Ge Wang
Associate Professor of Music, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for HAI and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Computer Science
Web page: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~ge/
Bio
Ge Wang is an Associate Professor at Stanford University in the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). He specializes in the art of design and computer music — researching programming languages and interactive software design for music, interaction design, mobile music, laptop orchestras, expressive design of virtual reality, aesthetics of music technology design, and education at the intersection of computer science and music. Ge is the author of the ChucK music programming language, the founding director of the Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk). Ge is also the Co-founder of Smule (reaching over 200 million users), and the designer of the iPhone's Ocarina and Magic Piano. Ge is a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow, and the author of ARTFUL DESIGN: TECHNOLOGY IN SEARCH OF THE SUBLIME—a book on design and technology, art and life‚ published by Stanford University Press in 2018 (see https://artful.design/)
Academic Appointments
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Associate Professor, Music
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Senior Fellow, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)
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Associate Professor (By courtesy), Computer Science
Administrative Appointments
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Associate Professor, CCRMA | Music Department, Stanford University (2017 - Present)
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Associate Professor by courtesy, Computer Science, Stanford University (2017 - Present)
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Faculty Fellow, Stanford Center @ Peking University (2013 - 2013)
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Annenberg Faculty Fellow, Stanford University (2009 - 2011)
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Assistant Professor, CCRMA | Music Department, Stanford University (2007 - 2017)
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Assistant Professor by courtesy, Computer Science, Stanford University (2007 - 2017)
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Instructor, Dartmouth College (2006 - 2006)
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Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Computer Science, Princeton University (2001 - 2007)
Honors & Awards
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Silver Medal: Graphic Novel / Drawn Book (General): Artful Design, Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) (2019)
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Recipient, Roberta Bowman Denning Fund for Humanities and Technology (2017)
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Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation (2016)
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Champion of the Arts, Cantabile Youth Singers and City of Palo Alto. (2013)
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Emerging Pioneer Award, Independent jurors, KAPi at CES (2012)
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Best Children’s App: Magic Piano, 11 independent jurors from over 500 products at KAPi, CES (2011)
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App-Nation Pioneer Award, App-Nation (2010)
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Apple Hall of Fame App: Ocarina, Apple Inc. (2010)
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Entrepreneurs We Love, Inc. Magazine (2010)
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The 2010 Creativity 50 Award (for creative thinking and doing in media, technology, and culture), Creativity Magazine (2010)
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The 2009 Creativity 50 Award (for creative thinking and doing in media, technology, and culture), Creativity Magazine (2009)
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The Silicon Valley 40 Under 40, San Jose Business Journal (2009)
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Co-winner: 2004 ACM Multimedia Best Open-Source Software Competition, ACM Multimedia (2004)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Board Member, San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors (2011 - Present)
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Senator, Stanford Faculty Senate (2019 - Present)
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Editorial Board Member, Stanford University Press (2018 - Present)
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Founding Director, Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk) (2008 - Present)
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Founding Director, CCRMA VR Design Lab (2018 - Present)
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Co-founder, Smule a mobile music startup (2008 - 2013)
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Founding Director, Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra (MoPhO) (2008 - Present)
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Member, TOPLAP (live coding organization) (2004 - Present)
Program Affiliations
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Symbolic Systems Program
Professional Education
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Ph.D., Princeton University, Computer Science (2008)
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M.S., Princeton University, Computer Science (2003)
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B.S., Duke University, Computer Science (2000)
Patents
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Ge Wang, Spencer D. Salazar, Perry R. Cook. "United States Patent 8222507 System and Method for Capturing and Rendering of Performance on Synthetic Musical Instrument", Smule
Projects
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Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime, Stanford University (2015 - 2018)
What we make, makes us. This is the central tenet of Artful Design, a photo comic book that examines the nature, purpose, and meaning of design. A call to action and a meditation on art, authenticity, and social connection in a world disrupted by technological change, this book articulates a fundamental principle for design: that we should design not just from practical needs but from the values that underlie those needs.
Artful Design takes readers on a journey through the aesthetic dimensions of technology. Using music as a universal phenomenon that has evolved alongside technology, this book breaks down concrete case studies in computer-mediated toys, tools, games, and instruments, including the best-selling app Ocarina. Every chapter elaborates a set of general design principles and strategies that illuminate the essential relationship between aesthetics and engineering, art and design.
