Lawyer and musician Stu Goldstein will talk, and demonstrate Creating Generative Music with Modular Synthesizers

Lawyer and musician Stu Goldstein will talk about, and demonstrate,

“Creating Generative Music with Modular Synthesizers”

MEETING DATE: 
Thursday, July 22, 2021
6:45PM - 8:45PM in
via Zoom virtual meeting.

About “Creating Generative Music with Modular Synthesizers”

Musician, voice-over actor, and entertainment attorney Stuart Jay Goldstein will talk about — and better yet, demonstrate — how to program — without a computer — modern synthesizers to play music guided by electricity, at the next General Meeting of the Brookdale Computer User Group, starting at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, July 22, via Zoom meeting software.

Presentation Overview

Stu will provide a brief overview of the history of modern synthesizers, then will demonstrate how synthesizers can be ‘programmed’ to make artificially intelligent musical decisions; not with computers, but rather with actual electrical voltage.

Stu will demonstrate live and discuss how each individual piece of a modular synthesizer plays a crucial role in the self-generation of musically pleasing notes and patterns. While the technology stems from the 1950s, there is a resurgence of interest in these types of synthesizers and in this method of music-making.

Stu will also give a brief demonstration of purely computer-based music and will discuss the pros and cons of each approach. Finally, Stu will demonstrate how computer-based music can be coupled with ”analog“ music as a hybrid means of composing and performing.

Presenter Bio

Stu Goldstein is a classically trained pianist and a non-classically trained synthesist. He combines sampled computer instruments, traditional analog synthesizers, and modular synthesizers to create soundtracks for commercials, films, games, and podcasts. But most importantly, he does it out of a deep love for making music.

When not in his studio, Stu is a voice actor and an entertainment attorney, currently serving as senior vice president, business & legal affairs, for the media company VICE. He graduated from Seton Hall University Law School and was admitted to the Bar in Manhattan, NY, in 2001.