It is with a heavy heart that I write. Max Matthews, commonly known as The Father of Computer Music, has passed away.

I was introduced to Max and his work about ten years ago by one of my mentors, Dr. Richard Boulanger. At that time Richard and Max were working with haptic feedback controllers that would allow you to actually “feel”, push, and pull parts of a digital wavetable. The Create Digital Music blog has a wonderful writeup on Max’s work.

Anyone making music with digital tools owes a great deal to this incredible human being. Here is a video of Max demonstrating his signature controller, the radio baton. Rest in Peace.