990). The latter – developed by Smalley (1986) – offers tools and a terminology for the characterisation of timbre and temporal functionality within the musical work.

In this article I intend to investigate the differences and common factors between Max and Tabula Vigilans, two programs for rule-based and algorithmic composition. Before I begin this investigation, I will introduce both programs briefly.

Software packages developed for visualising time-varying timbres, finding parameter settings for modelling acoustic instrument tones, and for synthesising timbres are described. The sndan package, written in C for Unix machines, provides spectrum analysis, pitch tracking, spectrum display, parameter modification, and additive synthesis. Other programs that estimate the best possible parameters for recreating acoustic sounds using techniques such as multiple FM and wavetable synthesis and extended nonlinear/filter synthesis are outlined. Hybrid instruments created by fashioning sounds out of the recombined spectral characteristics of two or more very different tones are also presented.