Author |
Message |
Stanley Pain
Joined: Sep 02, 2004 Posts: 782 Location: Reading, UK
Audio files: 10
G2 patch files: 35
|
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:54 pm Post subject:
does this make me a geek? yeah. printer music. |
|
|
sorry if this is old.
The IBM 1403 printer was noisy, but it could also be musical! Clever engineers figured out what line of characters to print to make a noise at a given pitch, and how many times to print that line repeatedly to sustain that pitch for a given duration. In other words, the printer could play musical notes.
All that was needed was a program for the IBM 1401 computer system that read in a deck of punched cards, each card containing a single note of melody, and then played the melody on the printer. The tempo could be adjusted using the sense switches on the computer console.
The songs here are from a performance recorded in about 1970 in the computer room of the Richmond (California) Unified School District. The computer operators (whose voices can be heard on the original tape recording) made the recording by holding the microphone in front of the printer.
scroll down on this link for mp3's.
http://www.computerhistory.org/exhibits/highlights/ |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
v-un-v
Janitor
Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 8933 Location: Birmingham, England, UK
Audio files: 11
G2 patch files: 1
|
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 3:12 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
Hey Stanley! No it ain't geek music. My old local was quite bemused after I asked if I could sample the printer in their cash register- it was almost 'drum and bass'!!!
I'll give this link a listen and get back to you :)
PS- The washing machine is playing a beautiful symphony as we speak right now :D |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
jksuperstar
Joined: Aug 20, 2004 Posts: 2503 Location: Denver
Audio files: 1
G2 patch files: 18
|
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 3:24 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
related link: (they used to have some sample audio, but that seems to be gone. Must have a CD for sale, or maybe it's on an mp3 catalog somewhere)
http://www.sat.qc.ca/the_user/dotmatrix/en/intro.html
from the same folks that brought you "Silophone" (upload your audio, download your f/x'ed audio as heared through an actual Grain Silo). |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
v-un-v
Janitor
Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 8933 Location: Birmingham, England, UK
Audio files: 11
G2 patch files: 1
|
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 3:38 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
jksuperstar wrote: |
from the same folks that brought you "Silophone" (upload your audio, download your f/x'ed audio as heared through an actual Grain Silo). |
nice :) the dot matrix stuff that is.
Do many people here know about Frenchman Pierre Bastien and 'Mechanium'?
Similar sort of stuff :)
http://www.pierrebastien.com/ |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
blue hell
Site Admin
Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 24079 Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
Audio files: 278
G2 patch files: 320
|
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 4:40 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
Beautifull, didn't know it, but that's what we have you for Tom, to make us aware.
I also like that printer stuff, but that's different, not similar, more like, well geek stuff maybe :-) _________________ Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
|
|
Back to top
|
|
|
mosc
Site Admin
Joined: Jan 31, 2003 Posts: 18197 Location: Durham, NC
Audio files: 212
G2 patch files: 60
|
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:42 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
Ah, the great old IBM 1403, what a cherished memory - a classic printer to be sure.
Seriously, I remember many singing printers in the early 80s. The computer centers hated this kind of music because it would often lead to burned out print heads. The IBM printers were the most robust. _________________ --Howard
my music and other stuff |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
v-un-v
Janitor
Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 8933 Location: Birmingham, England, UK
Audio files: 11
G2 patch files: 1
|
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:16 am Post subject:
|
|
|
Blue Hell wrote: |
Beautifull, didn't know it, but that's what we have you for Tom, to make us aware.
|
Thanks Jan- I'll do my best ;) |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
opg
Joined: Mar 29, 2004 Posts: 954 Location: Berkeley, CA, US
Audio files: 3
|
|
Back to top
|
|
|
Stanley Pain
Joined: Sep 02, 2004 Posts: 782 Location: Reading, UK
Audio files: 10
G2 patch files: 35
|
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:57 pm Post subject:
|
|
|
v-un-v wrote: | Blue Hell wrote: |
Beautifull, didn't know it, but that's what we have you for Tom, to make us aware.
|
Thanks Jan- I'll do my best |
did you hear about the two tv aerials that got married?
the marriage ceremony was good but the reception was rubbish. |
|
Back to top
|
|
|
|