1981
In his April 19, 1981, New York Times column "Music View; AND NOW, THE WORLD'S FIRST COMPOSING MACHINE," Donal Henahan reviews the avant-garde landscape, primarily focusing on Salvatore Martirano's "Sal-Mar Construction."
While the article is prominently archived by the Max Neuhaus Estate due to Neuhaus's significance in the "sound art" movement discussed, the text highlights the following:
The Sal-Mar Construction: Henahan describes this "supersynthesizer" as a machine that shares the role of composer, spontaneously creating melodic lines across 24 speakers while the human performer merely "interacts".
The piece reflects the era’s fascination with "composing with brain-wave feedback, fiber-optic systems, and analog computers," moving away from traditional notation toward spatial sound.
Although Martirano is the central subject of this specific article, Neuhaus is often grouped with such pioneers because he shifted the focus from "music" as a performance to "sound" as a site-specific, permanent physical entity.
The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/19/arts/music-view-and-now-the-world-s-first-composing-machine.html