Tune in to hear me interviewed by Digital Planet in a special looking at Obsolete?, The National Museum of Computing and the rise of the personal computer. You can download the new version of the theme tune for free here and you can  listen again here. There is also a downloadable podcast here.

The Open University and Digital Planet, BBC World Service’s Weekly Technology programme, have joined forces to produce six special co-produced editions of the programme. Hosted by Gareth Mitchell, Digital Planet brings the clearest, sharpest guide to developments in our connected world to a worldwide audience via radio, digital and online.

For more information, listen online and listen again visit the Digital Planet BBC site here. Image reproduced with permission see footer.

Pixelh8’s most recent work “Obsolete?” is a audio and visual study of the people, machines, history of The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park and looks closely at the themes of mathematics, logic, code-breaking and enciphering. The project was funded by the PRS Foundations new music award and commissioned by The National Museum of Computing.

Available on iTunes UK here and iTunes USA here!

The music itself is composed using some of the oldest and rarest computers in the world such as the WWII code-breaking machine Colossus Mark 2 Rebuild, and the 1960’s Elliott 803 largely used for mathematics and some of the more commonplace machines such as the BBC Micro. With over thirty machines studied and utilised within the music, it is a combination of both sounds from the internal sound chips and the external electro-mechanical sounds. In addition to this, the piece also utilises such items as the early non-electrical mechanical adding machines.

The project was comprised of twelves pieces of music and accompanying visuals and culminated in two performances at the prestigious Bletchley Park Mansion on March 20th and 21st, 2009.