"The title comes from a phrase in one of my favorite books, The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli. Back in February 2020 while in Italy my daughter and I were fascinated by Rovelli’s poetical unfolding of relational quantum mechanics for the lay person. At that time I selected a few phrases that piqued my imagination and creativity as composition titles for a future album. Coincidentally and spontaneously one day my daughter, Ursula, snapped a photo of me in the Tuscan sunlight which turned out to be quite extraordinary and evocative. We talked about it being the cover for this album. The future has arrived . . . enjoy!
Instruments used: Buchla Music Easel, Buchla 227e System Interface Module, 1979 Modular Stereo Microsound Processor, Makenoise Erbeverb, Makenoise Mimeophon, Intellijel Planar 2, TC Electronic Ditto X4 Looper, TC Electronics T2 reverb, U & I Software Metasynth.
Influences:
Though their influences may not be apparent, these Elders have guided me endlessly…
Beatriz Ferreyra, Eliane Radigue, Bebe Barron, Roland Kayn, Morton Subotnick, Gordon Mumma, John Cage, David Tudor, Toru Takemitsu and Witold Lutoslawski."
Rituals of passage, esoteric societies, initiation, are the leitmotif of this collection of sound meditations that immerse the listener in a place where time flows differently, where sound surfaces build filamentary mosaics of imperceptible passages. At each step, initiation is an ever deeper immersion into the Interiora Terrae cited by Basilio Valentino, implied in the iconology of the Mons Philosophorum. In order to welcome the light, the adept must first know the shadow, this is why the Greek μύστης were brought into the basement of the Eleusinian Temple before receiving the light of initiation: to die and resurrect. This shadows gradually thin out like a mist that evaporates, allowing us to perceive the details of an inner world that only silence can reveal.
Exhibited at the Wrong Biennale n°5 by the InAbsentia pavilion credits released January 28, 2022
Recorded with a (B)Arp2500. Dedicated to the 90th of Eliane Radigue
SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS is the remarkable untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to utterly transform how we produce and listen to music today. Theremins, synthesizers and feedback machines abound in this glorious ode to the women who helped shape, not just electronic music but the contemporary soundscape as we know it.
Avant-garde composer Laurie Anderson narration accompanies fascinating archival footage to trace the history of the technological experimentation of sound, the deconstruction of its parts and the manipulation into something altogether other. While traversing a range of musical approaches and personalities, from academia to outsider art to television commercials, we meet Clara Rockmore, Bebe Barron, Suzanne Ciani, Laurie Spiegel, Daphne Oram, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire and Eliane Radigue, fascinating and enigmatic musical geniuses and their peculiar way of hearing the world.
"I love to make noise, and I am also keen to learn about the many ways in which noise makes me.
The observations in this video are not really anything new. If they strike any chord with you, here is some recommended further reading:
Pauline Oliveros, “Some Sound Observations” - perhaps the piece that kick-started my interest in the removal of boundaries between music and sound, sound and silence, listening and playing.
John Cage, Silence - among much other material this includes the famous story of a visit to an anechoic chamber where Cage was unable to hear “silence” because he could always hear the sounds of his own body.
Joe Allen, “Academic Archive Vol XII: The Soul of Hank Shocklee” - Shocklee discusses the unfound sounds and rhythms that emerge, consciously and otherwise, when multiple recordings are sampled and mixed together.
Eliane Radigue with Julia Eckhardt, Intermediary Spaces - Radigue discusses how underlying tones are a necessary bed for the harmonic explorations in her music to be heard, or even to exist.
Daphne Oram, An Individual Note - Oram spends the better part of her book using electronic music concepts as a sometimes clunky but always interesting extended metaphor for the human body.
George Lewis, "Improvising Tomorrow's Bodies: The Politics of Transduction" - Lewis argues for improvisation as key to "the foreshortening of distance between art and life."
Note the above video is followed by:
Eliane Radigue - Triptych (1978) FULL ALBUM
Eliane Radigue | Feedback Works 1969-1970 [2012, Full Album]
Video Description:
"Un día me encontré con esta obra casualmente se mimetizaba con el sonido ambiente, fue en una casa de playa , por lo que no era fácil oír por el intenso sonido del mar, estaba atenta, quería escuchar que era lo que realmente sonaba, y no lo encontraba, hasta que aparecen fantasmagóricamente las voces soprano, despacio, atrás de todo, incorporándose poco a poco sutilmente la encuentro reproduciéndose en un lector de cd , aparece mi amigo Gerardo Figueroa, y me presenta a Eliane Radigue, máxima exponente de la música electrónica desde los años en que compartía con Pierre Schaeffer. y Henry en los años 60.............. nunca mas pude encontrar este disco, hasta hoy....por eso lo comparto. tiene la simpleza y sutileza de mezclar los sonidos puros y perderse infinitamente en las islas resonantes..."
