Do Not Fold; 13
- Transcript
Do not fold then with staple or mutilate this car. The slogan of the computer a University of Illinois radio service presents a series of programs about you and the computer. From banks to hospitals and from airlines to music its application on this team and these programs will give you a glimpse of these countless applications and what they mean to you. Do not fold it becomes an instruction in the field of art and goes far beyond number of painting concepts in music. Unusual buildings and graceful sketches are made possible because of the computer. Today's programme brings you a sample of the Artist's Palette in the computer age. Significant work has been done with musical composition because of electronic data processing equipment musical scores may be prepared with the aid of computers and then played on computers. Sound of maybe coax from electronic data processing machines. Original music or
well-known selections may be played at the University of Illinois performing this song from musical play. Such sounds represent only child's play in terms of the potential of a computer complete musical scores may be prepared and entire performances handled by computer. Now the University of Illinois was one of the first men to work with computers to compose music.
Mr Brown has cooperated with other members of the School of Music in a continuing study of the use of electronic data processing equipment in the field of music. Mr Brough explained some of the basic concepts which must be considered in such work. Setting the scene is quite a good way of starting and I would suggest that we best set the scene by playing a short piece called Study number 2. That too is computed at the University of Illinois. Recently defunct. And the author of this piece is Gary Grossman. Bronze was bronze at before most of the conversion programs be needed in order to connect all compositions. I want input to the computer with the output which you know
will hear. It's
this was Gary Glassman study two for two and I mentioned that he was instrumental in helping us. He himself being a composer but also an excellent computer programmer to convert musical ideas of composers into an input to the machine the computer which would then use this machine to operate on our input and then create an output the output you heard was sound it was sound composed by a composer but generated by the machine. The output in this case was an audiotape. You heard that audiotape. We got this audiotape directly from the machine. The input was a deck of punched
cards which according to certain rules were punched by the composer in this case Gary Grossman himself some computing always went along with composing. Only it was not always that controllable that rich and that sophisticated as it begins to be possible today. So there must have been a desire for sophistication which induced Professor John Hilla. More than 10 years ago at the University of Illinois to start asking the Department of Computer Science to whether they would allow him to experiment with them machinery which they did they permitted it as a matter of fact gave a lot of help until he has been able to really pioneer in the field quite extensively.
The main point of using a computer has been and is now for composers to find a way to let music become something which it could not become without the computer. It does not intend to substitute other ways of composing music. As a matter of fact it is highly desirable that those composers who do good with computers will remain conscious of the fact that they're working with computers and do not produce with a computer graphics which they just as developed could produce without the machinery. But the US certain ideas which simply ask for help. It's a degree of complexity in structure of an idea. You would love to
hear what it would sound like if it could be played. The output may appear basically in three forms. Either print it. We would then call it this goal because the output may look any way you like if the composer knows what it means. Easy to take it home. Take a piece of music paper and copy the output of the computer into conventional music scroll it to be read by musicians and then perform. Another way would be to ask the computer to come out with a plucky graphic representation. And then it might be given directly for the performer who may see what he can make out of it. The thing that I would put would be what you just heard. Namely an audiotape on which the states off the system computer are represented by a void just which with the
help of a tape machine. Because silence Mr. Broom's work non-sequiturs sex is an example of this kind of composition. The audiotapes actions are coupled with performance of a musical score by musicians. The two facets of music are combined in this composition non-sequiturs sex. It's just. The best.
It's. Just. Well it isn't surprising that this kind of music that people call and on the other hand was a very interesting experiment because of that structural composition structural composition almost as amusing as the conventional way of composing point by point. Each event in itself what I mean to say is that the program didn't instruct the computer. What each sound is to be and that is to be and when it is to be and who is to play it. But it gave the computer a
program in which district of fruits incorporated. That is the computer and rather what to reject then what to accept. So there was a range of possibilities given at each point of which I the composer thought that it doesn't matter very much as long as the choice at each point will be in that particular defined range. It will be fine only if it should be outside that particular range of possibilities. Then the machine should know to reject it. The next piece is an experiment of the little particular kind which I had occasion to make in London this year. I had converted a program of mine into sound. It I called it in fraud to bills. And here for the first time it has been
successful again with the help of Gary Grossman. Not only let the computer produce sounds of particular pitch and duration but also of particular tempos. That is I was able to compose that Tomba that sound kind of sound as if I had to compose the instrument instead of for all the instrument. I made full use of that and created this tape which is called in frog abilities. I took it with me to London to play it to my friends and these friends were musicians and we decided then then that we would perform that piece to an audience with two speakers in the middle of the stage and the musicians huddled around it as if it were a fireplace with their instruments. And I would quickly write a few parts for the instrument to go with this tape.
