Abstract:

There exist a great diversity of uses of the computer to make music. Nevertheless, this diversity falls into two broad categories. One of them is concerned with processing an input a sequence of instructions, expecting an output, by means of a programming language. This type of music making is known as algorithmic. Another way is to use the computer in networked devices able to understand each other by means of a common language. This common language is MIDI which stand for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI opened a new and soft way to make computer assisted music.

This Essay describes three aspects of computer music making: selecting sound, composing and performing, using a MIDI plataform. A brief incursion into algorithmic environments is carried out in order to clarify some convergent and divergent points between non-algoritimic and algorithmic composition.