Studio Report: a New Icon Musical Notation System - TAL

lntroduction This research presents a new conceptual approach to writing notes of computer music. lt gives freedom to use notes from a continuum of frequencies rather than from a set of discrete frequencies. ' lt also incorporates timbre parameters into the icon notes, thus enabling easy and continuous movement through different timbres, instead of using fixed timbres. In this new musical notation icon symbols replace and expand the meaning of the "circle( of notes in the Conventional Musical Notation (CMN). The icons include in their format hints of the physical parameters of the timbres of the tones. Using this notation the composer can shift icons continuously in the plane of Pitch (or log of fundamental frequecy) vs. Time, and can use freely and continuously microtone sounds, as seen fit. He can also change freely the timbre of tones by changing the icon parameters, such as Wave Form (WF, i.e. the spectrum ofsound), amplitude envelope (AM, the Attack-Decay-Sustain-Release characteristics) and freguency modulation deperidence (FM, effects like vibrato, pitch slides, portamento, glissando etc.). A psychological advantage of the icon symbol is that the human eye is sensitive to small changes in closed figures, and forms of icons can be easily recognized. A musician can therefore easily identify the changing icons in a musical score and follow the timbrat changes. This unique concept of icon notation is realized in the computerized TAL system, built in our Lab, which is an fntegrated system of hardware and software. The hardware includes an advanced personal computer ( or workstation, in a future configuration), peripheral units, a multi-oscillator real-time sound generator, audio sound equipment and optical scanner.