Almost 30 years ago (!) I mastered what I believe was the second ever album of 'generative music' to be released.
Around the same time, inspired by the experience, I bought the first – Brian Eno's 'Generative Music 1' – but was never able to play it properly.
...until now.
This is the (deeply nerdy) story of those two albums, of why I love them both, and how I finally managed to listen to Brian Eno's 'Generative Music 1' myself, exactly as it was originally intended.
And full disclosure – it's also at least partly an attempt to deal with my current case of EWS (Eno Withdrawal Syndrome).
Because last Friday was the ENO:24 livestream – 6 different versions of the ground-breaking generative documentary streamed over 24 hours, plus interviews, live footage and the art piece Nothing Can Ever Be The Same.
I have to admit I binged, catching 3+1/2 different versions of the film over that time, and loved every minute of it. As I said on BlueSky, the more I watched the more blown away I am by the skill of the editing team who put together all the different (possible) segments behind the scenes, and along with Brendan Dawes' generative coding, the results were amazing.
But now it's over, and I am bereft – so I've been delving into my archive of Eno posts to fill the void.
And at the top of the list is what might just be the rarest Eno album ever - Generative Music 1. Play the video above to hear an example song, and read on...
This album was Eno's first ever release of generative music, and since then he's pursued the idea, teaming up with Peter Chilvers to create a series of much more well-known generative music apps for iOS like Bloom, Scape and Reflection.
One of the remarkable things about Generative Music 1 though is the humble tech used to create and play it at the time. A 33Mhz 486 PC running Windows 3.1 with only 8MB would do fine, provided the PC in question had the KOAN generative music player – and crucially, a Soundblaster AWE32 soundcard.
And there's the catch. I bought the album myself soon after it was released, after working with Tim Didymus mastering the CD version of his album Float, which was also produced using KOAN software. Tim had been working with Brian, and I was excited to hear his new album.
Sadly, my computer didn't have an AWE32 card, and without it Generative Music 1 sounded... cheesy at best – commical at worst.
So the files languished unplayed on my hard drive. Reconnecting with Tim in 2016, he confirmed that the only way to play the album now was to build a dedicated 90s spec PC. I experimented with software emulators like VirtualBox but they lacked the critical AWE32 hardware support, specifically the EMU8000 chip that Eno programmed at a very deep level to achieve the results he wanted for this album. So the files continued to languish !
Until last week, when I came upon this video. AT the end of 2024, YouTube user Soft Automaton started uploading archival videos of 'Generative Music 1' being played back on exactly that kind of dedicated 'vintage' PC hardware ! Which is great, because it gives anyone the chance to listen to different plays of the album.
For me though, it just wasn't enough. Once again I started scouring the internet looking for a way to play my own files in realtime, and this time I found the 86box emulator. This insane open-source project emulates not only PC software, but the hardware as well. To the point where you have to choose the motherboard and graphics card separately, edit the BIOS settings, get the IRQs and DMA settings right... ah, the memories !
And crucially, one of the sound card choices is the AWE32 – and yes, it also emulates the EMU8000 !
Bingo, you might think - and yes it was, but only after more time & effort than I care to remember figuring out a configuration that was stable but slow enough that my venerable cheese-grater Mac Pro could handle the demands of emulating not only an entire PC hardware rig but also a realtime FM synthesizer...
And the great news is, it worked ! As you'll know already, if you've watched the video above. 'Generative Music 1' is playing in the background as I type this, in all it's 486 33Mhz emulated generative glory – and what's most interesting is that unlike Bloom or Reflection, separate plays of the same song can sometimes sound quite radically different.
So, is 'Generative Music 1' really the rarest Eno album of all time ? It's tough to say, but given that likely only 1000 physical copies were ever sold (I went for the cheaper download option), the files aren't online and even if you have them getting a hardware or software playback solution involves a considerable amount of effort, I'm guessing the answer is probably... Yes.
Now, time to dig out that 20-year-old laptop and see if I have the files for the three bonus tracks tucked away somewhere... #thequestcontinues
If you've got this far you should probably check out Soft Automaton's Generative Music 1 playlist for yourself – and maybe also click this link for even more Eno nerdery from me. Hopefully they'll help cure your EWS !
Fantastic interview with Eno by Adam Buxton
And his classic animation of Eno in the studio with Bowie & co-producer Tony Visconti (doing more than people think)
Deleted track from 'My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts' – Qu'ran
Eno in conversation with Rick Rubin
In the studio for Reflection's generative creation process
