We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Imitation Archive

by Matt Parker

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
WITCH 03:47
2.
3.
4.
Terminal 01:56
5.
Wrens 03:30
6.
Time in Sync 00:29
7.
8.
9.
Flowers 06:10
10.
Alexander 05:34

about

Following a period of two months at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, Matt Parker recorded and archived over 100 sounds from the historic collection of computers within the museum. The Imitation Archive, was submitted to The British Library Sound and Vision Archive to act as a permanent repository of the sounds of 70 years of computing history, starting as far back as the first ever programmable digital computer, Colossus.

Using the archived materials, Parker has composed ten unique pieces of musical composition that reflect his experiences of late nights and long days enveloped in the sounds of computer history as well as the stories behind the objects.

The compositions reflect the 'always on' durational nature of many of the machines from their operational heyday, the clunking masses of early relay based machines are juxtaposed by the whirring monoliths of the 1980's mainframe era and the high frequency whir of modern day server units. Devices that are closely associated with the Bletchley Park history of code-breaking flutter in and out to reflect the story and significance of the operations that were undertaken at the park during the second world war, which ultimately led to the rapid progression in computer technology.

The Imitation Archive is 34 minutes of computer glitch, crunch, hiss and whir that commemorates 70 years of computing, produced at the birthplace of computing, Bletchley Park.

Made under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA.

credits

released July 20, 2015

Matt Parker
The National Museum of Computing
Bletchley Park Trust

license

tags

about

Matt Parker Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Matt Parker is a Sonospheric Investigator; an artist researching the resonances between things. His multimedia works are influenced by the practice of listening; to unsound vibratory ecologies and the economies of noise. His research engages with sound studies, media ecology, field recording and geohumanities through a critical and spectral art practice. ... more

contact / help

Contact Matt Parker

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

Matt Parker recommends:

If you like Matt Parker, you may also like: