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James Lee

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Topic: Electronic Music Origins
Posted: May 08 2005 at 14:41

The number of artists in this section is pretty small...Jarre and TD/ Schulze and Kraftwerk. Is that because so much electronic music was 'experimental' or 'avant garde' rather than 'prog'?

I'd like to develop a discussion of the electronic music pioneers (despite debates about whether they belong on the site or not). Personally, I'd like to broaden my background in this area- though I have yet to even seriously explore Tangerine Dream.

First off, a big plug for Raymond Scott. More of an electronic 'mad scientist' than a composer, but his work was often way ahead of its time. http://raymondscott.com/

You can't ignore Wendy Carlos. Much of her output leaves me cold (I prefer her weirder soundtrack work to the straight-up classical adaptations), but there's little doubt she turned electronic music around in the public opinion. http://www.wendycarlos.com/

Between Leon Theremin and Maurice Martenot, there's some weird and wonderful early synth sounds running around to this day. I'm still looking for a good compilation of Clara Rockmore's Theremin performances.

The Messiaen/ Stockhausen/ Varese "Musique Concrete" movement produced a lot of interesting pieces. Anybody have a favorite or two to discuss? Also Reich, Sessions, and Crumb came out with a lot of wonderful extended pieces (I'll take "Music for 18 Musicians" over "Tubular Bells" any day, but that's just my opinion).

Anybody have any info about Charles Wuorinen's "Times Encomium"? I've heard it was one of the best of the first completely electronic works, but I've never actually heard the music.

radiognome3 View Drop Down

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Posted: May 08 2005 at 17:09

I'll join in.

As you allude in your first paragraph, I think the dicussion of electronic music becomes problematic when it moves beyond the realm of simply electronic music. This distinction can actually be applied to these prog pages as well, which is where much of the lively discussion herein originates.

Electronic music is just that, sound defined as music produced by electronic means, including any amplified acoustic instrument. Now electronic music actually is all (or most) of the music discussed in these pages. I may reach the conclusion that the more detailed definition of electronic music in this thread pertains to what may be considered tone- or computer-generated music, n'est pas? That is how I will use the term electronic music below.

If this is the case, then most of the prog oriented electronic music is just synth or computer based music that happened to be released by major recording labels. For example, Tangerine Dream (and, say, Phaedra, specifically) is hardly rock; it's hardly even progressive rock if (merely by way of contrast) ELP or Yes are the groups by which the Progressive Rock yard-stick are measured. But, there is a yin/yang relationship: ELP, for example, used synths in rock music, so synth-only music can be marketed as such, which in hind-sight is what I guess ended up happening, especially in the case of emerging labels such as Virgin. Wendy Carlos's stuff from the late sixties essentially isn't any different from Phaedra era Tangerine Dream, except that Columbia didn't know precisely how to market Carlos (initially).

I think purely electronic music must be approached as a separate entity, if it is to be approached with any kind of objectivity (or at least without any preconceived notions of it being a subgenre of other genres). This can become difficult with music produced after the late 70's, as electronic music became more integral to the make-up of most popular forms of music. Purely electronic music became relegated to ambient or new-age forms, both of which were highly denigrated until, it seems to me, fairly recently. The public seems to have a hard time coming to grips with purely electronic music being marketed to them as some other well established genre. No matter how good Phaedra is, it is still not, and never will be, a household name to the general music buying public.

I guess what all of this hot air is getting at is that the problem with the distinctions of electronic music start with whether one is talking about the types on instrumentation used in a composition, or what instrumentation the composition is written for, as there can be a tremendous difference.

Vive Gong!

Dick Heath View Drop Down

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Posted: May 11 2005 at 13:04

radiognome3 wrote:

Wendy Carlos's stuff from the late sixties essentially isn't any different from Phaedra era Tangerine Dream, except that Columbia didn't know precisely how to market Carlos (initially).

I don't think you are correct here, Columbia/CBS sold Switched On Bach through their classic label, and it did mighty well sales-wise. It was a new treatment, but very serious treatment by Carlos as transcriptions of Bach etc., (Bernstein called it "transmoogifications"), and with their liberal attitudes Columbia saw little difference from other classical recordings of transcribed music, arranged from more traditional instruments. (That is major difference from Tangerine Dream's music). Several of Carlos's subsequent releases were also released on Columbia's classical sub-division, and it wasn't until the double Sonic Seasonings was released when questions about pigeonholing arose. The A Clockwork Orange OST was released by Warners, but because of some falling out over what appeared on that album, Columbia released Walter Carlos's Clockwork Orange, with a few different tunes - and lengths of tunes.

Back to the original question. There is major transition here to consider: pre-synth and synthesiser music. Pre-synth includes some the names already stated, also Terry Riley. His tape loop experiments in mid 60's, influenced many e.g. Hugh Hopper has resurrected his interest, original shown with 1984, with the 21st century releases Jazzloops and The Stolen Hour. The British group Whitenoise were very successful with their first album of non-synth electronica but after a split of personnel (Ceilia Derbyshire joining the BBC Radiophonic Workshop), Whitenoise 2 and 3 were issued (I think on the Virgin label). The American band Tonto's Expanding Headband released two albums on vinyl - which are available on a single CD nowadays - the records featured the Moog and other keyboard instruments commercially available at the end of the 60's. Milton Subotnik was considered as a serious composer in electronic music (non-synth) - Nonsuch Records releasing some albums in the late 60's including Silver Apples Of The Moon.

A French group - darlings of BBC TV producers for arts programmes' soundtrack music - Les Structures Sonore were sometimes clumped with composers and musicians of early electronica. However, the group had developed a number of different percussive instruments that they played by plucking and bowing, so producing very weird (and hence assumed primitive electronic) sounds. I have 10" album of their music from around 1967 - can any French member of Progarchives tell me if any (I guess) French label has issued any Structure Sonore on CD???

Man Erg

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Posted: May 11 2005 at 13:50

A mention must go to Pauline Oliveros.Although she didn't start recording 'commercially' until the late 1960s/early 1970s,her work at the Francisco Tape Music Centre from the early 1960s was a groundbreaking study into elecro/acoustics & tape manipulation.The Deep Listening Band recordings of the early 1970s are among some of the most important works in the genre of electronic music.Along with elecronic 'classical'composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen,Luc Ferrari,Perrey,Morton Subotnik, Schaeffer,the 'father' of Musique Concrete and subsequently Pierre Henry,many of today's electronic artists are deeply endebted to her.
I saw DJ Spooky supporting Arto Lindsay a few years ago.He was making ryhthms with everyday household objects being filtered by contact mikes filtered through FX units.The main beat was made by a piece of cardboard stuck to the spindle of a record deck then hitting various obstacles as it spun on different speed settings.It nealy cleared the hall,but beiing a bit of a chin-rubber,I really enjoyed it.

Edited by Man Erg

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