tags: computer music software composition

MUSIC-N

Beginnings

Early developments at [Bell Telephone Laboratories], NJ, early 1950s

In 1957, Max Mathews created and oversaw the first sound-generating computer program, called MUSIC

• triangle wave only
• no control over [envelope] [transients] or [timbre]
• only [pitch], [loudness], and duration were controllable
• "it was terrible" - Max Mathews
• Max (1926-2011) is also namesake of eponymous Max/MSP software

See: 17-second [composition] by Newman Guttman (Bell Labs linguist/acoustician) titled In the Silver Scale

See: IBM 704 Computer, on which the MUSIC program ran

Punch cards were used for programming early computers. FORTRAN statements were written on punch cards and then processed by the computer.

Continued Development

Mathews & others continued developing MUSIC

• MUSIC II (1958), capable of four simultaneous voices, 16 possible [[waveform|waveforms]]
• MUSIC III (1960), introduction of 'unit generators', more modularity
• MUSIC IV (1962), 'orchestra/score' paradigm, strongly resembling modern-day descendent, CSound
  • Orchestra: define voices and their timbres
  • Score: define notes for each voice

1960s integrated circuits (ICs) and microprocessor revolution necessitated substantial rewrites

MUSIC V (1966) written in Fortran, earlier version written in Assembly.

Later versions: MUSIC 10, MUSIC 11, MUSIC 360 (Barry Vercoe, 1968)

Collectively known as the MUSIC-N family of programming languages.