Composers & Computers

This episode is the story of what happened when a Princeton composer, who was inspired to create some of the most challenging music ever written, decided it could be most reliably performed by a machine. His work to realize that machine led to the birth of the electronic synthesizer as a device upon which one could compose music. And it led, indirectly, to the digital music revolution.

The device wasn’t a computer – it was an early analog synthesizer in Manhattan, co-owned by Princeton and Columbia.

This episode will take you inside Milton Babbitt’s work with his “robot orchestra.” You’ll get to hear the music it made, and how Babbitt and the engineers who built it carved out a path that would lead to digital music as know it today.

A revolution in music happened in the Princeton Engineering Quadrangle, but chances are, you don’t know the story. Sixty years ago, some music-loving computer engineers happened upon some musicians who were enamored with a new computer installed on the third floor. 

The work they did together helped turn computers – at the time, a hulking, silent machine – into a tool to produce music. Their innovations made it easier to hear that music. That was no mean feat back then. Then they made it possible for a computer to make that music better, more nuanced. And they helped make it possible for computers to synthesize speech. What computers are able to do today to help musicians realize their vision owes a lot to the work done at Princeton.

Much of this history has been effectively lost, gathering dust in far-off libraries. And the music they made has been largely forgotten as well. Over the five episodes of this series, we will tell that story. You’ll get to meet some fascinating people. And you’ll get to hear that music. It’s the sound of history being made. Engineers thrive on collaborations and intersections. Their collaborations with artists continue to this day. 

We look forward to sharing with you “Composers & Computers,” coming in early May.