Academic Electronic Musician: An Example is a collection of short articles on electronic music composition, performance, and presentation. The collection is useful for the following purposes:
Learn what a teaching electronic musician does (besides teaching)
Examine audio and scores for electronic music
Find examples of electronic music analysis and composition techniques
Get insights on electronic music practice in presentation, documentation, and education
Download and study SuperCollider compositions and tools
The articles and examples in the collection are my research outputs. There is a value in reviewing and connecting works by an individual, different from the value gained from comparing and analyzing works by many. Alvin Lucier’s Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music and Gordon Mumma’s Cybersonic Arts: Adventures in American New Music, for example, gave me insight into an aspiring artist’s electronic music practice spanning decades. I hope this collection of writings serves the same purpose, but from the perspective of a lesser-known yet currently practicing full-time artist.
Academic Electronic Musician is hosted in Zotero, a multiplatform tool for organizing research data. The site allowed me to organize blog posts like a search engine tailored to my work. The site, pictured above, is most useful and effective when using tags and related links. See the linked video for further explanation.
With its interactivity, Academic Electronic Musician may serve as supplementary material for electronic music classes and workshops. For example, if a class is learning about algorithmic composition, teachers can select the algorithmic and analysis tags to find examples with audio, code, and diagrams. Also note that the contents will grow as I compose, perform, and document more in the future.
But on the site, you may not find typical information in other electronic music textbooks, such as
Tags linking to sources created by people other than me
Detailed Information about pieces written by other people
Instructions on using a specific audio app
Numerous authors have written about these subjects with examples from well-known works.
Electronic music researchers and practitioners find new theories and practices that could be useful to others. But those findings must be documented and shared. This, the sharing of knowledge, is what academic musicians do best. I hope the writings in the Academic Electronic Musician serve as an example for those who want to study and experiment with uniquely electronic sound in a musical context.
Since 2009, I have been presenting a solo set of live electronic music. Among the many electronic performance techniques, I specialize in creating electronic sounds on stage without pre-recorded samples. I use a combination of digital effect processors coded with SuperCollider to improvise a uniquely electronic soundscape in concerts and recordings. For more than a decade, I have marketed myself as an expert in that specific style. It is represented as a yellow rectangle in the diagram below.
The categorization is not meaningful to anyone else, but it was a useful research goal for me in the 2010s. I share three representative pieces of my solo electronic improvisation for listening and analysis purposes.
Three Examples
100 Strange Sounds (2012-2014) is a set of one hundred short video recordings featuring my live electronic music techniques. Each piece pairs a sound-making object with my SuperCollider code that processes its sound. I invite viewers to notice and enjoy the unexpected relationship between what they see and what they hear. For example, the sound of a cabbage becomes something else with a bunch of effect processors in 100 Strange Sounds #77.
Large Intestine (2013) is a piece I made after 100 Strange Sounds #42. As described in the blog on style analysis, the no-input mixer improvisation enhanced with SuperCollider has been my favorite electronic instrument for more than a decade. Large Intestine, as the title suggests, epitomizes my interest in noise, digital signal processing, and improvisation. I plan to play this work in as many concerts as possible in the future.
Touch (2014) is my kitchen-sink piece that pairs multiple sound objects with multiple effects. It’s a summary of 100 Strange Sounds, in which I bring random objects on stage and improvise the combination and sequence of sounds. The piece opened many doors to career opportunities in the 2010s as an electronic music improviser. The techniques and technologies I learned in performing and refining Touch became a source for future non-improvisational compositions for electronic ensembles.
Technology
All three pieces mentioned above use a variation of a single SuperCollider patch, available for download at this link. And this linked PDF explains the hardware and software setup to perform the pieces (warning: it is a little outdated).
When I run the patch, it creates a GUI with multiple buttons that trigger customized effects. I control the number and timing of the effects’ on/off states with a mouse click – No MIDI controllers or control surfaces. A few clicks, probably unnoticed by the audience, are enough because I wanted the listeners to focus on the interaction I have with the non-electronic objects on the stage.
