Adrian Freed Celebrating 30+ Years in Sound and Music computing! Selected Current Activiities
Selected Achievements
Short BiographyAdrian Freed is Research Director of UC Berkeley's Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). He has pioneered many new applications of mathematics, electronics and computer science to audio, music and media production tools including the earliest Graphical User Interfaces for digital sound editing, mixing and processing. His recent work is centered around whole body interaction, gesture signal processing, and terrascale integration of data from wearable and built environment sensor/actuator systems employing electrotextiles and other emerging materials.
Long Biography to Excerpt for Conference IntroductionsThe following biographical information is written in the third person as it is mostly used by others to assemble shorter bios when they introduce me in conference presentations. This fails to capture one of the most important features of my work: collaboration as manifest in my 80+ publications at CNMAT of which only a handful are solo:Adrian Freed's first publication in 1975 was a design for an electronic doorbell with an unusally compact implementation. This wasn't a particularly powerful musical tool, but in those days access to computational machinery of any kind was exceedingly difficult and dedicated electronic circuits were the only route possible to hobbyists. He continued( unpublished) work in his teens on sound synthesizers exploring a wide gamut of hardware technologies available including a polyphonic touch keyboard organ and a pioneering "drum machine" based on switched resistor VCA/VCF, shift register noise generator and static ram sequence storage. While at the University of New South Wales he developed control software for a digital additive synthesizer, the groupatron, built into the chassis of a Fairlight synthesizer. After designing a complete digital synthesizer with Vito Asta at Axis Digital in France he was invited to IRCAM by David Wessel in 1982 where he was director of computing systems and invited by Pierre Boulez to be secretary of the Scientific Commitee. He was early to recognize the importance of temporal constraints in music systems, a theme throughout his work at CNMAT. He is author of MacMix a pioneering interactive sound editing, processing, and mixing system, commercialized by Studer-Editec. He developed hard disk audio recording technology and audio post-production user interfaces at WaveFrame. He designed the Reson8, a multiprocessor digital signal processing system for music and audio applications. He is the architect of CNMAT's Additive Synthesis System (CAST) and is responsible for its UNIX implementation. He has developed the real-time scheduler used in CAST and novel signal processing algorithms for efficient sinusoidal signal synthesis, for which he holds a patent. He has made numerous contributions to the MAX programming language including designing the lcd andmultislider objects and also the resonances~, sinusoids~ signal processing modules for Max/MSP and OSW. He has written and lectured on efficient use of the C and C++ programming languages for signal processing applications and was a featured speaker on the subject of integrating sound and computer graphics at SIGGRAPH 1996. During his sabbatical leave in 2000 he developed new applications of computational linguistics and data mining to Internet applications including an early CMS with semantic tagging and inferencing. As leader of CNMAT's Guitar and chordophone Innovation Group (GIG), he has focussed on hardware and signal processing software to take advantage of separate processing of each string. His lifelong efforts to improve the guitar are documented in sfweekly. He has worked on harps and augmented cello and developed a stringless cello. In 2009 he was invited to speak on the future of the guitar at a Paris conference on the Identity of the Electric Guitar. He is recognized for his inspiring, accessible teaching which in the last years has focussed on integrating sensors into new controllers and art installations. Recent workshops have centered around sharing new techniques that employ electrotextiles and other emerging materials. Selected Publications prior to CNMAT:
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Edgar J. Berdahl, Julius O. Smith III, Adrian Freed, Active Damping Of A Vibrating String, 6th International Symposium on Active Noise and Vibration Control, September 18-20, 2006 - Adelaide, Australia.
Freed, A., Lee, A., Schott, J., Uitti, F., Wright, M., Zbyszynski, M., "Comparing Musical Control Structures and Signal Processing Strategies for the Augmented Cello and Guitar", ICMC2006, Tulane.
Freed, A.," Music MetaData Quality: a multiyear Case Study using the Music of Skip James", AES121, San Francisco.
Freed, A., Uitti, F., Wessel, D. , Zbyszynski M., "Augmenting the Cello", NIME2006 Paris, France.
Freed, A, Avizienis, R., Wright, M., Beyond 0-5V: Expanding Sensor Integration Architectures", NIME2006 Paris, France.
Freed, A., Avizienis, R., Wessel, M., Kassakian, P., "A Compact 120 Independent Element Spherical Loudspeaker Array with Programmable Radiation Patterns", AES 120th Convention, Paris France.
Andrew W. Schmeder, Adrian Freed, "Cluster computing over gigabit-ethernet for real-time audio", USENIX 2005.
Michael Zbyszynski, Adrian Freed, "CONTROL OF VST PLUG-INS USING OSC", ICMC 2005, Barcelona.
Freed, A. "Towards a More Effective OSC Time Tag Scheme", OSC Conference, CNMAT 2004.
