Interviewed by Dag Spicer on 2024-10-01 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum
In this oral history, computer scientist Peter Samson recounts his lifelong passion for electronics, music, and computation. Beginning with tinkering in his Massachusetts childhood, Samson describes building rudimentary computers from pinball relays and joining MIT’s Tech Model Railroad Club, where his interests in logic, systems, and creativity flourished. He contributed to the TX-0 and PDP-1 communities, developing the Harmony Compiler and adding the Expensive Planetarium starfield to Spacewar!, one of the very earliest computer games.
Samson’s pioneering music synthesis work culminated in the groundbreaking Systems Concepts Digital Synthesizer (also known as the "Samson Box”), built for Stanford University’s Center for Computing Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and widely recognized as a major milestone in the history of electronic music. Samson also reflects on his time at the Stanford AI Lab and Autodesk. A modest yet influential figure, Samson blends technical insight with humor, historical perspective, and cultural curiosity. His contributions span early computing, digital music, and CAD systems —leaving a legacy very much resonant in computing and the arts today.
- Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information – http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102809041
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum’s Oral History Collection.
Collection number: 102809042
Acquisition number: 2024.0169
About The Author
