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V. J. Manzo
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Interactive Composition: Strategies Using Ableton Live and Max for Live 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by V.J. Manzo (Author), Will Kuhn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 86
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Interactive Composition empowers readers with all of the practical skills and insights they need to compose and perform electronic popular music in a variety of popular styles. The book begins by introducing all of the tools involved in creating interactive compositions through the software Ableton Live and Max for Live. The following chapters then put the tools to use by both describing particular musical styles and also teaching readers how to compose and perform within these styles using the software. As readers progresses through the book, they will learn to use the software to facilitate their own unique compositional objectives.

This book takes readers through all of the steps in designing interactive music compositions. It is geared toward both beginners as well as intermediate and advanced readers, and so readers with even little experience working with digital audio software will quickly learn how to design powerful systems that facilitate their unique compositional ideas.

A particular feature of this book is that it discusses the historical context of several electronic music styles used by DJs, electronic musicians, and other artists, and then describes, using software, the technical process used in the composition and performance of these styles. Each chapter leads readers to create an original composition in a given style and also discusses the techniques that can be used to perform the piece in an idiomatic fashion.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0199973828
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    23 January 2014
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    16610 KB
  8. See all details
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Product description

Review

From the Foreword by Morton Subotnik: "The authors' simple and direct approach to teaching how to use these powerful tools within a single environment will empower anyone to experiment with his/her own musical creativity and expressiveness."--Morton Subotnik "I loved this book...It's a great way to learn, but it also sets up an excellent approach for teaching music technology in a unique and fun way. Highly, highly recommended."--Darwin Grosse

Review

From the Foreword by Morton Subotnik: "The authors' simple and direct approach to teaching how to use these powerful tools within a single environment will empower anyone to experiment with his/her own musical creativity and expressiveness."--Morton Subotnik "I loved this book...It's a great way to learn, but it also sets up an excellent approach for teaching music technology in a unique and fun way. Highly, highly recommended."--Darwin Grosse

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00RVLJF34
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (23 January 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 16610 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 282 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0199973822
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 86

About the authors

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  1. V. J. Manzo

    V. J. Manzo

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    V.J. Manzo (Ph.D. Temple University, M.M. New York University) is Associate Professor of Music Technology and Cognition at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is a composer and guitarist with research interests in theory and composition, artificial intelligence, interactive music systems, and music cognition. V.J. is author of several books published by Oxford University Press including Max/MSP/Jitter for Music, Foundations of Music Technology, and co-author of Interactive Composition and Environmental Sound Artists. He has created numerous software projects including the Modal Object Library, a collection of programming objects to control harmony in algorithmic and electro-acoustic compositions, and EAMIR, an open-source project and non-profit charity organization that supports composition, performance, education, and research through accessible technology-based musical instruments. He is the PI and director of the Electric Guitar Innovation Lab (EGIL) at WPI, and co-director of the Media Arts Group Innovation Center (MAGIC) at WPI.

    For more info, visit www.vjmanzo.com

    See more on the author's page
  2. Will Kuhn

    Will Kuhn

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Will serves as instructor of music technology at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Music Department Coordinator at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, OH. In 2006, he designed an innovative high school music tech curriculum focused on amateur music production, which involves over 300 students annually. His lab-based courses and student projects are regularly featured at regional music education events. He was named TI:ME (Technology in Music Education) Teacher of the Year in 2015, and currently serves as the organization’s national president. His book, Interactive Composition (with VJ Manzo) is widely used by producers and instructors trying to incorporate Max for Live into electronic music styles. Nationally, he gives clinics and workshops on revitalizing school music programs for the 21st century.

