The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music, like The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music edited by Nick Collins and Julio d'Escriván (Cambridge University Press, 2007), grapples with the recent history, practice and contemporary state of computer music.

The publisher's promotional material notes that the book provides ‘a state-of-the-art cross-section of the most field-defining topics and debates in computer music today. A unique contribution to the field, it situates computer music in the broad context of its creation and performance across the range of issues – from music cognition to pedagogy to socio-cultural topics – that shape contemporary discourse in the field.’ The range of material presented is indeed wide ranging, including areas like improvisation, interactive performance, sound synthesis, music cognition, data sonification, spatialisation, computer-generated music, education, sound synthesis, electronica, soundspotting, dance and musical gestures, sensor use, gender studies and historical developments.

The discussion is divided into five sections: Part I, ‘Some Histories of Computer Music and Its Technologies’; Part II, ‘The Music’ with the first of two ‘Sounding Out’ subsections; Part III, ‘Creative and Performance Modes’; Part IV, ‘Cognition and Computation of Computer Music’ with a second ‘Sounding Out’ subsection; and Part V, ‘Cultural and Educational Issues’. There are twenty-six chapters in all, and an academic chronology of the discipline is provided as an appendix.

The release of the book, fifty years after musical tones were first produced on a computer, is timely. In addition, the widespread use of computers outside the academy for music-making requires a broad consideration of the topic. Consequently, the potential scope of material that could be included is very broad.

Contributing authors, largely academics, are noted as comprising globally leading scholars, composers, and performers who have been brought together to discuss a full range of issues in the field. Of the thirty-one authors most are male, and over two-thirds are based in England and Australia. Less than 20 per cent are based in the USA, and the rest are scattered between Norway, Denmark and Canada. A casual reader might then wonder why the Antipodes has made such a disproportionate contribution to computer music, why few contribute from Asia, and why there are so few women involved.

Nick Collins notes when addressing electronic music (p. 335) that there are as many histories as there are historians, each perspective reflecting bias and theories, and each doomed to establish categorisation for manageable theorising and readability; so focusing on exemplars and central concepts is helpful while allowing for fluid/fuzzy borders between them. This same notion could be applied to any history of computer music. A framework does needs applying with a topic this large, however, and computer music in this text is presented as a mainly scholarly and art music affair.

Editor Roger Dean opens the text with ‘Introduction: The Many Futures of Computer Music’, mainly outlining the intention and scope of the book. Of interest is the desire to provide an introduction to the whole electroacoustic field and its history, with an emphasis on the period since the 1980s – and the wish to not just focus on computer music techniques, or software, but be about computer music itself. The editor also notes the intention to stimulate the listener at large, and particularly those with little prior experiences of the area. Perhaps a CD of key works included with the book, similar to Thom Holmes’ Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music and Culture (Routledge 2012) could have aided this objective? But, in support, Dean points to the appendix prepared by Paul Doornbusch: a chronology that integrates musical, technological and computer music events – the book's editor describing it as ‘the most substantial and probably the most balanced currently available’ (p. 6).

Part I, ‘Some Histories of Computer Music and Its Technologies’, begins with Douglas Keislar's ‘A Historical View of Computer Music Technology’, focusing on how musical creation is enhanced with the computer as an abstraction of both an instrument and/or composer/performer, and how the computer's application alters/redefines the perception of music/sound, extending older traditions. This is a broad summary as well as solid introduction to the book and field generally. Paul Doornbush continues in the next chapter, titled ‘Early Hardware and Early Ideas in Computer Music: Their Development and the Current Forms’, covering in extensive detail computer music from early years to contemporary hardware/software, and providing a substantive reference map for the book. The first part concludes with Peter Manning's careful consideration of ‘Sound Synthesis Using Computers’, concentrating on the evolution of computer-based techniques of sound synthesis for performance and composition, and software applications for the medium increasingly based on desktop and laptop machines. The ‘fuzzy borders’ between topics in this part leads to some repetition of material between chapters.