Ge Wang implores us to both embrace and confront technology, not purely as a means to an end, but in its potential to enrich life. Technology is never a neutral agent, but through what we do with it―through what we design with it―it provides a mirror to our human endeavors and values. Artful Design delivers an aesthetic manifesto of technology, accessible yet uncompromising.Location
660 Lomita Dr. Stanford CA 94306
For More Information:
2024-25 Courses
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Independent Studies (18)
- Advanced Reading and Research
CS 499 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Advanced Reading and Research
CS 499P (Aut, Win, Spr) - Concentrations Project
MUSIC 198 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Curricular Practical Training
CS 390B (Aut, Win, Spr) - Curricular Practical Training
CS 390C (Aut, Win, Spr) - Independent Project
CS 399 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Independent Project
CS 399P (Aut, Win, Spr) - Independent Study
MUSIC 199 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Independent Study
MUSIC 299 (Aut, Win, Spr) - MA/MST Capstone Project
MUSIC 298 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Part-time Curricular Practical Training
CS 390D (Aut, Win, Spr) - PhD Dissertation Proposal
MUSIC 398 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Practicum Internship
MUSIC 390 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Readings in Music Theory
MUSIC 321 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Research in Computer-Generated Music
MUSIC 220D (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Honors Tutorial
SYMSYS 190 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Project
CS 191 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Writing Intensive Senior Research Project
CS 191W (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Advanced Reading and Research
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
MUSIC 220B (Win) - Music and AI
CS 470, MUSIC 356 (Win) - Music, Computing, Design: The Art of Design
CS 476A, MUSIC 256A (Aut) - Research and Development for Stanford VR Orchestra
MUSIC 228X (Win) - Stanford Laptop Orchestra: Composition, Coding, and Performance
CS 170, MUSIC 128 (Spr) - Stanford Virtual Reality Orchestra (sVoRk)
MUSIC 228 (Spr)
2022-23 Courses
- Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
MUSIC 220B (Win) - Music and AI
CS 470, MUSIC 356 (Win) - Music, Computing, Design: The Art of Design
CS 476A, MUSIC 256A (Aut) - Stanford Laptop Orchestra: Composition, Coding, and Performance
CS 170, MUSIC 128 (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
MUSIC 220B (Win) - Design that Understands Us
THINK 66 (Win) - Music, Computing, Design: The Art of Design
CS 476A, MUSIC 256A (Aut) - Stanford Laptop Orchestra: Composition, Coding, and Performance
CS 170, MUSIC 128 (Spr)
- Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Marise van Zyl -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Kunwoo Kim, Michael Mulshine -
Master's Program Advisor
Trevor Carrell, Si Qi Chen, Clara Everett, John Finkelman, Heloise Garry, Gayatridevi Kamat Tarcar, Tae Kyu Kim, Summer Krinsky, Emily Kuo, Jason Mei, Rochelle Tham, Ryan Wixen -
Doctoral (Program)
Yikai Li, Michael Mulshine, Andrew Zhu
All Publications
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Doing vs. Being: A philosophy of design for artful VR
JOURNAL OF NEW MUSIC RESEARCH
2020; 49 (1): 35–59
View details for DOI 10.1080/09298215.2019.1705862
View details for Web of Science ID 000512192600004
- Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime (A MusiComic Manifesto) Stanford University Press. 2018
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Some Principles of Visual Design for Computer Music
LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL
2016; 26: 14-19
View details for DOI 10.1162/LMJ_a_00960
View details for Web of Science ID 000390240400005
- Game Design for Expressive Mobile Music New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2016
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World Stage: Crowdsourcing Paradigm for Expressive Social Mobile Music
JOURNAL OF NEW MUSIC RESEARCH
2015; 44 (2): 112-128
View details for DOI 10.1080/09298215.2014.991739
View details for Web of Science ID 000361214900004
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ChucK: A Strongly-timed Computer Music Language
COMPUTER MUSIC JOURNAL
2015; 39 (4): 10-29
View details for DOI 10.1162/COMJ_a_00324
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Ocarina: Designing the iPhone's Magic Flute
COMPUTER MUSIC JOURNAL
2014; 38 (2): 8-21
View details for DOI 10.1162/COMJ_a_00236
View details for Web of Science ID 000337227100001
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The laptop orchestra as classroom
COMPUTER MUSIC JOURNAL
2008; 32 (1): 26-37
View details for Web of Science ID 000253884800002
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Mobile Music, Sensors, Physical Modeling, and Digital Fabrication: Articulating the Augmented Mobile Instrument
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
2017; 7 (12)
View details for DOI 10.3390/app7121311
View details for Web of Science ID 000419175800107
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Don't Forget the Laptop: Using Native Input Capabilities for Expressive Musical Control
NIME READER: FIFTEEN YEARS OF NEW INTERFACES FOR MUSICAL EXPRESSION
2017; 3: 285–97
View details for DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47214-0_19
View details for Web of Science ID 000417712600020
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On-the-Fly Programming: Using Code as an Expressive Musical Instrument
NIME READER: FIFTEEN YEARS OF NEW INTERFACES FOR MUSICAL EXPRESSION
2017; 3: 193–210
View details for DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47214-0_13
View details for Web of Science ID 000417712600014
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THE LAPTOP ORCHESTRA
ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO MUSIC, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION
2017: 159–69
View details for Web of Science ID 000415752000018
- Programming for Musician and Digital Artists: Creating Music with ChucK Manning. 2015
- Improvisation of the Masses: Anytime, Anywhere Music. Oxford Handbook of Improvisation Studies Oxford University Press. 2014
- Principles of Visual Design for Computer Music International Computer Music Conference 2014
- Auraglyph: Handwritten Computer Music Composition and Design Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. 2014
