Desain, P., & Honing, H. (1992). Time functions function best as functions of multiple times. Computer Music Journal, 16(2), 17-34.

Abstract

This article presents an elegant way of representing control functions at an abstract level. It introduces time functions that have multiple times as arguments. In this way the generalized concept of a time function can support absolute and relative kinds of time behavior. Furthermore the possibilities of composition and transformation of time functions themselves is retained. The proposed solution has three main advantages. First, for the human user the language is transparent, and no unforeseen interactions or side effects take place. Second, it is independent of host language and composition system and can be used in a variety of known environments (even in real-time systems). Finally, the method is easy to adapt to run on parallel architectures: each note can be handled by a different processor, without the need for information passing between them.

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