As an introduction to the field, a historical summary of technologies seems as good a place to start as any, because it could be argued that tools have defined the medium rather than the outputs as sound genre – two sides of a debate outlined by the editor (p. 12) that the book attempts to address. But one wonders where a text about other contemporary music styles, with widely publically recognised practitioners, events and popular works, might begin.

Promising balance, we come to Part II, titled ‘The Music’. The section has five chapters, beginning with James Harley's ‘Computational Approaches to Composition of Notated Instrumental Music: Xenakis and other Pioneers’, mainly on theoretical aspects of composition through mathematical means and algorithms for generating pitch/duration music. Again a tight survey, this provides ample historical background prior to computer manipulation of data, and includes some more recent work. Roger Dean, the book's editor, follows with ‘Envisaging Improvisation in Future Computer Music’. Although partly speculative, this ranges from the role of computers as partners or sole contributors in improvising, to a conceptual overview and placement within wider issues of improvisation, which engages well and is supported by extensive referencing.

Within this section of the book, three chapters are grouped under the subtitle of ‘Sounding Out’, although structurally it is not obvious why they are placed here. The first of these is a gem by Trevor Wishart titled ‘Computer Music: Some Reflections’. This is refreshing in context because it integrates historical, conceptual, technical and artistic perspectives, and indicates the usefulness of integrating what to do, why do it and how to do it in a balanced way as something that the book aspires to, and is perhaps something for practitioners to emulate. Following is Tim Perkins's ‘Some Notes on My Electronic Improvisation Practice’, a disarmingly frank piece based on practical experience. This is a counterpoint to complex input as significance in contrast to exploring the richness of sound outputs based in perceptual reception but that may be technically simple to produce. The concern here is with issues like the physical properties of sound, the mapping between performance gestures and sonic qualities, and the particulars of sound. Again, here, a strong sense of integration is evident.

Simon Emmerson concludes this part with ‘Combining the Acoustic and the Digital: Music for Instruments and Computers or Prerecorded Sounds’. A clear conceptual map of approaches that might be used in the idiom is presented, along with a beautifully written synthesis supported by extensive conceptual diagrams. But the placement of this last chapter does not seem to fit well in the structure of the section, given the personal perspectives taken in the proceeding chapters. The balance of the book at this point may have been enhanced with further chapters on significant works in the idiom, or composers’ comments on their works, together with methods of analysis.

Part III of the text is titled ‘Creative and Performance Modes’. This is the most substantial section in the book, with nine chapters and a very broad vision.

Two well-integrated chapters open the section, beginning with Wayne Siegel's ‘Dancing the Music: Interactive Dance and Music’. This gives a philosophical framework, techniques and approaches to the topic and covers interface, mapping and gesture recognition. The case study and two composition examples at the end are also substantial, and the work in context is useful to show how the techniques of computer music can be integrated with other arts. Garth Paine contributes ‘Gesture and Morphology in Laptop Music Performance’, examining the development and design of new interfaces for electronic music performance through the ThuMP Project. The crux is with the reconnection of musician, interface and audience. The philosophical and experimental approach here integrating input, gesture, musicality and reception is a delight. Both chapters point to fruitful ways forward for the discipline.

Chapter 12, by Atau Tanaka, is called ‘Sensor Based Musical Instruments and Interactive Music’ – a survey of music technology to capture gesture for new sonic outputs and expressions. This is very extensive, and includes area such as controllers, hyperinstruments, studios, sensors (hardware and software), VR system, surface instruments and bio-signal instruments, to name a few – overlapping the concerns of the annual conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Given the range of material there is inevitable overlap with prior work in the text, but there are few better introductions to the field given the comprehensive discussion, insights and extensive references here.

