
The product, whose most recent incarnation is available from, maintains a large and enthusiastic user community. Puckette’s Silver Lion prize recognizes the fact that, given the evolution of technology over the last 35 years, it is remarkable Max is still in use today. One of the first composers to use this early version of the software-which Puckette named “Max” after Bell Labs electrical engineer Max Mathews-was Philippe Manoury, who used it to create Pluton, a piano and computer piece, in 1988.

It all came down to a programming model that had good real-time properties, but also had a good visual representation for designing electronic instruments virtually.” “So I found a way of describing real-time reactivity as a music instrument would react to a player playing composers could understand and make things in that environment. “Many composers had never actually touched a computer, but those who did pretty much were at the level of pushing buttons,” recalled Puckette. In addition, the existing prototypes required a level of understanding of programming languages that was a serious barrier for many composers in the 1980s. Surrounded by others with similar interests, Puckette was able to identify major issues that needed to be solved for composers to use computers to create sounds.Īccording to Puckette, one technical problem was real-time scheduling, in other words allowing the continuous computation of sound, as well as the ability to react to disturbances that changed it.

However, when it came time to select his first position after graduation, he opted to become a researcher at Paris’s IRCAM (l’Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Musique/Acoustique), an institution founded by composer and conductor Pierre Boulez to stimulate and pursue scientific research around musical creation. In graduate school, Puckette continued studying mathematics, earning a Ph.D. “I had a lot of fun,” Puckette recalled, “and because the field was so early, there was a lot to do.” The musicians welcomed Puckette when he lingered in the lab after class, and he made the discovery that others appreciated his contributions. It was so much fun, I just found myself gradually spending more and more of my time doing that.” As a mathematician, I understood everything they were doing, like why things sounded the way they did-that’s really all mathematics. The prof would just throw you out if they thought you were a problem.

“No one controlled prerequisites at that time. “I skipped all the prerequisites and just showed up for the class,” Puckette recalled.
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“My plan was to basically be a math prof, invent a few new math theorems, and run my life that way,” Puckette said.īut, during his senior year, Puckette got wind of a Department of Music class on how to use a computer to make music, tapping into a rare resource at that time-a computer at MIT with audio input and output capabilities. In fact, as an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was pursuing a different path. Miller’s trailblazing career in contemporary music was somewhat of an accident. The festival’s theme this year ismicro-music, highlighting “the fascination and richness of expression of digital sound.” From Math to Music The event will be part of the Biennale Musica, La Biennale di Venezia’s 67th annual international festival of contemporary music, where Miller was also invited to perform and mentor students. Miller, who is also a retired UC San Diego Department of Music professor, will accept the award in Venice on October 19.
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In particular, Ronchetti cited Miller’s work designing and developing the software Max and Pure Data, two of the most widespread programs for computer music. “Through their programming, performance and collaboration with composers, have enabled the creation of numerous masterworks during recent decades in the history of music.” “In recognising the work of Miller Puckette, the Biennale Musica pursues its path of attributing the award to figures on the contemporary music scene,” said Italian composer Lucia Ronchetti, director of La Biennale di Venezia’s Music Department. The prestigious 128-year-old European cultural institution La Biennale di Venezia has announced that UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute (QI) Composer-in-Residence Miller Puckette has won the Silver Lion award.
