The Holmes Archive of Electronic Music

Electronic Jazz, Part 1: Before the Synthesizer

Episode 13
Electronic Jazz, Part 1: Before the Synthesizer
Playlist:
André Hodeir: “Jazz et Jazz” (1960)
Terry Riley and Chet Baker, “Music for The Gift,” part 1 (1963).
Walter De Maria, “Cricket Music,” 1964, privately released (excerpt).
Bob James, “Untitled Tracks” from Explosions, 1965.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, “Slippery, Hippery, Flippery,” from Rip, Rig, and Panic 1965.
Bernard Parmegiani, “JazzEx,” 1966.
Roger Kellaway, “Spirit Feel,” from the album Spirit Feel, 1967.
Frank Zappa, from the album Lumpy Gravy, about nine minutes into side 1, 1968.
Barney Wilen, “Auto Jazz: The Tragic Destiny of Lorenzo Bandini,” part 2, 1968.
The Archive Mix includes two additional tracks played at the same time to see what happens. These two additional tracks are additional examples of electronic jazz with tape:
Walter De Maria, Ocean Music, privately released, 1968 (excerpt).
Barney Wilen, Auto Jazz, part 1, 1968.
Read my book: Electronic and Experimental Music (sixth edition), by Thom Holmes (Routledge 2020).
Read this important paper by George Lewis on improvisation and jazz origins: George E. Lewis, “Improvised Music after 1950: Afrological and Eurological Perspectives,” Black Music Research Journal 16, no. 1 (1996): 93.
 

David Tudor: From piano to electronics

Episode 12
 
David Tudor: From piano to electronics
 
The transition of a pianist to electronic music
 
David Tudor (1926-1996)
 
In which we listen to works created while Tudor transitioned from playing piano to composing works for homemade electronics.
 
Playlist
Bo Nilsson, Quantitäten (1958), for “electronically fortified” piano. Recording from Swedish Radio made in 1960. This is an abbreviated performance of the work made for Swedish Radio.
John Cage, Cartridge Music (1960). For amplified small sounds; also amplified piano or cymbal; any number of players and loudspeakers; parts to be prepared from score by performers. Recording by John Cage and David Tudor, Time Records (1963).
John Cage, Variations II (1961), Parts to be prepared from the score, for any number of players, using any sound-producing means. Piano and electronics by David Tudor. Recorded in Japan in 1962.
Christian Wolff, For 1, 2, or 3 People (1964), Piano by David Tudor. Recorded live by KPFA Radio in 1965 at the San Francisco Museum of Art.
David Tudor, Bandoneon ! (A Combine) (1966), for bandoneon and live electronics. Recorded live in October 1966 at E.A.T.’s at Nine Evenings: Theatre and Engineering. From the collection, The Art of David Tudor released by New World Records and Radio Bremen.
 
The Archive Mix in which I conclude the podcast by playing two additional tracks at the same time, to see what happens. This time, I am once again drawing up David Tudor and John Cage from the Folkways recording in 1959 of the lecture Indeterminacy.
John Cage and David Tudor, Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music, the first three minutes of the lecture recorded in 1959 for Folkways Records.
John Cage and David Tudor, Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music, the last three minutes of the lecture recorded in 1959 for Folkways Records.
 
Read my book: Electronic and Experimental Music (sixth edition), by Thom Holmes (Routledge 2020).
 
Contact Composers Inside Electronics, c/o John Driscoll and Phil Edelstein, longtime Tudor associates beginning in the 1970s for a history of the group and updates about their ongoing activities.
 
Read You Nakai’s new book about Tudor: Reminded by the Instruments: David Tudor's Music(Oxford 2020)
 
Full disclosure: I work for Oxford University Press by day, although not in the trade book division that has published You Nakai’s new book.

