3 ms·

Restoring the first recording of computer music (2016)

55 points by ohjeez 6y ago

triclops200 6y ago
Listening to the piece at the end of the article is somehow incredibly exciting. Aside from the fact that I'm deeply interested in digital music synthesis, just the fact that this recording exists and you can literally hear the human element and reaction to it at the time is just such a wonderful feeling. A lot of modern technology gets a (somewhat justified) bad rap, but things like this where you can have that strong human connection nearly a hundred years after the fact will be such an interesting shift for future historians, assuming we find ways to keep this data around for the future.
- rkuykendall-com 6y ago
  It's amazing the ways we... take the limited artifacts of the past and tune them to recreate the human feelings that the original recorders intended but couldn't create themselves. It reminds me of They Shall Not Grow Old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Shall_Not_Grow_Old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Shall_Not_Grow_Old
mellosouls 6y ago
Mentioned in passing: the Programmer's Handbook (for the Manchester Electronic Computer) by Alan Turing http://www.alanturing.net/programmers_handbook/ http://www.alanturing.net/programmers_handbook/ Submitted separately fwiw: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23784547 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23784547
jacquesm 6y ago
That's a very interesting recording, not just because of the music but because of the people, and how incredibly happy they sound. On the (off key) rendering of 'In the Mood' someone comments 'The computer is obviously not in the mood', and then they try again. The sound is a bit like a cello. Would be nice to sample it so that it can be used as an instrument in a synth. My own first computer 'music' (big word for what it sounded like) was made using a KIM-1 and an AM radio held close to it. Pretty limited environment but lots of fun.
LeoPanthera 6y ago
I appreciate why they did a noise reduction pass, but it does have the unfortunate side-effect of making the voices in the background unintelligible. I would like to have known what they were saying.
grasshopperpurp 6y ago
Can't help but think of this. https://youtu.be/41U78QP8nBk https://youtu.be/41U78QP8nBk
ruytlm 6y ago
Related: the first known music played by a computer was earlier that year in Australia.[0] Article includes modern recreations of the music. [0]: https://theconversation.com/how-australia-played-the-worlds-first-music-on-a-computer-60381 https://theconversation.com/how-australia-played-the-worlds-...

55 points by ohjeez 6y ago

Listening to the piece at the end of the article is somehow incredibly exciting. Aside from the fact that I'm deeply interested in digital music synthesis, just the fact that this recording exists and you can literally hear the human element and reaction to it at the time is just such a wonderful feeling. A lot of modern technology gets a (somewhat justified) bad rap, but things like this where you can have that strong human connection nearly a hundred years after the fact will be such an interesting shift for future historians, assuming we find ways to keep this data around for the future.

rkuykendall-com 6y ago
It's amazing the ways we... take the limited artifacts of the past and tune them to recreate the human feelings that the original recorders intended but couldn't create themselves. It reminds me of They Shall Not Grow Old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Shall_Not_Grow_Old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Shall_Not_Grow_Old

mellosouls 6y ago

Mentioned in passing: the Programmer's Handbook (for the Manchester Electronic Computer) by Alan Turing http://www.alanturing.net/programmers_handbook/ http://www.alanturing.net/programmers_handbook/ Submitted separately fwiw: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23784547 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23784547

jacquesm 6y ago

That's a very interesting recording, not just because of the music but because of the people, and how incredibly happy they sound. On the (off key) rendering of 'In the Mood' someone comments 'The computer is obviously not in the mood', and then they try again. The sound is a bit like a cello. Would be nice to sample it so that it can be used as an instrument in a synth. My own first computer 'music' (big word for what it sounded like) was made using a KIM-1 and an AM radio held close to it. Pretty limited environment but lots of fun.

LeoPanthera 6y ago

I appreciate why they did a noise reduction pass, but it does have the unfortunate side-effect of making the voices in the background unintelligible. I would like to have known what they were saying.

grasshopperpurp 6y ago

Can't help but think of this. https://youtu.be/41U78QP8nBk https://youtu.be/41U78QP8nBk

ruytlm 6y ago

Related: the first known music played by a computer was earlier that year in Australia.[0] Article includes modern recreations of the music. [0]: https://theconversation.com/how-australia-played-the-worlds-first-music-on-a-computer-60381 https://theconversation.com/how-australia-played-the-worlds-...