From: "Daniel P. B. Smith" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 19:45:12 -0500 Lines: 29 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: pool-151-203-19-105.bos.east.verizon.net (151.203.19.105) X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 1014684241 7089374 151.203.19.105 (16 [37534]) X-Orig-Path: dpbsmith User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.1 (PPC) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!pool-151-203-19-105.bos.east.verizon.NET!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102781 http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/pdp1music/pdp1music.html now contains five newly-added pieces: As Time Goes By, Bach's Little Fugue in G. Minor, Christmas Carol medley, Goldfinger, We Shall Overcome, all in glorious high-fidelity .mp3 format. .mp3 versions of the previous five pieces have been added, including the _complete_ Bach Passacaglia and Fugue. These were recorded circa 1965 from the PDP-1 computer on the second floor of MIT's building 26. The "harmony compiler" software was designed by Pete Samson. The PDP-1 music hardware consisted of a single register with four flip-flops, each individually connected through simple RC filters to either of two amplifiers and speakers. Pete was fond of baroque music and the Harmony Compiler had special provisions for baroque turns and trills. The hardware allowed four-part harmony, but no dynamics or instrumental synthesis. At the time, circa 1964, the Moog synthesizer was about ten years in the future. To be sure, the room-filling RCA music synthesizer was a decade in the past, and elaborate D-to-A wave-synthesis music was being generated on 7090-class machines at Bell Labs (by John Pierce, M. V. Mathews, and others) and at MIT (by Ercolino Ferretti and others). Still, compared to playing tunes on IBM chain printers, this was pretty sophisticated stuff. -- Daniel P. B. Smith Email address: dpbsmith@world.std.com "Lifetime forwarding" address: dpbsmith@alum.mit.edu ###### From: jmfbahciv@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Wed, 27 Feb 02 09:14:17 GMT Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc. Lines: 46 Message-ID: References: X-Trace: UmFuZG9tSVbv/Gn3xA4Dfs59HPyJyfoWwxDnoarYn4WdsPCzhTCyqUEg1qqT9ilf X-Complaints-To: abuse@rcn.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 27 Feb 2002 11:30:20 GMT X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news-fra1.dfn.de!news-han1.dfn.de!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!feed2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!207-172-245-31 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102677 In article , jcmorris@mitre.org (Joe Morris) wrote: >"Daniel P. B. Smith" writes: > >>These were recorded circa 1965 from the PDP-1 computer on the second >>floor of MIT's building 26. The "harmony compiler" software was designed >>by Pete Samson. The PDP-1 music hardware consisted of a single register >>with four flip-flops, each individually connected through simple RC >>filters to either of two amplifiers and speakers. > >Unless something changed in the music output interface after I left, >there wasn't any special hardware in the machine involved in the >process. The PDP-1 had latches called "program flags;" these were >program-conrolled flipflops which could be set, cleared, and >interrogated programmatically. (In some other systems, this mechanism >was called "sense lights.") > >Each set, clear, or interrogation comsumed one full memory cycle. > >One nice thing about the PDP-1 was that just about every interesting >latch in the system was brought out to a taper pin block on the right >side of the machine (frame 2?) where it could be wired to anything you >wanted. I don't know who designed the interface -- it was in place >when I first saw the machine -- but the pins connected to the program >flag latches were connected through an LC network and fed to a small >Heathkit amplifier in Alan Kotok's office. (The door to his office >was about four feet from the console.) > >> Pete was fond of >>baroque music and the Harmony Compiler had special provisions for >>baroque turns and trills. > >Somehow I never managed to get a copy of the documentation for the >program, but as I recall it Pete put into it just about every musical >characteristic possible. All of this on a machine with a 5 usec cycle >and 4K of 18-bit words (the machine may also have had another 4K of >bank-switched memory). The last time that stuff was "tested" was on our KI to make sure the PDP line still hummed. Our QA guy would hook up an amp and run the software (instead of QAing like he should). /BAH Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail. ###### From: Howard S Shubs Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 21:43:03 -0500 Organization: ='SEQUENTIAL' Lines: 19 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: p-615.newsdawg.com User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.1 (PPC) Mail-Copies-To: /dev/null X-Face: "S"r{U%bs].&Ud}Pc~~~0a]M:t5l>>EN\1Faw10M9NK1Xq59wo7-"s0S+[{etQorO /Nf-Ci"i9v'MT!R8)J]N[4|2&x1r^Iq&{SB"6dknr0=+6UFb.>+{zMn_1=rw&/V+"d@* ZS5\LoW_ Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!uni-erlangen.de!news-nue1.dfn.de!news-han1.dfn.de!HSNX.atgi.net!cyclone-sf.pbi.net!151.164.30.35!cyclone.swbell.net!pln-e!spln!dex!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!howard Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102767 In article , "Daniel P. B. Smith" wrote: > The hardware allowed four-part harmony, but no dynamics or instrumental > synthesis. At the time, circa 1964, the Moog synthesizer was about ten > years in the future. To be sure, the room-filling RCA music synthesizer > was a decade in the past, and elaborate D-to-A wave-synthesis music was > being generated on 7090-class machines at Bell Labs (by John Pierce, M. > V. Mathews, and others) and at MIT (by Ercolino Ferretti and others). > Still, compared to playing tunes on IBM chain printers, this was pretty > sophisticated stuff. This reminds me strongly of MusicWorks, a program on the Macintosh 20 years later. Wonderful!! -- Howard S Shubs "Run in circles, scream and shout!" "I hope you have good backups!" Aren't there any networked SJFs around? ###### From: Joe Pfeiffer Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: 25 Feb 2002 20:27:27 -0700 Organization: New Mexico State University Lines: 10 Message-ID: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: viper.cs.nmsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: bubba.NMSU.Edu 1014694044 21521 128.123.64.113 (26 Feb 2002 03:27:24 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@bubba.NMSU.Edu NNTP-Posting-Date: 26 Feb 2002 03:27:24 GMT User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.1 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.he.net!cyclone-sf.pbi.net!64.245.249.51!sfo2-feed1.news.digex.net!intermedia!lynx.unm.edu!news.NMSU.Edu!