Chapter 4 is so relevant to the sound visualizer we've been making as homework 2 and I quite wish that I had read the chapter in my early stages of working on homework 2 or even before getting started on homework 2. In this chapter, we are not only introduced to several pioneers in programming and computer music, but also get to learn both technical and design concepts in sound programming. Reading about Ada Lovelace (who I had heard of about being a pioneer of the concept of computer programming) and John Chowning (who was the founder of CCRMA!) was particularly fascinating. Learning the science behind sound, explained with visuals and examples, as well as the new school approach to sound design gave me a lot of ideas about how I could have approached homework 2 differently and in a more experimental way.

While working on my narrative sound input for homework 2, I definitely still felt that I was cooking up sound like a chef, like the analogy that Ge uses on page 164 that "computer music researchers are like experimental cooks." It's just that I limited myself and my design space quite a lot by deciding to use Canon in D, a familiar classical piece, to program as my sound visualizer narrative. Since I mostly stuck to the Canon in D tunes, I didn't have much room for experimentation. In retrospect, I could have taken the liberty to borrow some pieces from Canon in D but focus on experimenting with all the different sounds I could make in Chuck and composing new music. It would be really cool if I had tried to "experiment to illogical extremes" as Principle 4.8 in the book suggests.

Nonetheless, I am still quite happy with my homework 2 end result. I did learn a lot of new things just by figuring out how to program the Canon in D notes in Chuck using different types of wave oscillators. I guess imitation (in this case, reproducing an existing piece of music in Chuck) is a very common and effective way of learning new techniques as well as exploring new tools. In terms of Principle 4.5: Design things with a computer that would not be possible without, I think I did design my narrative with a computer that would be difficult without. In Chuck, I was able to move the chords for Canon in D down an octave just by subtracting 12 from the MIDI note integer, and I programed two different moods within one playback of Canon in D by changing the timbre of the notes and adding in hi hats and snares. This relative ease and quickness of creating this piece of cool music would not be possible without making use of the computer, and the ability to iterate through the design and programming process is greatly supported by Chuck.