    See more on the author's page
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Stelexine
5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful to get acquainted with various genres and taking one from beginner to intermediate
Reviewed in Canada on 15 May 2021
Verified Purchase
Very easy to follow and really helped me feel more confident as a budding producer. Thanks so much for putting this together.
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BarryWilliamCooper
5.0 out of 5 stars Max Live demystified!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 April 2021
Verified Purchase
This book takes from the basic ideas to the most complex in easy stages. Indispensable for Max Live.
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Loreto Papadia
5.0 out of 5 stars well done
Reviewed in Italy on 14 September 2019
Verified Purchase
A plus: companion files
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conney
2.0 out of 5 stars 浅い
Reviewed in Japan on 21 June 2017
Verified Purchase
maxに重点を置きつつm4lを解説している本を探していたのですが、本著はmaxおよびm4lについてはほんの少し、あとはliveについての内容でした。どちらも入門レベルで、残念です。
One person found this helpful
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Doug310
5.0 out of 5 stars Best tutorial for Ableton Live
Reviewed in the United States on 5 June 2015
Verified Purchase
I purchased Ableton Live after a few days with the demo playing around with it because I thought it would be an enjoyable tool. I also purchased the Ableton Live 9 Power! book as it seemed to be a good, thorough introduction. I'm five chapters and several evenings through that book and I didn't do a single damn thing with Ableton Live and haven't made any music. (Amazon had the Kindle version of Power for something like $30, but the print book was like $28 plus a $3 Kindle upgrade, so I opted for that combo. FYI: The Kindle version of this book is really crappy with terrible resolution graphics - avoid it. The print book is fine, but large, almost letter size page format.)

Browsing Amazon, I saw Interactive Composition: Strategies Using Ableton Live and Max for Live and picked it up. I wanted to get a PDF but it wasn't available from the usual places like O'Reilly so I purchased the Kindle book. (I prefer PDFs as most books with any layout or graphics are badly mangled by Kindle formatting.) So far, though, this book seems to be formatted adequately for Kindle, but I cannot say for certain without having seen the print book. The images have been adequate and I have no complaints with the Kindle format. It's not yet reformatted for the non-full-justified reading style that Amazon recently announced, though.

I've been working my way through Interactive Composition on a 27" (non-Retina) iMac with Ableton Live 9 Suite, with it opened on the side of the screen and Live on the other side. This has been somewhat convenient but I also keep it open on my iPad on the table so I could maximize Live at the same time if I felt the need.
Now, I have only completed the first chapter including all of its steps and the final exercise, and let me tell you after this one chapter I have learned and done more in Live than I did with almost six chapters of Ableton Live 9 Power. It has a fabulous hands-on approach with detailed, step-by-step directions on how to do things and explanations of what it is you're doing. You can of course stop at any time and play with Live to experiment with things. This is a truly great way to learn Live. Comparing it to Power, which just says things like "this does X, that does Y, this button here does Z" it's a no brainer. Perhaps if you know all about making music on a computer it's useful to have that sort of description provided by Live 9 Power, but I'm a classical pianist and am pretty new to making music directly on the computer. Furthermore, Power spends a few chapters just telling you about things that are completely incomprehensible and pointless to the user like preferences and window layouts. Sure, I might need that information as a reference one day, but reading the long, interminable chapter about Live's preferences in Power was an exercise in tedium that rivaled any of the horrible "classic" books I had to read decades ago in high school. Not that it wasn't well written, just that it was completely useless information to a new Live user with absolutely not context to understand any of it.

Anyway, the first chapter of Interactive Composition is about the Arrangement View and how you can use it to make a song in what I have come to learn is the traditional DAW layout, with horizontal tracks. By the end you have enough information to make a full song using MIDI tools and built in instruments (probably not one that is mixed or has any effects or anything, but at least you have the notes and the outline and the clips). I seem to recall the book even had me record an audio clip, but didn't give much information on how to manipulate that, and my horrible solfege didn't quite line up with the timing so I figured out how to "fix" that by dragging little triangles. I feel like I could now put in my own songs (as MIDI anyway). The final exercise is to download a MIDI file from the Internet and set it all up. I found one ("Call Me" by Blondie) and spent hours tweaking it, modifying it and getting it to sound right - to my ear of course. I could probably spend another dozen hours or more on it, but it's time to move on...

The second chapter of the book is about the Session View, which I've come to associate with the "Live" portion of Live and hence the most unusual part. I have a Push on order and will start that chapter this weekend. I'm looking forward to more time with this book and Live.

I wanted to wholeheartedly recommend Interactive Composition to anyone wanting to get into Live. Although it shows as a $100 book for the print version, Amazon's Kindle version was less than $15. For such an expensive piece of software, it's a no-brainer. Great book.
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