Center for New Music and Audio Technologies
The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT /ˈsɛnmæt/) is a multidisciplinary research center within University of California, Berkeley Department of Music. The Center's goal is to provide a common ground where music, cognitive science, computer science, and other disciplines meet to investigate, invent, and implement creative tools for composition, performance, and research. It was founded in the 1980s by composer Richard Felciano.
Located in the Berkeley Hills on the north edge of the UC Campus, the CNMAT facility includes a variety of state-of-the-art workspaces and equipment.
Research
CNMAT's Research Program pursues inquiry and invention with a broad range of projects. A special interest is in the innovative application of technology to musical composition and performance, with emphasis on interactivity, real-time processes, and new instruments that combine exceptional quality with high degrees of expressive control. Current research topics include:
- Robust Sound Analysis
- High Quality, Reactive Sound Synthesis
- Intelligent Instruments: neural network control and gestural interfaces.
- Rhythm Perception, Production, and Representation
- Guitar Innovation Group
- Organ Analysis and Synthesis
- Sound Spatialization
Education
CNMAT's multidisciplinary atmosphere fosters the creative articulation of musical ideas in classwork, labs, and public presentations:
- Courses in music technology, cognition, and other topics for Cal undergraduate and graduate students.
- Guided study and research for post-doctoral and visiting scholars.
- Seminars, colloquia, lectures, and demonstrations for the UC Berkeley Campus and San Francisco Bay Area Communities.
- Summer workshops in Max/MSP, Jitter, and Sensors.
Performance
- Concerts in CNMAT's intimate performance space by invited composers, performers, and musicians from the academic and professional worlds.
- Composition activities in the studios, labs, and recording/production facilities.
- Technological support for performances by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Berkeley New Music Project, Multimedia Orchestra @Berkeley, and others.
Affiliations
CNMAT is part of a consortium with Stanford's Center for Computer Research and Acoustics (CCRMA) and the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris.
See also
- Acousmatic
- Acousmatic music
- Circuit bending
- Electroacoustic music
- Electronic art music
- Electronic musical instrument
- Free improvisation
- International Computer Music Conference
- Max/MSP
- NIME
- Open Sound Control
- ZIPI
- SDIF
- Sonology
- Sound sculpture