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102660 Very, very cool stuff -- thank you! Though it should be pointed out that the Moog was by no means ten years in the future -- he was producing his modular synthesizers in 1965 (according to http://moogarchives.com/chrono.htm). -- Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605 Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002 New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer Southwestern NM Regional Science and Engr Fair: http://www.nmsu.edu/~scifair ###### Message-ID: <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> From: CBFalconer Reply-To: cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net Organization: Ched Research X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 18 Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 04:14:33 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.90.170.234 X-Complaints-To: abuse@worldnet.att.net X-Trace: bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net 1014696873 12.90.170.234 (Tue, 26 Feb 2002 04:14:33 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 04:14:33 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.cwix.com!wn2feed!worldnet.att.net!135.173.83.71!wnfilter1!worldnet-localpost!bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102805 Joe Pfeiffer wrote: > > Very, very cool stuff -- thank you! > > Though it should be pointed out that the Moog was by no means ten > years in the future -- he was producing his modular synthesizers in > 1965 (according to http://moogarchives.com/chrono.htm). And there was someone in Ottawa at the National Research Council building some sort of simulator/harmonizer - anyway it created music - back in the early '50s. Definitely before '58. -- Chuck F (cbfalconer@yahoo.com) (cbfalconer@XXXXworldnet.att.net) Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems. (Remove "XXXX" from reply address. yahoo works unmodified) mailto:uce@ftc.gov (for spambots to harvest) ###### Reply-To: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 09:39:09 -0500 Lines: 20 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4807.1700 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4910.0300 NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Message-ID: <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: news.iglou.com 1014734350 204.250.0.238 (26 Feb 2002 09:39:10 -0500) X-Authenticated-User: dougq X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.250.0.238 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newsfeed.gamma.ru!Gamma.RU!feed2.news.rcn.net!rcn!news-out.visi.com!hermes.visi.com!uunet!ash.uu.net!news.iglou.com Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102653 "CBFalconer" wrote in message news:3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com... > Joe Pfeiffer wrote: > > > > Very, very cool stuff -- thank you! > > > > Though it should be pointed out that the Moog was by no means ten > > years in the future -- he was producing his modular synthesizers in > > 1965 (according to http://moogarchives.com/chrono.htm). > > And there was someone in Ottawa at the National Research Council > building some sort of simulator/harmonizer - anyway it created > music - back in the early '50s. Definitely before '58. Are you thinking (perhaps) of the Theremin? -dq ###### From: jcmorris@mitre.org (Joe Morris) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:28:07 +0000 (UTC) Organization: The MITRE Organization Lines: 37 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: jcmorris@mitre.org NNTP-Posting-Host: jmorris-pc.mitre.org X-Trace: newslocal.mitre.org 1014737287 4371 128.29.114.13 (26 Feb 2002 15:28:07 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@mitre.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:28:07 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.6 (NOV) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!diablo.netcom.net.uk!netcom.net.uk!newsfeed.icl.net!netnews.com!xfer02.netnews.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cambridge1-snf1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!newstransit.mitre.org!news.mitre.org!jcmorris Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102700 "Daniel P. B. Smith" writes: >These were recorded circa 1965 from the PDP-1 computer on the second >floor of MIT's building 26. The "harmony compiler" software was designed >by Pete Samson. The PDP-1 music hardware consisted of a single register >with four flip-flops, each individually connected through simple RC >filters to either of two amplifiers and speakers. Unless something changed in the music output interface after I left, there wasn't any special hardware in the machine involved in the process. The PDP-1 had latches called "program flags;" these were program-conrolled flipflops which could be set, cleared, and interrogated programmatically. (In some other systems, this mechanism was called "sense lights.") Each set, clear, or interrogation comsumed one full memory cycle. One nice thing about the PDP-1 was that just about every interesting latch in the system was brought out to a taper pin block on the right side of the machine (frame 2?) where it could be wired to anything you wanted. I don't know who designed the interface -- it was in place when I first saw the machine -- but the pins connected to the program flag latches were connected through an LC network and fed to a small Heathkit amplifier in Alan Kotok's office. (The door to his office was about four feet from the console.) > Pete was fond of >baroque music and the Harmony Compiler had special provisions for >baroque turns and trills. Somehow I never managed to get a copy of the documentation for the program, but as I recall it Pete put into it just about every musical characteristic possible. All of this on a machine with a 5 usec cycle and 4K of 18-bit words (the machine may also have had another 4K of bank-switched memory). Joe Morris ###### From: jcmorris@mitre.org (Joe Morris) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:31:59 +0000 (UTC) Organization: The MITRE Organization Lines: 17 Message-ID: References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> Reply-To: jcmorris@mitre.org NNTP-Posting-Host: jmorris-pc.mitre.org X-Trace: newslocal.mitre.org 1014737519 4394 128.29.114.13 (26 Feb 2002 15:31:59 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@mitre.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:31:59 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.6 (NOV) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!canoe.