December 4, 2012 - Paul Hudak

Title:

 Euterpea: From Signals to Symphonies Using Haskell

Abstract:
Haskell is a pure functional programming language, noted for features such as lazy evaluation, higher-order functions, a powerful type system (polymorphism, type classes, higher-order kinds), and computational abstractions (functors, monads, arrows).  In this talk many of these features will be demonstrated in the context of computer music , both at the note level (representation, interpretation, algorithmic composition) and the signal level (audio processing, sound synthesis, instrument design).  This will be a "show-by-example" talk - no knowledge of Haskell or music theory is assumed, but hopefully the examples will convey the general nature of Haskell and why it's a great platform for computer music applications.

Bio:
Paul Hudak is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Yale University.  He has been on the Yale faculty since 1982, and was Chairman from 1999-2005.  He received a BE from Vanderbilt University in 1973, an MS from MIT in 1974, and a PhD from the University of Utah in 1982.  Professor Hudak helped to organize and chair the Haskell Committee, was co-Editor of the first Haskell Report in 1988, and has written a popular Haskell textbook.  He has been a leader in the design of domain specific languages (embedded in Haskell) for a diverse set of applications, with a focus most recently on computer music and audio processing.  With two of his colleagues, he designed the new Computing and the Arts major at Yale in 2009.  Hudak was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Functional Programming and a founding member of IFIP Working Group 2.8 on Functional Programming.  Among his honors, Professor Hudak is an ACM Fellow, and is a recipient of an IBM Faculty Development Award and an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award.  In 2009 he was appointed Master of Saybrook College at Yale University.