Adrian Freed, Michael Zbyszynski, "OSC Control of VST Plug-ins", OSC Conference, CNMAT 2004.
Freed. A. OSC Design Space, OSC Conference, CNMAT 2004.
Rimas Avizienis and Adrian Freed,
"OSC and Gesture features of CNMAT's Connectivity Processor">,OSC Conference, CNMAT 2004.
Wright, M., A. Freed and Ali Momeni. (2003), "Open Sound Control: State of the Art 2003" pdf;
Proceedings of the 2003 Conference on New Inferfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), Montreal, Canada, pp. 153-159. Wright, M., A. Freed, A. Lee, T. Madden, and A. Momeni. (2001), Managing
Complexity with Explicit Mapping of Gestures to Sound Control with OSC,
Proceedings of the 2001 International Computer Music Conference, Habana, Cuba,
pp. 314-317. (pdf)
Avizienis, R., A. Freed, T. Suzuki, and D. Wessel (2000), Scalable Connectivity
Processor for Computer Music Performance Systems. Proceedings
of the International Computer Music Conference, Berlin, Germany. Freed, A. and R. Avizienis (2000), A New Music
Keyboard featuring Continuous Key-position Sensing and High-speed Communication
Options. Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, Berlin,
Germany. Freed, A. and O. Isvan (2000), Musical Applications
of New, Multi-axis Guitar String Sensors. Proceedings of the International
Computer Music Conference, Berlin, Germany. Wright, M., A. Chaudhary, A. Freed, S. Khoury, and D. Wessel
(2000), An XML-based
SDIF Stream Relationships Language. Proceedings of the International
Computer Music Conference, Berlin, Germany. A. Chaudhary and A. Freed (1999), "Visualization,
Editing and Spatialization of Sound Representations using the OSE Framework",
proceedings of the Audio Engineering Society 107th Convention. A. Chaudhary, A. Freed, and M. Wright (1999), "An
Open Architecture for Real-Time Audio Processing Software", proceedings
of the Audio Engineering Society 107th Convention. A. Freed (1999), "Bi-directional AES/EBU
Digital Audio and Remote Power over a Single Cable", proceedings of
the Audio Engineering Society 107th Convention. A. Freed (1999), "Spectral
Line Broadening with Transform Domain Additive Synthesis", proceedings
of the International Computer Music Conference, Beijing, China. T. Hodes and A. Freed (1999), "Second-order Recursive Oscillators
for Musical Additive Synthesis", proceedings of the International Computer
Music Conference, Beijing, China. T. Jehan, A. Freed, and R. Dudas (1999), "Musical
Applications of New Filter Extensions to Max/MSP", proceedings of the
ICMC, Beijing, China. A. Kaup, A. Freed, S. Khoury, and D. Wessel (1999),
"Volumetric Modeling of Acoustic
Fields in CNMAT's Sound Spatialization Theatre", proceedings of the
International Computer Music Conference, Beijing, China. M. Wright, A. Chaudhary, A. Freed, S. Khoury, and D. Wessel
(1999), "Audio
Applications of the Sound Description Interchange Format Standard",
proceedings of the Audio Engineering Society 107th Convention. Khoury, S., A. Freed, and D. Wessel,
"Volumetric Modeling of Acoustic Fields in CNMAT's Sound
Spatialization Theatre", Proceedings of the Audio Engineering
Society, 1998. Chaudhary, A., A. Freed, et al. A
3D Graphical User Interface for Resonance Modeling. International Computer
Music Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan, CMA. Chaudhary, A., A. Freed, et al. OpenSoundEdit:
An Interactive Visualization and Editing Framework for Timbral Resources.
