HOWZAT

It was here, last summer, that Adam Nicholas became aware of what computers could achieve. Guided by the sound artist Duncan Chapman, participants explored the prototype website and a plethora of high-tech equipment and state-of-the-art software, including Cool Edit Pro and Sibelius — not to mention real live musicians. The results of these courses can be seen and heard on (and downloaded from) the Sound Exchange, as can many other projects.

What’s more, a subsection of the Sound Exchange provides a space where composers can upload their own work, making it accessible (and browsable without charge) to all and sundry. Contributors can include their own biographies and photos, and links to their own websites.

This seems an intelligent real-world application of technology and of the internet, an attempt both noble and pragmatic to create a genuine, Philharmonia-related community. I remain wary, however, of composers — even teenagers — who too readily draw on prefabricated musical elements as their building blocks, who would replace hard graft and deep thought with the easy layering, patterning and extending techniques that sequencing programs enable.

Composing should never be a blasé, automated exercise.

Adam — who also goes by the name of Paradox and, with his partner, Truth, runs an enterprising site at www.urbanprophecies.co.uk — says that his experience on the course gave him a huge confidence boost. “Now I find the site really valuable for the technology side. Before, I found it hard to get hold of live samples of orchestras. Having ready-made materials to manipulate might restrict what you create to an extent, but the sound you get is going to be a lot better than if you tried to make it on your own.”

His classmate, Dide Siemmond, is a violinist rooted in a more classical tradition. She studies at weekends at the junior department of the Royal College of Music, under Avril Anderson, who encouraged her to go on the Sound Ideas course. “Before, I was against using computers when composing — I thought that because it was much faster, it took something away from the music. I have learnt a lot, though: that you can change sounds round so easily, edit them, distort them. Or you could find a sound like dropping stones and make that part of your music, something I’d never con-sidered before.”

She is now an eager, confident fan of Sibelius software, though her fundamental approach to composition hasn’t changed. Any downsides? Neither Dide nor Adam can think of one. As long as computers and the internet are seen as tools for acquiring skills, and are not exploited as substitutes for genuinely inventive creativity, neither can I. That is an important caveat.

Discovering music online

www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/guide
Informative introduction to the orchestra for the young

www.creatingmusic.com
Where it’s easy to doodle with sounds

www.kar2ouche.com
Markets In2arts learning programs, including a Royal Opera-recommended project to create an opera based on Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes. Cross-discipline work is also included

www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk
3-D music area

www.musictheory.net
Teaches the fundamentals needed to start composing

www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange
Sound-sample library and concert webcasts

www.playmusic.org
An enticing introduction to the instruments of the orchestra

www.sibelius.com
Site of the music-writing software publisher, which offers other useful tools

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