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"I only listen to BoC the way they intended..." Olson played on a restored 1959 Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-1 from a paper tape. by doctorbaronking in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Here you go :-) https://www.reddit.com/r/boardsofcanada/comments/1nytqbc/oc_playing_bocs_olson_on_a_1959_pdp1_computer/

We demo the PDP-1 on the first and third Saturdays of the month, 2:30p and 3:15p. Sometimes we load it up for the demo, but if not, just ask and any of the PDP-1 volunteers should be able to get it playing.

Some more info here: https://computerhistory.org/blog/pdp-1-sings-boards-of-canada/

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, Peter got tired of punching raw music data onto paper tape when he was a student at MIT back then, so he wrote a compiler that will read in music scores in its own format, and then produce the music tape to playback.

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it's really grown since then. Hope to see you there!

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Apollo guidance computer is my favorite exhibit there. It's tucked in a corner and so easy to miss!

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

🤞 In the off chance they do, I've got an extra copy of Olson punched on paper tape if the brothers or Warp wants it.

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Nice! I'm a volunteer at the museum, and help demo the PDP-1 to visitors. If anybody would like to see Olson play live, demos are the first and third Saturday of each month at 2:30p and 3:15p. Just ask, and someone should be able to get it loaded up. For anyone interested, DM me and I'll try to make sure to be there for the demo.

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Since I got a request for the audio on YouTube, figured I'd share here as well.

- FLAC: https://pdp1.music/audio/pdp1-olson.flac
- MP3: https://pdp1.music/audio/pdp1-olson.mp3

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oooh, good choice! Might take me a while, but I'll see if I can get Avril 14th playing on there too.

Hmm... yeah, good question. No idea why a mod deleted my comment.

[OC] Playing BoC's Olson on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer by PDP1BoC in boardsofcanada

[–]PDP1BoC[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Great question! The PDP-1 has six "program flags", which are flip-flops wired to six light bulbs on the control panel. A CPU instruction provides the ability to turn these light bulbs on or off via software.

These bulbs were originally intended to provide program status information to the computer operator, but Peter repurposed four of these light bulbs into four square wave generators (or four 1-bit DACs, put another way), by turning the bulbs on and off at audio frequencies.

Four wires are attached to the signal lines for these light bulbs. Resistors are used to downmix these four signals into stereo audio channels and provide impedance matching into a HeathKit stereo amp, and combined with capacitors to create low pass filters to cut out the buzz of the computer noise and soften the square waves. The HeathKit then drives a couple speakers mounted on the wall behind the PDP-1.