Product Description

· Must-reading for all interested in the world of web-based music · Highlights diverse artists from John Cage to Moby to Scanner · Includes unique CD sampler highlighting the composers and works discussed in the book

Virtual Music: How the Web Got Wired for Sound is a personal story of how one composer has created new music on the web, a history of interactive music, and a guide for aspiring musicians who want to harness the new creative opportunities offered by web composing.

For Bill Duckworth, the journey began in 1996 when he developed the idea for an interactive webcast, named "Cathedral," which was developed over a period of 5 years. On its completion, "Cathedral" won numerous awards, including the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for composition, and has already inspired further experimentation.

But this is more than the story of one composer or one piece of music. The book traces the development of interactive music through the 20th century from Erik Satie through John Cage, Brian Eno, Moby, and Scanner. The technology itself is described as it has inspired experimentation by artists, including composers who have developed new ways to involve the audience in their music, plus possibilities for the non-musically trained to "play the Web." Challenges facing the web composer-from copyright issues to commercialization-are analyzed with new solutions suggested.

Virtual Music is a fascinating story that will appeal to fans of new music, creators, performers, and anyone interested in how technology is transforming the arts.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1312726 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages

Review

Speaking of the web, if you are curious about the history of web-based music, Id recommend the freshly published, Virtual Music: How the Web Got Wired for Sound. . . the book traces the development of interactive music through the 20th century from Erik Satie through John Cage, Brian Eno, Moby, and others. The technology itself is described as it has inspired experimentation by artists, including composers who have developed new ways to involve the audience in their music, plus possibilities for the non-musically trained to play the Web. -- Scanner, on his webblog
An electronic composer himself, Duckworth begins with the history of interactive music, including artists such as John Cage and Erik Satie, and rockets into the future with pioneers such as Brian Eno and Moby, exploring the many ways the Internet has changed the mode of distribution for artists, as well as the unique opportunities it presents for a sort of virtual studio and a creative tool unlike any other in the history of recorded sound. -- Jim Derogatis, Chicago Sun Times
An intriguing survey of the science and musics of sound in a new environment
. -- Bookwatch

...an excellent starting place for considering the historical antecedents that made virtual music desirable and possible. --Popular Music and Society

An electronic composer himself, Duckworth begins with the history of interactive music, including artists such as John Cage and Erik Satie, and rockets into the future with pioneers such as Brian Eno and Moby, exploring the many ways the Internet has changed the mode of distribution for artists, as well as the unique opportunities it presents for a sort of virtual studio and a creative tool unlike any other in the history of recorded sound.
–Jim Derogatis, Chicago Sun Times

An intriguing survey of the science and musics of sound in a new environment
.
–Bookwatch

Speaking of the web, if you are curious about the history of web-based music, I'd recommend the freshly published, Virtual Music: How the Web Got Wired for Sound. . . the book traces the development of interactive music through the 20th century from Erik Satie through John Cage, Brian Eno, Moby, and others. The technology itself is described as it has inspired experimentation by artists, including composers who have developed new ways to involve the audience in their music, plus possibilities for the non-musically trained to 'play the Web'.
–Scanner, on his webblog

About the Author
William Duckworth has composed over 100 works, including his Time Curve Preludes for solo piano, and the choral work, Southern Harmony. A professor of music at Bucknell University, he teaches both music history and composition. He lives in West New York, NJ, and Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

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Customer Reviews

An intriguing survey of the science and music's of sound in a new environment
William Duckworth's Virtual Music could have been featured in our Computer Corner area but is reviewed here for its strong study of how music came to the Web as a blend of interactive sound bytes, and how it moved into cell phones and now iTunes. This history covers everything from file sharing and the creation of one of the first interactive works of music and art on the web by composer/musician Duckworth to the possibilities of nanotechnology and controversial new musics developing in the online world only. An intriguing survey of the science and music's of sound in a new environment.

A good, but thin, primer
Virtual Music is a solid primer, an introduction really, to how music came to be put on the web as a discrete medium. He begins with a brief history of the development of the type of ideas needed to make the conceptual leap to technology, then describes how particular artists, including himself, made music that is specifically for the medium of the web. The accompanying CD has examples of all the music discussed.

What the book is not, however, is any kind of set of instructions for how to make music for the web. Duckworth is very specific in not touching on this topic - that's up to the musician. That's not a fault, but a focus. However, the book is rather thin, there is much more history to describe, and much more discussion about each topic. The writing is serviceable, nothing more. This is an important part of contemporary music history, and Virtual Music competently lays the foundation for filling that gap.