'Organised sound' - the term coined by Edgard Varèse for a new definition of musical constructivism - denotes for our increasingly technologically dominated culture an urge towards the recognition of the human impulse behind the 'system'. Such is the diversity of activity in today's computer music, we need to maintain a balance between technological advances and musically creative and scholarly endeavour, at all levels of an essentially educative process. The model of 'life-long learning' makes a special kind of sense when we can explore our musical creativity in partnership with the computer, a machine now capable of sophisticated response from a humanly embedded intelligence.

Since the mid-1980s commercial digital samplers have become widespread. The idea of musical instruments which have no sounds of their own is, however, much older, not just in the form of analogue samplers like the Mellotron, but in ancient myths and legends from China and elsewhere. This history of both digital and analogue samplers relates the latter to the early musique concrète of Pierre Schaeffer and others, and also describes a variety of one-off systems devised by composers and performers.

Within the context of discussing contemporary music the European tendency to overvalue abstraction is questioned. The use of environmental sounds in electroacoustic music is highlighted as an example of the questionable value of abstraction. Attention is then focused on a recent Truax composition, Powers of Two (1995) as a work of electroacoustic music theatre. The historical musical and poetic references, as well as the sound sources adopted for the work, are discussed, and placed within the human framework of relationship embodied in the piece. A concluding section summarises the work as an attempt to create a contemporary myth from historical sources, and as a dramatic expression employing electroacoustic forces.

This article approaches the definition of the important term 'acousmatic' by reference to its origins in the sound studios of the French National Radio. The links from France to Québec are outlined and the Québecois acousmatic school, largely based in Montreal, is introduced. Aspects of a typical piece are discussed, and the author is able to answer the title question positively.

It is common to oppose formalist and referentialist approaches to music. However, in Francis Dhomont's work Points de fuite, these approaches appear complementary when we consider the relationship between sounds and sources. Adopting the analytical approach of the American theorist Leonard B. Meyer, we show how the syntactic flow of Points de fuite generates formal implications through the impact of tension and relaxation archetypes. The piece explores metaphors based upon recurrent anecdotal events – the recorded signifiers of the source. These extra-musical elements define the work's structure to such an extent that they eliminate the traditional gap between formalism and referentialism in music.

This paper describes TAO, a system for sound synthesis by physical modelling based on a new technique called cellular sound synthesis (CSS). The system provides a general mechanism for constructing an infinite variety of virtual instruments, and does so by providing a virtual acoustic material, elastic in nature, whose physical characteristics can be fine-tuned to produce different timbres. A wide variety of sounds such as plucked, hit, bowed and scraped sounds can be produced, all having natural physical and spacial qualities. Some of the musical and philosophical issues considered to be most important during the design and development of the system are touched upon, and the main features of the system are explained with reference to practical examples. Advantages and disadvantages of the synthesis technique and the prototype system are discussed, together with suggestions for future improvements.

It is rare to see music and technology being used in combination in therapy and special education. This article is an account of work in a special school as part of a festival of popular music. The style of the music was dance/rave. This was made accessible using a specialised range of MIDI devices to enable students with physical and learning disabilities to participate. There are many benefits to be derived from studying popular music. In special education this can help with physical coordination and social skills. Most important, young people with special needs are given access to youth cultures from which, traditionally, they have tended to be excluded.

There is a rich literature on the design of formal languages for music representation on computers. Over the last thirty years, several generations of software technology have been applied to this problem, including structured software engineering, artificial intelligence, and object-oriented (O-O) software technology. This article introduces the basic notions of O-O software technology, and investigates how these might be useful for music representation. In particular, the author's Smalltalk music object kernel (Smoke) music representation language is described and examples given that illustrate the most important of Smoke's features.

The annual Organised Sound CD will contain the following pieces and musical examples from Volume 1, Number 1:

Points de fuite (1982), Francis Dhormont.