Sound und Experiment

Marcin Pietruszewski will present the New Pulsar Generator (nuPG), an open-source computer music program for sound synthesis and composition. Developed in the SuperCollider 3 (SC3) programming language, the New Pulsar Generator (nuPG) program is an instrumental incarnation of the pulsar synthesis technique, a powerful approach to digital sound synthesis named after a highly magnetised rotating neutron star (pulsar) that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. Much like a lighthouse, these radiation »pulses« can be observed only when a beam of emission is pointing toward the ear. As an audio technique, pulsar synthesis offers a seamless link between musical timescales of individual particle rhythms, periodic pitches, and the meso temporal or phrase level of composition. Drawing from the history of electronic music, media archaeology, and software studies, Pietruszewski’s talk will expand on the notion of the computer program as a digital object integrating a variety of practices, technologies, and communities.