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| First recording of computer-generated music – created by Alan Turing – restored | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Researchers in New Zealand say they have restored the first recording of computer-generated music, created in 1951 on a gigantic contraption built by the British computer scientist Alan Turing. | Researchers in New Zealand say they have restored the first recording of computer-generated music, created in 1951 on a gigantic contraption built by the British computer scientist Alan Turing. |
| The aural artefact, which paved the way for everything from synthesisers to modern electronica, opens with a staunchly conservative tune – the British national anthem. | The aural artefact, which paved the way for everything from synthesisers to modern electronica, opens with a staunchly conservative tune – the British national anthem. |
| Researchers at the University of Canterbury (UC) in Christchurch said it showed Turing – best known as the father of computing who broke the Nazis’ second world war Enigma code – was also a musical innovator. | Researchers at the University of Canterbury (UC) in Christchurch said it showed Turing – best known as the father of computing who broke the Nazis’ second world war Enigma code – was also a musical innovator. |
| “Alan Turing’s pioneering work in the late 1940s on transforming the computer into a musical instrument has been largely overlooked,” they said. | “Alan Turing’s pioneering work in the late 1940s on transforming the computer into a musical instrument has been largely overlooked,” they said. |
| The recording was made 65 years ago by a BBC outside-broadcast unit at the Computing Machine Laboratory in Manchester, England. | The recording was made 65 years ago by a BBC outside-broadcast unit at the Computing Machine Laboratory in Manchester, England. |
| The machine, which filled much of the lab’s ground floor, was used to generate three melodies; God Save the King, Baa, Baa Black Sheep, and Glenn Miller’s swing classic In the Mood. | The machine, which filled much of the lab’s ground floor, was used to generate three melodies; God Save the King, Baa, Baa Black Sheep, and Glenn Miller’s swing classic In the Mood. |
| But when UC professor Jack Copeland and composer Jason Long examined the 12-inch (30.5cm) acetate disc containing the music, they found the audio was distorted. | But when UC professor Jack Copeland and composer Jason Long examined the 12-inch (30.5cm) acetate disc containing the music, they found the audio was distorted. |
| “The frequencies in the recording were not accurate. The recording gave at best only a rough impression of how the computer sounded,” they said. They fixed it with electronic detective work, tweaking the speed of the audio, compensating for a “wobble” in the recording and filtering out extraneous noise. | “The frequencies in the recording were not accurate. The recording gave at best only a rough impression of how the computer sounded,” they said. They fixed it with electronic detective work, tweaking the speed of the audio, compensating for a “wobble” in the recording and filtering out extraneous noise. |
| “It was a beautiful moment when we first heard the true sound of Turing’s computer,” Copeland and Long said in a blogpost on the British Library website. | “It was a beautiful moment when we first heard the true sound of Turing’s computer,” Copeland and Long said in a blogpost on the British Library website. |
| It features short snippets of the tunes rendered in a slightly grating drone, like electronic bagpipes. There are also a number of glitches and when the music halts during the Glenn Miller number, a presenter comments: “The machine’s obviously not in the mood.” | It features short snippets of the tunes rendered in a slightly grating drone, like electronic bagpipes. There are also a number of glitches and when the music halts during the Glenn Miller number, a presenter comments: “The machine’s obviously not in the mood.” |
| While Turing programmed the first musical notes into a computer, he had little interest in stringing them together into tunes. | While Turing programmed the first musical notes into a computer, he had little interest in stringing them together into tunes. |
| That work was carried out by a school teacher named Christopher Strachey, who went on to become a renowned computer scientist in his own right. Strachey recalled that Turing’s taciturn response upon hearing his machine play music was: “Good show.” | That work was carried out by a school teacher named Christopher Strachey, who went on to become a renowned computer scientist in his own right. Strachey recalled that Turing’s taciturn response upon hearing his machine play music was: “Good show.” |
| Turing was a computer scientist, philosopher and cryptologist who played a crucial role in breaking the Nazis’ Enigma code. As depicted in the Oscar-winning movie The Imitation Game, he was prosecuted for homosexuality and forced to undergo chemical castration. He killed himself in 1954 at the age of 41. | Turing was a computer scientist, philosopher and cryptologist who played a crucial role in breaking the Nazis’ Enigma code. As depicted in the Oscar-winning movie The Imitation Game, he was prosecuted for homosexuality and forced to undergo chemical castration. He killed himself in 1954 at the age of 41. |
| He was officially pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II in 2013. | He was officially pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II in 2013. |