Vintage Drones and Beats

Episode 11
Vintage Drones and Beats
Playlist
Alan Sondheim, Day’s Eye, from the album All 7-70* ‎– T'Other Little Tune (1968). For dilruba, trumpet, tabla, and Moog Modular Synthesizer.
Eliane Radigue, Chry-ptus I (1971), excerpt, from the album Chry-ptus. Realized on the Buchla Synthesizer at Morton Subotnick’s studio at New York University. Originally two tapes that were played simultaneously, with or without being synchronized.
La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. 31 VII 69 10:26 - 10:49 PM for sine wave drone, voice, and bowed gongs. From “the black album,” 1969. Numbered edition limited to 2800 copies, of which mine is number 661.
Maggi Payne, White Night, from the album Crystal (1986).
Eliane Radigue, Σ = a = b = a + b (1969), two 7” discs, we heard side a-4. Composed while she was living in Paris, just before coming to New York. “Sides A and B can be listened to separately or simultaneously, synchronously or asynchronously. Sides A and B of this disc can be combined indefinitely at any speed 78, 45, 33 or 16 turns.” 250 duplicates of this disc were made. I do not own this disc.
Annette Peacock and Paul Bley, Dual Unity. From the album Dual Unity, 1972. For piano and vocal treatments with the Moog Synthesizer.
Luc Ferrari, Cellule 75 (1975), excerpt, for piano, percussion and magnetic tape. Composed May - November 1975. Performed at Mills College. Recorded and Mixed by Maggi Payne.
The Archive Mix in which I play two additional tracks at the same time, to see what happens. This time, however, I am playing three tracks. Two are different portions of Eliane Radigue’s Vice Versa Etc., mix 1 from 1970. The third track is the ending of Cellule 75 by Luc Ferrari.
Eliane Radigue, excerpt, Vice Versa Etc. Mix 1 (1970), from the opening of the mix.
Eliane Radigue, excerpt, Vice Versa Etc. Mix 1 (1970), from the closing of the mix.
Luc Ferrari, excerpt, Cellule 75 (1975), from the end of the piece.
Read my book: Electronic and Experimental Music (sixth edition), by Thom Holmes (2020).
 

The Moog Modular Synthesizer—First Recordings

Episode 10
 
The Moog Modular Synthesizer—First Recordings
 
Playlist
 
Countdown to number 1.
 
Perrey and Kingsley, The Savers B/W Pioneers of the Stars. Single. Released: December 9, 1967. Moog Programmer: Gershon Kingsley and Jean Jacques Perrey who also played Ondioline on the recording. This is an early single release from the marvelous Kaleidoscopic Vibrations album released in the same month. Produced in New York without the aid of Paul Beaver.
Toshi Ichyanagi, Extended Voices. Released: November 18, 1967. New pieces for chorus and for voices altered electronically by sound synthesizers and vocoder. Toshi Ichyanagi, Voices (for Voices with Moog Synthesizer and Buchla Associates Modular System).
The Monkees, Daily Nightly, from the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Released: November 11, 1967. The Monkees, with Micky Dolenz and Paul Beaver on Moog.
Hal Blaine, Tune In – Turn On, from the album Psychedelic Percussion. Released: September 30, 1967. Moog programmer: Paul Beaver. Also featured multi-percussionist Emil Richards.
The Electric Flag, Flash, Bam, Pow, from The Trip soundtrack album. Released: September 9, 1967. Moog programmer: Paul Beaver and The Electric Flag, a Los Angeles rock group led by Mike Bloomfield (guitar).
The Doors, Strange Days from the album Strange Days. Released: September 7, 1967, with Paul Beaver using the Moog to modify Morrison’s voice on the title track.
 