As for the hardware, I use a couple of microphones for Touch, one audio interface, and a laptop. This article explains the gear I used over the past 11 years.
Technique
Like other improvisations, the key technique in performing solo live electronic music is listening. I listen for variations that the computer part adds to the acoustic instruments, then respond with another instrument or effects. Because I cannot play a scale or harmony with the instrument (like cabbage), the listen-and-react decisions are often non-musical and raw. “The current sound is long, so I’ll play short sounds next.” “I will go from a simple to a complex texture.” “The sound is very high in pitch. I’ll complement it with a very low rumble.” I also ask questions and try to come up with the best answer on stage. “What happens if I granularize the chattering teeth sound?” “The plastic block sounds harsh. Can I make it harsher?” “What is common between a slinky and a coin sound?”
Free improvisation focusing on reactions and questions is fun, but it can quickly lose control of the length and form. So I plan a specific gesture or sound combination for transitions. The Extension and Connection blog linked earlier has such an example in Touch.
Annecdote
More than fifteen years of experience in improvising with live electronics forms the foundation of my musicianship. I identified myself as a composer after earning a PhD in composition in 2008, but it did not lead to a gig or collaborations when I moved to Philadelphia for my first job as a music technology professor. The dire situation led me to develop a solo set I can prepare and present quickly in any situation. The strategic change, fortunately, worked, giving me ample opportunity to refine my performance and improvisation techniques.
These days, I am comfortable identifying myself as a composer-performer of electronic music. My sound may not be fresh or cutting-edge at this point, but I think I have a bit more to contribute to the current solo setup. Perhaps the contribution is a documentation and theorization. Perhaps it is just one more new piece!
More electronic music composition/performance/practice articles are found at the Computer Music Practice project.
Control and presentation of sound in different scales is a distinguishable feature of computer music. In this context, scale does not refer to a group of notes in different pitches, like a C major scale. It instead refers to proportions, as in big vs. small, long vs. short, and few vs. many. Music technology is capable of rendering a single musical idea in extreme proportions, and the collection of those sounds could become a composition.
I will demonstrate a scale-based electronic music composition process with Control Click, a sound installation composed in 2016. The piece is an 11-minute site-specific work for eight or more computers, creating an arcade-like environment with electronic blips and blinks. The computers are networked to play the same SuperCollider file, functioning as both a performer and a lighting device. The video below is a version of Control Click presented at the 2016 Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival.
Sound Design With Proportions
Featuring various scales/proportions in computer music means applying different values to a control parameter. If one can control the pitch of an electronic instrument, experiment with low Hz and high Hz. If the duration of a note in an electronic instrument could be programmed, make very short and very long sounds. The keyword here is extreme. A computer is capable of following laborious or precise instructions that are difficult or impossible for humans to execute.
In Control Click, each computer algorithmically generates a melodic line based on a chord. I cannot control the exact sequence of pitches, but I could control the chord type, note duration, and tempo. The range of note duration and their playback pace is wider than that of acoustic instruments, thus capable of creating different timbres and moods. The audio example below plays the melodic line in normal, slightly longer, and very short note durations.
By playing the melodic line heard above with very long note duration and decelerating tempo, I could create the sound below. Note that the tremolo of individual notes reveals more as the note duration becomes longer. Longer and stacked notes with different tremolo rates create a sense of a chord with long reverb.
The sound heard above was inspired by the FFT time-stretching technique, which inspired composers to discover hidden sounds too short to be heard and appreciated in an audio file. The technique can also make a long audio phrase so short that one cannot identify the pitch. In other words, time-stretching scales the duration parameters in extreme proportions. But such an idea is applicable beyond FFT. The audio below is how I applied the duration/tempo scale to the percussion sound.
Composition With Proportions
The idea of applying different proportions can also be applied beyond parameter change. In Control Click, the example sounds in the previous section are meant to be played by multiple computers. But as a site-dependent piece with random number generators, each computer emits a distinguishable note sequence at different physical locations. My goal was to create a sonic environment of an arcade from my childhood – chaotic, overwhelming, and delightful.
