An orchestra in a box, and smart people

I attended a meeting at Loyola College this evening. I had heard about it through a random e-mail, and had it scheduled on my calendar.

The presentation was on "Simfonia", a PC-based music synthesizer. It's an impressive package, given the challenges of creating music that sounds real. It can synthesize music for many different instruments, and the authors are working on the problem of "liveness" to music. (They know the desired effect and the problems, but the solutions are difficult.)

The meeting was a pleasant experience. The folks were *smart*. Within five minutes, we talked about synthesizing music, the Turing Test, and rounding issues. It's nice to chat with knowledgeable people!