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!news.tufts.edu!newstransit.mitre.org!news.mitre.org!jcmorris Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102704 "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: >"CBFalconer" wrote: >> And there was someone in Ottawa at the National Research Council >> building some sort of simulator/harmonizer - anyway it created >> music - back in the early '50s. Definitely before '58. >Are you thinking (perhaps) of the Theremin? Um...I doubt it; I never saw anyone claim to have figured out a way to make a Theremin produce more than a single tone at a time. I tried "playing" a Theremin a few times, but never managed to produce anything other than sounds that scared the cat. Joe Morris ###### Message-ID: <3C7BAB12.BCE838C4@yahoo.com> From: CBFalconer Reply-To: cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net Organization: Ched Research X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 27 Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:40:30 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.90.168.113 X-Complaints-To: abuse@worldnet.att.net X-Trace: bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net 1014738030 12.90.168.113 (Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:40:30 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:40:30 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.cwix.com!wn2feed!worldnet.att.net!135.173.83.71!wnfilter1!worldnet-localpost!bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102640 "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: > > "CBFalconer" wrote in message > news:3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com... > > Joe Pfeiffer wrote: > > > > > > Very, very cool stuff -- thank you! > > > > > > Though it should be pointed out that the Moog was by no means ten > > > years in the future -- he was producing his modular synthesizers in > > > 1965 (according to http://moogarchives.com/chrono.htm). > > > > And there was someone in Ottawa at the National Research Council > > building some sort of simulator/harmonizer - anyway it created > > music - back in the early '50s. Definitely before '58. > > Are you thinking (perhaps) of the Theremin? No, there was some other word or phrase, I believe. Bit rot. -- Chuck F (cbfalconer@yahoo.com) (cbfalconer@XXXXworldnet.att.net) Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems. (Remove "XXXX" from reply address. yahoo works unmodified) mailto:uce@ftc.gov (for spambots to harvest) ###### From: stanb@dial.pipex.com (Stan Barr) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> Organization: Metropolis Grafix Reply-To: stanb@dial.pipex.com Message-ID: X-Newsreader: slrn (0.9.4.3 UNIX) Date: 26 Feb 2002 18:29:37 GMT Lines: 21 NNTP-Posting-Host: 62-190-202-73.pdu.pipex.net X-Trace: 1014748177 news.dial.pipex.com 236 62.190.202.73 X-Complaints-To: abuse@uk.uu.net Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news-fra1.dfn.de!news-lei1.dfn.de!newsfeed.freenet.de!bnewspeer01.bru.ops.eu.uu.net!auucp0.ams.ops.eu.uu.net!bnewsifeed01.bru.ops.eu.uu.net!lnewspost00.lnd.ops.eu.uu.net!emea.uu.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102659 On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 04:14:33 GMT, CBFalconer wrote: >Joe Pfeiffer wrote: >> >> Very, very cool stuff -- thank you! >> >> Though it should be pointed out that the Moog was by no means ten >> years in the future -- he was producing his modular synthesizers in >> 1965 (according to http://moogarchives.com/chrono.htm). > >And there was someone in Ottawa at the National Research Council >building some sort of simulator/harmonizer - anyway it created >music - back in the early '50s. Definitely before '58. When did the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop start? They were one of the early pioneers of electronic music. -- Cheers, Stan Barr stanb@dial.pipex.com The future was never like this! ###### From: bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly}) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 23:25:27 GMT Organization: Dragonhill Systems Ltd Message-ID: <1014765927snz@dsl.co.uk> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> X-Trace: mail2news.demon.co.uk 1014795878 mail2news:9387 mail2news mail2news.demon.co.uk X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Mail2News-Path: news.demon.net!dsl.demon.co.uk X-Newsreader: Demon Internet Simple News v1.31 Lines: 34 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!diablo.netcom.net.uk!netcom.net.uk!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!mail2news.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102798 In article jcmorris@mitre.org "Joe Morris" writes: > "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: > > >Are you thinking (perhaps) of the Theremin? > > Um...I doubt it; I never saw anyone claim to have figured out a way > to make a Theremin produce more than a single tone at a time. There was "music" written for the Elliott 803 mid-1960s-ish that produced polyphonic counterpoint. ISTR being most impressed by The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. Of course, it wasn't really producing more than one note at a time: the loudspeaker could only "peep" when appropriately driven, but the human ear was fooled into thinking that all the different notes were being produced simultaneously. > I tried "playing" a Theremin a few times, but never managed to produce > anything other than sounds that scared the cat. :-) Besides which, the Theremin dates back to pre-WWII; 1938, IIRC. (I've arrived late to this thread: RL got in the way of my reading afc for a couple or so weeks. What sort of date was it that Donald Michie had a computer /singing/ Daisy at Edinburgh?) -- Brian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk@dsl.co.uk "We have gone from a world of concentrated knowledge and wisdom to one of distributed ignorance. And we know and understand less while being incr- easingly capable." Prof. Peter Cochrane, formerly of BT Labs ###### From: bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly}) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 23:30:22 GMT Organization: Dragonhill Systems Ltd Message-ID: <1014766222snz@dsl.co.uk> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> X-Trace: mail2news.demon.co.uk 1014795879 mail2news:9391 mail2news mail2news.demon.co.uk X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Mail2News-Path: news.demon.net!dsl.demon.co.uk X-Newsreader: Demon Internet Simple News v1.31 Lines: 24 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!newsgate.cistron.nl!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!mail2news.