Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music (BC-CCM)
Encyclopedia
The Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music (BC-CCM) located at Brooklyn College
of the City University of New York
(CUNY) was one of the first computer music
centers at a public university in the United States
. The BC-CCM is a both a place and a community of artists and researchers, with a rich history dating back to the 1970s.
The mission of the BC-CCM is to explore the creative possibilities of technology in relation to the creation of music
, sound art
, sound design
, and multimedia
arts. Courses cover techniques of music composition with digital
tools and instruments, theories and implementation of sound processing and sound synthesis, design and creation of new digital music and multimedia
performance instruments, audio production, history and aesthetics of experimental music
and sound art
, and creative collaboration. The BC-CCM also sponsors residencies of visiting composers and media creators.
, originated the idea of creating an electronic music
studio at Brooklyn College in the mid-1970s. The idea took root, and Jacob Druckman
and Noah Creshevsky
were the studio’s first Co-Directors. In those early days the equipment consisted largely of Moog
analog synthesizers. Charles Dodge
took over as Director in 1978, and he was responsible for having the studios designated as an official Center within Brooklyn College
, the Center for Computer Music (CCM).
Charles Dodge
was a pivotal figure in the history of the center. Dodge, originally from Iowa
, had done a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Iowa
and then earned his MA and doctorate (DMA) in Music Composition at Columbia University
. While at Columbia, Dodge was very active at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. In particular, Dodge was one of the leading innovators in the emerging field of computer music
composition (as opposed to analog electronic composition, the norm in the field through the 1970s). Dodge created some of the first meritorious works in the field of computer music, including Earth’s Magnetic Field (1970), which mapped magnetic field
data to musical sounds, Speech Songs, a 1974 work that used analysis and resynthesis of human voices, and Any Resemblance is Purely Coincidental (1980), which combines live piano performance with a digitally-manipulated recording of Enrico Caruso singing the aria "Vesti la giubba
."
During Dodge’s years as Professor of Composition and Director of the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music (BC-CCM), Dodge not only had the CCM designated as an official Center within Brooklyn College in 1978 but more importantly brought it to a world-class standing in the field of computer music
. Dodge secured an initial donation of equipment from Bell Laboratories, and then proceeded to acquire large grants to fund BC-CCM work. The facilities received funding through grants from the United States Office of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts
, the City University of New York Faculty Research and Award Program, and the Rockefeller Foundation
, as well as donations from private individuals.
Under Dodge’s leadership and with the boundless energies of numerous students, guests and artistic partners, the BC-CCM came to national prominence. At that time the USA was leading the world in the field of computer music, and so this made the BC-CCM one of the world’s most highly-regarded centers. During these years, the BC-CCM presented summer workshops, which were attended by musicians from around the world, and hosted residencies for many composers of national and international stature, including John Cage
, Lejaren Hiller
, Laurie Spiegel
, and Judy Klein, Larry Austin
, the Fylkingen
Group from Stockholm, EMS Sweden, Robert Dick
, Bob Ostertag
, Morton Subotnick
, Pauline Oliveros
, Jon Appleton
, Noah Creshevsky
, James C. Mobberley, Jean Claude Risset, Lars Gunnar Bodin
, Sten Hanson, directors of IMEB Françoise Barriere and Christian Clozier, and many others. This helped attract outstanding students, some of whom are now leaders in the field today, including Curtis Bahn (faculty, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
), Matthew Suttor (faculty, Yale
), Jason Stanyek (faculty, NYU), and Madelyne Byrne (faculty, Palomar College
).
In the early 1990s after Charles Dodge stepped down as Director of the BC-CCM Noah Creshevsky
assumed the directorship, with George Brunner as Technical Director. It was at this time that the CCM began to host an International Electro-Acoustic Music Festival and concert series, offering performances of music, video, film, and live electronic works by artists from around the world. When Noah Creshevsky retired in 2000, George Brunner took over as Acting Director until Amnon Wolman
was named Director in 2003. Douglas Cohen generously served as Acting Director while Wolman was on an extended leave, and Douglas Geers
joined the faculty as Director of the BC-CCM in fall of 2009.
Current faculty include composer Douglas Geers
, Director; composer-producer George Brunner, Director of Music Technology; composer Doug Cohen, Associate Director; guitarist/composer David Grubbs
; media artist John J.A. Jannone
; audio producer Miguel Macias; and computer scientist Elizabeth Sklar.
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
(CUNY) was one of the first computer music
Computer music
Computer music is a term that was originally used within academia to describe a field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition; particularly that stemming from the Western art music tradition...
centers at a public university in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The BC-CCM is a both a place and a community of artists and researchers, with a rich history dating back to the 1970s.
