‘Graphic 1′ was an hybrid hardware-software graphic input system for digital synthesis that allowed note values to be written on a CRT computer monitor – although very basic by current standards, ‘Graphic 1′ was the precursor to most computer based graphic composition environments such as Cubase, Logic Pro, Ableton Live and so-on.
The IBM704b at Bell Labs used with the Graphics 1 system
‘Graphic 1′ was developed by William Ninke (plus Carl Christensen and Henry S. McDonald) at Bell labs for use by Max Mathews as a graphical front-end for MUSIC IV synthesis software to circumvent the lengthy and tedious process of adding numeric note values to the MUSIC program.
” The Graphic 1 allows a person to insert pictures and graphs directly into a computer memory by the very act of drawing these objects…Moreover the power of the computer is available to modify, erase, duplicate and remember these drawings”
Max Mathews quoted from ‘Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture’ by Thom Holmes
Lawrence Rosller of Bell labs with Max Mathews in front of the Graphics 1 system c 1967
Graphic 2/ GRIN 2 was later developed in 1976 as a commercial design package based on a faster PDP2 computer and was sold by Bell and DEC as a computer-aided design system for creating circuit designs and logic schematic drawings.
Audio recordings of the Graphic I/MUSIC IV system
Sources:
‘Interview with Max Mathews’ C. Roads and Max Mathews. Computer Music Journal, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Winter, 1980), pp. 15-22. The MIT Press
Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture. Thom Holmes
http://www.musicainformatica.it/
http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/cstr/99.html
‘The Oramics Machine: From vision to reality’. PETER MANNING. Department of Music, Durham University, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3RL, UK
M. V. Mathews and L. Rosler’ Perspectives of New Music’ Vol. 6, No. 2 (Spring – Summer, 1968), pp. 92-118
W. H. Ninke, “GRAPHIC I: A Remote Graphical Display Console System,” Proceedings of the Fall Joint Computer Conference of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies 27 (1965), Part I, pp. 839-846.
‘Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology: Volume 3 – Ballistics …’ Jack Belzer, Albert G. Holzman, Allen Kent