Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"When you're making a revolution in cyberspace, things look rather different from the way the 1980s cyberpunks wrote it."
- Charles Stross

Computer Generated DigItal Music  
  A computer composes music with a few simple inputs from the user.  

I'm sure there must be earlier references to this idea in sf, but I'm still looking.

Waves, repetitions, pulsatons, rumblings, the rise of a violin taking off can all be described by a Fourier Series-an amalgamation of sine & cosine waves of different frequencies & amplitudes. A frequency is a number. An amplitude is a number. Charlie composed by choosing the number and deciding when to change it. His computer executed the command. He created his own computer language for imitating instruments. It was a simple matter to write a subroutine for oboe or violin or harmonica
Technovelgy from The Moon Goddess and the Son , by Donald Kingsbury.
Published by Not known in 1979
Additional resources -

In an interview published in Wired magazine (August, 2010) Fred Brooks states that he programmed a computer to produce hymns in the 1950's. Brooks is the author of the famous The Mythical Man-Month.

Thanks to Dennis Cote for finding this item and sharing it with us.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Moon Goddess and the Son
  More Ideas and Technology by Donald Kingsbury
  Tech news articles related to The Moon Goddess and the Son
  Tech news articles related to works by Donald Kingsbury

Articles related to Computer
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'

Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'

Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'

Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.

Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'

Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'

Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'

Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'

Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.