Interactive Music Systems (21M.385 / 21M.585 / 6.4450)

Read the Course Description, see a recent Syllabus, or check out Final Projects from previous years.

Interactive Music Systems is always over-subscribed and is limited to 36 students per semester.

Priority will be given to students who preregister for the class. Preregistered students will receive a questionnaire two weeks before reg day. If you hope to cross-register from a partner institution (and therefore cannot preregister), please email the course instructor (egozy@mit.edu) two weeks before reg day. Enrollment is determined based on answers to the questionnaire and a lottery of the qualified students, with a slight preference for MIT music majors, minors, and concentrators. You will be notified as to your enrollment status a few days before reg day.

IMS is next offered:

Fall 2024. MW 11-12:30
4-270
Instruction: Eran Egozy
TA: Natalie Huang

Course Description

Interactive Music Systems is a hands on programming and design course that explores audio synthesis, musical structure, HCI (human computer interaction), and visual presentation as the ingredients for the creation of engaging real-time interactive musical experiences.

These experiences allow users to connect with music more deeply than through passive listening. The most successful ones give users intuitive control, greater musical insight, and a deeper emotional response to the musical experience.

Some examples include:

Games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Fantasia: Music Evolved.
Performance rigs like V Motion.
Ocarina for iPhone
The Axe (start video at 3:48)

Students will learn about the principles, design considerations, and aesthetic qualities of interactive music systems by exploring the following topics:

Music perception and audio synthesis
Dynamic multi-track audio mixing and looping
MIDI/audio synchronization
Generative composition systems including rhythmic and melodic synthesis
Exploration of non-standard control devices such as game controllers, motion sensors (Kinect, Leap Motion), and pad controllers.
Analysis and application of design elements in music games.
Building graphics for UI, music visualization, and aesthetic cohesion.

The prerequisites are:

Programming: 6.1010 or an advanced command of Python and building software systems
Music: 21M.301 or fluency reading music and first year college-level music theory, including scales, modes, chords progressions and basic composition

Weekly assignments require both technical solutions to specific problems and creative implementions of your own designs. The class requires a final project where student teams propose, design, and build an original, dynamic, and engaging interactive music system.

Final Projects from Previous Terms

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