In the past, I've really enjoyed using music software programs such as Logic Pro and
GarageBand to help myself write songs. I'm a singer and don't really play any other
instruments, but the computer and these programs have allowed me to create tracks of
instrumentation that I can write lyrics to and sing over. Thanks to the help of a computer, I can
still express myself through original music without having to the enlist the help of other
musicians or learn how to play new instruments. Although it would be possible for me to learn
new instruments, it would be impossible for me to learn all of these skills and write music with
them in such a short amount of time. In this way, the computer allows me to design things in a
way that would not be possible without it. One of the most helpful functions in computer
music software is the ability to loop sections of instrumentation over and over again for a
specific time duration. In ChucK, this functionality is mirrored in the ability to write "while"
loops that execute specific sound-creating code. For example, if I had an audio file that
sounded like a sine wave, I could loop it over and over with computer software. In ChucK, I
could loop the same sine wave by first creating the sound (SinOsc ada => dac) and then
determining and re-determining the frequency of the sound wave over and over again in a
"while loop." Additionally, in computer software, I can determine exactly how long I want to
loop an audio file by dragging the sound loop out to exist within an exact amount of
time/musical measures. In ChucK, time is also exact, and I can determine for how long a sound
should be looped by editing the condition of the "while" loop and advancing time to allow the
sound to exist for a specific amount of time (100: :ms => now).