Research Project Overview

In this project, you will research a given topic in digital audio and write a short research paper discussing your topic and demonstrate it using SuperCollider.

There are many reasons why people get involved in research projects. Some projects are motivated by real-world problems that one wants to solve. Maybe you want to figure out how to harmonize your voice in realtime. Others are motivated by intellectual curiosity. Sometimes you simply want to explore and have fun. A research project is most successful when it is born out a passion/interest. There are very few people that do not like music! So there is something out there for you!

Objectives:

• To investigate a new topic in digital audio or to expand upon a topic taught in class.
• To produce a bibliography of at least ten sources on the topic that draws from a variety of sources including academic journals, books, professional audio webpages, etc.
• To write a 6 - 10 page, double-spaced research paper on a digital audio topic explaining what the topic is and its importance in the digital audio world.
• To demonstrate the audio topic using SuperCollider.
• To present formally your audio topic to the class.

Possible Research Topics

There are many different directions you can go for selecting a research topic. Below I have listed some possible avenues. Research topics in music can span multiple different categories like effects such as distortion, tools like tuners, or realistic imitations of natural instruments/processes like physical modeling or digital reverberation.

Possible Topics:

• Filters
• Delay
• Additive Synthesis
• Subtractive Synthesis
• Granular Synthesis
• Digital Reverberation
• Physical Modeling
• Compression (Dynamic or Multiband)
• Distortion/Overdrive
• Wavetable Synthesis
• Pitch Shifting
• Time Stretching
• Onset Detection
• Spatialization/Surround Sound/Ambisonics
• Convolution
• Sinusoidal Modeling
• Tuners
• Synthesizer (perhaps modeled off a real synthesizer or one of your own design)
• EQ (Equalizer)
• Drum Machine
• Ear Trainer
• Samplers
• AI and Music

You need not select a topic from the list. There are many others.

Specific Criteria and Guidelines

The final project if you select a research project comprises two main elements: a research paper and a SuperCollider demonstrating an aspect of your research paper.

Research Paper

The research paper for CS203 is not an original project. I do not expect anyone to conduct original research in music technology. Quite frankly, we will simply not have learned enough. Instead, this project is an opportunity to dive deep into a particular area and synthesize information across a variety of resources into an informative detailing of the important points related to your topic. To do well on the paper, you should spend a good bit of time reading and understanding the work of others as your paper must stand on the work of others and be well-cited.

The specific requirements are as follows:

• Length: The length of the paper varies upon the number of people involved. If working alone, a paper of 6 - 7 pages is sufficient. If working with a partner, 8 - 9 pages. If working in groups of three, your paper should be at least 10 pages. All pages should be double-spaced.
• Your paper should have a well-sourced bibliography with resources that span a variety of different media. You should have at least ten sources relevant to the topic. At least two of those sources must be from an academic journal, conference paper, academic book, or other scholarly source. Select a citation style like MLA, APA, or Chicago. Any style is fine so long as all of your citations adhere to the same style.
• A title that clearly states the intent and purpose of your paper. List all names of your team under the title.

Demonstrating with SuperCollider

In addition to researching the topic of your choosing, you should also experience your topic aurally by producing a SuperCollider file demonstrating your topic. The scope of what is done in SuperCollider should be determined in consultation with Andy. For example, if your topic is on digital tuners, you should write a program that calculates pitch using zero crossing detection and build a GUI where the pitch is updated in realtime for the user. The purpose of the SuperCollider file is to gain more experience using SuperCollider but also to give demonstrations of the pertinent techniques relevant to your topic.

The specific requirements are as follows:

• Length: At least 150 lines of code. This should be very manageable because the GUI will take a good number of lines of code.
• A GUI interface to demonstrate your topic. The GUI should be easily interpretable and be able to contrast different aspects of your audio topic. The scope of what is one the GUI will be different depending upon your topic. Please consult with Andy if you have questions.

Phase 0: Proposal - Due: Thursday, October 7 at 11:59PM

Submit a two to three paragraph proposal for the type of research project that you will tackle. Be sure to answer the following questions below:

1. What topic will you be presenting? What drew you to this particular topic? Where have you heard examples of this topic? You should not just pick a topic out of the blue. If you choose something like Granular Synthesis, for example, you should have listened to examples of Granular Synthesis. Pick something that interests you.