International Computer Music Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Freed, A. Real-Time
Inverse Transform Additive Synthesis for Additive and Pitch Synchronous Noise
and Sound Spatialization. AES 104th Convention, San Francisco, CA, AES. Freed, A. and A. Chaudhary (1998). Music
Programming with the new Features of Standard C++. International Computer
Music Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan, ICMA. Freed, A. and D. Wessel Communication
of Musical Gesture using the AES/EBU Digital Audio Standard. International
Computer Music Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan, ICMA. Khoury, S., A. Freed, et al. Volumetric Visualization of Acoustic
Fields in CNMAT's Sound Spatialization Theatre. IEEE Visualization 98, Research
Triangle Park, NC, IEEE. M. Wright, A. Chaudhary, A. Freed, D. Wessel, X. Rodet, D. Virolle, R. Woehrmann,
and X. Serra, New Applications of the
Sound Description Interchange Format, International Computer Music Conference,
Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1998 (ICMA), p. 276-279. Freed, A, Jehan, T., "Database
of Challenging Musical Sounds for Evaluation and Refinement of
Pitch Estimators",ICMC, Thessaloniki, Greece,
1997. Freed, A., Chaudhary, A. and Davila, B., "Operating
Systems Latency Measurement and Analysis for Sound Synthesis and
Processing Applications", ICMC, Thessaloniki,
Greece, 1997. Wright, M., Freed, A., "Open
SoundControl: A New Protocol for Communicating with Sound Synthesizers",
ICMC, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1997. Wright, M., Wessel, D., Freed, A., "New
Musical Control Structures from Standard Gestural Controllers",
ICMC, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1997. Freed, A. (1996), "Music and
Audio Technology Projects to Stir the Imagination," Computer
Music Journal 20(2). Freed, A. (1995). "Improving Graphical
User Interfaces For Computer Music Applications." Computer Music Journal
19(4): 4-5. Freed, A. ICMC95 paper "Bring Your
Own Control to Additive Synthesis", Proceedings of The
International Computer Music Conference , Banff, Canada, 1995
Freed, A. "Codevelopment of
User Interface, Control and Digital Signal Processing with the
HTM Environment," Proceedings of The International Conference
on Signal Processing Applications & Technology, Dallas, Texas,
1994
Freed, A. "The Rebirth of Computer
Music by Analog Signal Processing", ICMC 1994
Freed, A . "Guidelines for signal
processing applications in C" , C Users Journal v11,
n9 (Sept, 1993):85
Freed, A. "Overview of New Media Projects
for Musicological Research and Education".1994.
Freed, A., Rodet, X., Depalle, P. "Synthesis
and Control of Hundreds of Sinusoidal Partials on a Desktop Computer
without Custom Hardware". Proceedings of The International
Conference on Signal Processing Applications & Technology,
Santa Clara, CA, 1993.
Freed, A., Rodet, X., Depalle, P. "Performance,
Synthesis and Control of Additive Synthesis on a Desktop Computer
Using FFT-1 . Proceedings of the 19th International Computer
Music Conference, Waseda University Center for Scholarly Information
1993, International Computer Music Association.
Freed, A. "New Tools for Rapid
Prototyping of Musical Sound Synthesis Algorithms and Control
Strategies." Proceedings of the 18th International Computer
Music Conference., San Jose State University , 1992, International
Computer Music Association.
Freed, A., Gordon, K. "DSP Driver
Software for Performance-Oriented Music Synthesis Systems", Proceedings
of the 16th International Computer Music Conference, Glasgow, 1990, International
Computer Music Association.
Lee, M., Freed, A., Wessel, D. "Real-Time Neural Network
Processing of Gestural and Acoustic Signals", Proceedings
of the 17th International Computer Music Conference, Montreal,
1991, Computer Music Association.
Freed, A, Wessel, D., and Zicarelli, D. "MAX Objects for
Media Integration", Proceedings of the 17th International
Computer Music Conference, Montreal, 1991, International Computer
Music Association.
Freed, A. "New Media for Musicological
Research and Education :The Country Blues in HyperMedia",
Proceedings of the 15th International Computer Music Conference,
Ohio State University, 1989, International Computer Music Association.
Wessel, D., Felciano, R., Freed, A., Wawrzynek, J. "Studio
Report: The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies",
Proceedings of the 15th International Computer Music Conference,
Ohio State University, 1989, Computer Music Association.
Freed A., "Recording, Mixing, and Signal
Processing on a Personal Computer", Proceedings of the
AES 5th International Conference on Music and Digital Technology,
1987
Barriere, J-B, Baisnee, P-F, Freed, A., Baudot, M-D, "A
Digital Signal Multiprocessor and its Musical Application",
Proceedings of the 15th International Computer Music Conference,
Ohio State University, 1989, Computer Music Association.
Freed. A. "Review of 3rd USENIX Graphics Workshop",
World UNIX and C, 1986
Freed, A. "MacMix:Mixing Music with a Mouse", Second
USENIX Computer Graphics Workshop Monterey. December 1985
Freed, A., "MacMix: Mixing Music with a
Mouse", Proceedings of the 12th International Computer
Music Conference, The Hague, 1986, Computer Music Association.
C. Douglas Blewett, Adrian Freed, Ross J. Hilbert, Jeff Langer,
Richard J. Mascitti, Craig R. Rodine, William P. Weber,"The
Aegis System", ATT Bell Laboratories Technical Memorandum
11385-850806-01 1985.
Freed. A. "Understanding Time in Distributed Music Systems",
International Computer Music Conference - Paris 1984.
Vito Asta and Adrian Freed, "The DSY8201 Digital Music Synthesizer",
International Computer Music Conference - Venice 1982.
Freed, A, "An Audio Oscillator Using Digital IC's",
Electronics Australia, January 1978.
Freed, A., "Electronic Doorbell", Popular Electronics
(UK) 1975.
Research