The Seeds, Six Dreams, a single. Released: June 24, 1967. No Moog credits given, but that wind sound heard throughout closely resembles the Moog white noise generator. Recorded in Los Angeles.
Emil Richards, Garnet, from the album Stones. Released: June 1967. Moog programmer: Paul Beaver. Although Paul Beaver set-up the Moog, Richards was actively engaged in playing the synthesizer for this session.
Hal Blaine, Love-In (December) B/W Wiggy. Single. Released: June 3. 1967. Moog programmer: Paul Beaver. This single preceded Blaine’s Psychedelic Percussion album by three months, a case where the single achieves date priority over the album from which it was taken. This also marked the first 45 RPM single to feature a Moog.
Mort Garson, Aquarius: The Lover of Life from the album, The Zodiac Cosmic Sounds. Released: May 20, 1967. Moog programmer: Paul Beaver. Recorded in Los Angeles in late April 1967, with Paul Beaver credited for “electronic instruments.”
The Archive Mix in which I play two additional tracks at the same time, to see what happens.
Tillicum, the theme from the Canadian TV show “Here Come the Seventies,” by Syrinx. From 1970. John Mills-Cockell on Moog.
Komarovsky and Lara’s Rendevous, from the soundtrack to Doctor Zhivago, music by Maurice Jarre, excerpt. This soundtrack from 1965 is rumored to have included an early Moog, but audible evidence is scarce. I think I may have found an example in the deep bass bed midway through this cut.
Read my book: Electronic and Experimental Music (sixth edition), by Thom Holmes (2020).
Link to my blog for the Bob Moog Foundation.
 
 
 

When Computer Music was Experimental, 1951-1971

This Episode: When Computer Music was Experimental, 1951-1971
Early Recordings of Computer Synthesis
Playlist
Tones from Australia, 1951. All produced using the CSIR Mark 1 computer built at the CSIR’s radiophysics division in Sydney.
Alan Turing’s computer music. 1951. Recording made of tones generated by the mainframe computer at the Computing Machine Laboratory in Manchester, England. Snippets of the tunes God Save the Queen, Baa, Baa Black Sheep, and Glenn Miller’s swing classic In the Mood. Plus the voices of computer lab members listening to the sound as it was recorded. Original acetate recording from 1951 restored by University of Canterbury composer Jason Long and Prof Jack Copeland.
Incidentally, synthesizing music ….
Beat Canon (1960) by Dr. J. R. Pierce. From the album Music From Mathematics, Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Numerology (1960) by Max Mathews. From the album Music From Mathematics, Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Noise Study (1961) by James Tenney, from Music for Mathematics, Bell Labs, 1961 expanded edition.
Bicycle Built For Two (Unaccompanied and Accompanied versions) (1963) From the demonstration record Computer Speech - Hee Saw Dhuh Kaet (He Saw The Cat), produced by Bell Laboratories.
Computer Cantata, Prologue to Strophe III (1963) by Lejaren Hiller. From the album Computer Music From The University Of Illinois (1963). This work employed direct computer synthesis using an IBM 7094 mainframe computer and the Musicomp programming language.
Lyric Variations For Violin And Computer (1965-1968) by J. K. Randall. From the record A Mitzvah For The Dead For Violin And Tape / Lyric Variations For Violin And Computer on Vanguard Records.
Permutation of Five Sounds (1967) by Pietro Grossi. From the album GE-115 - Computer Concerto on the Italian General Electric label. Realized at Studio di Fonologia musicale di Firenze (Italy). Distributed in 1967 as a New Year's gift by Olivetti company.
Mixed Paganini (1967) by Pietro Grossi, also from the album GE-115.
HPSCHD by John Cage and Lejaren Hiller (1967-1969). The piece was written for Harpsichords and Computer-Generated Sound Tapes.
January Tensions (excerpt) by Peter Zinovieff. Computer performed and composed in his private studio outside of London.
Synthesism (1970) by Barry Vercoe. From the album Computer Music released on Nonesuch. Realized in the Computer Centers of Columbia and Princeton Universities using MUSIC 360 for the IBM 360 mainframe computer. Vercoe authored this musical programming language.
Wishful Thinking About Winter (1970) by Wayne Slawson. From the album Voice of the Computer: New Musical Horizons (1970). Produced at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Eight-Tone Canon (1970) by J.R. Pierce. From the album Voice of the Computer: New Musical Horizons (1970). Produced at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Computer Suite From "Little Boy" (1970) by Jean Claude Risset. From the album Voice of the Computer: New Musical Horizons (1970). Produced at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
The Earth’s Magnetic Field by Charles Dodge (1971). From Nonesuch Records. Every sound in the piece was computed into digital form using the IBM/ 360 model 91 at the Columbia University Computer Center, and then converted into analog form at the Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Computer says farewell, Music from Mathematics (1960).
 