Peter Lennox offers ‘Spatialisation and Computer Music’ next. The author outlines the possibility of a new kind of music through computer-managed signal processing that makes possible three-dimensional music, with an emphasis on reception/perception. Older conceptual constraints are examined, and new meanings and perceptions discussed, all of which absorbs with its speculation. ‘The Voice in Computer Music and its Relationship to Place, Identity and Community’ by Hazel Smith follows, covering the role of spoken voice in computer music, with an emphasis on cultural and interpretive issues and how they intertwine, and gender dimensions in compositions. This is a thoughtful chapter covering a wide ambit of material and adding balance to human input to computer music and gender concerns in particular.

Noam Sagiv, Roger T. Dean and Freya Bailes write on ‘Algorithmic Synaesthesia’ in Chapter 15, a term that describes multimedia works where image or sound share a computational process or data source, providing a fascinating by-way in the structure of the book based on recent understanding of the human sensorium. Again supported by a large reference list, this is an enormous topic to cover, and opens the possibility of a broader future consideration of computer music. It is then quite a jump from the two prior chapters to David Worrall's ‘An Introduction to Data Sonification’: a comprehensive introduction to an emerging field that is often neglected but requires pressing exploration. The extensive chapter includes concepts, methods of representing sound and the robustness of such models, and the need going forward for better tools for data sonification and for collaborative research.

In the two final chapters of this part of the book, Nick Collins first looks at ‘Electronica’ in Chapter 17, one of the attempts to include something of the breadth of contemporary computer music outside the academy. The terrain covered is stylistically expansive, the connections made interesting, and the diverse quotes engage well. Here, areas such as sampling, electronic dance or glitch are covered with a breadth of vision that navigates both popular and academic historical music perspectives. The ground traversed here could well have been split into a wider discussion of forms of electronic popular music over more than one chapter.

Jon McCormack, Alice Eldridge, Alan Dorin and Peter McIlwain conclude the section with ‘Generative Algorithms for Making Music: Emergence’. This is a summary of processes with outcomes beyond the parts that appear to make up each one, and covers generative arts, music networks, cellular automata, emergence and eco-systems. The information here is essential given the crossover of techniques to new media art, the ubiquity of the area in academia and the increasing popularity of programs such as Nodal that are used in popular music.

Having read the book in a sequential manner to this point, it seemed difficult at times to make sense of its structure. Accordingly, a brief abstract at the beginning of each chapter would certainly have helped readers.

Part IV, ‘ Cognition and Computation of Computer Music’ has three chapters, interceded with a second collection of Sounding Out chapters. While this part is balanced relatively in length to some of the other parts, Part III with nine chapters might have been better grouped under two different sections.

Opening Part IV is Geraint A. Wiggins, Marcus T. Pearce and Daniel Müllensiefen's chapter ‘Computational Modeling of Music Cognition and Musical Creativity – a look at how computers might compose based on human behaviour, toward a better understanding of both computer models and the human process of composition. This is a vital chapter, as notation-based tonal composition is a large part of computer music. Beyond a comprehensive introduction, the authors outline the extensive work on the IDyOM system that they have created. The research design is extensive, and the chapter would work in many books in computer science. Following is ‘Soundspotting: A New Kind of Process?’ by Michael Casey. Here, a new compositional method is put forward in great detail based on the composer's open source software. This involves selecting segments of source material from an audio database, using music informational retrieval methods, to create audio streams, with discussion of example works as outcomes.

The second ‘Sounding Out’ has two offerings – and it is a section that again would have benefited from including more artists’ perspectives, despite the status in the field of the two contributors.

George Lewis begins with ‘Interactivity and Improvisation’, a detailed chapter on the frameworks/perceptions of the nature of dialogue-based creativity between people and machines. This is embedded in an extensive contemporary perspective, past practices of improvisation and a wide perspective on human social life. It is a rewarding chapter, and the reader is left wanting more, given the insights offered here. He concludes by noting how improvisation practice needs keen observation of everyday acts and collaboration, as well as the truly creative, to take computer music beyond the limited goal of producing art and art music. ‘From Outside the Window: Electronic Sound Performance’ by Pauline Oliveros follows – an inspiring look at a personal relationship with new technology for music-making for over half a decade. The concentration is on reoccurring issues central to her artistic practice. Staggering here is the ability to constantly keep abreast of new development, including recent ventures into telematic music. The chapter is an astute blend of fine-grain ethnography and wide historical sensibility.