2. Will you be working with a partner? You may have up to two additional partners. No groups larger than three.

3. Where do you plan to find research materials to learn more about the topic? Please list at least two sources that you have already found on the topic.

4. Does SuperCollider have any UGens or tools that can help you with this project? If nothing is readily obvious, please state so as Andy can guide you.

The proposal for the research project should involve a good amount of investigation of a variety of topics before settling on any one in particular. Spend some time listening to various different audio effects that you can find. Is there a particular one you like?

From my end, I am most interested in reviewing your proposal to see whether the proposed topic is appropriate, within the realm of feasibility (i.e, not too challenging), and can be demonstrated using SuperCollider (certain things will either be impossible or require advanced knowledge). You may not know these things at the outset. And that is okay. I will provide feedback to help steer you in a better direction.

Deliverables: Please submit a .pdf to Gradescope containing your proposal.

Phase 1: Research and Learning - Due: Thursday, November 18 at 11:59PM

All research is built upon the work of others. This project does not require original research, but rather to synthesize the work of others and present in a well-organized and thoughtful manner the salient points of the topic you have chosen. In order to have a successful project, you need to select good sources for your paper. The goal of this phase is to collect these sources and summarize their important points.

Your main objective is to create a list of sources and then show how the information from those sources will be organized in your paper. You can find sources from a variety of different places. Here are a list of places to look:

• Books
• Academic Journals
• Academic Conference Papers
• Textbooks
• Websites. NOTE: There are many websites out there discussing various digital musical topics. Some of them are good and some are not. It can be difficult as a student to tell. I recommend consulting with me if you have questions. Some good places to look are Audio Engineering Society, Sound On Sound, Pro Sound Web, and Pro Audio Files.

Sometimes academic journals and papers exist behind a paywall. If there is something you are particularly interested in, I can help work to get you access.

Deliverables: Please submit the following materials as a .zip file on Gradescope.

• A complete bibliography of at least ten sources relevant to the topic. At least two of those sources must be from an academic journal, conference paper, academic book, or other scholarly source. Select a citation style like MLA, APA, or Chicago. Any style is fine so long as all of your citations adhere to the same style.
• A one to two page document with the following information. At the top should be the title of your paper. Below create a heading called “Abstract”.
  Write a one paragraph abstract/synposis detailing the overarching discussion and laying out the big picture of your chosen topic. Below create a heading called “Outline”. Then create a detailed outline of the topics/points you plan to discuss in the paper. Be sure to include what topics come from what sources. Finally, create a heading called “SuperCollider”. Write a paragraph or two explaining how you intend to use SuperCollider to demonstrate your topic. For example, if your discussion is on “Dynamic Range Compression”, state that you will be using the Compander UGen and using its parameters for slopeBelow and slopeAbove to show how the ratio at the knee affects the amount of compression. You very well may need my help for this last part. Please be sure to reach out to me early to discuss how your topic might work in SuperCollider.

Phase 2: Rough Draft - Due: Monday, December 6 at 11:59PM

After researching your topic in phase 1 and producing an outline of your paper, it is time to produce a complete draft. Your draft should contain appropriate citations, referencing the bibliography you produced earlier.

You should also submit your SuperCollider file you will use to demonstrate your audio topic. Ensure that it has a GUI interface to demonstrate the topic in an easily digestible way. I suggest that the SuperCollider file be able to play back several different preset examples. For instance, if your topic is on digital compression, have your code open up a GUI and playback an audio file with no compression, some compression, and lots of compression so we can hear the differences. If your topic is granular synthesis, write some code that granulates different audio files in various ways so we can hear what granular synthesis can do. At this stage, your team and I should have consulted about what is possible to do in SuperCollider to demonstrate your topic.

Deliverables: Please submit the following materials as a .zip file on Gradescope.

• A .pdf containing the rough draft of your paper.
• A .scd file containing the code for your SuperCollider demonstration. Include at the top a thorough comment explaining how to use your code.

Phase 3: Final Submission - Due: at 9:30AM

Complete your final project. Revisit the Specific Criteria and Guidelines articulated above to ensure that you have completed everything that is required for final submission.

Deliverables: Please submit the following materials as a .zip file and send it to Andy by EMAIL.

• A .pdf containing your complete paper.
• A .scd file containing the code for your SuperCollider demonstration and any other audio files required for your code to run.

Phase 4: Project Presentations - Wednesday, December 15 from 9:30AM - 12:00PM

Discussion of project presentations on previous page.