Music drifts out of Stewart Theatre and fills the hallway. This music is different; it is not the kind of music that can be heard coming out of a radio. No, this music is very different.

This music is performed by computers. That’s right, computers. Now-a-days, computers can do almost anything, including composing music — with a little help from some human composers, that is.

The Arts NOW Series, an organization that hosts events featuring avant-garde art works, worked in cooperation with the Music Department and the Arts Studies Program to present the third N.C. State Carolina Computer Music Festival, held in Stewart Theatre on Monday and Tuesday nights.

The event featured a plethora of contemporary composers and performers and was directed by Rodney Waschka, a professor of music.

Rick Brunkhorst, a senior in computer science and student of Waschka’s Music Composition with Computers, enjoyed the performances.

“The pieces were pretty good, but “Peninsula,” by Thomas Clarke, sounded different than the recorded version,” Brunkhorst said.

Compositions from around the world were presented over the course of the two-day festival. Each piece included an auditory element, and some included a visual component, such as Kora Radella’s dance in “Uprooted,” choreographed to composer Ross Feller’s “Gnarl in Vein.”

Jessica Shuart, a senior in arts application music, shared Brunkhorst’s excitement and enthusiasm about the performances.

“The arrangements were diverse and the performances were stellar,” Shuart said.

This event, which is held biannually, attracted hundreds in attendance.

“The turnout was excellent, and similar to that of the previous years,” Waschka said.

The nature of the music initially shocked Katherine Chamberlin, a senior in electrical engineering.

“I didn’t know what to expect since I’m not in Waschka’s class,” Chamberlin said. “I was scared when I first heard “Pet Sounds” by Atsushi Yamaji, but enjoyed the music the more I listened.”

Chamberlin said her favorite pieces involved dancing, such as Feller’s “Uprooted” and Waschka’s “Limbs of Time.”

Several of the composers attended at a panel discussion, held in the Talley Blue Room Tuesday afternoon prior to the second concert. Beth Wiemann, Stan Link, Roaul Mata and Jeff Herriott answered the students’ many questions.

Stan Link, composer and assistant professor of the philosophy and analysis of music at Oberlin College, said he is a fan of Apple Macs computers, and he used them for recording purposes.

“I use BIAS Deck for sequencing and BIAS Peak for editing and mastering,” Link said.

Link doesn’t have a high opinion on the state of some contemporary popular music and its future.

“Rap is dead. Although people still listen to this music, it’s static,” Link said.

Link emphasized popular changes in music are related to the situational context of listening and not so much the actual music.

He cited raves, mp3 players and podcasts, which have recently become ubiquitous outlets for music play, change the way we listen to and appreciate music.

Link also noted the popular demand for quantity over quality.

“Do you really need 10,000 mp3’s on your iPod?” Link said.

He said the 10:1 compression ratio of mp3s reduces their dynamic range and thus the audio quality. Instead, Link suggested people store lossless audio formats, such as wav files, which are uncompressed.

“You can fit hundreds of hours of quality music in wav format on your iPod,” Link said.

For Waschka and many others, 2006 N.C. State Carolina Computer Music Festival was a success. Student volunteers helped prepare for and usher the event, which went smoothly according to Waschka.

“It went without a hitch,” Waschka said.