PDP-1.music
Late at night in 1962, Bach's music could be heard playing through four control panel light bulbs of a 1959 DEC PDP-1 computer in an MIT research lab, student and "unauthorized user" Peter Samson flickering sound wave signals through the bulbs using his Harmony Compiler software. The lights still sing with Peter's software on the world's last running PDP-1.
In 2025, those same lights played Boards of Canada's "Olson", 603 bytes of music bridging the past inside the present.
Ready to create your own music for the PDP-1?
Explore how the 1962 Harmony Compiler plays Boards of Canada "Olson" on GitHub.
privacy policy
Let's keep this simple, no fine print.
If you submit your email address to be notified when the Harmony Compiler 2 beta is ready, it will be used to contact you about Harmony Compiler 2, and nothing else. Your IP address and submission time will also be saved and used only to prevent abuse.
User agents and referring URLs are counted in daily aggregates only, to understand project reach, and are never directly associated with you individually.
Your data is encrypted at rest and in transit, stored securely, and never shared with third parties. To remove your data please send an email to contact@pdp1.music from the address you signed up with.
last updated: 2025-09-05