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R.I.P. Max Mathews


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Just found out one of the pioneers of computer music passed away:

 

Max Mathews.

 

I was fortunate to meet him and have him listen to a piece I composed back when I was studying music synthesis at Berklee.

 

 

Max Mathews, Father of Digital Synthesis, Computer Innovator, Dies at 84

 

 

Max Mathews: An Appreciation

 

Sad news for anyone making music with a computer...

 

R.I.P.

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I have to say I didn't know of Max Mathews, but I enjoyed those videos.

 

I don't remember hearing about him either, but thanks for mentioning him Jordito.

 

Thanks for checking it out.

He was more of a computer programmer/inventor. I think one needs to be exposed to the "academic" computer music world to find out about guys like him.

 

Guess Arthur C Clarke, or Kubrick, was a fan too...

 

Apparently that's how that piece ended up in 2001: A Space Odyssey:

 

In 1961, Mathews arranged the accompaniment of the song "Daisy Bell" for an uncanny performance by computer-synthesized human voice, using technology developed by John Kelly of Bell Laboratories and others. Author Arthur C. Clarke was coincidentally visiting friend and colleague John Pierce at the Bell Labs Murray Hill facility at the time of this remarkable speech synthesis demonstration and was so impressed that he later told Stanley Kubrick to use it in 2001: A Space Odyssey, in the climactic scene where the HAL 9000 computer sings while his cognitive functions are disabled.

 

J.

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