The Archive Mix in which I play two additional tracks at the same time, to see what happens.
Capriccio N. 5 (1967) by Pietro Grossi. From the album GE-115 - Computer Concerto on the Italian General Electric label. Computer synthesized sound.
Pitch Variations (1960) by Newman Guttman. From the album Music From Mathematics, Bell Telephone Laboratories. From the album Music From Mathematics, Bell Telephone Laboratories.
 
Read my book: Electronic and Experimental Music (sixth edition), by Thom Holmes (2020).
 

Synthetic Environments

Episode 8
 
This episode: Synthetic Environments
 
Recordings of contemplative imaginary spaces.
 
Playlist
The Rainy Season, (1952), excerpt. Edited by Moses Asch. From the album Sounds of a Tropical Rain Forest in America(Folkways Records, US). Edited field recordings.
Im Westen Nicht Neues Side A (2013). By Ian Anüll / Luigi Archetti / Lux Lindner (Ultimate Records, Switzerland). Excerpt. Edited field recordings, crickets.
Im Westen Nicht Neues Side B (2013). By Ian Anüll / Luigi Archetti / Lux Lindner (Ultimate Records, Switzerland). Excerpt. Studio recording, electronic.
The Sea (1975) by Brad Miller. From the album Nature’s Mystic Moods: The Sounds of the Storm and the Sea (Bainbridge Records, US). Excerpt. Edited field recordings.
Fish Wrap (1989) by Bernie Krause. From the EP Jungle Shoes (Ryko Analogue, US). Edited field recordings of animals and their environment.
World Rhythms (1975) by Annea Lockwood. From the album New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media (1750 Arch Records, US). Edited field recordings and gong.
Tintinnabulation (contemplative sound) (1970) by Syntonic Research, From the album Environments 2 (Atlantic Records, US). Computer synthesized sound played at 45 RPM.
Sonic Landscapes No. 3 (1977 revision) by Barry Truax. From the album Sonic Landscapes: Electronic and Computer Music(Melbourne Records, Canada). Excerpt. “A spatial environment for four computer synthesized soundtracks.”
Back Porch (2020) by Christina Vantzou. From the album Multi Natural (Edições CN, Belgium). Ambient and electronic music with instrumentalists.
 
The Archive Mix, in which I play two additional tracks at the same time to see what happens, included the following:
Appalachian Grove I (1974) by Laurie Spiegel. From the album New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media (1750 Arch Records, US). Computer synthesized sound.
Jungle Shoes (original edit) (1989) by Bernie Krause. From the EP Jungle Shoes (Ryko Analogue, US). Edited field recordings of animals and their environment.
 
Read my book: Electronic and Experimental Music (sixth edition), by Thom Holmes (2020).
 
Also of interest: Richard Carlin, Worlds of Sound: The Story of Smithsonian Folkways (2008).

