You can read about the significance of this track and the composer Bebe Barron in this post. Note the film was released in 1956 before the existence of Moog and Buchla modular systems. The first Moog system to be shown was in 1964 and the first Buchla in 1963.
YouTube description:
"Also include scans from the soundtrack album and from the booklets of the "Forbidden Planets" compilations.
"A crappy recording showing amazing 'Forbidden Planet' -sounds coming out of the Pulsar 23. No effects added. The sound is 100% Pulsar 23.
Video sections:
00:24 Do not land on this planet
01:36 Intermission
01:57 I must insist: do not land here
03:50 Told you: plenty of monsters
07:00 Monsters don’t do disco"
"It's time to confront ourselves with a pinnacle of modular synth techniques: Todd Barton's Krell Patch.
Inspired by Bebe and Louis Barron's soundtrack for the 1956 sci-fi film "Forbidden Planet", this patch revolves around a 'modulation feedback': a single LFO drives the whole patch and triggers many S&H circuits that generate random voltages, which, in turn, constantly modulate the LFO speed and shape.
"Altair 4 - The SciFi Sounds Lab is for spacey & wobbly stuff, drones and scapes i.e SciFi FX-sounds, and it is quite good at doing bell like sounds too.
The movie Forbidden Planet from 1956 being the first movie with a complete electronic soundtrack (by Louis and Bebe Barron) using sounds that could have been done with this plug. "This instrument does do a lot of the things the Barron's did with their circuitry albeit a lot easier". "It makes sciFi sounds & noises and everybody will reminiscent to a old soundlaboratory of the 50/60ties". Anyway Altair 4 puts it to a modern level.
Hence the name of this plugin Altair 4 as this is the Forbidden Planet in the movie ;-)"
First 10:
1. Fireflies | Modular Eurorack Beat | Erica Synths LXR, Basimilus Iteritas Alter #Jamuary2023 01
First Video this Year! I started this Patch trying to use my new Erica Synths LXR Eurorack Module for a melodic voice which I think turned out pretty nice.
Bloom and Pamelas New Workout are responsible for the sequencing.
Main Melody 1: LXR receiving v/oct from Bloom, sent through Mimeophon.
Main Melody 2: 2hp Pluck sequenced by Bloom, mixed with Noise and filtered by Forbidden Planet through Disting Delay.
Bass is Plaits, distorted and filtered by Peradam and XAOC Zagrzeb.
Kick: Basimilus Iteritas Alter
Drums: Erica Synths LXR
Drums: Queen of Pentacles & some additional Hi-hats made with white and pink noise
Main Melody: Acid Rain Chainsaw
Bass: Basimilus Iteritas Alter
Background Texture is Plaits with the model Input modulated.
3. SHORES | UK GARAGE on MODULAR || #jamuary2023 03
I've been wanting to make some kind of UK garage, burial inspired piece on the modular. I think it turned out pretty neat!
4. EMBERS | Drum and Bass on MODULAR || #jamuary2023 04
Here we go again, 4th day of #jamuary2023! I try to keep it as musically diverse as possible, so I tried to make some Drum and Bass this time. I think it's quite alright for the first try!
It's been a long time since I wanted to use the Forbidden Planet as an Oscillator and I never found the place in a patch since it is always almost on regular filter duties. But I managed this time and it sounds very cool!
6. Erica Synths LXR Eurorack Live Techno Jam | #jamuary2023 07
#jamuary2023 lets go! Part 6! I filmed this video when I just got the Erica Synths LXR, wanting to showcase some of its sounds! I think it sounds absolutely massive!
7. Leaving | Eurorack Drum and Bass || #jamuary2023 07
More Drum and Bass! I'm really happy with the drums in this. I stumbled across the melody by accident just fiddling with Bloom.
"Here's an excerpt from Geoff Elliot's tribute documentary about the classic film Forbidden Planet showing Bebe Barron talking about the great music and sfx that she and her husband, Louis, created for the film."
"The Women of ELECTRONIC MUSIC! From the 30's to the 70's!
Before synthesizers, electronic music was honed the hard way in universities, by splicing tape loops, distorting sounds, endless dubbing, and blind instinct. Here are the timeless women of future music who created our present...
