Digital Audio Out of the Box

• Computer music developed since the late 50's; first om mainframe computers
• In the 70's micro computers became available and home computers became available
• From the late 90's onwards laptops became available and have become popular on stage
• Now (some) artists and performers are looking into ways of getting away from the laptop again

Looking at a broad overview of computer music, it started in the late 50's with the first versions of MUSIC (the predecessor of CSound); in these times, these programs would only run on mainframe computers, to which composers and musicians had little access - you somehow needed to get affiliated with the institutes that had these computers. In the 70's as microcomputers became available, more people got access to the computers and computation times had been reduced as well. With the advent of laptops in the 90s, computers are used more and more on stage by electronic musicians - the laptop has become a common element in stage setups. In the last years however, artists and musicians are looking for alternatives; they want to move away from the laptop again.