The Computer Audio Research Laboratory at UCSD
Frank R. Moore · Computer Music Journal · 1982
The Computer Audio Research Laboratory (CARL), now under construction at UCSD's Center for Music Experiment (CME), has been in operation since the spring of 1980. CARL is intended to become a complete, coherent sound system, capable of acting as a tool for digital audio research, music composition, performance, and education. By design, CARL is to be capable of doing virtually anything that is possible with sound. This article outlines the overall design, goals, activities, and current status of the CARL system. The complete CARL system is shown in a schematic way in Fig. 1. The largest box in the diagram contains the waveform synthesis and signal processing functions; these must be implemented in hardware in any real-time system. Performance and control functions may be shared between hardware and software. Composing and analysis software are usually independent of real time, since they generally address problems of music and sound independently of its performance.