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102794 In article nailed_barnacle@NOSPAMhotmail.com "Neil Barnes" writes: > stanb@dial.pipex.com (Stan Barr) wrote in > : > > > When did the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop start? They were one of the > > early pioneers of electronic music. > > > > 1st April 1958, apparently. > http://www.mb21.co.uk/ether.net/radiophonics/intro.shtml Although I'm sure that that was only a "regularization" of something that had already existed for some years: it's just that finally the technical guys got recognition for all the fancy sound effects they'd been generating for a number of years (e.g. on Journey into Space, ca.1953). -- Brian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk@dsl.co.uk "We have gone from a world of concentrated knowledge and wisdom to one of distributed ignorance. And we know and understand less while being incr- easingly capable." Prof. Peter Cochrane, formerly of BT Labs ###### From: "Daniel P. B. Smith" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 19:31:05 -0500 Lines: 66 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: pool-151-203-19-105.bos.east.verizon.net (151.203.19.105) X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 1014769794 7913747 151.203.19.105 (16 [37534]) X-Orig-Path: dpbsmith User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.1 (PPC) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!pool-151-203-19-105.bos.east.verizon.NET!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102780 In article , jcmorris@mitre.org (Joe Morris) wrote: > "Daniel P. B. Smith" writes: > > >These were recorded circa 1965 from the PDP-1 computer on the second > >floor of MIT's building 26. The "harmony compiler" software was designed > >by Pete Samson. The PDP-1 music hardware consisted of a single register > >with four flip-flops, each individually connected through simple RC > >filters to either of two amplifiers and speakers. > > Unless something changed in the music output interface after I left, > there wasn't any special hardware in the machine involved in the > process. The PDP-1 had latches called "program flags;" these were > program-conrolled flipflops which could be set, cleared, and > interrogated programmatically. (In some other systems, this mechanism > was called "sense lights.") > > Each set, clear, or interrogation comsumed one full memory cycle. > > One nice thing about the PDP-1 was that just about every interesting > latch in the system was brought out to a taper pin block on the right > side of the machine (frame 2?) where it could be wired to anything you > wanted. I don't know who designed the interface -- it was in place > when I first saw the machine -- but the pins connected to the program > flag latches were connected through an LC network and fed to a small > Heathkit amplifier in Alan Kotok's office. (The door to his office > was about four feet from the console.) > > > Pete was fond of > >baroque music and the Harmony Compiler had special provisions for > >baroque turns and trills. > > Somehow I never managed to get a copy of the documentation for the > program, but as I recall it Pete put into it just about every musical > characteristic possible. All of this on a machine with a 5 usec cycle > and 4K of 18-bit words (the machine may also have had another 4K of > bank-switched memory). > > Joe Morris At the time I was there (1962-1966) I'm about 90% certain that it was using dedicated flip-flops that were separate from any of the standard machine hardware. The symbols in the assembler to access the bits had to be defined separately, and while music was playing there was no obvious accompanying activity in the console lights. If I recall correctly, there were four instructions each of which strobed the high bit of one of the registers--probably the IO--into one of the four flip-flops. As "We Shall Overcome" attests, the hardware did evolve, adding the ability to set the overall loudness to one of four levels. It was a remarkably useless feature. It was amazing how musically expressive things like "articulation" (duration of the note, from staccatto to legato) and tempo were, and how relatively inexpressive loudness was. Of course, that PDP-1 was constantly having its hardware worked over. It was a testbed for, I think, Jack Dennis' ideas. Very shortly after I started hanging around the computer room, the console and main bays were separated, many additional bays added, the thing was wired up for time-sharing... and around 1967 or so it even acquired an index register. -- Daniel P. B. Smith Email address: dpbsmith@world.std.com "Lifetime forwarding" address: dpbsmith@alum.mit.edu ###### From: dgriffi@cs.csuabk.edu Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: 27 Feb 2002 02:17:00 GMT Organization: CSUnet Lines: 23 Message-ID: References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: pegasus.cs.csubak.edu Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!tethys.csu.net!newshub.csu.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102670 Joe Morris wrote: > "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: >>"CBFalconer" wrote: >>> And there was someone in Ottawa at the National Research Council >>> building some sort of simulator/harmonizer - anyway it created >>> music - back in the early '50s. Definitely before '58. >>Are you thinking (perhaps) of the Theremin? > Um...I doubt it; I never saw anyone claim to have figured out a way > to make a Theremin produce more than a single tone at a time. While the Theremin is strictly monophonic, nobody said you can't use one to control a modular synthesizer or add MIDI controller to one to get multiple tones. Maybe that's cheating, but it's certainly a fun way to make noise. -- David Griffith dgriffi@cs.csubak.edu ###### From: Brian Inglis Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 22:42:27 -0700 Organization: Systematic Software Lines: 31 Message-ID: References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> Reply-To: Brian.Inglis@SystematicSw.ab.ca NNTP-Posting-Host: h-207-148-133-9.dial.cadvision.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news3.cadvision.com 1014788547 3154 207.148.133.9 (27 Feb 2002 05:42:27 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@cadvision.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 05:42:27 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.9/32.560 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!feedme.news.mediaways.net!newspump.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!nntp.cadvision.com!207.228.64.17.MISMATCH!