17 Nov
2016
17 Nov
'16
12:52 p.m.
On Nov 17, 2016, at 3:44 PM, Kyle Owen <kylevowen
at gmail.com> wrote:
On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 10:10 AM, Paul Koning <paulkoning at comcast.net>
wrote:
Sound samples of the PLATO devices? I have somewhere an audio file made from a tape
recording of the earlier one (the GSW, 4 channel square wave). And it's supported in
the PLATO terminal emulator that talks to the Cyber1.org PLATO system. That almost
certainly doesn't exactly reproduce the wave form; I haven't attempted to simulate
the impulse response of the output circuit though I could certainly give that a try.
As for the later device, I don't have any recordings but they might exist. Sherwin
Gooch would be the most likely source, along with Lippold Haken.
paul
Interesting. From around 1975 or so, and worth learning about is the
music synthesizer developed on the PLATO system at the University of
Illinois by Sherwin Gooch. The hardware is described in great detail
(including full schematics) in US Patent 4,206,675. The software includes
a music code compiler, using a code somewhat like the one you referenced
but different in details. I don't know if one borred from the other or if
they are independent inventions. (Sherwin might remember.)
A few years later PLATO added a 16 channel waveform synthesis device,
controlled by the microprocessor in the terminals. It had a similar music
code, plus support for a piano keyboard (with key velocity sensing) for
music input with real time display of the score, as well as score
printing. Not long after, Lippold Haken created a keyboard that's
continuous rather than discrete (think of a keyboard like the fingerboard
of a violin); a successor of that is still sold today.
I'd be very interested in any sound samples, if anyone has any...I guess
that's perhaps unlikely.