The Bre Pettis Collection of Computer Art
Research

Bre Pettis Computer Art Library

A reference shelf for researchers, curators, and the curious — records, books, scanned books, articles, and magazine issues that document the people and ideas behind the works in the collection. Most paper entries link to a downloadable PDF. References are organized by the artist they discuss; a piece that touches more than one artist appears in each section.

The library opens with the record shelf: computer and electronic music was pressed to disc as much as it was printed, from the Illiac Suite and the Bell Labs demonstration records to the ICA's Cybernetic Serendipity LP. Each record links to its catalog entry, and from there to its Discogs release — where there is often audio to listen to.

Books bought whenever possible with the hope of scanning them someday. Internet bitrot is real — PDFs have been collected while doing research on the artists as a way to maintain this information for research and future generations.

103 records · 267 on the shelf · 953 digital references across 107 artists

Read Notes → — writing and project notes.

Records

The vinyl documents of computer and electronic music — demonstration discs, exhibition LPs, and the records the pioneers made. Each links to its catalog entry with pressing details, provenance, and a Discogs page where you can usually listen.

The Sounds and Music of the RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer
Various Artists · 1955
Vinyl LP
The Science Of Sound
· 1959
Vinyl LP
The Science Of Sound
· 1959
Vinyl LP
Algorithme 1 — Musique extraite du film 'Imprévisibles Nouveautés'
Pierre Barbaud · 1960
Vinyl LP
Listen Move And Dance
Daphne Oram · 1962 (Fantome Phonographique numbered reissue, 2019)
Vinyl LP
Music From Mathematics
Various Artists · 1962 (UK pressing 1963)
Vinyl LP
Computer Speech — Hee Saw Dhuh Kaet (He Saw the Cat)
Bell Telephone Laboratories · 1963
Vinyl LP
Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center
Various Artists · 1964
Vinyl LP
Electronic Music
Various Artists · 1965
Vinyl LP
Variations IV
John Cage · 1966
Vinyl LP
Bobby And Betty Go To The Moon
· 1966
Vinyl LP
Computer Music From The University Of Illinois
Lejaren Hiller · 1967
Vinyl LP
Silver Apples of the Moon
Morton Subotnick · 1967
Vinyl LP
Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir
Pierre Henry · 1967
Vinyl LP
Electronic Music III
Various Artists · 1968
Vinyl LP
Silver Apples
Silver Apples · 1968 (180g reissue, 2009)
Vinyl LP
Cybernetic Serendipity Music
Various Artists · 1968 (Vinyl Factory reissue, 2014)
Vinyl LP
Cybernetic Serendipity Music
Various Artists · 1968
Vinyl LP
Electronic Music To Blow Your Mind By!!!
· 1968
Vinyl LP
Switched-On Bach
Wendy Carlos · 1968
Vinyl LP
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
John Lennon & Yoko Ono · 1968
Vinyl LP
The Wild Bull
Morton Subotnick · 1968
Vinyl LP
M.O.O.T. (Music of Our Time): A Guide to the Electronic Revolution of Music
Various Artists · 1968
Vinyl LP
Moog - The Electric Eclectics Of Dick Hyman
Dick Hyman · 1969
Vinyl LP
Atrées / Morsima-Amorsima / ST/4 / Nomos Alpha
Iannis Xenakis · 1969
Vinyl LP
Moog - The Electric Eclectics Of Dick Hyman
Dick Hyman · 1969
Vinyl LP
Album 2: Akrata / Achorripsis / Polla Ta Dhina / ST/10
Iannis Xenakis · 1969
Vinyl LP
An Electric Storm
White Noise · 1969 (US Antilles reissue, 1976)
Vinyl LP
Průkopník A Prorok
Edgard Varèse · 1969
Vinyl LP
Time's Encomium (For Synthesized & Processed Synthesized Sound)
Charles Wuorinen · 1969
Vinyl LP
Plugged In Pop
· 1969
Vinyl LP
Stereo Review's Stereo Test Record (Model SR 12)
· 1969
Vinyl LP
Topless Dancers Of Corfu / The Minotaur
Dick Hyman · 1969
Vinyl LP
The Moog Strikes Bach... (To Say Nothing Of Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Paganini And Prokofieff)
Hans Wurman · 1969
Vinyl LP
Apollo 11 - We Have Landed On The Moon
· 1969
Vinyl LP
The Well-Tempered Synthesizer
Wendy Carlos · 1969
Vinyl LP
Time's Encomium (For Synthesized & Processed Synthesized Sound)
Charles Wuorinen · 1969
Vinyl LP
Music For Instruments & Electronic Sounds
Donald Erb · 1969
Vinyl LP
Touch
Morton Subotnick · 1969
Vinyl LP
Electronic Music IV
Various Artists · 1969
Vinyl LP
Switched-On Bacharach
Christopher Scott (2) · 1969
Vinyl LP
Environments (New Concepts in Stereo Sound — Disc 1)
· 1969