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102636 On 26 Feb 2002 18:29:37 GMT, stanb@dial.pipex.com (Stan Barr) wrote: >On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 04:14:33 GMT, CBFalconer wrote: >>Joe Pfeiffer wrote: >>> >>> Very, very cool stuff -- thank you! >>> >>> Though it should be pointed out that the Moog was by no means ten >>> years in the future -- he was producing his modular synthesizers in >>> 1965 (according to http://moogarchives.com/chrono.htm). >> >>And there was someone in Ottawa at the National Research Council >>building some sort of simulator/harmonizer - anyway it created >>music - back in the early '50s. Definitely before '58. > >When did the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop start? They were one of the >early pioneers of electronic music. First I heard of it was when the original Dr. Who series started -- late 50s? -- Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada Brian.Inglis@CSi.com (Brian dot Inglis at SystematicSw dot ab dot ca) fake address use address above to reply tosspam@aol.com abuse@aol.com abuse@yahoo.com abuse@hotmail.com abuse@msn.com abuse@sprint.com abuse@earthlink.com abuse@cadvision.com abuse@ibsystems.com uce@ftc.gov spam traps ###### X-Posting-Agent: Hamster/1.3.23.4 From: Nick Spalding Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Reply-To: Nick Spalding Message-ID: <35fp7u8fd1q5b8j9k19sc4plns0ntbquf6@4ax.com> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> <1014765927snz@dsl.co.uk> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.9/32.560 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 16 Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:03:11 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 193.203.157.29 X-Complaints-To: abuse@iol.ie X-Trace: news.iol.ie 1014807791 193.203.157.29 (Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:03:11 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:03:11 GMT Organization: Ireland On-Line Customer Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!feedme.news.mediaways.net!newsfeed.esat.net!news.iol.ie!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102771 Brian {Hamilton Kelly} wrote, in <1014765927snz@dsl.co.uk>: > Besides which, the Theremin dates back to pre-WWII; 1938, IIRC. Encarta thinks it was earlier: "The theremin, a compact apparatus invented by the Russian physicist Leon Theremin, was fashionable in the late 1920s and 1930s, although it could play only a single melodic line." and Grolier is more specific: "The theremin, one of the first successful electronic musical instruments, was invented about 1924 by the Russian Leon Theremin." -- Nick Spalding ###### From: greenaum@BOLLOCKSyahoo.co.uk Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 17:13:40 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Rossum's Universal Robots Lines: 13 Message-ID: <3c9f1301.294270454@news.btopenworld.com> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> Reply-To: greenaum@BOLLOCKSyahoo.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Host: host213-1-189-100.btinternet.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: helle.btinternet.com 1014830020 11299 213.1.189.100 (27 Feb 2002 17:13:40 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news-complaints@lists.btinternet.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 17:13:40 +0000 (UTC) X-No-Archive: yes X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!proxad.net!news-hub.cableinet.net!blueyonder!btnet-peer!btnet-peer0!btnet-feed5!btnet!news.btopenworld.com!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102754 On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 22:42:27 -0700, Brian Inglis sprachen: >First I heard of it was when the original Dr. Who series started >-- late 50s? Mid-60s for Dr Who. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ if love is a drug, then, ideally, it's a healing, healthful drug... it's kind of like prozac is supposed to work (without the sexual side effects and long-term damage to the brain and psyche) ###### From: "Charlie Gibbs" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: 27 Feb 02 07:59:43 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Lines: 26 Message-ID: <1200.823T2190T4795707@sky.bus.com> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> <1014765927snz@dsl.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: p-905.newsdawg.com X-Newsreader: THOR 2.5a (Amiga;TCP/IP) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!out.nntp.be!propagator-SanJose!in.nntp.be!news-in-sanjose!cyclone-sf.pbi.net!165.113.238.17!pln-w!spln!dex!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!enews1 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102823 In article <1014765927snz@dsl.co.uk> bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly}) writes: >There was "music" written for the Elliott 803 mid-1960s-ish that >produced polyphonic counterpoint. ISTR being most impressed by >The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. Of course, it wasn't really >producing more than one note at a time: the loudspeaker could only >"peep" when appropriately driven, but the human ear was fooled >into thinking that all the different notes were being produced >simultaneously. Not quite as old, but still qualifying as folklore, is the program I had for my IMSAI that toggled the processor's "interrupts enabled" line fast enough to generate three-part harmony. A couple of components hung on the mother board would pick off the signal and send it to an audio amplifier. I remember my reaction the first time I heard it in action, and I still think about it any time I hear "The Harmonious Blacksmith", which it played in all of its glorious variations. -- cgibbs@sky.bus.com (Charlie Gibbs) Remove the first period after the "at" sign to reply. I don't read top-posted messages. If you want me to see your reply, appropriately trim the quoted text and put your reply below it. ###### From: bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly}) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 07:55:42 GMT Organization: Dragonhill Systems Ltd Message-ID: <1014796542snz@dsl.co.uk> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> X-Trace: mail2news.demon.co.uk 1014843733 mail2news:16334 mail2news mail2news.demon.co.uk X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Mail2News-Path: news.demon.net!dsl.demon.co.uk X-Newsreader: Demon Internet Simple News v1.31 Lines: 28 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!proxad.net!news-hub.cableinet.net!blueyonder!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!mail2news.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102898 In article Brian.Inglis@SystematicSw.ab.ca "Brian Inglis" writes: > On 26 Feb 2002 18:29:37 GMT, stanb@dial.pipex.com (Stan Barr) > wrote: > > >When did the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop start? They were one of the > >early pioneers of electronic music. > > First I heard of it was when the original Dr. Who series started Indeed, I believe many peoples' first knowledge of the existence of the Radiophonic Workshop may have been through that programme: they obviously would read credits on the screen whilst seemingly have ignored those spoken by the radio's continuity announcer. > -- late 50s? No: the first episode of Dr Who was either just before or just after JFK's assassination (can't remember which at present: doubtless someone will be along with the exact date). -- Brian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk@dsl.co.uk "We have gone from a world of concentrated knowledge and wisdom to one of distributed ignorance. And we know and understand less while being incr- easingly capable." Prof. Peter Cochrane, formerly of BT Labs ###### From: Joe Pfeiffer Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: 27 Feb 2002 12:44:05 -0700 Organization: New Mexico State University Lines: 23 Message-ID: <1belj6wvzu.