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'''Barry Lloyd Vercoe''' (born 1937) is a [[New Zealand]]-born [[computer scientist]] and [[composer]]. He is best known as the inventor of [[CSound|Csound]], a music [[Sound synthesis|synthesis]] language with wide usage among [[computer music]] composers. [[Structured Audio Orchestra Language|SAOL]], the underlying language for the [[MPEG-4 Structured Audio]] standard, is also historically derived from Csound.
'''Barry Lloyd Vercoe''' (born 1937) is a [[New Zealand]]-born [[computer scientist]] and [[composer]]. He is best known as the inventor of [[CSound|Csound]], a music [[Sound synthesis|synthesis]] language with wide usage among [[computer music]] composers. [[Structured Audio Orchestra Language|SAOL]], the underlying language for the [[MPEG-4 Structured Audio]] standard, is also historically derived from Csound.


Born in [[Wellington]], Vercoe received undergraduate degrees in [[music]] (1959) and [[mathematics]] (1962) from the [[University of Auckland]] before emigrating to the United States. While employed as an [[assistant professor]] at the [[Oberlin Conservatory of Music]] (1965-1967) and as the [[Contemporary Music Project]]'s [[Seattle]]/[[Tacoma]] composer-in-residence (1967-1968), he earned his [[D.M.A.|A.Mus.D.]] in composition from the [[University of Michigan]] (where he studied with [[Ross Lee Finney]]) in 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.media.mit.edu/~bv/cv.html|title=Cv}}</ref> Prior to taking these positions, Vercoe supported his doctoral studies by working as a staff statistician at Michigan; it was in this capacity that first acquired an aptitude for computer programming by learning [[MAD (programming language)|MAD]]. In 1965, he married fellow composer and Michigan graduate student [[Elizabeth Vercoe]]; they had two children before divorcing in the early 1990s. During a summer respite from his doctoral studies and a subsequent two-year [[postdoctoral fellowship]] at [[Princeton University]] under [[Godfrey Winham]], his research in [[digital audio processing]] paved the way for the subsequent evolution of digital musical composition. From 1970 to 1971, he served as a visiting lecturer at the [[Yale School of Music]].
Born in [[Wellington]], Vercoe received undergraduate degrees in [[music]] (1959) and [[mathematics]] (1962) from the [[University of Auckland]] before emigrating to the United States. While employed as an [[assistant professor]] at the [[Oberlin Conservatory of Music]] (1965-1967) and as the [[Contemporary Music Project]]'s [[Seattle]]/[[Tacoma]] composer-in-residence (1967-1968), he earned his [[D.M.A.|A.Mus.D.]] in composition from the [[University of Michigan]] (where he studied with [[Ross Lee Finney]]) in 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.media.mit.edu/~bv/cv.html|title=Cv}}</ref> Prior to taking these positions, Vercoe supported his doctoral studies by working as a staff statistician at Michigan; it was in this capacity that first acquired an aptitude for computer programming by learning [[MAD (programming language)|MAD]]. In 1965, he married fellow composer and Michigan graduate student [[Elizabeth Vercoe]]; they had two children before divorcing in the early 1990s. He married Kathryn Veda Vaughn in 1993.
During a summer respite from his doctoral studies and a subsequent two-year [[postdoctoral fellowship]] at [[Princeton University]] under [[Godfrey Winham]], his research in [[digital audio processing]] paved the way for the subsequent evolution of digital musical composition. From 1970 to 1971, he served as a visiting lecturer at the [[Yale School of Music]].


In 1971, Vercoe became an assistant professor of humanities at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. As one of the epoch's few specialists in digital synthesis, he has speculated that he was indirectly recruited by president [[Jerome Wiesner]] through colleagues [[John Harbison]] and [[David Epstein (conductor)|David Epstein]] because Wiesner harbored musical inclinations (having previously collaborated with [[Alan Lomax]]) and sought to establish an [[electronic music]] laboratory as an inevitable extension of the institution's mandate. After a two-year period in which Vercoe designed a real-time digital synthesizer, Wiesner and [[Edward Fredkin]] personally procured a [[PDP-11]] for the fledgling research program from [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] in the summer of 1973, enabling him to abandon his previous methodology in favor of a streamlined, software-based approach. Shortly thereafter, the Experimental Music Studio was formed in laboratory space vacated by [[Amar Bose]]. Following promotion to [[associate professor]] in 1974, he joined the Lab for Computer Science as an associate member in 1977. He became a founding member of the [[MIT Media Lab]] upon promotion to [[full professor]] in 1984 and continues to this day as [[professor emeritus]] of music and media arts. For many years, he directed research in [[machine listening]] and digital audio synthesis as head of the Lab's Music, Mind, and Machine group and served as associate academic head of its graduate program in media arts and sciences from 2000 until his retirement in 2010. His notable students include [[Susan Frykberg]], [[Miller Puckette]] and [[Paris Smaragdis]].
In 1971, Vercoe became an assistant professor of humanities at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. As one of the epoch's few specialists in digital synthesis, he has speculated that he was indirectly recruited by president [[Jerome Wiesner]] through colleagues [[John Harbison]] and [[David Epstein (conductor)|David Epstein]] because Wiesner harbored musical inclinations (having previously collaborated with [[Alan Lomax]]) and sought to establish an [[electronic music]] laboratory as an inevitable extension of the institution's mandate. After a two-year period in which Vercoe designed a real-time digital synthesizer, Wiesner and [[Edward Fredkin]] personally procured a [[PDP-11]] for the fledgling research program from [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] in the summer of 1973, enabling him to abandon his previous methodology in favor of a streamlined, software-based approach. Shortly thereafter, the Experimental Music Studio was formed in laboratory space vacated by [[Amar Bose]]. Following promotion to [[associate professor]] in 1974, he joined the Lab for Computer Science as an associate member in 1977. He became a founding member of the [[MIT Media Lab]] upon promotion to [[full professor]] in 1984 and continues to this day as [[professor emeritus]] of music and media arts. For many years, he directed research in [[machine listening]] and digital audio synthesis as head of the Lab's Music, Mind, and Machine group and served as associate academic head of its graduate program in media arts and sciences from 2000 until his retirement in 2010. His notable students include [[Susan Frykberg]], [[Miller Puckette]] and [[Paris Smaragdis]].