The section concludes with ‘Empirical Studies of Computer Sound’ by Freya Bailes and Roger T. Dean, who has made a prolific contribution to the book. This territory here is grand and essential contextually. The chapter lays out concerns of studying computer-generated sound objects from perceptual, cognitive and computational perspectives, and it covers areas such as listener impact and performative roles, and computer-generated sound in sonic cognition and temporal perception. Again with extensive referencing, the chapter provides a framework for one of the most fruitful areas for ongoing computer music research, and provides a balance again to the production-centred nature of the book.

A comparatively short and focused Part V is titled ‘Cultural and Educational Issues’, which seemed to warrant a further chapter. This starts with ‘Toward the Gender Ideal’ by Mary Simoni, a much-needed jaunt examining the gender imbalance in computer music participation. It provides a historical context and the results of an extensive survey on issues and perception of gender involvement with music technology. It also shows statistically through a carefully argued outcome how music technology has challenges around perceptions of gender, and then suggests some ways forward as a consequence. This is an issue educators need to take into account to encourage participation and more balanced audiences, and is an essential read. It also contributes to addressing the gender imbalance represented by the collective authorship of the book.

In ‘Sound-based Music 4 All’ Leigh Landy seeks to address the lack of societal impact of contemporary electroacoustic music based on a perceived manipulated imbalance of appreciation of some music genres; and why this has occurred, covering the media (communications, broadcast, recording), music education and the separation of art from life in many forms of contemporary music. The solutions proposed show how increasing interest and accessibility of tools can be related, and emphasises the role of early education in building a broader base of audiences/practitioners for sound-based music. This is again a refreshing offering in context, as it is one of the few chapters considering reception. Inspiring for all educators, the section concludes with a discussion by Jøran Rudi and Palmyre Pierroux titled ‘Framing Learning Perspectives in Computer Music Education’. The chapter suggests the core areas of computer music to be covered in secondary schools, learning perspectives and a way of approaching digital technologies conceptually, and the deployment of the online learning platform DSP design by NoTAM in Norway.

The appendix, by Paul Doornbush, is titled ‘A Chronology of Computer Music and Related Events’. Starting in 1939, it sets out in three lists collating selected musical events focused on works, the main technological events including the development of hardware and software, and computer music events such as the establishment of studios and computer music languages. Covering such a huge array of material, it is likely to be built on as scholarly practitioners supplement it further. As the focus is largely on art-music outputs, it may be interesting to expand it to also include popular music innovations and practitioners at some stage.

The book, intended for ‘students, scholars, and professionals who create, perform, and study computer music’, is largely written from initiates’ perspectives. University academics and composers will then find it very useful for a range of beginner to advanced courses in computer music/electroacoustic music, as well as a resource to expand their own knowledge. Being very familiar with the field, I delighted in wading through a text that reassures, presents new treasures and perspectives, attempts grand themes and provides opportunities to make new connections between perspectives. It is a stimulating collection to be savoured. The assembly of material and the sifting of what is important with the structure of the book give a roadmap not easily comprehended by wading through conference proceedings and music technology journals alone. Like any sifting process, it is bound to leave out things others might consider worthy of inclusion, and therefore presents collectively one of a number of possible histories of computer music.

The main strength of the book is that each chapter is impressive – detailed, panoramic, insightful – and many cover contributors’ life work. Additionally, the references provided throughout are invaluable. Collectively this makes a substantial contribution to production and theoretical perspectives on computer music, and engages well with aspects of reception and cultural issues in parts. But from an initiate's perspective, particularly since the book intends not just to focus on technique or software but also to be about computer music itself, there is less engagement with sound output from a musicological and listeners’ perspective, a somewhat narrow engagement with the range of outputs across styles, media and cultures; apart from the few composer gems included, it might have benefited from others who could write insightfully about their works from wider genres and in an integrated way.

