Abstract

This lecture traces my compositional path from the beginnings to the current moment. I comment on the works in the catalog, placing them within the biographical context of my artistic circumstances at the time.

My process of electronic music composition could be likened to that of a solitary painter in that I both plan and realize the final work in my studio.

My composition process unfolds in seven phases:

1. Initial conception
2. Tool configuration and research
3. Creation of sound material
4. Classifying and editing the source material
5. Initial assembly of mesostructures
6. Planning of macrostructure
7. Multi-scale composition

I explain each phase and present excerpts of the works in chronological order.

Bio

Curtis Roads is Professor Emeritus in Media Arts and Technology and in Music at UCSB. His latest book is The Computer Music Tutorial (2023, The MIT Press).

www.curtisroads.net