The mission of the BC-CCM is to explore the creative possibilities of technology in relation to the creation of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, sound art
Sound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
, sound design
Sound design
Sound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software...
, and multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
arts. Courses cover techniques of music composition with digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
tools and instruments, theories and implementation of sound processing and sound synthesis, design and creation of new digital music and multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
performance instruments, audio production, history and aesthetics of experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
and sound art
Sound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
, and creative collaboration. The BC-CCM also sponsors residencies of visiting composers and media creators.
History
The Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music originated when composer Robert Starer, then a member of the faculty of the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn CollegeConservatory of Music at Brooklyn College
The Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College is the music school of Brooklyn College of the City University of New York...
, originated the idea of creating an electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
studio at Brooklyn College in the mid-1970s. The idea took root, and Jacob Druckman
Jacob Druckman
Jacob Druckman was an American composer born in Philadelphia. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1950 he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood and later continued his studies at the École Normale de...
and Noah Creshevsky
Noah Creshevsky
-Biography:Trained in composition by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Luciano Berio at the Juilliard School, Creshevsky has lived and worked in New York since 1966. He taught at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York for thirty-one years, serving as Director of the Brooklyn College Center...
were the studio’s first Co-Directors. In those early days the equipment consisted largely of Moog
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
analog synthesizers. Charles Dodge
Charles Dodge
Charles Dodge may refer to:* Charles Cleveland Dodge, Brigadier General during the American Civil War at the age of twenty-one* Charles Dodge , composer of electronic music...
took over as Director in 1978, and he was responsible for having the studios designated as an official Center within Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
, the Center for Computer Music (CCM).
Charles Dodge
Charles Dodge
Charles Dodge may refer to:* Charles Cleveland Dodge, Brigadier General during the American Civil War at the age of twenty-one* Charles Dodge , composer of electronic music...
was a pivotal figure in the history of the center. Dodge, originally from Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, had done a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and then earned his MA and doctorate (DMA) in Music Composition at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. While at Columbia, Dodge was very active at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. In particular, Dodge was one of the leading innovators in the emerging field of computer music
Computer music
Computer music is a term that was originally used within academia to describe a field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition; particularly that stemming from the Western art music tradition...
composition (as opposed to analog electronic composition, the norm in the field through the 1970s). Dodge created some of the first meritorious works in the field of computer music, including Earth’s Magnetic Field (1970), which mapped magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
data to musical sounds, Speech Songs, a 1974 work that used analysis and resynthesis of human voices, and Any Resemblance is Purely Coincidental (1980), which combines live piano performance with a digitally-manipulated recording of Enrico Caruso singing the aria "Vesti la giubba
Vesti la giubba
"Vesti la giubba" is a famous tenor aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo's 1892 opera Pagliacci. "Vesti la giubba" is the conclusion of the first act, when Canio discovers his wife's infidelity, but must nevertheless prepare for his performance as Pagliaccio the clown because "the show must go on".The...
."
During Dodge’s years as Professor of Composition and Director of the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music (BC-CCM), Dodge not only had the CCM designated as an official Center within Brooklyn College in 1978 but more importantly brought it to a world-class standing in the field of computer music
Computer music
Computer music is a term that was originally used within academia to describe a field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition; particularly that stemming from the Western art music tradition...
. Dodge secured an initial donation of equipment from Bell Laboratories, and then proceeded to acquire large grants to fund BC-CCM work. The facilities received funding through grants from the United States Office of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, the City University of New York Faculty Research and Award Program, and the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, as well as donations from private individuals.
Under Dodge’s leadership and with the boundless energies of numerous students, guests and artistic partners, the BC-CCM came to national prominence. At that time the USA was leading the world in the field of computer music, and so this made the BC-CCM one of the world’s most highly-regarded centers. During these years, the BC-CCM presented summer workshops, which were attended by musicians from around the world, and hosted residencies for many composers of national and international stature, including John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Lejaren Hiller
Lejaren Hiller
Lejaren Arthur Hiller was an American composer. In 1957 he collaborated on the first significant computer music composition, Illiac Suite, with Leonard Issacson. It was his fourth string quartet. In 1958 he founded the Experimental Music Studio at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign...
, Laurie Spiegel
Laurie Spiegel
Laurie Spiegel is an American composer. She has worked at Bell Laboratories, in computer graphics, and is known primarily for her electronic-music compositions and her algorithmic composition software Music Mouse...