Since the 1930's, CLARA ROCKMORE was the master of the notoriously difficult Theremin, and later championed by synthesizer-creator Bob Moog; LOUIS & BEBE BARRON created the first all-electronic score for the film "FORBIDDEN PLANET" (1957), using oscillated sounds and tape loops; //STUDIO d'ASSAI (Paris): Danish ELSE MARIE PADE studied under musique concrete founder Pierre Schaeffer, becoming a noted composer; ELAINE RADIGUE used the Buchla and Arp synthesizers in her work, heavily influenced by Buddhist meditation, and records now with laptop improv group The Lappetites; MICHELE BOKANOWSKI has composed for film, televison, and theatre; //BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP (London): ...was created and directed by DAPHNE ORAM, inventor and sonic pioneer; she was followed by DELIA DERBYSHIRE, who brought Ron Grainer's "DR. WHO" theme to brilliant, eerie life with her studio wizardry; MADDALENA FAGANDINI co-created the proto-Techno single "Time Beat/ Waltz In Space" (1962) with young producer George Martin under the alias 'Ray Cathode'; GLYNIS JONES produced some of the Workshop's classic albums like "Out Of This World" (1976); ELIZABETH PARKER scored many BBC shows including "BLAKE'S 7", and was the person to see the Workshop out in its 1998 finale; //Fluxus performance artist YOKO ONO expanded John Lennon's mind and range with electronic music, musique concrete, and 'happening' experiments; //COLUMBIA-PRINCETON ELECTRONIC MUSIC CENTER (New York): A premiere focal point for international composers since the 50's, including composer and Associate Director PRIL SMILEY; ALICE SHIELDS combined her operatic voice and poetry with the revolutionary synthesizers of the late 60's and early 70's; teacher DARIA SEMEGEN wrote traditional classical music as well as electronic; WENDY CARLOS had massive mainstream success with the all-synth "Switched On Bach", before writing groundbreaking film scores for "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE," "THE SHINING" and 'TRON"; nearby at Bell Labs, LAURIE SPIEGEL spearheaded computer graphics and software design as well as new music; maverick ANNETTE PEACOCK went from Free Jazz piano to the first synthesizers, threading her early 70's raps and rock with freeform electronics; //Argentinian BEATRIZ FERREYRA, who also studied with Schaeffer, is an esteemed composer and teacher; //SAN FRANCISCO TAPE MUSIC CENTER: The crucial West Coast electronic center, including Morton Subotnick, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and PAULINE OLIVEROS in 1962; it moved across the Bay to become the... //CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY MUSIC (Mills College, Oakland, CA): Oliveros was the first Director, perfecting her signal processing system for live performance; student and now Co-Director MAGGI PAYNE trailblazed video imagery and record engineering along with her music; alum CYNTHIA WEBSTER played in the early synth band Triode, founded electro mag SYNAPSE, and now runs Cyndustries designing software for electronic music, such as the Zeroscillator.
Their innovations led to Progressiv Rock, Krautrock, New Wave, Coldwave, Darkwave, Electro Funk, Industrial, Techno, and Electroclash. Their fringe future music is now the soundtrack of today.
See also:
ALICE SHIELDS -"STUDY FOR VOICE AND TAPE" (1968)
"Sound, the infinite frontier! Science had chopped the world into atoms, components from which to build. Modern art deconstructed reality, reconstructing our perceptions of it. And the first Electronic Music likewise took apart sound and turned it inside out for new compositions. Vladimir Ussachevsky founded the first Electronic Music Center jointly with Columbian and Princeton universities in 1952. He brought in avant composers from countries worldwide with new perspectives and radical expirementation. This included women like Daria Semegen, Pril Smiley, Wendy Carlos, and Alice Shields. In the 50's, Electronic Music was distortions of recordings. Sounds on a tape recorder would be manipulated by feedback, repeated spliced loops, overlapping tracks with multiple recorders, and using oscillators and reverb to sculpt the tempo, tone, or texture. This prevailed in continually advancing ways well through the 1960s. Alice used these techniques in creating this composition. A gifted mezzesoprano, she first sang a poem she'd written. She accompanied this with the first analog Buchla synthesizer, a rare and recent device only beginning to draw the attention of the hippest pop musicians. She then manipulated pitch and speed in textural patterns to supplement the freeform song. This was the cutting edge music of the future, usually heard only in academic circles. But it made its way into film soundtracks (from FORBIDDEN PLANET to Wendy Carlos' A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), Fusion Jazz (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock), Progressive Rock (from George Harrison's 1969 ELECTRONIC SOUND to Krautrock and Kraftwerk), Funk (Stevie Wonder's T.O.N.T.O., Bernie Worrell), on to the synthesizer explosion of New Wave, then Hip Hop (from Bambaataa's ElectroFunk to Public Enemy's radical sculptures of noise), Industrial (synthetic abrasion), and the Electronica music of today; as such, Alice Shields is a godmother of Le Tigre, Peaches, Chicks On Speed, Lesbians On Ecstasy, and Ladytron, to name a few."
MALARIA! -"Your Turn To Run" (1982)
"The Women of 80's ELECTRO! Coldwave, Darkwave, Synthpop, Industrial!