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c9f1301.294270454@news.btopenworld.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: viper.cs.nmsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: bubba.NMSU.Edu 1014839045 29775 128.123.64.113 (27 Feb 2002 19:44:05 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@bubba.NMSU.Edu NNTP-Posting-Date: 27 Feb 2002 19:44:05 GMT User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.1 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!194.25.134.126.MISMATCH!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!hardy.tc.umn.edu!lynx.unm.edu!news.NMSU.Edu!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102839 greenaum@BOLLOCKSyahoo.co.uk writes: > On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 22:42:27 -0700, Brian Inglis > sprachen: > > >First I heard of it was when the original Dr. Who series started > >-- late 50s? > > Mid-60s for Dr Who. Something very cool about that is that their sound effects were done on a Mellotron... a very spiffy musical instrument that turned out to be perfect for this kind of work: when you pressed a key, it would drag a tape sample across a tape head. And they're back in production now. Another Moog note: that Moog archives page I found said that in the late 1950s he was building... theremins! -- Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605 Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002 New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer Southwestern NM Regional Science and Engr Fair: http://www.nmsu.edu/~scifair ###### From: phil@notsaying.demon.co.uk (dawks) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 23:36:55 GMT Message-ID: <3c7d6ce9.52551695@news.demon.co.uk> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c9f1301.294270454@news.btopenworld.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: dawks.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: dawks.demon.co.uk:194.222.153.217 X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 1014852883 nnrp-13:17660 NO-IDENT dawks.demon.co.uk:194.222.153.217 X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 Lines: 23 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!newsgate.cistron.nl!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!dawks.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102857 On Wed, 27 Feb 2002 17:13:40 +0000 (UTC), greenaum@BOLLOCKSyahoo.co.uk wrote: >On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 22:42:27 -0700, Brian Inglis > sprachen: > >>First I heard of it was when the original Dr. Who series started >>-- late 50s? > >Mid-60s for Dr Who. > To the Web! of course: 63-64. Very much around the time Kennedy was assasinated. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episode_guide/index_first.shtml dawks. -- The world is divided into two sorts of people: those that believe that the world is divided into two sorts of people and those that don't. ###### From: jcmorris@mitre.org (Joe Morris) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 14:22:24 +0000 (UTC) Organization: The MITRE Organization Lines: 48 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: jcmorris@mitre.org NNTP-Posting-Host: jmorris-pc.mitre.org X-Trace: newslocal.mitre.org 1014906144 2273 128.29.114.13 (28 Feb 2002 14:22:24 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@mitre.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 14:22:24 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.6 (NOV) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cambridge1-snf1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!newstransit.mitre.org!news.mitre.org!jcmorris Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102860 "Daniel P. B. Smith" writes: >Of course, that PDP-1 was constantly having its hardware worked over. >It was a testbed for, I think, Jack Dennis' ideas. Very shortly after I >started hanging around the computer room, the console and main bays were >separated, many additional bays added, the thing was wired up for >time-sharing... and around 1967 or so it even acquired an index register. *gasp* -- an INDEX REGISTER??? on a PDP-1? The PDP-1 on the second floor of building 26 (adjacent to the TX-0 and above the 7090 machine room) was definitely Jack's playtoy. When I last saw it (in 1963) it had already acquired the "time sharing consoles" ... ... rummaging through files ... ... that were described in memo PDP-6 dated 22 May 1962 (not '63) titled "Time Sharing Operation of the Electrical Engineering PDP-1 Computer." The memo isn't signed or attributed to any particular author, unlike most of the PDP-1 memo series. For readers here who get uncomfortable when their computer doesn't have at least 256 MB of memory, here is the memory layout shown in the memo: (in terms of 18-bit words; addresses in octal) 7777 +-------------+ | executive | | routine | 7000 (?) +-------------+ | User's | | Protected | | Block | 6000 (?) +-------------+ | | | User's | | Program | | and | | data | | | 0000 +-------------+ (The question marks appear in the original) So...the entire user address space was 6000 (octal) or ~3000 (decimal) words max. Can you say "NO BLOATWARE PERMITTED"? Joe Morris ###### From: Brian Inglis Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 09:39:48 -0700 Organization: Systematic Software Lines: 53 Message-ID: References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> <1014765927snz@dsl.co.uk> Reply-To: Brian.Inglis@SystematicSw.ab.ca NNTP-Posting-Host: h-207-148-143-192.dial.cadvision.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news3.cadvision.com 1014914389 8118 207.148.143.192 (28 Feb 2002 16:39:49 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@cadvision.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 16:39:49 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.9/32.560 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!east1.newsfeed.sprint-canada.net!west2.newsfeed.sprint-canada.net!nntp.cadvision.com!207.228.64.17.MISMATCH!