I did that the parts for the instruments were written by listening to the tape that is I imitated a few things on tape for all the instruments it was a soprano saxophone. It was a symbol an ode to Hungary an instrument that was a double bass and that was a caution ist. And you will hear how these musicians were able by listening to the tape very carefully into the town Brits to use their instruments in correspondence to the parts I had written to unite those two things. The computer sympathised tape sounds and the live participation of musicians on the stage. How learnt around those two speakers how they were able to combine that to unify it and to create a piece of great participation communication. There are sounds which you will not get with any instrument ever. And there are varieties in the sound and
also a flexibility in effects ability in each sound which should be difficult to achieve in an electronic music studio with even the most ingenious treatment of a musical instrument. The composition was also done by the computer programming. Will of.
Us. Oh no. No no. It's. Not only the sounds of music but the soaring forms of dance maybe aided by computers
today choreographers are learning to rely upon electronic data processing to prepare the complex forms presented on stage a single sweep of the arm by one dancer may be multiplied 50 times by a computer and presented at a graphic display terminal so that its effects become clear. Movements may be staged in new combinations of patterns me vato with the analysis of data. You are. Thank you. For graceful lines worldbuilding may have their foundations in the age of electronic data processing. Architecture is another field which profits from the advances of the computer age. Not only engineering problems but as thought of considerations may be calculated by machine according to some
architects for example. John your hands in from New Canaan Connecticut says with the passing of the industrial age we may now expect an architecture conceived more of as a computer of components rigged an armature as our chassis is connected by circulation harnesses. He feels that design must be deliberately depersonalized and that the computer is the best tool toward this at a special challenge in this time of urban crisis faces the modern architect. It is possible that the aid of a computer might make simpler the task of designing a massive dwelling units for thousands of people. Ronald resh assistant professor of architecture at the University of Illinois in Urbana discusses the application of computers in his field and describes the first steps taken it is a very new area. I think that it is coming into prominence in vogue now. The coupling of architectures to computers has been going on for I would say less than a few years in any.
And any active way. Now you might trace back historically a few strains here and there. I would say probably less than a five year period is any relationship been going on and these that are as I've noted are somewhat related to the engineering aspects so that the structural analysis has been going on for probably a four year period. This arm trace you know in the field of research and its impact and the actual workaday world of architecture is maybe even less and then the. The other things that have been couple have been scheduling of procedures was the high complexity of things that have to be undertaken to build a building. One can often analyze what we should do first. Do we order this first do we hire so many men at certain rate do we assemble certain parts of the building before others and there are many factors involved in this in
this. These kinds of problems of trying to order these very aspects have been come become known as a critical past scheduling Professor rush considers the effect of computers in architecture on the shape of buildings to khat. He looks into the forms of tomorrow's architecture. There are many kinds of architectural forms which might not be economical or which might not seem feasible initially because of the complex ideas specified in the form. Now the Sydney Opera House has become a classic example of a recent attempt to use a computer and define a rather complex and I suppose it might be criticised by most people's minds of rather attractive form. This was defined in the US a specification finally given out to the workman by a computer. I feel that as techniques for designing with a machine are developed and
so that a human being can interact with a machine more readily as a tool that he can manipulate as easily as a pencil that we might begin to see a more elaborate kind of form. A more attractive form and thus in some ways if the tool becomes very functional you see it will be more economic. So that rather a complex and intricate decisions involved in certain classes of buildings could be brought down to a more economical level and therefore per. Now I feel that in the long run that the quality of architecture will be improved. The style is finally. In the hands of the designer I mean the machine I don't think will ever at least in our lifetimes get in a position where it can make those kinds of decisions. It's not impossible to me that machines could finally be programmed in such a way to make stylistic decisions based on some concepts that we finally formulate. But for the moment I think the the environment with a person making decisions about form
