Curtis Roads, et al: The Computer Music Tutorial (1996–) [English, French]

“The Computer Music Tutorial is a comprehensive text and reference that covers all aspects of computer music, including digital audio, synthesis techniques, signal processing, musical input devices, performance software, editing systems, algorithmic composition, MIDI, synthesizer architecture, system interconnection, and psychoacoustics. A special effort has been made to impart an appreciation for the rich history behind current activities in the field.

Profusely illustrated and exhaustively referenced and cross-referenced, The Computer Music Tutorial provides a step-by-step introduction to the entire field of computer music techniques. Written for nontechnical as well as technical readers, it uses hundreds of charts, diagrams, screen images, and photographs as well as clear explanations to present basic concepts and terms. Mathematical notation and program code examples are used only when absolutely necessary. Explanations are not tied to any specific software or hardware.”

Publisher MIT Press, 1996
ISBN 0262680823, 9780262680820
xx+1234 pages

Reviews: Sam Reese (Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 1997), Douglas Geers (Current Musicology, 2001), Gregory Taylor (Cycling ’74, 2016).

Publisher

The Computer Music Tutorial (English, DJVU, 22 MB, updated on 2021-4-8)
L’audionumérique: musique et informatique (French, trans. Jean de Reydellet, 3rd ed., 1999/2016, 15 MB, added on 2021-4-8)
Corrections and revisions (added on 2017-11-20, updated on 2021-4-8)