A School of Music concert tonight doesn’t feature instruments or musicians.

Instead, a computer and speakers will take the stage.

The electronic music concert starts at 8 p.m. in the Music Building auditorium.

Electronic music is music composed using a computer to form the instruments, music Professor Mark Sullivan said.

“All the pieces in the concert were created using computers to create the sound or to control sound-generating devices, or in some cases to assist with the process of composition,” he said.

The concert features School of Music faculty members, graduate students and undergraduates, who composed the music by creating or manipulating all the sounds.

This type of music brings new opportunities for composers, but also new challenges.

Music graduate student Paul Schreiber said electronic music creates a problem in composing because of the number of choices available.

“You can do so many things,” he said. “You spend so much time screwing around with the different sounds you can’t decide which one to finally use. You tend to have to be able to step back and listen to it with fresh ears.”

Schreiber’s piece is an interpretation of Chopin’s “Preludes Opus 28 No. 6.”

He used MIDI software to warp Chopin’s piano piece into “Chopin Noises,” a percussion and feedback effort.

“It’s not one (piece) anymore,” Schreiber said. “There are five variations on here. I probably created 15 different versions.”

Along with the sound, the format of the concert will also be different, said Sullivan, who also has a piece in the lineup.

“It involves playing several compositions and then having some discussion and some comments, then play three or four more pieces and so on,” Sullivan said.

This is what the audience naturally wants to do, he said.

“My experience has been that people like the opportunity to respond to other people’s work and hear others respond,” Sullivan said.

Music composition junior Paul Rubinstein’s piece, “Insect Conference,” is also included.

He said it a great opportunity to have his piece performed in public.

“It’s really hard to have pieces performed in general,” he said. “For the school to organize a concert, it’s really helpful.”

Rubinstein created “Insect Conference,” his first electronic music piece, for a class.

“It turned out really well, I guess,” he said.

Rubinstein said the new approach also improves one thing before a concert - a composer’s nerves.

“It’s all already done; it’s on a CD and they just have to push the button,” he said. “There isn’t anything for me to be nervous about.”