He served as a consultant for the Boston Composers Project bibliography of Boston-area composers and compositions, first edition published in 1983.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9576366 |title=The Boston composers project : a bibliography of contemporary music |date=1983 |publisher=MIT Press |others=Linda Solow Blotner, Mary Wallace Davidson, Brenda Chasen Goldman, Geraldine Ostrove, Boston Area Music Libraries |isbn=0-262-02198-6 |location=Cambridge, Mass. |oclc=9576366}}</ref>
⚫
As of 2015, he resides in [[Tauranga]], New Zealand, where he co-founded and directs One Education, an offshoot of the [[One Laptop per Child]] initiative.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503347&objectid=11482590|title = Driving force behind laptop for each child}}</ref> He is also an accomplished jazz musician.{{citation needed|date=September 2009}}

⚫
As of 2015, he resides in [[Tauranga]], New Zealand, where he co-founded and directs One Education, an offshoot of the [[One Laptop per Child]] initiative.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503347&objectid=11482590|title = Driving force behind laptop for each child| date=10 July 2023 }}</ref> He is also an accomplished jazz musician.{{citation needed|date=September 2009}}


== See also ==
== See also ==
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* [http://web.media.mit.edu/~bv/ Barry Vercoe homepage]
* [http://web.media.mit.edu/~bv/ Barry Vercoe homepage]
* {{YouTube|vOYky8MmrEU|Vercoe demonstrating the Synthetic Performer at IRCAM in 1984}}
* {{YouTube|vOYky8MmrEU|Vercoe demonstrating the Synthetic Performer at IRCAM in 1984}}
* [http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/vercoe.html Barry Vercoe Playlist] Appearance on WMBR's ''[http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/index.html Dinnertime Sampler]'' radio show, November 10, 2004
* [http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/vercoe.html Barry Vercoe Playlist] Appearance on WMBR's ''[http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/index.html Dinnertime Sampler] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504000207/http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/index.html |date=2011-05-04 }}'' radio show, November 10, 2004


{{SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award}}

Latest revision as of 02:37, 2 February 2024

Barry Lloyd Vercoe (born 1937) is a New Zealand-born computer scientist and composer. He is best known as the inventor of Csound, a music synthesis language with wide usage among computer music composers. SAOL, the underlying language for the MPEG-4 Structured Audio standard, is also historically derived from Csound.

Born in Wellington, Vercoe received undergraduate degrees in music (1959) and mathematics (1962) from the University of Auckland before emigrating to the United States. While employed as an assistant professor at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (1965-1967) and as the Contemporary Music Project's Seattle/Tacoma composer-in-residence (1967-1968), he earned his A.Mus.D. in composition from the University of Michigan (where he studied with Ross Lee Finney) in 1968.[1] Prior to taking these positions, Vercoe supported his doctoral studies by working as a staff statistician at Michigan; it was in this capacity that first acquired an aptitude for computer programming by learning MAD. In 1965, he married fellow composer and Michigan graduate student Elizabeth Vercoe; they had two children before divorcing in the early 1990s. He married Kathryn Veda Vaughn in 1993. During a summer respite from his doctoral studies and a subsequent two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University under Godfrey Winham, his research in digital audio processing paved the way for the subsequent evolution of digital musical composition. From 1970 to 1971, he served as a visiting lecturer at the Yale School of Music.

In 1971, Vercoe became an assistant professor of humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As one of the epoch's few specialists in digital synthesis, he has speculated that he was indirectly recruited by president Jerome Wiesner through colleagues John Harbison and David Epstein because Wiesner harbored musical inclinations (having previously collaborated with Alan Lomax) and sought to establish an electronic music laboratory as an inevitable extension of the institution's mandate. After a two-year period in which Vercoe designed a real-time digital synthesizer, Wiesner and Edward Fredkin personally procured a PDP-11 for the fledgling research program from Digital Equipment Corporation in the summer of 1973, enabling him to abandon his previous methodology in favor of a streamlined, software-based approach. Shortly thereafter, the Experimental Music Studio was formed in laboratory space vacated by Amar Bose. Following promotion to associate professor in 1974, he joined the Lab for Computer Science as an associate member in 1977. He became a founding member of the MIT Media Lab upon promotion to full professor in 1984 and continues to this day as professor emeritus of music and media arts. For many years, he directed research in machine listening and digital audio synthesis as head of the Lab's Music, Mind, and Machine group and served as associate academic head of its graduate program in media arts and sciences from 2000 until his retirement in 2010. His notable students include Susan Frykberg, Miller Puckette and Paris Smaragdis.

He served as a consultant for the Boston Composers Project bibliography of Boston-area composers and compositions, first edition published in 1983.[2]

As of 2015, he resides in Tauranga, New Zealand, where he co-founded and directs One Education, an offshoot of the One Laptop per Child initiative.[3] He is also an accomplished jazz musician.[citation needed]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Cv".
  2. ^ The Boston composers project : a bibliography of contemporary music. Linda Solow Blotner, Mary Wallace Davidson, Brenda Chasen Goldman, Geraldine Ostrove, Boston Area Music Libraries. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1983. ISBN 0-262-02198-6. OCLC 9576366.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ "Driving force behind laptop for each child". 10 July 2023.
[edit]
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