, and Judy Klein, Larry Austin
Larry Austin
Larry Austin is a United States composer noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music periodical Source: Music of the Avant Garde...
, the Fylkingen
Fylkingen
Fylkingen is a society for experimental music and arts, founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1933, one of the world's oldest societies of its kind. Composer Ingemar Liljefors served as the organization's first Chairman from 1933-1946....
Group from Stockholm, EMS Sweden, Robert Dick
Robert Dick
Robert Dick , Scottish geologist and botanist was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire.His father was an officer of excise. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good elementary education at the parish school, Dick was apprenticed to a baker, and served for three years...
, Bob Ostertag
Bob Ostertag
Robert "Bob" Ostertag is an experimental sound artist based in San Francisco.- Early career :...
, Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch...
, Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Jon Appleton
Jon Appleton
Jon Howard Appleton is an American composer and teacher who was a pioneer in electro-acoustic music. His earliest compositions in the medium, e.g. Chef d'Oeuvre and Newark Airport Rock attracted attention because they established a new tradition some have called programmatic electronic music...
, Noah Creshevsky
Noah Creshevsky
-Biography:Trained in composition by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Luciano Berio at the Juilliard School, Creshevsky has lived and worked in New York since 1966. He taught at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York for thirty-one years, serving as Director of the Brooklyn College Center...
, James C. Mobberley, Jean Claude Risset, Lars Gunnar Bodin
Lars Gunnar Bodin
Lars Gunnar Bodin is a Swedish pioneer in the field of electronic music during the 1960s, especially in the Scandinavian scene.- Education and early career :...
, Sten Hanson, directors of IMEB Françoise Barriere and Christian Clozier, and many others. This helped attract outstanding students, some of whom are now leaders in the field today, including Curtis Bahn (faculty, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
), Matthew Suttor (faculty, Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
), Jason Stanyek (faculty, NYU), and Madelyne Byrne (faculty, Palomar College
Palomar College
Palomar College is a community college with one campus and six education sites in San Diego County, California. The main campus is located in San Marcos, while the six education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. The largest of these is the education center located in...
).
In the early 1990s after Charles Dodge stepped down as Director of the BC-CCM Noah Creshevsky
Noah Creshevsky
-Biography:Trained in composition by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Luciano Berio at the Juilliard School, Creshevsky has lived and worked in New York since 1966. He taught at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York for thirty-one years, serving as Director of the Brooklyn College Center...
assumed the directorship, with George Brunner as Technical Director. It was at this time that the CCM began to host an International Electro-Acoustic Music Festival and concert series, offering performances of music, video, film, and live electronic works by artists from around the world. When Noah Creshevsky retired in 2000, George Brunner took over as Acting Director until Amnon Wolman
Amnon Wolman
Amnon Wolman composes music and texts for miscellaneous instruments along with the computer. He holds a doctorate degree in music composition. His catalogue of compositions includes works involving computer generated and processed sounds, symphonic works, vocal and chamber pieces for different...
was named Director in 2003. Douglas Cohen generously served as Acting Director while Wolman was on an extended leave, and Douglas Geers
Douglas Geers
-Career:Geers is an Associate professor of music composition and Director of the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College . He previously was a professor of music at the University of Minnesota , where he founded the and was its Director...
joined the faculty as Director of the BC-CCM in fall of 2009.
Current faculty include composer Douglas Geers
Douglas Geers
-Career:Geers is an Associate professor of music composition and Director of the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College . He previously was a professor of music at the University of Minnesota , where he founded the and was its Director...
, Director; composer-producer George Brunner, Director of Music Technology; composer Doug Cohen, Associate Director; guitarist/composer David Grubbs
David Grubbs
David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....
; media artist John J.A. Jannone
John J.A. Jannone
John J.A. Jannone is a musician, installation artist, videographer, and founder of the graduate programs in Performance and Interactive Media Arts at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, which he directed from 2003-2008...
; audio producer Miguel Macias; and computer scientist Elizabeth Sklar.
Faculty
- George Brunner
- Douglas Cohen
- Douglas GeersDouglas Geers-Career:Geers is an Associate professor of music composition and Director of the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College . He previously was a professor of music at the University of Minnesota , where he founded the and was its Director...
- David GrubbsDavid GrubbsDavid Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....
- John J.A. JannoneJohn J.A. JannoneJohn J.A. Jannone is a musician, installation artist, videographer, and founder of the graduate programs in Performance and Interactive Media Arts at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, which he directed from 2003-2008...
- Miguel Macias
- Nicholas Nelson
- Elizabeth Sklar