Music from Mathematics, the First Computer Music Issued on Record

The first commercially issued recording of computer generated music, Music from Mathematics (full album), created by John R. Pierce and Max Mathews at Bell Labs.

This work is not only some of the earliest digital electronic music ever produced, it also some of the earliest digital generative art and digital art, generally.

According to the New York Times:

“While not the first person to make sound with a computer, Max was the first one to do so with a replicable combination of hardware and software that allowed the user to specify what tones he wanted to hear.”

The Times article goes on to add how Mathews’s early attempts to create computer-generated music, “laid the groundwork for a revolutionary advancement in music, the reverberations of which are felt everywhere today.”