Composition for Computer Musicians

The author

Michael Hewitt is a Welsh-born composer who earned a bachelor's degree at London University and a master's and doctorate in composition at Bangor. He has written a popular series of books applying classical musical training to the world of computer-based production, of which this is one.

The book

Composition for Computer Musicians teaches how to compose using any music-creation program, deliberately avoiding tying itself to one platform. It walks through rhythm and drum programming, basslines, melodic leads, the creative use of effects and samples, and then the finishing stages of mixing, mastering and distribution, with a CD of examples to hear the ideas in practice.

How to read it

Use it at the computer, working through the examples in whatever DAW you own. It assumes you can run the software but not that you know music theory or composition, so it's genuinely a beginner's on-ramp. The tool-specific references date, but the compositional thinking doesn't.

For more context

It pairs directly with Hewitt's companion Music Theory for Computer Musicians for readers who want the underlying theory alongside the craft.

Sources

• Internet Archive
• Amazon listing
• Author's site