Strange Sounds from the Movies 1931-1972

Episode 7
Strange Sounds from the Movies 1931-1972
 
 
Title, Director, composer
Country
Year
Track
Instrument
Story
Alone (Odna), Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, music by Dmitry Shostakovich
Russia
1931
“The Snowstorm”
Theremin
Perhaps the film sound film to incorporate a Theremin in its score. The audio for this part of the film has been lost but we have this reconstruction by Mark Fitz-Gerald based on Shostakovich’s score. The work was recorded in 2006 and features Barbara Buchholz playing both tracks of Theremin.
Le Roman D'un Tricheur (leh-ROH-mah deh TREE-shure)(The Story of a Cheater) by Sacha Guitry (GIE-tree), music by Adolphe Borchard
France
1936
Short sequence while traveling on a train.
Ondes Martenot
Played by Ginette Martenot, sister of Maurice Martenot.
Spellbound, Alfred Hitchcock, music by Miklós Rózsa (MICK-los ROSE-ah)
US
1945
The dream sequence from the Spellbound suite.
Theremin
This recording was by Al Goodman and his orchestra and featured Hoffman, who was in the original soundtrack a year earlier. Note that there is a vocalist doubling the Theremin but at a higher octave.
Spellbound, Alfred Hitchcock, Miklós Rózsa
US
1945
The dream sequence from the Spellbound suite.
Theremin
For comparison, a recording from 1958 by Raymond John Heindorf and his orchestra. The fidelity is a little better on this track and the theremin is played without the added vocalist.
The Day the Earth Stood Still, Robert Wise, music by Bernard Hermann
US
1951
Gort / The Visor / The Telescope
Theremin
Samuel Hoffman again, on Theremin and a wonderful orchestral score by Hermann.
The Day the Earth Stood Still, Robert Wise, music by Bernard Hermann
US
1951
The Captive, Terror
Theremin
Here is Hermann again, with Hoffman on Theremin and a Hammond Novachord in the ending part.
Forbidden Planet, Fred McLeod Wilcox, music by Louis and Bebe Barron
US
1956
Main Title
Handmade circuits
The Barrons had their own private studio for making electronic sounds and music for television, commercials, and motion pictures.
Forbidden Planet, Fred McLeod Wilcox, music by Louis and Bebe Barron
US
1956
Battle with the Invisible Monster
Handmade circuits
See above
Forbidden Planet, Fred McLeod Wilcox, music by Louis and Bebe Barron
US
1956
Ancient Krell Music
Handmade circuits
See above
Music from One Step Beyond, music by Harry Lubin
US
1960
Fear
Trautonium
The instrument had ribbon controllers to make the gliding notes entirely possible and measure against notes of the scale so that the musician could hit his notes accurately.
Raumpatrouille - Space Patrol – The Fantastic Adventures of the Spaceship Orion, Theo Mezger and
Michael Braun, music by Peter Thomas
Germany
1966
Outside Atmosphere
Siemens "ThoWiephon"
Thomas created a musical instrument called "ThoWiephon.” It was a small, upright device with 12 oscillators and a three-octave keyboard.
Girl on a Motorcycle, Jack Cardiff, music by Les Reed
UK
1968
Dream
Tape composition
Electronic music composition for this film starring Marianne Faithful was credited as being made at Shepperton and Putney.
Girl on a Motorcycle, Jack Cardiff, music by Les Reed
 
UK
1968
Surrender to a Stranger
Tape composition, oscillators
As above.
Sebastian, David Greene, music by Jerry Goldsmith and Tristram Cary.
UK
1968
Sputnick Code
Tape composition
The only contribution to this soundtrack not credited to Jerry Goldsmith was this number by Tristram Cary, a British composer with his own electronic music studio.
 
Lawrence of Arabia, David Lead, music by Maurice Jarre
UK
1962
That is the Desert
Ondes Martenot
Here we have two of Jarre’s uses of the Ondes Martenot, the first to provide atmosphere for a desert scene and the second a rendering of the title theme on the electronic instrument.
Lawrence of Arabia, David Lead, music by Maurice Jarre
UK
1962
Lawrence and the Bodyguard
Ondes Martenot
As above.
Billion Dollar Brain, Ken Russell, music by Richard Rodney Bennett
US
1967
Anya 2
Ondes Martenot
Richard Rodney Bennett composed the music that included passages played on the Ondes Martenot.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Robert Ellis Miller, music by Dave Grusin
US
1968
Married People
Ondioline
Dave Grusin arranged this tune for the Ondioline, a monophonic electronic organ invented in 1948.
The Name of the Game is Kill, Gunnar Hellström, music by Stu Phillips
US
1968
Main Title
Moog Modular Synthesizer
Stu Phillips employed Paul Beaver to overdub tracks of the Moog Modular synthesizer onto music recorded with other instruments.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
US
1969
James Bond Theme
Moog Modular Synthesizer
Working with composer John Barry, Phil Ramone produced this part for the Moog and played the synthesizer in real-time with the orchestra.
Follow Me, Gene McCabe, music by Stu Phillips
US
1969
Hawaii—Waimea-Straight Down
Tape composition, multi-instrumental mix
Another track by Stu Phillips for this surfing movie.
Andromeda Strain, The, Robert Wise, music by Gil Melle.,
US
1971
The Piedmont Elegy
Percussotron and tape composition
Gil Melle and his Percussotron. There is a delightful promotional video of him demonstrating the Percussotron on YouTube.
Andromeda Strain, The, Robert Wise, music by Gil Melle.
US
1971
Strobe Crystal Green
Percussotron and tape composition
As above.
Sacco and Vanzetti, Giuliano Montaldo, music by Ennio Morricone
Italy
1971
La Sedia Elettrica
Synket
Music by Ennio Morricone using the Synket, a small tabletop synthesizer.
 