based on information you know that the machine is helping to generate and the style will then be the consistency of his decision in putting that form together. The only impact is I guess a in a nutshell is that these forms may become more beautiful and more complex because we have a tool which can aid us in handling a complex city. The importance of technology in the field of architecture may seem obvious but its presence in other visual arts such as painting and sculpture may also be significant. The medium of oils requires considerable chemistry. The Motion Picture required of many technological developments. Now the technology of the computer may aid the painter and the other artists of tomorrow. At a conference at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City last year participants discussed the applications of computer in a variety of areas. Computers have been used for data storage and retrieval of art in archaeological works analysis of artistic content execution of a static decisions detection
of art forgeries and programs for museum education for example DFA green assistant professor of anthropology at Weber State College and I can you tell I was able to investigate the prehistoric American Indian cultures of his area. The computer helped to plot potential archaeological excavation sites by scanning data from aerial photographs of southeastern Utah. Even drawings have been created by a graphic plotter linked to a computer. Leslie my associate professor of computer science at the University of Toronto has been working with this project and assesses its significance. He has stated pictures are easier to generate than to analyze. But if I can write a program that will generate pictures of all the trees that I have learned something about the structure of oak trees by doing this research we would have a better understanding of the way human beings think and create even the clerical tasks of the art world may be lightened by electronic data processing the several million artworks in the
public holdings in New York City alone are to administrative headache Everett Allen is the executive director of a project aimed at cataloguing these artworks and making information available about them. His museum computer network includes 50 museums in New York City and the Washington National Gallery. Individuals who are planning shows of works in particular styles or periods and those doing research in a specific area may consult this project for details. The computer's memory will contain the title artist's description and it will be a graphic references for each work from painting to dance forms to music. All art has a basic structure. The computer makes it possible to go beyond the physical limitations of each art form into a world of abstract structure able to be expressed in a variety of ways. Herbert Brown describes his research in compositions for interpreters. Composition itself is an activity which is not necessarily bar one has any particular material that is you can compose a
graphic image which then you say should be interpreted by someone who sees it. Now the interpretation may be either as a musical execution of that graphic image as a piece of music or it could be interpreted by a nonce as a sequence of movements. All it could be read as a piece of piece of poetry of a poet would look at it and choose to express some events he seems to see in this image. In this case we could say that a composer is a person who creates in some medium something off first bitch and then a G in some other medium should be found. The performer of the analogy would then be as a performer of a book of music or poetry. All dons that the composer would be only a
composer of a composition for interpreters. Without specifying in which medium he would like his composition to be interpreted. Coal washers in a new era in our electronic data processing offers greater depth of expression to the artists of tomorrow. Computers promise help for the choreographer composer architect and suggest the richness of the aesthetic world yet to be discovered on the next programme in this series. A new doctor's studies mock up measles stored in the memory of a computer. Administrators physicians and nurses develop a new kind of medicine with computer based system. Each week the University of Illinois radio service brings you a new meaning behind the slogan
of the computer age. Do not fold. Bend staple or mutilate this card. This program was distributed by the national educational radio network.
- Series
- Do Not Fold
- Episode Number
- 13
- Producing Organization
- University of Illinois
- Contributing Organization
- University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/500-ms3k206n
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/500-ms3k206n).
- Description
- Series Description
- "Do Not Fold" is a program about the growing applications of computer technology. Each episode focuses on how different professions and sectors are using computers to explore new possibilities in their line of work. Interviewees discuss how they are incorporating new technology into their work, what these innovations mean for the future of their field, and how they may affect the general public.
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- Education
- Technology
- Media type
- Sound
- Duration
- 00:29:47
- Credits
-
-
Producer: Johnson, Jiffy
Producing Organization: University of Illinois
Production Designer: Haney, Edna
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
University of Maryland
Identifier: 69-19-13 (National Association of Educational Broadcasters)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Duration: 00:29:30
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “Do Not Fold; 13,” University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed December 8, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-ms3k206n.
- MLA: “Do Not Fold; 13.” University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. December 8, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-ms3k206n>.
- APA: Do Not Fold; 13. Boston, MA: University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-ms3k206n