Without detracting from the formidable array of expert contributors and subjects covered and the enormous contribution they have made here, many initiates may therefore supplement the text with wider artistic views, products and methods of analysing works. For those new to the topic – many of who might expect to learn something of new areas of music through a balanced production and music as a genre in practice and/or sound output – and with the desire put forward particularly of stimulating the listener at large with few prior experiences, the text may also need supplementing accordingly.

Trying to impose order on such a diverse field is no easy task; given the array of material and the nature of topics covered, most would struggle with an effective framework. More recently successful attempts at an introduction include Electronic Music (Cambridge University Press, 2013) by N. Collins, M. Schedel and S. Wilson, which is concise and has a broad scope. In comparison, The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music, intended for a wide audience, seems comparatively unsuited to being digested in a linear fashion, given the fuzzy borders between topics and grouping of material. But if the book is intended to be dipped in to as the need arises, again, chapter abstracts would have helped with navigation. Yet it is not strictly a book of facts, concise or a reference book with specific instructions about a subject, so the term ‘handbook’ might not be the best description for it. Perhaps ‘anthology’ – an assortment of comments, ideas and perspectives from practitioners and others on aspects of scholarly computer music – might be more fitting?

At the risk of trying to simplifying a very complex and controversial area, and many of these issues/questions are covered in depth in the book, it is worth attempting to place the text into some of the wider debates/questions the field struggles with – an area where there be as many opinions as people.

The dilemma of academic and art-focused computer music generally, it seems, is whether it should be considered a technical discipline or genre, as Keislar points out; but there is also the dilemma of which aspects of genre to study and how they should be approached – inputs and/or output?

The danger of taking an academic theoretical production perspective is the dislocation of theory from practice, and practice from reception. If it becomes too isolated in an academy that recapitulates exemplars and central concepts of production, it may become too self-referencing, and not provide artistic role models to a public who funds work but cannot engage in its sonic outputs. And if one only seeks to please a public at large, the discipline competes directly with any other commercial products attempting slight recapitulations or packaging of known ideas. Yet either sphere can also innovate technically and artistically, and the division between art music and experimental popular music in terms of production or product is far from clear at times, so warranting careful consideration of both?

An area that academic computer music perhaps needs to address, partly because unlike the contemporary visual art market there is little financial value in a product that can easily be replicated, is larger public engagement with its sonic products. Audience development, education and the study of sound objects are one part of this, as covered in chapters of the book. But there are also issues of embodied experiential familiarity in sonic memes that engage widely without intellectual explanation, and the need for public advocates as exemplars of production and products apart from popular computer music icons and art forms. This may be a matter of changing the context and media of delivery as much as making artworks that rewire the senses at a fundamental level as much great music/art does?

All this assumes, whether product or process focused, that computer music should be a means of communication beyond simply being a way of viewing, experiencing or discovering the world, or the idea that is has value beyond formalist notions. Performers playing to audiences, for example, and triggering common experiences might be standard for most rock music innovators like Keith Richards or Pete Townshend, but it could equally be argued that academic computer music should experiment independently of any communicative value or function. Exploratory and communicative concerns are rarely in synchronisation anyway, and only the benefit of hindsight can reveal what was important. Yet both concerns warrant consideration, and need to be taken into account.

The primary dilemma is then one of balance and scope, and The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music boldly ventures into these implicit debates and attempts to address aspects of this. The result is not as all encompassing as is held out at the beginning of the text, but it would be difficult for any book to address them all and weigh each equally.

What remains is one of the best anthologies on largely scholarly computer-music production concerns. And as many of the techniques and perceptions put forward are likely to find their way in to mainstream practice as a consequence, it is a tribute to the humbling quality of the work by its many contributors, which makes it an outstanding contribution to academic literature. The editor is to be congratulated on bringing together such a wide array of material in a single collection.