Solaris, Andrey Tarkovsky, music by Eduard Artemiev
US
1972
Movement 2
ANS photoelectronic synthesizer
Eduard Artemiev used the ANS synthesizer, a photoelectronic musical instrument created by Russian engineer Evgeny Murzin from 1937 to 1957.
Solaris, Andrey Tarkovsky, music by Eduard Artemiev
US
1972
Movement 14
ANS photoelectronic synthesizer
As above.
 
 
This episode’s Archive Mix in which I play two tracks at the same time to see what happens:
 
Track 1: Sim Gets Hit from The Name of the Game is Kill, by Stu Phillips.
Track 2: The Summer House from Girl on a Motorcycle, electronic sound effects created at the Putney studios in London.
 

Symphony of the Birds

This episode: Symphony of the Birds
 
Since the dawn of audio recording, people have been fascinated with capturing the sounds of birds. This episode explores early field recordings of birds, electronic music that uses the sound of birds as raw material, and the sound of synthetically generated bird sounds.  
 
Playlist
Beatrice Harrison, Nightingales (1927), a 78 RPM released by His Master’s Voice, a United Kingdom label of RCA Victor at the time. “Recorded in Beatrice Harrison's garden, Oxted,” England. Probably wild birds in her garden.
Karl Reich’s Aviary, Bremen, Trés Jolie, Actual Song of Nightingales and Canaries, with Orchestra (1931). Bluebird Records in the US. Canary breeder Karl Reich (1885–1944) from Bremen (Germany) and his feathered choir of thirty trained canaries were the sensation on the record market in the late 1920s.
John Cage, Bird Cage (1973) from the album Bird Cage released in 2000 by Joel Chadabe’s Electronic Music Foundation in the US.
Isao Tomita, Sound Creature, demonstration of synthesized bird sounds from his piece Daphne and Chloe by Ravel (1977). Finished section followed by the individually processed synthesized sounds. RCA Red Seal, Japan. Later released in entirety in 1979.
Ariel Kalma, Gongmo (1978) from the album Osmose (1978). Released in France on SFP records.
From the soundtrack of The Birds, an Alfred Hitchcock film from 1963. From the album, Alfred Hitchcock ‎– The Classic Soundtrack Collection. An original “soundtrack” doesn’t actually exist because no music was orchestrated for the movie other than the eerie electronic music sounds of birds created by Oskar Sala. He used the Mixtur Trautonium to produce these sounds.
Ralph Lundsten, Skogen Vaknar from the album Nordisk Natursymfoni Nr 1 "Strömkarlen" in 1975. Odeon Records, Sweden.
Earthstar, Morning Song, from the album French Skyline (1979). Sky Records.
Jim Nollman, Music to Eat Thanksgiving Dinner By, 3 flute players and 300 turkeys, from the album Playing Music with Animals (1982) by Folkways Recordsin the US.
Ann McMillan, Syrinx, from the album Gateway Summer Sound: Abstracted Animal & Other Sounds (1979), on Folkways, US.
Jim Fassett, Symphony of the Birds (1960) from an album of the same name on Ficker Records in the US.
 
The Archive Mix in which I play three tracks at the same time, all with bird sounds.
Johan Dalgas Frisch, The Song from Moulin Rouge, from the album Symphony of the Birds (1968) released on MGM records in the US.
Ambience One, Colloquy: Unruffled Feathers, excerpt, produced by Eddie Newmark, on Audio Fidelity Records in 1970.
An Evening in Sapsucker Woods, excerpt, 158, produced by Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg for Cornell University Records.