Electronic and experimental music: pioneers in technology and composition

480 Pages·2008·7.89 MB·english

by  Thom Holmes

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Experimental Music
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EEE15 When the first edition of Electronic and Experimental Music appeared over 20 years ago,
6 the modern history of electronic music spanned only half as many years as it does today.
7 The interim years have seen the rise of MIDI as a bridge between analog and digital
8 synthesis and the adoption of computers as the key ingredient in the creation, editing,
9 and performance of electronic music.
20 Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture is a revised and
1 expanded edition of this classic work, providing a thorough treatment of the relevant
2 history behind the marriage of technology and music that has led to the state of elec-
3 tronic music today. Beginning with an early history of electronic music before 1945,
4 the book outlines key composers, inventions, and concepts, ranging from Edgar Varèse
5EEE to Brian Eno; musique concrete to turntablism; and compositional techniques used in both
6 analog and digital synthesis.
7 The third edition’s reader-friendly writing style, logical organization, and features
8 provide easy access to key ideas, milestones, and concepts.
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1 • Reader’s guides and summaries at the beginning and end of each chapter
2 • Innovations boxes providing a unique profile of an influential individual in the field
3 of electronic music
4 • Listen playlists recommending key recordings in each musical genre mentioned in
5 each chapter
6 • Milestones timelines summarizing the major technological and musical innovations
7 discussed in each chapter.
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9 Thom Holmes is a composer and music historian. He studied composition with Paul
40 Epstein in Philadelphia, was the long-time publisher of the magazine Recordings of
1 Experimental Music (1979–1985), and worked with John Cage.
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Dedicated waveforms
Anne Shaina Moog (’34–’05)
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Thom Holmes
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First published 1985 by Scribner
Second edition published 2002 by Routledge
This edition published 2008
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 1985, 2002 Thom Holmes; 2008 Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Holmes, Thom.
Electronic and experimental music: technology, music, and culture/
Thom Holmes—3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Electronic music—History and criticism. 2. Computer music—
History and criticism. I. Title.
ML1380.H64 2008
786.7—dc22 2007038213
ISBN 0-203-92959-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–95781–8 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–95782–6 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–92959–4 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–95781–6 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–95782–3 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–92959–9 (ebk)
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7 Contents
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EEE15 List of illustrations vii
6 Preface and Acknowledgments xiii
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Part I Early History—Predecessors and Pioneers
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(1874 to 1960) 1
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1 Electronic Music Before 1945 3
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3 Early Electronic Music in the United States 79
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4 Early Electronic Music in Japan 105
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Part II Analog Synthesis and Instruments 117
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2 5 Tape Composition and Fundamental Concepts of
3 Electronic Music 119
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5 6 Early Synthesizers and Experimenters 141
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7 Principles of Analog Synthesis and Voltage Control 173
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8 The Voltage-Controlled Synthesizer 207
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40 9 The Evolution of Analog Synthesizers 238
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47EEE 11 The Microprocessor Revolution (1975–90) 271
vi CONTENTS
12 The Principles of Computer Music 294
13 The Evolution of Computer Musical Instruments and Software 319
Part IV The Music 331
14 Classical and Experimental Music 333
15 Live Electronic Music and Ambient Music 376
16 Rock, Space Age Pop, and Turntablism 407
Pioneering Works of Electronic Music 429
Notes 433
Index 449
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7 Illustrations
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PLATES
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7 1.1 Edgard Varèse and J. W. de Bruyn at the Philips studios,
8 Eindhoven 3
9 1.2 Luigi Russolo and Ugo Piatti with Intonarumori, 1914 16
20 1.3 The cover of the original Art of Noise 18
1 1.4 Leon Theremin and his instrument, 1928 20
2 1.5 RCA Theremin advertisement, 1930 21
3 1.6 Clara Rockmore, 1932 21
4 1.7 Lucie Bigelow Rosen with the Theremin, late 1930s 22
