CNMAT The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, is a multidisciplinary research center within University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 Department of Music. The Center's goal is to provide a common ground where 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...

, cognitive science

Cognitive science

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...

, computer science

Computer science

Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

, and other disciplines meet to investigate, invent, and implement creative tools for composition, performance, and research. It was founded in the 1980s by composer Richard Felciano.

Located in the Berkeley Hills on the north edge of the UC Campus, the CNMAT facility includes a variety of state-of-the-art workspaces and equipment.

Research

CNMAT's Research Program pursues inquiry and invention with a broad range of projects. A special interest is in the innovative application of technology to musical composition and performance, with emphasis on interactivity, real-time processes, and new instruments that combine exceptional quality with high degrees of expressive control. Current research topics include:

• Robust Sound Analysis
• High Quality, Reactive Sound Synthesis
• Intelligent Instruments: neural network
  Neural network
  The term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
  
   control and gestural interfaces.
• Rhythm
  Rhythm
  Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
  
   Perception, Production, and Representation
• Guitar Innovation Group
• Organ Analysis and Synthesis
• Sound Spatialization
  Spatial music
  Spatial music, music in space, or space music uses the localization of sounds in physical space as a compositional element in music, in sound art, and in sound editing for audio recordings, film, and video...
  
  

Education

CNMAT's multidisciplinary atmosphere fosters the creative articulation of musical ideas in classwork, labs, and public presentations:

• Courses in music technology
  Music technology
  Music technology is a term that refers to all forms of technology involved with the musical arts, particularly the use of electronic devices and computer software to facilitate playback, recording, composition, storage and performance. This subject is taught at many different educational levels,...
  
  , cognition, and other topics for Cal undergraduate and graduate students.
• Guided study and research for post-doctoral and visiting scholars.
• Seminars, colloquia, lectures, and demonstrations for the UC Berkeley Campus and San Francisco Bay Area
  San Francisco Bay Area
  The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
  
   Communities.
• Summer workshops in Max/MSP, Jitter, and Sensors.

Performance

• Concerts in CNMAT's intimate performance space by invited composers, performers, and musicians from the academic and professional worlds.
• Composition activities in the studios, labs, and recording/production facilities.
• Technological support for performances by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Berkeley New Music Project, and others.

Affiliations

CNMAT is part of a consortium with Stanford's Center for Computer Research and Acoustics (CCRMA) and the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM

IRCAM

IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...

) in Paris.

See also

• Acousmatic
  Acousmatic
  Acousmatic sound is sound one hears without seeing an originating cause. The word acousmatic, from the French acousmatique, is derived from ἀκουσματικοί akousmatikoi, a term used to refer to probationary pupils of the philosopher Pythagoras who, so that they might better concentrate on his...
  
  
• Acousmatic music
  Acousmatic music
  Acousmatic music is a form of electroacoustic music that deals specifically with acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The practice has a historical basis in musique concrète. It can be created using non-acoustic technology, exists only in a recorded format , and is composed for reception...
  
  
• Circuit bending
  Circuit bending
  Circuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators....
  
  
• Electroacoustic music
  Electroacoustic music
  Electroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
  
  
• Electronic art music
• Electronic musical instrument
  Electronic musical instrument
  An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
  
  
• Free improvisation
  Free improvisation
  Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
  
  
• International Computer Music Conference
  International Computer Music Conference
  The International Computer Music Conference is a yearly international conference for computer music researchers and composers. It is the annual conference of the International Computer Music Association ....
  
  
• Max/MSP
• NIME
• Open Sound Control
• ZIPI
• Sonology
  Sonology
  Sonology is a neologism used to describe the study of sound in a variety of disciplines.In medicine, the term is used in the field of radiology to describe the practice of medical ultrasonography....
  
  
• Sound sculpture
  Sound sculpture
  Sound sculpture is an intermedia and time based art form in which sculpture or any kind of art object produces sound, or the reverse...