David A Jaffe – Silicon Valley Breakdown – A film by George Olczak

In this 1984 film by George Olczak, computer music pioneer David A. Jaffe discusses his musical outlook, and describes computer music at a time when few people were aware that computers could make music. Jaffe, who was working at that time at the Stanford Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), discusses his landmark work “Silicon Valley Breakdown,” the first computer piece to use physical modeling synthesis (outlined in his seminal paper “Extensions of the Karplus-Strong Plucked String Algorithm, co-authored with Julius O. Smith.) He also performs on the mandolin an excerpt from “Bristlecone Concerto 2,” for computer, mandolin and ensemble. Includes a nostalgic demonstration of the computer system of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) and CCRMA, including the Systems Concept Digital Synthesizer (Samson Box).

Category: Vintage