As Teaching Aid

This book could be used as a teaching aid, for students at the Master's or PhD level. A strong background in digital signal processing, physics and computer programming is essential. Particular topics in applied mathematics which are assumed prerequisites are the usual ones found in a respectable undergraduate program in the physical sciences or engineering: differential and integral calculus (multivariable), linear algebra, complex analysis, ordinary and partial differential equations, Fourier, Laplace and $z$ transforms, and some familiarity with functional analysis, and in particular the notion of $L_{2}$ inner product spaces. For a 12-week one-semester course at the Master's or PhD level, one could comfortably cover the part of the book which deals with linear systems, namely Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10. The inclusion of the material on nonlinear systems in the remainder of the book would necessarily require a full year course. The programming exercises and examples are all based around the use of the Matlab language, which is, of course, ideal for prototyping sound synthesis algorithms, but not for practical applications; the translation of some of these algorithms to a more suitable (perhaps real time) environment would make for an excellent, and practically useful independent study project.