On the design of extensible music authoring tools

The past half-decade has seen progress in methodology and reusable components available to designers of music authoring tools. This thesis examines currently prevalent architectures for music making software and applies currently available technical means to update design methodology and architectural patterns for the next-generation of tools. It aims to map the various categories of advances and the manner in which they relate to each other, to the problem of building these tools. The focus is on conceptualization. The thesis aims to understand, from historical perspectives, as well as from perspectives provided by other domains, the fundamental problems encountered in the process of designing authoring tools.Issues examined include building rich visual and interactive interfaces for authoring, the use of multiple notations and formalisms to describe multiple aspects of musical structure, end-user extensibility and end-user script ability. The results of design experiments implementing core ideas are documented, and the manner in which the ideas from these prototypes may be applied to the construction of real-world tools is discussed. As far as possible, the thesis investigates existing tools, frameworks, design ideas, and architectural possibilities that scale. In conclusion, the manner in which the investigation relates to the future of authoring tools, and to problems faced by contemporary artists and tool-makers is discussed