The Syntax of Sound

Praat AudioTools: An Offline Analysis-Resynthesis Toolkit for Experimental Composition
Erscheinungsjahr 2027
ISBN: 978-981-9225-75-0
Verlag: Springer Verlag, Singapore

Buch, Englisch, 333 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

This book presents a research-driven and practice-based framework for experimental sound composition using Praat as an analysis–resynthesis and scripting environment. Originally developed for phonetics and speech science, Praat is recontextualized in this book as a transparent, programmable instrument for contemporary computer music, sound art, and algorithmic composition. This book explores sound as a structured, linguistic-like system whose elements, spectral components, temporal behaviors, dynamics, and spatial characteristics, can be analyzed, manipulated, and recomposed through code. Moving beyond black-box digital audio workstations and preset-based tools, it emphasizes programmatic sound design, where compositional decisions emerge from explicit algorithms, signal models, and data-driven processes. Across three major parts, this book develops a systematic approach to sound creation. The first part focuses on the generation and sculpting of sonic material, including adaptive systems, spectral analysis, distortion, filtering, temporal manipulation, and synthesis. The second part addresses structural and algorithmic organization, covering probabilistic logic, batch processing, spatialization, interoperability, and production workflows. The final part investigates kinetic and dynamic environments, examining modulation, phase behavior, reverberation architectures, automation, and adaptive studio systems. Combining theoretical context, historical references, and concrete scripting strategies, this book bridges phonetics, digital signal processing, and experimental composition. It is intended for advanced students, researchers, composers, and sound designers seeking a deep, methodologically transparent approach to sound analysis and creation, and it contributes a novel perspective to the fields of music technology and computer music by positioning code itself as a primary musical instrument.

Zielgruppe

Professional/practitioner

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cohen, Shai

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Elektronik | Nachrichtentechnik Elektronik
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Mechanik Akustik, Schwingungsanalyse
• Technische Wissenschaften Elektronik | Nachrichtentechnik Nachrichten- und Kommunikationstechnik Signalverarbeitung
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikwissenschaft Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PART I: THE ADAPTIVE SIGNAL (AI, Adaptive Systems, and the Logic of Condition-Design).- 1 Intelligent Morphologies: AI and Adaptive Systems.- PART II: THE TRANSFORMED SIGNAL (ANALYSIS, TRANSFORMATION, TIME, ENERGY & FORM).- 2 The Analytical Ear: Feature Extraction and Sonic Decomposition.- 3 Temporal Elasticity: Granular Synthesis and the Plasticity of Time.- 4 The Aesthetics of Failure: Distortion and Wave-Shaping.- 5 Resonant Architectures: Filters and Spectral Coloring.- 6 The Physics of Sound: Dynamics, Envelopes, and Kinematics.- 7 Generative Synthesis and Compositional Systems.- 8 Form, Montage, and Structural Composition.- PART III: THE KINETIC ENVIRONMENT (MOTION & SPACE).- 9 Spatial Audio and Acoustic Environments.- 10 Pitch, Contour, and Harmonic Space.- 11 Spectrum, Partials, and Spectral Imagination.- 12 Kinetic Morphologies and the Logic of Modulation.- 13 Synthetic Architectures: Reverb, Delay, and Quantum Acoustics.- PART IV: THE DISTRIBUTED STUDIO.- 14 Hybrid Systems: Praat, Python, Max/MSP, Ableton, and Deep Learning.- 15 Vector Chain, Live Systems, and the Studio After the Tool.- Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Shai Cohen is an associate professor and the head of the Music, Technology, and Visual Media program at Bar-Ilan University. A composer, researcher, and sound artist, his work exists at the intersection of acoustic materiality, algorithmic logic, and computational listening. Cohen is the former Chairman of the Israel Composers’ League and has been centrally involved in integrating real-time interactive systems and artificial intelligence within experimental music practice. He is the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Music Achievement, the ACUM Menachem Avidom Prize, and the Aberdeen Music Prize. His compositions have been performed internationally by ensembles including the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, the SNU Symphony Orchestra, and the Meitar Ensemble. His current research centers on the Praat AudioTools library and its applications in computational composition, pedagogy, and distributed studio architecture.