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102884 On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 23:25:27 GMT, bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly}) wrote: >In article > jcmorris@mitre.org "Joe Morris" writes: > >> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" writes: >> >> >Are you thinking (perhaps) of the Theremin? >> >> Um...I doubt it; I never saw anyone claim to have figured out a way >> to make a Theremin produce more than a single tone at a time. > >There was "music" written for the Elliott 803 mid-1960s-ish that produced >polyphonic counterpoint. ISTR being most impressed by The Arrival of the >Queen of Sheba. Of course, it wasn't really producing more than one note >at a time: the loudspeaker could only "peep" when appropriately driven, >but the human ear was fooled into thinking that all the different notes >were being produced simultaneously. > >> I tried "playing" a Theremin a few times, but never managed to produce >> anything other than sounds that scared the cat. > >:-) > >Besides which, the Theremin dates back to pre-WWII; 1938, IIRC. > >(I've arrived late to this thread: RL got in the way of my reading afc >for a couple or so weeks. What sort of date was it that Donald Michie >had a computer /singing/ Daisy at Edinburgh?) Only reference I could find in webspace was by Stephen Cass in IEEE Spectrum Online, September 2000, Volume 37, Number 9, "Weekly Websights: Sound and Music": "As HAL is lobotomized in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, (was I the only one rooting for the computer?) he sings Daisy, Daisy - and not by chance. This was the first tune ever reproduced by a digital computer in the early 1960's." Didn't realize Donald Michie worked at Bletchley on Colossus with Turing, then went medical in molecular biology, before being tempted back to the dark side. -- Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada Brian.Inglis@CSi.com (Brian dot Inglis at SystematicSw dot ab dot ca) fake address use address above to reply tosspam@aol.com abuse@aol.com abuse@yahoo.com abuse@hotmail.com abuse@msn.com abuse@sprint.com abuse@earthlink.com abuse@cadvision.com abuse@ibsystems.com uce@ftc.gov spam traps ###### Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers From: hoh@invalid.invalid (Goran Larsson) Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Message-ID: Organization: [1] + 5934 done /bin/rm -rf ~/ & X-No-Archive: yes X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test73 (May 24, 2000) References: <3c9f1301.294270454@news.btopenworld.com> <1belj6wvzu.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> Lines: 17 NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.151.135.15 X-Complaints-To: news-abuse@swip.net X-Trace: nntpserver.swip.net 1014919261 212.151.135.15 (Thu, 28 Feb 2002 19:01:01 MET DST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 19:01:01 MET DST X-Sender: q-11932@d212-151-135-15.swipnet.se Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 17:52:10 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!192.71.180.34!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!nntpserver.swip.net!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102899 In article <1belj6wvzu.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu>, Joe Pfeiffer wrote: > Another Moog note: that Moog archives page I found said that in the > late 1950s he was building... theremins! He is still building theremins! < http://www.bigbriar.com/ > click "Products" click "Theremins" You can even buy a theremin with Bob Moogs autograph in silver... -- Göran Larsson hoh AT approve DOT se ###### From: "Daniel P. B. Smith" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 21:25:34 -0500 Lines: 66 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: pool-151-203-19-105.bos.east.verizon.net (151.203.19.105) X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 1014949463 9016445 151.203.19.105 (16 [37534]) X-Orig-Path: dpbsmith User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.1 (PPC) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!pool-151-203-19-105.bos.east.verizon.NET!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:103022 In article , jcmorris@mitre.org (Joe Morris) wrote: > "Daniel P. B. Smith" writes: > > >Of course, that PDP-1 was constantly having its hardware worked over. > >It was a testbed for, I think, Jack Dennis' ideas. Very shortly after I > >started hanging around the computer room, the console and main bays were > >separated, many additional bays added, the thing was wired up for > >time-sharing... and around 1967 or so it even acquired an index register. > > *gasp* -- an INDEX REGISTER??? on a PDP-1? > > The PDP-1 on the second floor of building 26 (adjacent to the TX-0 > and above the 7090 machine room) was definitely Jack's playtoy. When > I last saw it (in 1963) it had already acquired the "time sharing > consoles" ... > > ... rummaging through files ... > > ... that were described in memo PDP-6 dated 22 May 1962 (not '63) > titled "Time Sharing Operation of the Electrical Engineering PDP-1 > Computer." The memo isn't signed or attributed to any particular > author, unlike most of the PDP-1 memo series. > > For readers here who get uncomfortable when their computer doesn't > have at least 256 MB of memory, here is the memory layout shown > in the memo: (in terms of 18-bit words; addresses in octal) > > 7777 +-------------+ > | executive | > | routine | > 7000 (?) +-------------+ > | User's | > | Protected | > | Block | > 6000 (?) +-------------+ > | | > | User's | > | Program | > | and | > | data | > | | > 0000 +-------------+ > > (The question marks appear in the original) > > So...the entire user address space was 6000 (octal) or ~3000 (decimal) > words max. Can you say "NO BLOATWARE PERMITTED"? It seemed like an awful lot to me a year or two later, when I was programming a LINC with 2K of 12-bit words. And THAT was the extended model (the standard model had 1K of 12-bit words). Of course, it also had a LINCtape with nearly... how much? 700 blocks of 512 words each or something like that? More than half a megabyte, anyway. And, unlike "real" tapes and like the diskettes that became available some years later, it was formatted with fixed-location blocks and you could update in place. So, you could (and did) do a lot by reading in overlays off the tape. Hey, it was pretty fast--average random-access time was only about twenty seconds or so... -- Daniel P. B. Smith Email address: dpbsmith@world.std.com "Lifetime forwarding" address: dpbsmith@alum.mit.edu ###### From: Dennis Ritchie Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Fri, 01 Mar 2002 07:09:36 +0000 Organization: Bell Labs / Lucent Technologies Lines: 77 Message-ID: <3C7F2930.A305A3D@bell-labs.com> References: <1bheo42a8w.fsf@cs.nmsu.edu> <3C7B0A90.5574297@yahoo.com> <3c7b9e0e$1_1@news.iglou.com> <1014765927snz@dsl.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: 135.104.65.78 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.cwix.com!wn2feed!wn3feed!worldnet.att.net!207.24.196.41!