Brainwave Music with Buchla 200 at Western Front

The following was sent in by Anastasia Chernysheva, a Ph.D. student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

"On February 28, 1977, On Being Invisible (OBI) premiered in Vancouver, at the Western Front. Stills from the black and white video capture David Rosenboom playing a touch-sensitive keyboard of Buchla 200 “Electric Music Box” and improvising in real-time with his brainwaves. The EEG output (electrical activity in the brain) was sonified by a hybrid computer sound synthesis system. Having years of biofeedback practice behind him, in this piece the pioneer of brainwave music continued exploring ways to relate information processing in the human nervous system to aesthetic experience – thus, stretching the definition of music musical performance.

Invited by the Canadian electronic music pioneer Martin Bartlett, Rosenboom gave a concert in two parts. The part presented the live performance application of the EEG system described above. In the second part of the performance, the composer used his voice, finger cymbals, a monkey drum, and a reed instrument to activate the software. A recording of the concert has been released for the first time by Black Truffle Records on the double-vinyl called “Brainwave Music” (1975/2019).
Videos from the concert can be watched on Rosenboom’s YouTube channel (see Part 1 and Part 2). Courtesy of the Western Front.

On Being Invisible was originally planned to premier at the Music Gallery in Toronto in 1976. However, due to an electricity outage that led to computer failure, the concert had to be canceled, while the audience was already gathered at the front door. Since the organizers had prepared beer for attendees, those waiting were invited inside. Once in, people gathered around the nonfunctioning set of equipment, looking at it with sad faces, as if they had come for a funeral. (see the photo below)

After rebuilding the equipment, Rosenboom performed the piece at the Music Gallery in 1977. This performance was published as vinyl by Music Gallery Editions and later re-released on CD by Pogus Productions.

* Technique of intentional modification of physiological parameters, such as heart rate, body temperature, breathing, etc.

Sources:
• Rosenboom, D. (Ed.) (1975) Biofeedback and the Arts: Results of Early Experiments. Aesthetic Research Centre of Canada Publications, Vancouver.
• Rosenboom, D. (1977a). On being invisible. Music Gallery Editions.
• Rosenboom, D. (1984). On Being Invisible. MusicWorks 28 (Summer), p. 10-13."


On Being Invisible, David Rosenboom at Western Front, Vancouver, 1977, Part 1 video upload by David Rosenboom

"David Rosenboom, On Being Invisible (1977), video documentation. Courtesy of Western Front. ID# WFVDN_7702_03-1 & ID# WFVDN_7702_03-2."

And the release on bandcamp: