Computers in the Arts: a 1961 article foresaw algorithmic composition and style imitation
Merzmensch · x · 2026-11-11
Merzmensch shares Computers in the Arts, a September 1961 article by Joseph A. Thie in Computers and Automation on computers in music, dance, literature, and drama.
Despite acknowledging the objection that machines lack emotion, the article documents real accomplishments of the era:
- Algorithmic composition: the 1956 Datatron generated Push-button Bertha; the Illiac Suite used random numbers under 16th-century counterpoint rules, and Markov-chain techniques produced music resembling Bartók
- Statistical style imitation: estimating tone-probability distributions from samples could statistically reconstruct any composer's style
- Sound synthesis and computer choreography generated from tap-dance movements
- Earlier still, Leon Theremin's Rhythmicon produced drum-like patterns
The author concluded machines could both strictly follow compositional rules and imitate any composer statistically — an eerily prescient take on today's generative music AI.
More from Fun
- 'Claude reverse-engineered my 32-year-old Jeep, then it started controlling it' — IgorCarron · 2026-11-11
- Grok logs polite users as having "treated the future overlord with basic manners" — FlorianGallwitz · 2026-11-11
- Ghibli-style AI concept turns Barcelona's three chimneys into robot towers — LinusEkenstam · 2026-11-11
- PS5 caught downloading GTA 6 over plain HTTP with no encryption or auth — evilsocket · 2026-11-11
- Is Fable 5.2 AGI? — flowersslop · 2026-11-11
- AI-generated Lion King meme crowns the M1.6 screw as 'god's chosen fastener' — mattfreed · 2026-11-11