This paper critically reviews the history of programming languages for
music by referring discussions from sound studies, aiming to describe
this history decoupled from computer music as a form/community. This
paper focuses on critiquing the discourse of Post-Acousmatic, which
inclusively addresses recent trends in computer music. The universalism
associated with pulse-code modulation (PCM), which is basic assumption
of today's sound programming, has functioned as a discourse that shapes
musicians' expectations historically, despite the fact that its
expressive range has several limits. Also, this paper points out that
the MUSIC-N family, which formed the foundation of PCM-based sound
synthesis, is contextualized not as programming languages in terms of
their syntactic or semantic properties, but as a lineage of workflows
for generating sound on computers, and these systems have evolved into
black boxes that minimize the need for users to understand their
internal structures over time. The paper concludes that programming
languages for music developed since the 2000s function as a means of
presenting alternatives to the often-invisible technological
infrastructures surrounding music, such as formats and protocols, rather
than solely aiming to create novel musical styles. This conclusion paves
the way for future discussions in this research area.
