Editing Paul Lansky (section)

==Software==
Lansky used any available computing hardware: [[IBM mainframe]]s at first (1966–84), then mini and micro computers by [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]], (1984–89), and finally personal computers by [[NeXT]], [[Silicon Graphics]] and [[Apple Computer]]. During the mainframe era computer time was scarce and expensive, and this prompted Lansky to write his own software package called ''Mix'', in [[Fortran]]. This made it easier to assemble a composition voice-by-voice, section-by-section, even note-by-note, avoiding large expensive runs to create an entire piece at once. Mix had no scheduler (meaning that it could create notes in any order) and thus was not suitable for real-time synthesis. Mix used additive writes to the output device, analogous to overdubbing on tape. When the move was made to minis and micros, Lansky ported Mix to the [[C programming language]] and called it CMix. During the late 1990s a group led by Brad Garton at Columbia University created a version with a scheduler, [[RtCmix]], that was capable of real time synthesis. Starting in the mid 1990s Lansky used a well-known software package called [[SuperCollider]]. Programs like Cmix and SuperCollider are script-based rather than driven by a graphical interface. (Input data is frequently in the form of a program rather than a note list.) This facilitated the creation of complex textures in works such as Idle Chatter, which contain thousands of short notes, frequently selected using random methods. This is sometimes called algorithmic composition.