As synthesizers got smaller and cheaper through the 70's, 'future music' went from acedemia to the street. Punk, PostPunk, Funk, and HipHop artists brought attitude and new styles into the pop vocabulary throughout the 80's that forged the music of today. Here are many women from the first Electro rock era..."
"Thanks for listening! Come on a musical voyage with us where we'll send you a new song every day, a cosmic story, and a chance to earn space treasure: https://thegalaxyelectric.lpages.co/5...
The Avant-Garde meets Sci-Fi Soundscapes
Inspired by the famous 1950s electronic music duo behind the film score for Forbidden Planet, Bebe and Louis Barron - we set out to improvise in the style of their early work with avant grade artists like John Cage and Anais Nin, whose poetry is featured in this video.
Join us every Wednesday for a ride on The Galaxy Electric Express 🚀
We perform a LIVE (improvised) Cosmic Tape Music soundtrack for your retro-futuristic travels 💫 You never know what planet you will land on…but you know it’s going to be an unforgettable journey…
Gear:
Buchla Music Easel
1979 Digital Resonator
Buchla 266 Source of Uncertainty
DIY MFOS Noise Toaster"
We lost another. Some sad news in via Atomic Shadow:
"I learned this morning of the passing of my best friend, Stephen Howell. Many of you know of his work as Hollow Sun. He was a well respected sound designer who had worked for Peter Gabriel and many others. He was a long time fixture at Akai Professional where he designed the UI for many of their top products as well as producing the sample content.
Stephen was my mentor and gave me the nudge to take my music in to a totally abstract direction. Without him there would have been no Atomic Shadow project. I plan to write a bit more about him when I can think more clearly. I am closing down yesterday's world of tomorrow, at least for now.
We only produced one piece of music together. I always tried to get him to do more of his own music, but he said that making music did not pay the bills. He was correct of course. I cut together a video to go with it at the time. Please enjoy it and share it with anyone that you know who may have known Stephen, or had their musical experience made more alive by using one of his instruments."
"A short piece featuring my vintage, tube HP sine wave generators, tape loops and ring modulators with a photographic homage to the early pioneers of electronica.... Daphne Oram in twin set, the impish Delia Derbyshire of the early BBC Radiophonic Workshop, several tweedy boffins in their music labs, Karlheinz Stockhausen and so many others. A different age when innovation and ingenuity triumphed over the many technical limitations of the age.
Abstract music soundtrack re-mixed and produced by Stephen Howell of Hollow Sun using traditional techniques in a digital age."
You can find an interview with Stephen Howell on SoundBytes here.
"I was always huge fan of early electronica and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Dr Who, Delia Derbyshire and all that as a six-year-old), Louis and Bebe Barron (who did the ‘electronic tonalities’ for the classic sci-fi movie ‘Forbidden Planet’) and loved the weird old gear they used to make/use, so Mario and I were able to design and create, using Kontakt, weird and wonderful things that flew in the face of, shall we say, more ‘conventional’ modern synths and sampler instruments..."
Indeed. Click here for all posts featuring Hollow Sun on MATRIXSYNTH. Each post is a tribute to his spirit. He will be sorely missed.
"December 2011 at the Museum of Technology (Deutsches Technikmuseum) in Berlin. Stephen Howell takes recordings of the instrument. Per Platou, founder and leader of www.pnek.org, has invited him to create a sound library and helps him with the recordings. Inventor Gerd Steinke in conversation with Stephen Howell.
Photography: Jenny Barth
Sound: Johannes Schmelzer-Ziringer
Director: Ina Pillat
Production: Norwegian Arts Council // Per Platou, Ina Pillat"
Uploaded on Mar 27, 2014 DJjondent·215 videos
Published on Mar 27, 2014
"Lots of random Buchla Easel goodness.
Many thanks to Todd Barton for his inspiration regarding the Krell self-generating Muzak patch and to of course the 'Krell Beings' from the Forbidden Planet."
A modular 'West-Coast synthesis' playground, inspired by synths such as the 0-Coast, Phenol and the Kastle.
Following the experimental synthesis philosophy of people like Buchla and Serge, west-coast synthesis offers a very different approach from the traditional subtractive methods of Moog synths. It's much more about experimenting with additive timbres (hence the absence of a conventional filter) and the manipulation of CV signals.
This video shows a typical generative patch concept called 'Krell' (inspired by the soundtrack of the movie 'Forbidden Planet' 'composed' by Louis Barron). It's self-generating, so no sequencers or triggers are used here. But obviously Ripplemaker will be fully AUv3 compatible so you can do slightly more conventional/musical patches with it ;-)
"Very promising Tape Echo delay algorithms, still in development but already a keeper.
