Max Mathews, computer music pioneer and namesake of the computer performance software Max , died yesterday from complications due to pneumonia at the age of 84.

Max pioneered computer music with his programs for the IBM 704 mainframe in the late 1950’s. A famous early piece was “Daisy Bell” (AKA Bicycle Built For Two), which was made famous as HAL 9000’s final performance in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

There’s a nice profile of Max on the CSounds website, and a good obituary on Synthtopia.