As music and technology evolve, it only makes sense that they should evolve together, the principles of one informing and helping better the other.
This idea鈥攖hat music making happens more efficiently with the help of technology鈥攊s behind the unique invention of one graduate.
鈥淚鈥檇 been writing music using every instrument I could for years," said Hugh Lobel (DMA'15). "But I started to realize that in order to really do what I wanted, I needed a new platform for my music.鈥�
Lobel, who graduated in 2015 with a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition, is using the benefits of technological innovation to make it easier for anyone to compose his or her own music. His weapon in the fight is The Music and Sound Design Platform, or Music_SDP.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a totally open-source and free music creation platform designed around live performance,鈥� Lobel said. 鈥淚t facilitates exploration and experimentation in a performance setting.鈥�
The trained programmer is building the platform from the ground up. He first got the coding bug at the University of Texas at Austin while earning his master鈥檚 degree in composition.
鈥淎t first I didn鈥檛 expect to take it very far," he said. "I didn鈥檛 think I needed programming to make the sounds I wanted to make. But I immediately found that I could never do this without programming.鈥�
Using a coding language called Max, Lobel began developing his platform six years ago. At that time, most options for digital music creation were based on a digital audio workstation, or DAW, system.
鈥淚t allows people to record music into tracks and create compositions by combining different tracks in different orders,鈥� he said.
Over time, Lobel strayed from the DAW model, landing on his own concept as he pursued his doctoral degree in Boulder.
鈥淎 lot of artists were creating electronic music live," said Lobel. "I started to think about how I could do that in Max.鈥�
But to allow for live improvisation, Lobel knew he鈥檇 need to do a complete redesign of his product.
鈥淚t has lot of the same functions, like the ability to generate sound with synthesizers and record and manipulate audio, but the tools and functions are based on guitar pedal boards," he said. "They鈥檙e customizable based on the piece you鈥檙e writing.鈥�
The pedals鈥攃alled modules on Music_SDP鈥攃an be instruments, sound effects or recordings. Their adaptability allows for on-the-fly decisions in the middle of a performance.
The program can also be controlled by any number of different kinds of hardware.
鈥淵ou could use a keyboard, for example, to control the system,鈥� said Lobel. 鈥淵ou can set the modules so that the F key plays back a certain audio file or the E key plays a certain chord.鈥�
Since a soft launch of the product last May as part of his dissertation, Lobel has continued to tweak the product, bringing what he鈥檚 learned as a teacher at the college and as a student of composition professors Michael Theodore and John Drumheller into the design.
鈥淚鈥檝e taught Max at CU, and of course every time you teach something you learn so much," said Lobel. "That sparked an interest to continue making revisions.鈥�
He鈥檚 also been getting help from other students. Chandler Spoon, who graduated this May with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in horn performance, and recent ecology and evolutionary biology grad Michael Mann, make up his team on campus.
鈥淎nd BLOrk [student ensemble the Boulder Laptop Orchestra] has been using the software in its current and previous forms during performances, acting as bug testers for me,鈥� said Lobel.
The ultimate goal of the project, Lobel says, is to make it a community-driven platform that鈥檚 free and easy for anyone to use.
鈥淭he most important thing is that the platform has value, and that happens when it鈥檚 at everyone鈥檚 disposal," he said. "You don鈥檛 need $10 to download it, and you don鈥檛 need to know anything about programming to use it."
鈥淏y making Music_SDP free, I hope to enable people who can鈥檛 invest in other tools to unlock their creativity and explore their potential,鈥� he said.
Lobel says he鈥檒l keep the platform free by getting help where he can from other Max developers.
鈥淚 already have way more ideas than I can execute myself," said Lobel. "They know the language so well that they can introduce concepts and expand the functionality.鈥�
If you鈥檇 like to help Lobel improve Music_SDP, visit the or and pages to try it out, make a donation or spread the word.
