This is Part II of a series about my brushes with AI over the past couple of centuries. You can read Part I at https://rottendog.substack.com/p/just-messing-with-computers. It The first time I demonstrated my music software in a professional recording studio, a parrot was watching.
The demo was at Bobby Nathan’s Utopia Studios on 47th Street in New York. Manny’s Music had suggested I show the system to Bobby, who they regarded as their expert critic for reviewing new gear.l
The small upstairs lobby was shared with a parrot that wandered around freely, chattering from a perch in the corner like it owned the place.
I carried in a Macintosh computer, a Yamaha DX7 keyboard, and a small tangle of cables and set everything up in one of the recording rooms.
A few minutes later Bobby Nathan walked in with a tall blonde woman I didn’t recognize.
I started the demonstration.
The program—called Total Music—could record what a musician played on the keyboard and instantly display it as written musical notation on the screen. Notes appeared on a staff as the music was played. Measures filled themselves in automatically.
I finished the demo and waited for a reaction.
Bobby didn’t say anything.