Vinyl LP
Flight to the Moon: Official NASA Voice Tapes of Apollo 11
Roy Neal · 1969
Vinyl LP
The Minotaur
Dick Hyman · 1969
Vinyl LP
Switched-On Bach (Japanese edition)
Wendy Carlos · 1969
Vinyl LP
Earth's Magnetic Field
Charles Dodge · 1970
Vinyl LP
Computer Music
Various Artists · 1970 (Warner-era repress)
Vinyl LP
Computer Music
Various Artists · 1970
Vinyl LP
Voice of the Computer: New Musical Horizons
Various Artists · 1970
Vinyl LP
HPSCHD / String Quartet No. 2
John Cage · 1970
Vinyl LP
BBC Radiophonic Music
BBC Radiophonic Workshop · 1971 (Silva Screen clear/pink-splatter reissue, 2022)
Vinyl LP
Our Journey To The Moon / Friendship 7 To Apollo 11
· 1971
Vinyl LP
Everything You Always Wanted To Hear On The Moog (But Were Afraid To Ask For)
· 1971
Vinyl LP
Computer Music
Pietro Grossi · 1972
Vinyl LP
Space Experience
John Keating · 1972
Vinyl LP
The Electronic Spirit of Erik Satie
The Camarata Contemporary Chamber Orchestra · 1972
Vinyl LP
Intergalactic Trot
Stardrive · 1973
Vinyl LP
Music For Flute & Tape
· 1974
Vinyl LP
Snowflakes Are Dancing
Isao Tomita · 1974
Vinyl LP
The Radiophonic Workshop
BBC Radiophonic Workshop · 1975
Vinyl LP
Benzaiten
Osamu Kitajima · 1974 (US pressing 1976)
Vinyl LP
Electronic Music Winners
Various Artists · 1976
Vinyl LP
Synthesized Voices
Charles Dodge · 1976
Vinyl LP
Inside Star Trek
Gene Roddenberry · 1976
Vinyl LP
Micro-Acoustics TT 2002 Transient & Tracking Ability Stereo Demonstration Record
· 1976
Vinyl LP
New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media
Various Artists · 1977
Vinyl LP
Simultan
Roland Kayn · 1977 (Die Schachtel box, 2018)
Vinyl LP
On Being Invisible
David Rosenboom · 1977
Vinyl LP
Yellow Magic Orchestra USA & Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1978 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Elektronische Produktie Van Het I.P.E.M.
Various Artists · 1978
Vinyl LP
Solid State Survivor
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1979 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Stevie Wonder's Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants
Stevie Wonder · 1979
Vinyl LP
New Sense of Hearing
Takehisa Kosugi · 1979
Vinyl LP
Public Pressure
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1980 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
増殖 X∞Multiplies
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1980 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Discofil
ORM · 1980
Vinyl LP
Rhythms For Computer And Percussion
Joel Chadabe · 1981
Vinyl LP
BGM
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1981 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Technodelic
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1981 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Ambient 4 (On Land)
Brian Eno · 1982
Vinyl LP
Naughty Boys & Instrumental
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1983 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Service
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1983 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Cascando / Full Moon in March
Charles Dodge · 1983
Vinyl LP
After Service
Yellow Magic Orchestra · 1984 (2015-16 Music On Vinyl reissue)
Vinyl LP
Devil's Music
Nicolas Collins · 1985
Vinyl LP
Music From Mills
Various Artists · 1986
Vinyl LP
Computer Music Retrospective
Lejaren Hiller · 1986
Vinyl LP
Kompositionen Für Klavier, Tonband Und Live-Elektronik
Ralf Hoyer / Susanne Stelzenbach · 1986
Vinyl LP
Bach by Design: Computer Composed Music
David Cope · 1994
Vinyl LP
A Night Out / Moogwai
Moogwai · 1999
Vinyl LP
Electronic Fences
Computer Magic · 2011
Vinyl LP
Oramics
Daphne Oram · 1950s-70s works (Young Americans clear-vinyl 4xLP, 2013)
Vinyl LP
Music With Memory
David Behrman · 1970s-80s works (Alga Marghen edition, 2017)
Vinyl LP
Electronic Music From The Eighties And Nineties
Carl Stone · 2018
Vinyl LP
Institute of Sonology 1959-1969
Various Artists · 2019
Vinyl LP
Songs Without Throats
Paul DeMarinis · 1970s-80s works (Black Truffle, 2019)
Vinyl LP
Danz
Computer Magic · 2019
Vinyl LP
The Expanding Universe
Laurie Spiegel · 2019
Vinyl LP
Songs From the Bardo
Laurie Anderson · 2019
Vinyl LP
Davos
Computer Magic · 2021
Vinyl LP
That Night — MI-8400 (cassette)
Arno Beck · 2021
Vinyl LP
Stria
John Chowning · 2022
Vinyl LP
Peter Beyls
Peter Beyls · 2025
Vinyl LP