- The World Is Your Stage: Making Music on the iPhone Oxford Handbook of Mobile Music Studies edited by Gopinath, S., Stanyek, J. Oxford University Press. 2014: 487–504
- The Mobile Phone Orchestra Oxford Handbook of Mobile Music Studies edited by Gopinath, S., Stanyek, J. Oxford University Press. 2014: 453–469
- Laughter Modulation: from Speech to Speech-Laugh Proceedings of Interspeech, ISCA 2013
- SoundCraft: Transducing Starcraft 2 Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2013
- Programming for Musician and Digital Artists: Making Music with ChucK Manning Press. 2013
- LOLOL: Laugh Out Loud On Laptop Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2013
- A Framework for Sonification of Vicon Motion Capture Data Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Audio Effects 2012
- Borderlands: An Audiovisual Interface for Granular Synthesis. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2012
- Many-Person Instruments for Computer Music Performance Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2012
- Chugens, Chubgraphcs, and Chugins: 3 Tiers for Extending ChucK Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2012
- Evaluating Crowd-sourcing through Amazon Mechanical Turk as a Technique for Conducting Music Perception Experiments Proceedings of the International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition 2012
- User-guided Variable-rate Timestretching via Stiffness Control Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Audio Effects 2012
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Social Composition: Musical Data Systems for Expressive Mobile Music
LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL
2011; 21: 57-64
View details for Web of Science ID 000297438700014
- Musical Influence Network Analysis and Rank in Sample-Based Music Proceedings of the International Conference on Music Information Retrieval 2011
- Audience-participation Techniques Based on Social Mobile Computing Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2011
- Ge Wang: The Machine That Makes You Musical THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE 2011
- Breaking Barriers with Sound ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) 2011
- Converge: An Omni-Biographical Composition COMPUTER MUSIC JOURNAL EMILE 2011; 9
- Designing for the iPad: Magic Fiddle 2011
- MadPad: A Crowdsourcing System for Audiovisual Sampling Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2011
- Two Turntables and a Mobile Phone Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2011
- MoMu: A Mobile Music Toolkit Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2010
- LUSH: An Organic Eco-Musical System Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2010
- Evolving the Mobile Phone Orchestra 2010
- Sound Bounce: Physical Metaphors in Designing Mobile Music Performance Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2010
- Sonification and Visualization of Neural Data Proceedings of the International Conference on Auditory Display 2010
- Smule = Sonic Media: An Intersection of the Mobile, Musical, and Social Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2009
- Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk). Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2009
- Ge Wang: the iPhone’s Music Man IEEE SPECTRUM 2009
- Laptop Orchestras and Machine Learning in Real-time Music Performance ACM CHI 2009, Computational Creativity Support Workshop 2009
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Composing for laptop orchestra
COMPUTER MUSIC JOURNAL
2008; 32 (1): 9-25
View details for Web of Science ID 000253884800001
- The ChucK Audio Programming Language: A Strongly-timed Environ/mentality Princeton University. 2008
- A History of Programming and Music Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music edited by Collins, N., D'Escrivan, J. Cambridge University Press. 2008
- Foundations for On-the-fly Learning in the ChucK Programming Language Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2008
- China on the Edge: Explorations in Network-based Performance Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Arts (ARTECH) 2008
- MoPhO: Do Mobile Phones Dreams of Electric Orchestras? Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2008
- Support for MIR Prototyping and Real-time Applications of the ChucK Programming Language Proceedings of the International Conference on Music Information Retrieval 2008
- Developments and Challenges Turning Mobile Phones into Generic Music Performance Platforms Proceedings of Mobile Music Workshop 2008
- Combining Analysis and Synthesis in the ChucK Programming Language Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2007
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Musical Tapestry: Re-composing Natural Sounds
JOURNAL OF NEW MUSIC RESEARCH
2007; 36 (4): 241-250
View details for DOI 10.1080/09298210801984839
- Don’t Forget the Laptop: Using Native Input Capabilities for Expressive Musical Control Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2007
- A New Paradigm for Sound Design Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Audio Effects 2006
- Building Collaborative interFaces in the Audicle Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2006
- PLOrk: Princeton Laptop Orchestra, Year 1 Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference. 2006
- miniAudicle and ChucK Shell: New Interfaces for ChucK Development and Performance Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2006
- Designing and Implementing the ChucK Programming Language Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2005
- Co-Audicle: A Collaborative Audio Programming Space Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2005
- SndTools: Real-time Audio DSP and 3D Visualization Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2005
- Yeah ChucK It! => Dynamic Controllable Interface Mapping Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2005
- Interactive Network Media: A Dream Worth Dreaming Organised Sound 2005; 10 (3): 209-219
- On-the-fly Programming: Using Code as an Expressive Musical Instrument Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression 2004
- Audicle: A Context-sensitive, On-the-fly Audio Programming Environ/mentality Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2004
- ChucK: A Programming Language for On-the-fly, Realtime Audio Synthesis and Multimedia Proceedings of ACM Multimedia 2004
- ChucK: A Concurrent, On-the-fly Audio Programming Language Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2003