This tutorial describes how to render sound files into higher-order Ambisonics (up to seventh order) using the Reaper DAW and the IEM Suite plugins. Install the Software Download and install Reaper: https://www.reaper.fm/download.php The version I downloaded was: Reaper is a … Read More
Tree of Life was featured in the Come, Follow Me (Art Companion) during the week of January 15–21, 2024! (It was also previously featured during the week of January 13–19, 2020!) The Come, Follow Me (Art Companion) is produced by … Read More
I just added my piece Carving the Noise (2010) to my online portfolio! Take a look here.
We had a great Community Christmas Concert this year! The concert took place 7:00–8:15 PM on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in College Station, TX. From a spatial music perspective, there … Read More
My latest article “Multichannel Works for Nonstationary Audiences” has been published in the Fall 2018 issue of the Computer Music Journal: John D. Moeller, “Multichannel Works for Nonstationary Audiences,” Computer Music Journal, 42:3 (Fall, 2018), pp. 17-27. © 2018 Massachusetts … Read More
Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a command-line tool that enables access to connected Android devices. This tutorial explains how to obtain and install ADB on a Mac. ADB is useful for accessing one or many connected devices (see the above … Read More
Here are a few ways to obtain stats and other useful info about a sound file using a Mac. Use libsndfile How to install libsndfile. Run the following command in the Terminal app (tips: make sure the sound file is … Read More
Setting up for the premiere of Tree of Life in the black box theater at Texas A&M University!
Putting together the wood-block cores for the twenty-four sound-producing units of my new piece! See this post for a preview of what each unit will look like.
I am in the process of selecting a scent to diffuse through the performance space for my new work. These are samples from a few scent companies. Each bag contains a paper strip that was dipped into a scent that … Read More
The first fully-functioning prototype for the sound-production units for my new piece!
We had an unexpected fly-over of two helicopters during a performance of First Vision on the morning of July 9, 2016. They flew over the performance area about 150 feet above the ground. First Vision is designed to be performed … Read More
On April 1, 2018 my work Life (2008, binaural version) was part of the first Festival Eurek’art in Bordeaux, France. The festival took place over three days at the Marché des Douves in Bordeaux (3/30/18 to 4/1/18). Octandre, a composers’ … Read More
The command listed below enables you to carry out the following processes to a batch of mono sound files: Normalize the sound file to -3 dBFS. Trim the audio at the beginning of the sound file up to the point … Read More
12-TET 12-tone equal temperament (12-TET) is the tuning system most commonly used today in Western Music. It refers to a tuning system that divides the octave into 12 divisions. The divisions are equal on a logarithmic scale and are perceived … Read More
Pitch shifting via sample-rate conversion is an effective way to change the pitch of a digital audio sample. This method is often used in samplers, including software samplers (such as the EXS24 in Logic Pro). It works by resampling the … Read More
A performance of First Vision on the East Lawn of Texas A&M University that took place on April 5, 2017, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.! Included here is time-lapse video of part of the set up, and walk-about audio … Read More
This is a tutorial on how to convert between different amplitude scales. Convert dBFS to a percentage Use the following formula (where x is dBFS): 10(x/20) For example: 10(-6dBFS/20) = 0.5 This shows that -6dBFS is 0.5, or 50% … Read More
Rsync is a utility for keeping files synced in two locations. This is a quick tutorial on how to use it to back up your files and keep them synchronized (i.e., after the initial full backup, it will write only … Read More
libsndfile is a C library written by Erik de Castro Lopo. It is used in a variety of software packages. It includes a collection of command-line programs. Obtaining and installing libsndfile Note: Xcode may need to be installed on your … Read More
AC Toolbox is a stand-alone software package for algorithmic composition developed by Paul Berg. It was implemented in the Lisp programming language. It has numerous generators, transformers, and tools, and can be extended by the user. It is well-documented and … Read More
This is a tutorial on how to record sound samples. It is primarily intended for people who want to record sound samples in a variety of locations for use in electroacoustic music. Find a good place to record Acoustics and … Read More
This is a brief tutorial on how to create a shell script using a Mac. Create a new blank file in a text editor such as TextEdit. Put the following as the first line: #!/bin/bash Put the desired command(s) … Read More
Sonic Visualiser is an application for viewing, analyzing, and annotating audio files. It was developed at the Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary, University of London and is available at: https://sonicvisualiser.org. This is a short guide to get you started … Read More
Reading a file’s permissions To see a file’s permissions, invoke the following in the Terminal: ls -l “name of file” Note: If the file is not in your home directory, you will need to provide the path to the file. … Read More
Try the command-line programs sndfile-deinterleave and sndfile-interleave. They are packaged in Erik de Castro Lopo’s C library libsndfile. See this post for details. The programs can be used to split a single, multi-channel file into multiple mono files, and combine … Read More
Afconvert is a command-line utility built into the Mac OS. I find it useful for batch converting the sampling rate and format of audio files. Examples Note: All of these examples assume that the files you wish to convert are … Read More
This is how to calculate the size of an uncompressed (i.e., PCM) audio file: (sampling rate * bit depth * duration in seconds * number of channels) / (8 bits per byte) = total number of bytes For decimal: /1,000 … Read More
Sound eXchange (SoX) is a command-line audio editing utility. I find it useful for quickly editing large batches of audio files. This is how to install it on a Mac, with a few examples on how to use it. Obtaining … Read More