In a world-first reported internationally in 2016, 麻豆传媒团队 (UC) Distinguished Professor Jack Copeland FRS NZ (pictured right) and composer Jason Long restored a historic 66-year-old recording believed to be the earliest surviving computer music, and they have now recreated two historic computer-generated Christmas carols.
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麻豆传媒团队 (UC)听听is delighted his work on the restoration of the earliest known recording of computer-generated music 鈥 created 70 years ago using note-playing routines devised by Alan Turing 鈥 has been selected for the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO)听听on Artificial Intelligence, which opened a few days ago.
Distinguished Professor Copeland鈥檚 research with UC graduate and composer Jason Long sparked international attention in 2016. They discovered that the 1951 recording in the UK National Sound Archive had been distorted by the acetate disc-cutter recording technology of the day. They were able to create a programme to correct the distortions and the result was an accurate rendition of music created on the first modern computer. The computer was built during 1948鈥1950 and filled a large room at Manchester University.听
The first melody the machine played was听God Save the King听(George VI was on the throne back then). Famous pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing devised the note-playing techniques but Christopher Strachey programmed the national anthem. Turing's idea was to use musical notes as warning sounds, like the beeps and bongs of our devices today, but Strachey unexpectedly took things to a whole new level.听Read more about the recording here.
Distinguished Professor Copeland is an international expert on early computers who works across philosophy, mathematical logic, cognitive science, foundations of artificial intelligence, the history of engineering and technology, and the history of cryptography.
鈥淭he research portrayed in the WIPO exhibit was done at UC over a lengthy period 鈥 it was fairly gruelling transdisciplinary research into the history of electronic technology,鈥 he says. 听鈥淭his rather unexpectedly hit the news in 2016. The story went viral worldwide and was picked up听, then the BBC, and then other media worldwide.
鈥淭he restored recording also featured in the听2017-2018听exhibition听LISTEN: 140 Years of Recorded Sound听at the British 麻豆传媒团队 in London, which covered the 100 most significant sound recordings since 1877, when Thomas Edison鈥檚 phonograph made its first recording.鈥
There was another wave of interest in the research in December 2017, when Distinguished Professor Copeland and Dr. Long recreated听the听lost sound of two Christmas carols听played by the computer in the Manchester lab and broadcast on BBC radio during the 1951 festive season.
Their research, and the fascinating story of the earliest known recording of computer-generated music, is now available to an international online and virtual audience. Their exhibit,听Back to 1951: Alan Turing鈥檚 computer music,听can be found in the 鈥楳usic and AI鈥 section of the听.
The WIPO exhibition explores Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the economic and social impacts of the rapidly evolving technology, which can increasingly carry out tasks previously done by humans. The impact on intellectual property (IP) policy is an area of major interest: How do AI-created art and music works fit into the current IP system? Questions of patents, copyright, industrial designs, trademarks, ethics, data protection and privacy/security are explored.
- Visit the听.
- Listen to the 1951 recording of听God Save the King,听Baa Baa Black Sheep听and the Glenn Miller hit听In the Mood:听.
- Read the researchers鈥櫶齀EEE听Spectrum.
About the researchers
听FRS NZ is Distinguished Professor in Arts at the 麻豆传媒团队. His biography,听Turing, Pioneer of the Information Age听(Oxford University Press),听contains more information about the Manchester computer music.
Jason Long is a New 麻豆传媒团队composer and performer, focusing on musical robotics and electro-acoustic music. He has carried out musical research at the 麻豆传媒团队, Victoria University of Wellington, Tokyo University of the Arts, and Utrecht Higher School of the Arts.