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!news Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:102923 Brian Inglis wrote (after a subquote): ... > >(I've arrived late to this thread: RL got in the way of my reading afc > >for a couple or so weeks. What sort of date was it that Donald Michie > >had a computer /singing/ Daisy at Edinburgh?) > > Only reference I could find in webspace was by Stephen Cass in > IEEE Spectrum Online, September 2000, Volume 37, Number 9, > "Weekly Websights: Sound and Music": > > "As HAL is lobotomized in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, (was I > the only one rooting for the computer?) he sings Daisy, Daisy - > and not by chance. This was the first tune ever reproduced by a > digital computer in the early 1960's." The particular rendition in the movie was, I'm pretty sure, done at Bell Labs. I found a cite of Clarke saying so at http://www.halslegacy.com/interviews/clarke3.html , as follows Stork: There's a wonderful scene of HAL singing Daisy. Can you tell us the source of that? Clarke: When HAL is disconnected and sings "Daisy, Daisy" that's an in joke because the first computer that was taught to speak at Bell Labs in the 1940s, 50s, did sing "Daisy, Daisy", in a very mechanical voice, and that was arranged by my friend John Pierce, the director of the Lab. Pierce deserves much credit for this, since he was the boss of the folks mentioned in my quote below. Michie might have had a singing Daisy too, of course. By the way, the liner notes from the record mentioned below are at http://www.317x.com/albums/i/IBM/card.html . I dredged up this from an a.f.c posting of mine in 2000, the article with Message-ID: <3A0B9190.D1259A8A@bell-labs.com> on google: Charlie Gibbs wrote: > > In article <3A0B0FB2.9B7B360B@uchicago.edu> simona@uchicago.edu > (Simon Allaway) writes: > ... > >Realaudio clip of "Daisy" generated on an IBM 7094 in 1961 by John > >Kelly and Carol Lockbaum. (The spelling is actually Lochbaum -- dmr) > >http://www.vortex.com/rmf/daisy.ram > > > >I'm intrigued as to what mechanism actually made the noise. Or was it > >just interference picked up by a nearby radio? > > In the late '60s I heard an album entitled "Music from Mathematics", > which contained that same "Daisy" plus many other things. It claimed > that the sounds were made by an "IBM 7094 and digital-to-sound > transducer" - which sounds like some sort of dedicated hardware. > By this time I had already heard the IBM 1620 demo which did use > a radio, and was inspired to write my own for the Univac 9300 - > this was much better. I can't remember whether the album's liner > notes said anything about the hardware that was used. My family used to have that record too--it was, I think, a 10" LP. It came from a conjugation of two lines of research at Bell Labs during (approximately) the 60's. The verbal part was a demo of the human vocal-tract modeling work--vocoders and whatnot--by Kelly, Lochbaum and others; the musical aspect owed mainly to the inspiration of Max Mathews, an early pioneer in digital music. I don't know how the final D-A worked, but in general the digital representation was indeed generated, after much computation, on magnetic tape which was later read by the transducer. This all took place just down the hall from my office, but mostly a bit before I arrived in it. Dennis ###### From: clutch@lycos.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format Date: Fri, 01 Mar 2002 17:25:45 -0500 Organization: Definite Lack Of Message-ID: Reply-To: clutch@lycos.com References: X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.9/32.560 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 24 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!feeder.qis.net!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:103002 Daniel, Years ago, 1973 or so, we had a Wang 600b programable calculator in my high school. I brought in an AM radio one day to listen to some music and learned that logic circuits are quit musical. We played with some loops but never got much out of it. I always wondered if some one else on more powerfull hardware did this. Enjoyed the music, Wes "Daniel P. B. Smith" wrote: >http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/pdp1music/pdp1music.html > >now contains five newly-added pieces: As Time Goes By, Bach's Little >Fugue in G. Minor, Christmas Carol medley, Goldfinger, We Shall >Overcome, all in glorious high-fidelity .mp3 format. .mp3 versions of -- Reply to: Whiskey Echo Sierra Sierra AT Gee Tee EYE EYE dot COM Lycos address is a spam trap. ###### Message-ID: <3C807932.5030007@algonet.se> From: Anders Thulin User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:0.9.4) Gecko/20011128 Netscape6/6.2.1 X-Accept-Language: en-us MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 25 Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 07:03:16 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.64.181.244 X-Complaints-To: abuse@telia.com X-Trace: newsb.telia.net 1015052596 213.64.181.244 (Sat, 02 Mar 2002 08:03:16 CET) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 08:03:16 CET Organization: Telia Internet Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!diablo.netcom.net.uk!netcom.net.uk!newsfeed1.bredband.com!bredband!news000.worldonline.se!news-stob.telia.net!news-sto.telia.net!masternews.telia.net.!newsb.telia.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:103035 clutch@lycos.com wrote: > Years ago, 1973 or so, we had a Wang 600b programable calculator in my > high school. I brought in an AM radio one day to listen to some music > and learned that logic circuits are quit musical. We played with some > loops but never got much out of it. I always wondered if some one > else on more powerfull hardware did this. There were some 'music' programs for the SAAB D21 computer -- the first Swedish commercial computer, I believe. They were intended for playing over the loudspeaker connected to a bit in the multiplier register, but it was possible to 'enjoy' them over the radio as well. Of course, the 'bass slaps' performed by the tape stations (Potter) (or in some cases the *line*printer) did not transmit well that way ... I used to have a tape with 'the collected performances of SAAB D21/D22' but it's probably gone now ... -- Anders Thulin ath@algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~ath ###### Message-ID: <3C808213.7030001@algonet.se> From: Anders Thulin User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:0.9.4) Gecko/20011128 Netscape6/6.2.1 X-Accept-Language: en-us MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: More PDP-1 music, now in .mp3 format References: <3C807932.5030007@algonet.se> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 18 Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 07:41:09 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 213.64.181.244 X-Complaints-To: abuse@telia.com X-Trace: newsb.telia.net 1015054869 213.64.181.244 (Sat, 02 Mar 2002 08:41:09 CET) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2002 08:41:09 CET Organization: Telia Internet Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!213.204.128.162!news000.worldonline.se!news-stob.telia.net!news-sto.telia.net!masternews.telia.net.!newsb.telia.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:103031 Anders Thulin wrote: > There were some 'music' programs for the SAAB D21 computer I find that some of it has been saved: http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/datasaab/musik-eng.html The piece where the tape stations 'stomp the beat' are unfortunately not there, though. -- Anders Thulin ath@algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~ath