Max Mathews’ magical music machines

Abstract

For nearly 40 years, Max Mathews has worked on real-time control of computers that he first programmed to make music in 1957. Beginning with a simple telegraph key to control tempo, followed by more sophisticated controllers that he developed while at Bell Telephone Laboratories and at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research for Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), his latest and most sophisticated controller is his radio baton. We will demonstrate the extraordinary impact of Mathews’ work on the world of music performance as the newest of musical instruments—computer and radio baton—joins with the oldest of musical instruments—the singing voice—in the performance of compositions where the soprano controls her computer generated accompaniment and computer processes. The presentation will include Sea Songs by Dexter Morrill, and Richard Boulanger’s Solemn Songs for Evening, which uses the Bohlen-Pierce scale.