Simple patch: Tiptop ONE is playing a V-Haus sample running through the Forbidden Planet filter prototype (band pass). BD808 on bass drum duties running through Toppobrillo Multifilter (hi pass)
"in this video I'm particularly focused on showing what kind of organic sound you can get from one sampler player modular, the fun part started when I include the Buchla Dual Oscillator (out) patch into Fold Processor wave Multiplier (in) an then patch to Forbidden Planet Analog Filter to VCA ( Voltage Controlled Amplifier), and of course the Z4000 Voltage Controlled Envelope Generator help a lot to shape the sound of the Buchla, adding in top the Z-DSP VC – Digital Signal Processor for feedback delay."
"THE MODS INCLUDE:
VCF FM controls – Essentially VCF FM allows you to modulate the filter cutoff at audio frequencies to create all kinds of clanging cross modulation and bizarre alien splatters and sweeps. This effect works best with the resonance turned up into self oscillation but also produces good effects with lower resonance settings. The VCF FM waveform control allows you to select one of six sources for the FM modulation source. The options are square (PWM still has an effect), sawtooth, sub-1, sub-2, sub-2 pulse and noise. You can also use the external audio input as a source.
The VCF FM amount knob controls how much the filter cutoff is modulated by the source signal and the switch turns the effect on and off. The VCF FM is probably the most dramatic mod of the lot and while it can be somewhat unpredictable you can create sounds ranging from savagely aggressive grinding to unearthly ring modulation drones that wouldn’t sound out of place on the Forbidden Planet soundtrack.
PWM waveform source – Normally with the PWM set to LFO modulation you only have the option of using the triangle waveform as a modulation source. This rotary switch allows you to set the PWM modulation source to other waveforms independently of the main LFO setting. The options are Triangle, Square, Random, Noise, Sub-1 and Sub-2. The Sub waveforms are actually sourced from the VCO. Changing the setting of the sub octave switch will alter the sound with these sources.
VCF CV input – This jack socket on the top left of the case will accept an external voltage to control the filter cutoff. The suggested input is 0-5V but it can probably take a couple more volts if your Midi-CV converter can deliver them.
Audio Input – This is the jack to the right of the VCF CV input. It will accept an external audio input from any source and can be routed through the filter or used as another VCF FM source.
Audio input FM / VCF switch – This switch sets the destination of the audio input. With it set to VCF the audio input is treated as another oscillator and is run through the VCF and VCA in the same way. You will only hear the external audio if you press a key on the keyboard. Set to FM the audio input modulates the filter cutoff in the same way as the VCF FM sources except the external input can run at the same time as another FM source.
Audio Input Level – This knob controls the level of the audio input.
Filter Overdrive – This knob drives the VCO or external audio source into the filter stage causing the VCF to overdrive and distort. (The words Aggressive & Phat come to mind)
LFO rate extension switch – This is the three way switch located under the LFO rate slider. The right hand setting delivers the normal range of LFO speeds. The centre setting allows much slower speeds ranging right down to 25 second sweeps at the lowest setting. The left hand switch position allows outrageously fast LFO speed, well up into audio frequencies peaking at around 550Hz. Some evil effects can be gained by cranking up the filter mod or VCO mod sliders and switching the LFO to its highest speed.
LFO trigger input – This allows you to inject a normal +5v trigger signal to this socket which will restart to LFO waveform from its zero crossing point in a positive direction. The LFO will still run at the speed set by the slider but every time a trigger is received the waveform will restart. This runs independently of the clock and CV / Gate inputs allowing you to run a sequence via CV / Gate or the sequencer clocked externally and sync the start of the LFO sweep to a certain point instead of letting it run randomly. You can also restart the LFO anywhere you want in a sequence for special effects. One bonus feature of this mod is that it will also accept an external audio signal and retrigger the LFO at audio frequencies. Crank up the resonance, turn up the VCF mod slider, play a drum loop into the LFO trigger input and you can create sounds that will quite literally scare the shit out of you.
In addition to the mods offered on the circuitbenders website & listed above this 101 has an additional Seven x 1/8 jack sockets for extra modular connectivity and madness for....
VCF OUT
SQUARE WAVE OUT
SAW WAVE OUT
NOISE OUT
And 3 X SUB SWITCH OUT ( one socket for each sub octave )"
"Chorus Echo sound examples. The fifth algorithm on the new Tape Echo card for Z-DSP voltage controlled effects processor from Tiptop Audio. Like the Mono Echo in program 1, but with a stereo Chorus after the delay. The speed of the Chorus
increases as the Filter control moves to high pass.
recorded directly from Z-DSP stereo out. Patched using an assortment of Tiptop Audio modules: Tiptop ONE, Z2040, Z4000, Forbidden Planet, Circadian Rhythms, BD808 and more.