Googlish:
"One day I found this work coincidentally blending in with the ambient sound, it was in a beach house, so it was not easy to hear from the intense sound of the sea, I was attentive, I wanted to hear what it really sounded like, and I could not find it, until the soprano voices appear spookily, slowly, behind everything, gradually incorporating the encounter reproducing in a CD player, my friend Gerardo Figueroa appears, and introduces me to Eliane Radigue, the greatest exponent of music electronic since the years I shared with Pierre Schaeffer. and Henry in the 60s .............. I could never find this record, until today ... that's why I share it. the simplicity and subtlety of mixing pure sounds and getting lost infinitely in the resonant islands ... "
It has come to my attention that ARP founder Alan R. Pearlman has passed way. He was 90 years old at the time of the NAMM TEC Awards in 2015. The ARP 2600 SYNTHESIZER received the award that year. You can find a video from the event featuring Pat Gleeson and Jim Heintz of WayOutWare, who worked with Alan on their ARP emulations, below. Alan was no longer traveling at the time and was not at the event.
You can find a great video interview with Alan R. Pearlman from 2006 at the NAMM website here. The following is an interesting excerpt from the site: "Alan R. Pearlman was nicknamed 'ARP' as a kid growing up in New York City, so it seemed the perfect name for a company when he was later designing electronic musical instruments. The first instrument created by Alan was the modular synthesizer known as the ARP 2500. The monophonic product was released years after the first Moog and Buchla instruments, but gained attention for several new features including the ever-popular function of not drifting out of tune, which was a common problem in the earlier products. Next came the now classic ARP 2600, and soon the company became a great leader in the growth and development of the electronic musical market."
"Pearlman was born in New York City in 1925. His father was a movie theatre projector designer and his grandfather made parts for phonograph machines. He grew up building radio sets, inspired by Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines, and served in the military briefly following World War II.
Following his military service, Pearlman attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts and in 1948, for his senior thesis designed a vacuum tube envelope follower that could extract the envelope of a sound from an instrument. He later audited a Harvard University course taught by one of the inventors of the transistor, Walter Brattain.[1]
Pearlman spent five years designing amplifiers for NASA's Gemini and Apollo programs. He worked at George A. Philbrick Researchers with Roger Noble, and the two later founded analog module and op amp manufacturer Nexus Research Laboratory in Canton, Massachusetts in the early 1960s. Nexus Research Laboratory's business grew to $4 million in annual sales before being acquired by Teledyne in 1966.[2][3]
In 1969, Pearlman founded ARP Instruments, Inc. (originally Tonus, Inc.) with $100,000 of his own money and matching funds from a small group of investors. The name ARP was derived from Pearlman's initials. ARP entered the fledgling synthesizer industry with the introduction of the ARP 2002, which with twice as many switch rows on top, became the 2500 analog modular synthesizer. The 2002 was introduced at the AES show in Fall 1970, and subsequently competed head to head with other leading synthesizer companies of the time. Pearlman eschewed patch cord methodology for interconnecting synthesizer modules, designing instead a system of sliding matrix switches. He also applied his op-amp experience by utilizing dual transistors on a single integrated circuit to overcome temperature gradients and provide very stable oscillators - more stable than other popular synthesizers on the market at the time, namely offerings from Moog Music and Buchla.[4][5]"
ARP 2600 Synthesizer Award Show w/ Dr Pat Gleeson & Jim Heintz NAMM TEC Awards 2015
Published on Feb 3, 2015 Byron Hotchkiss
"ARP 2600 SYNTHESIZER receives NAMM TECH Award at 2015 show. Speakers Dr. Pat Gleeson and Jim Heintz of WayOutWare recall stories of the ARP 2600 instrument. Quotes from Pete Townsend, Alan R. Pearlman (ARP name taken from inventors nickname as a youth) Video by B K Hotchkiss"
Note it is extremely difficult to pick videos for a RIP post especially considering how many great videos there are out there and how many have been already featured on the site as you can see via the ARP label. I'll be searching for some not previously featured to put up in individual posts throughout the day. If you have any you'd like to share please do so in the comments. I wanted to share the following as it features Alan R. Pearlman's first iconic synth, the ARP 2500.
"A portrait of Eliane Radigue, produced by the Austrian IMA (Institute for Media Archeology), which observes Eliane in her workspace, operating the ARP and talking about the process of composing and recording."
"+ [Special note for track A9 - SHFTR_CA#BB1] => A huge shout of thanks to Richard D James for gifting me a Sequentix Cirklon sequencer and PreenFM2 synth during my Regional Arts Fellowship in 2017! This was the first track I made using this gear. You can also read up more about my open source Farey Sequence FM programming tool for the PreenFM here => github.com/noyzelab/FareyPreenFM2
++ Folks interested in using cellular automata can also check out my open source Arduino based synth module here => github.com/noyzelab/uMANIAC"
NYZ of Noyzelab has a new release out on neon orange vinyl (limited to 300 copies) titled SHFTR FRQ which features PreenFM2 sequenced by the Sequentix Cirklon. You will find a track off the release above. Below you will find some exclusive pics sent my way from NYZ and info on the release from Forced Exposure where it is available in the US. The album is available in the UK from Boomkat here. Update: it's also available at Phonica Records, Norman Records, Juno Records, Redeye Records, and Bleep.
"The Death of Rave is honored to plate up the vinyl debut by NYZ; the cult, algorithmic/ generative music project of award-winning artist/scientist Dave Burraston (Bryen Telko, