An introduction to music and sound on computers.

Music and sound have been a computerized pursuit since at least the
1960s, when enterprising hackers discovered that by programming the
large mainframes of the time to do different operations, different
tones could be generated on a common AM radio from the interference
(this is still a problem today :-).

Early synthesizers developed at the time (known as Mellotrons)
consisted of a huge bank of tape loops, with each key playing a
different tape. Primitive analog tone generators were also in use.
These early synthesizers first got wide industry exposure via Walter
aka Wendy (never mind) Carlos' "Switched-On Bach" album. At this time
(mid to late 60s), Robert Moog developed the direct ancestors of
today's synthesizer. Moog's synthesizers were programmed via 'patch
bays', wherein the user would connect a series of jacks in a specific
configuration via patch cords to get a certain tone. This use of the
word 'patch' for a sound setting on a synthesizer persists, despite
that today a 'patch' is usually a data file stored on disk or in ROM.

The Moog's debut in a Top 40 song was Del Shannon's "Runaway". A Moog
was used along with a tube-based analog synthesizer called a theremin
in the Beach Boys' classic "Good Vibrations". The possibilities of
synthesizers weren't really exploited until the onslaught of 70s
'art-rock' bands such as the Who, Supertramp, ELP (Emerson, Lake, and
Palmer), Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd and Rush. Synthesizers have
continued to advance to the point where they are now the only
instrument needed to make a typical Top 40 or rap album. This was
foreseen somewhat by Boston, who included a "No Keyboards!" logo on
one of their early albums despite the obvious inclusion of a Hammond
organ on several songs.

Computer control of music developed somewhat later, however. Several
companies in the early 1980s had competing systems for allowing
electronic synthesizers to interface to computers and each other,
Roland's "CV-Gate" system being among the most popular. Around 1983 or
so, a group of companies developed the now ubiqitous MIDI (Musical
Instrument Digital Interface) standard. It is now very difficult to
find a synthesizer without MIDI capabilities, and all popular
computers can be interfaced to MIDI instruments, including the Apple
II.

The first development after MIDI was introduced was the "sequencer"
program, a program which allowed the recording and playback of MIDI
data streams, as well as sophisticated editing functions. This allowed
perfect playback of songs every time, as well as more advanced
functionality such as the ability to synchronize MIDI data with SMPTE
(Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) time code, a fact
which made it very simple to add MIDI-based music to television shows
and theatrical films and synchronize to a resolution finer than 1
frame. SMPTE and MIDI were used heavily in the production of the
soundtrack for the recent blockbuster "Jurassic Park" for example.