5EEE 1.8 Theremin custom-made for Lucie Bigelow Rosen 23
6 1.9 An ensemble of cello Theremins, 1932 24
7 1.10 Lydia Kavina 25
8 1.11 Ensemble of Ondes Martenots, Paris World’s Fair, 1937 25
9 1.12 Ondes Martenot keyboard template and finger-ring controller 26
30 1.13 Ondes Martenot finger-ring controller 26
1 1.14 Ondes Martenot left-hand expression controls 26
2 1.15 A keyboard model of the Ondes Martenot 26
3 1.16 Oskar Sala and the Mixtur-Trautonium 32
4 1.17 Oskar Sala and the string controls of the Mixtur-Trautonium 32
5 1.18 The Telegraphone 34
6 1.19 The AEG Magnetophone 34
7 2.1 Pierre Schaeffer operating the Pupitre d’espace, 1951 41
8 2.2 The RTF/GRM Studio Phonogène, 1967 52
9 2.3 The RTF/GRM Studio Magnétophone, 1962 53
40 2.4 A section of the WDR Studio for Electronic Music,
1 Cologne, 1966 59
2 2.5 Another view of the WDR Studio for Electronic Music,
3 Cologne, 1966 60
4 2.6 Karlheinz Stockhausen, 1956 66
45 2.7 Stockhausen’s rotating speaker table, 1958 68
46 3.1 John Cage and David Tudor, 1962 79
47EEE 3.2 Louis and Bebe Barron in their Greenwich Village studio, 1956 82
viii ILLUSTRATIONS
3.3 Second view of the Barrons’ studio in New York City 82
3.4 John Cage, 1992 87
3.5 John Cage performing Water Walk on Italian television, 1959 88
3.6 Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky, Columbia Electronic
Music Center, c.1960 92
3.7 Gordon Mumma and Robert Ashley, Ann Arbor, 1960 95
3.8 Milton Cohen’s Space Theater in Ann Arbor, c.1960 96
4.1 Album cover by Yoko Ono, 1958 105
4.2 Sony G-Type tape recorder 106
4.3 Takehisa Kosugi 109
5.1 Pauline Oliveros and the Buchla synthesizer 119
5.2 Pauline Oliveros at the San Francisco Tape Music Center 130
5.3 Vladimir Ussachevsky with a specially designed tape loop
feeding device 131
6.1 Columbia–Princeton Electronic Music Center, 1958 141
6.2 RCA Mark II front panel 150
6.3 Punched paper recorder/reader of the RCA Mark II 150
6.4 Sample punched paper roll created by Vladimir Ussachevsky,
c.1960 150
6.5 RCA Mark II today at Columbia University 151
6.6 Front panel of the RCA Mark II as it is today 151
6.7 Rear panel of the RCA Mark II 151
6.8 Alice Shields at the Columbia University Electronic Music
Center, 1970 155
6.9 Halim El-Dabh, early 1950s 156
6.10 Four paper tape input devices, Siemens studio 159
6.11 Siemens Studio für Elektronische Musik, 1960 159
6.12 Raymond Scott in his home studio, 1959 162
6.13 Raymond Scott’s Clavivox 163
6.14 Electronic Sackbut prototype, 1948 166
7.1 Original Minimoog brochure, 1972 173
7.2 Composer David Lee Myers uses feedback circuits 187
8.1 Robert Moog with a variety of synthesizers, 1972 207
8.2 The Moog Modular Synthesizer, 1965 210
8.3 The Moog Modular Synthesizer, 1967 210
8.4 The Moog Modular Synthesizer, 1968 210
8.5 Eric Siday in his private studio, c.1967 211
8.6 Joel Chadabe in the studio of the State University of
New York, 1967 213
8.7 Zodiac Cosmic Sounds LP, 1967 214
8.8 Paul Beaver and Bernard Krause, 1970 215
8.9 The studio used by Wendy Carlos to produce Switched-On
Bach, 1968 217
8.10 Switched-On Bach LP, 1968 218
8.11 Herbert Deutsch, Robert Moog, and Joel Chadabe, 2001 222
8.12 Don Buchla, 2001 222
8.13 Vladimir Ussachevsky with the Buchla synthesizer, 1970 223
ILLUSTRATIONS ix
1EEE 8.14 Morton Subotnick, 2001 224
2 8.15 Charles Cohen with the Buchla Music Easel, 2001 225
3 8.16 Stockhausen with an EMS Synthi 100 analog synthesizer 225
4 9.1 David Lee Myers and Charles Cohen at the Knitting Factory,
5 New York, 2001 238
6 10.1 Max Mathews and L. Rosler at Bell Labs, c.1967 251
7 10.2 IRCAM, 2006 259
8 10.3 Joel Chadabe 262
9 10.4 Jon Appleton and the Synclavier II, 1982 265
1022 10.5 E-mu Emulator, 1985 266
1 10.6 AlphaSyntauri computer music system, 1983 267
2 11.1 Nicolas Collins in performance, 2005 271
3 11.2 Promotional flyer for the Chocorua summer workshop 274
4 11.3 A homemade synthesizer–microcomputer interface 275
EEE15 11.4 Laurie Spiegel, 1981 278
6 11.5 Laptop performer Ikue Mori, 2001 284
7 12.1 Jean-Claude Risset at Bell Labs, 1968 294
8 13.1 David Behrman, John King, and Stephen Moore, 2007 319
9 14.1 Edgard Varèse 333
20 14.2 Matt Rogalsky 337
1 14.3 Philips Pavilion at the Brussels World’s Fair, 1958 340
2 14.4 The architect Le Corbusier with Edgard Varèse, 1958 340
3 14.5 Early sketch of score for Poème électronique by Varèse 341
4 14.6 Program for Varèse Town Hall Concert, New York, 1961 343
5EEE 14.7 John Cage performing Improvisation I—Child of Tree or Branches,
6 1975 348
7 14.8 Stockhausen in the Cologne studio, 1966 349
8 14.9 Stockhausen during a performance of Kurzweillen, 1968 352
9 14.10 Stockhausen and his troupe at the Osaka World’s Fair, 1970 353
30 14.11 Wendy Carlos with her two Synergy digital synthesizers, 1986 355
1 14.12 Wendy Carlos and her latest instrument 358
2 14.13 Composers of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, 1963 369
3 14.14 David Tudor with a Buchla 100 at Mills College, 1968 371
4 15.1 Sonic Arts Union performance, Sveriges Radio, Stockholm,
5 1971 376
6 15.2 John Cage, David Tudor, and Gordon Mumma with the Merce
7 Cunningham Dance Company, 1965 380
8 15.3 ONCE festival poster 386
9 15.4 Gordon Mumma performing Hornpipe, 1967 390
40 15.5 Robert Ashley in his studio, 2001 392
1 15.6 Alvin Lucier, 2001 393
2 15.7 David Behrman, 2001 395
3 15.8 MEV, 1968 396
4 15.9 AMM, 1968 396
45 15.10 Annea Lockwood 400
46 15.11 Tetsu Inoue 402
47EEE 15.12 Klaus Schulze 404