Links below point to the moment in the piece that uses previously mentioned scaling examples in an ensemble format.
Extreme extension of note duration and tempo (8:50-10:00)
In the third link, Long note duration, the melodic line is detuned by a random amount at synced timings. The effect of one computer doing so is not so noticeable. But when multiple computers are out of tune in a large space, it creates an impact that I cannot recreate in a concert hall.
Notation of Proportions
The concept of controlling a range and scope of musical parameters, rather than instructing specific notes to play, is transferable to human performance. A proper notation to play an electronic instrument within a limited range can be considered as proportional control of choices. Seven Bird Watchers(2019) for drum machine ensemble is an example.
Seven Bird Watchers uses drum machines with customized sync tracks, and the sync track defines the form—the piece is simply seven sections with an increase in tempi and sonic range. While the composed sync track holds Korg Volca Beats’ tempo together, the human performers change the drum machine’s parameters according to the score. The score depicts the range of parameters performers can improvise.
For example, the early section has limited parameter changes and choices. It lasts about 35 seconds with a moderate increase and decrease in tempo. The performers, as shown in the score above, have a very limited choice of parameter change – the dark area of the Time/Depth/Pitch/Decay knobs, as well as the dark areas in the instrument choice, are the areas in which the performers can move or use knobs and buttons in Volca Beats.
The latter section, in contrast, has a bigger range of tempo changes with an extended duration of 85 seconds. The performers are free to use the entire range of the knobs with almost all available sounds. The proportion of choices and resulting sounds is more varied. For example, the tempo gets so fast that the sixteenth-note run of some percussion instruments loses sense of rhythm. It starts to sound like a bird chirping.
References
For further study, read Curtis Road’s Microsound. I learned the musical application of scale and proportion from this book. Research the scale and proportion in visual art as well. There are ample examples of how different scales make ordinary events extraordinary. Watching a movie on a big screen feels different than watching it on a phone screen. A slow-motion video effect is fun. Similarly, a sound with varying time scales and contrasting parameter values fascinates me.
Computer Music Composition Method has other related entries. Read them if interested
I was unable to complete a single composition over the summer despite multiple attempts. Such unproductivity led to a chain of negative thoughts on the impact and relevance of my work and effort. I lost the will to create by July. The slump phase is not new for me or any creatives, but getting over it is never easy. To recover, I tried methods that worked in the past, but also did something new.
The usual remedy for a slump for me is working on related projects in small bites. My main project is music composition, and related projects are any other music activities. I focused on relearning and appreciating fundamental musicianship.
I reread books that inspired me. When reading became tiring, I listened to audiobooks.
I wrote blogs on the electronic music practice. It helped me to organize and reflect.
I listened to all and any music. Summer is a great time to catch up on listening. I heard new things in old songs, and rediscovered time-tested techniques in new music.
I practiced bass guitar, an instrument I wanted to play but did not have time to learn. You know, every other electroacoustic musician plays bass.
Engaging in musical activities kept me from completely letting go of being a musician. Unfortunately, this was not enough for me to get back to composing. I had to make a specific plan and task to get back to a creative routine.
Write a 1-2-minute piece with the most familiar tool. In my case, it would be SuperCollider.
Start and finish a piece in one sitting. The goal is to remind myself of the joy and necessity of completing a piece.
Quality does not matter. Do not evaluate or self-critize the piece.
Pieces do not have to have a new idea. An old idea presented in a different context is good enough.
This attempt worked, kind of. I finished a piece on July 22, but was not able to produce another piece until July 28. But from that day, I completed a 1-1.5-minute piece every day until July 31. It was a small win with an impact. Now, I am comfortable sitting on a computer for a few hours per day, enduring the tedious or negative side of the creative process.
As a record of this summer’s slump and post-slump, I share Slump Recovery Project, a 6-minute piece in 5 sections.
