Howard Allen Chamberlin, Jr. is an American audio engineer and writer from North Carolina, most widely known as the author of the book Musical Applications of Microprocessors.
Biography
[edit]In the 1970s while still at school he built an analog electronic music synthesizer and then a 16 bit computer from surplus IBM 1620 core memories to control it.[1][2]
He was awarded an MSc in Communication Engineering from NCSU in 1973. The subject of his thesis was the design of a digital music synthesizer utilising an organ keyboard and a Tektronix 453 oscilloscope for a graphics display.[2]
In November 1974 together with others began The Computer Hobbyist magazine.[3]
In 1977 he first published wavetable synthesis in Byte's September 1977 issue[4] and together with David B. Cox started Micro Technology Unlimited.[5] At Micro Technology Unlimited, in 1981, he designed the 6502-based MTU-130/140 microcomputer[6] and the Digisound-16, an early digital to analog converter.
His seminal book Musical Applications of Microprocessors was first published in 1979.[5][7][8]
In 1983, he completed design and construction of the electronics and computer for the Notebender, an innovative keyboard controller with keys that move toward and away from the performer as well as downward.[9][10]
In 1986 he left MTU to work for Kurzweil Music Systems where he remained in one engineering role or another until retirement in 2014.[5][8] While there amongst other projects he designed the Kurzweil K150[11]
In 1992 he moved to Boston.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ The First Ten Years of Amateur Computing by Sol Libes, Byte magazine, July 1978
- ^ a b Hal Chamberlin's Computer ACS Newsletter, Volume III, Number 2, September 1972
- ^ Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer by Paul Freiberger, Michael Swaine, Pragmatic Bookshelf, 3rd edition, 30 Oct. 2014, ISBN 1937785769
- ^ A sampling of techniques for computer performance of music by Hal Chamberlin, Byte, September 1977
- ^ a b c MTU Founders in Digital Audio Workstations
- ^ Compute!, Issue 19, December 1981, p. 72
- ^ Acknowledgements Archived 2021-07-09 at the Wayback Machine, Music From Outer Space website
- ^ a b The Kurzweil Music story: It all started with Ray, Kurzweil Music Systems, 25 January 2012
- ^ "Notebender Keyboard with longitudinal key motion -- photo and description". www.bikexprt.com. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
- ^ US4665788A, Tripp, Jeff; Allan, John S. & Murphy, F. Merrick, "Keyboard apparatus", issued 1987-05-19
- ^ Product information and history, December 2000
- ^ Meet the Members of the Tour, KRWG, 2004
Further reading
[edit]- Musical Applications of Microprocessors by Hal Chamberlin, Hayden Book Co., 1980, ISBN 0810457539
- Musical Applications of Microprocessor by Hal Chamberlin, 2nd ed., Sams, 1985, ISBN 0810457687
External links
[edit]- Interview by Brian Cowell, Sonikmatter, January 2002. (archived)
- "Hal Chamberlin" search at Archive.org
- The Computer Hobbyist