The current project is
an attempt to create synergy between the studio's needs and vision and the
tools, methods and open research questions in the reuse field.
Initiating the project involved a lengthy ``warming up'' process, including
extensive and mutual education on software reuse and domain analysis concepts
and how they could be applied to the sound modelling problem, and on the
nature of the work at Real World and the studio's concept of the potential
sound library system.
As a result, Real World has supported some initial inventory, tool development
and domain analysis activity.
In addition,
under the auspices of the studio, and as affiliate research scientist with the
Palo Alto-based Institute for Research on Learning, I am preparing a concepts
document (or ``Manifesto'') integrating Real World's conception with my previous
and parallel work in reuse ([SIMOS86, SIMOS88, SIMOS90b, SIMOS91]).
Sun Microsystems'
Multimedia Platform Products group is contributing additional support for the
proposal effort. The Manifesto will serve as the foundation for a more
extensive project proposal; the intent is to fund the overall project with a
combination of grants from corporate, academic, and possibly governmental
(U.S., U.K. and/or EC) sources. Extracts from the library and software tools
developed may also be
productized for the commercial music market or for educational purposes.
As the following sections will make clear, we intend to pioneer innovative
approaches to domain analysis, domain modelling, and library navigation that
should contribute significantly, not only to the state of the art in the
computer music industry, but to reuse technology in general.
Subsections