Computers: Making Music with a Joy Stick

A new program turns composing into a videogame

Will Harvey, 16 and an honors student from Foster City, Calif., was singing in his high school choir one day when the idea came to him. His family did not own a piano, and he had taken no music lessons, but he thought of a simple way for people like him to learn music with a computer. Drawing on his considerable talents as a programmer, Harvey sat down with his Apple and an introductory music text and came up with a program that is making even professional musicians stand up and shout "Bravo!" Not...

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