Lastly, here’s the log of my composition failures and successes in May-July 2025.
5/19 Stopped working on a duet for plastic tube sqeakers and computer after two weeks. A simulation of the performance was disappointing, so I stopped.
7/10 Attempted to write a new laptop ensemble piece. Again, a simulation of the performance sounded too much like a piece I wrote a few weeks ago.
7/13 Jotted an idea for a no-input mixer duet. I thought writing for my favorite instrument would motivate me. It didn’t. I got more discouraged.
7/16-21 I could not do anything
7/22 (check date): Made a 1.5-minute piece on SuperCollider titled I-IV-V-vi
7/28 Made a 1.5-minute piece on SuperCollider and Logic Pro titled A Note of Happy
7/29 Made a 1.5-minute piece on SuperCollider titled Decrescendo Revisited
7/30 Made a 1-minute piece on SuperCollider and Logic Pro titled Riff
7/31 Made a 50-second piece on SuperCollider and Logic Pro titled Elastic Drum
All compositions contain aspects of the creator’s thoughts and life at a particular time. Overundertone, a 2015 album consisting of eight electroacoustic tracks, is a reflection of me a decade ago. Listening to the album feels like reading an old diary. The me in 2015 is unfamiliar to the me in 2025 – he is passionate and curious about the world and people. He had the thoughts and emotions I wish to have now. Below are what I learn about myself when I listened to the tracks.
Eyelid Spasm: I liked high frequencies, so I made a piece using them. I played with my (then) 5-year-old and 1-year-old sons, all the time, so the playfulness is in the piece. I even used a picture of me mimicking an animal (I think, I hope) for the kids as a cover photo. I don’t think I can hear many frequencies featured in this piece anymore.
Cross Rhythms: I wrote it as a class project example. I asked Oberlin’s TIMARA students to pick a page in Tom Johnson’s Imaginary Music and make an electroacoustic piece about it. I chose Cross Rhythms and composed a scene where two different rhythms overlap. The teacher-composer identity is in the piece.
Three Corn Punch: It’s a recording of a live performance. It is probably my last piece that does not involve electronic sound. It uses a Disklavier, though. There are no new techniques here. I learned to accept that I don’t have to develop a new concept for every composition. A good idea from others and myself needs repetition, reinterpretation, and refinement.
Cornfields and Cicadas: This is one of the soundscape works using original field recordings and synthesized sounds. I have been creating a series using this instrumentation since my graduate student years. I remember writing it with less struggle and stress, but the quality was about the same. It is a sonic diary of a vacation to a farm in Pennsylvania, where I went with my family and friends.
Beft: I wrote it because I was a dad reading Dr. Seuss to the kids. Beft is a creature in Things You Can Think that only moves to the left. It contains sounds and techniques I loved then – Shepard tone, 8-channel spatialization, overtones, etc. It was also a part of a class project example, like Cross Rhythms. My teacher-composer-dad is all represented in Beft.
Snake and Ox: It is a recording of an improvisation using instruments I used in solo shows. They are a no-input mixer, SuperCollider, and a custom synth. The no-input mixer sound was the most exciting thing to me. I remember dancing along with the no-input mixer noises while practicing.
10M to Fairmount: It is a sonic diary of a park in Philadelphia, where I lived for six years. Philly feels like a hometown since I started my family there. I must have been interested in visuals in addition to field recordings and synthesizers then. The piece has a video version. Like Cornfields and Cicadas, it is a diary-like piece.
Sky Blue Waves: It’s a piece from 100 Strange Sounds, a project I thought would be my magnum opus. The track has a simple instrumentation (celesta and a field recording of a beach), but has the not-so-happy aspects of my life at that time. As a contrast to Eyelid Spasm, it worked well as a closing piece of the album.
These songs are forgotten, but are still significant to me. Overundertone is an archive of emotions, efforts, and life in audio, the format I love the most. The album reminds me to strive (용써라) like 2015. The jaded, slumped me of 2025 needs that.
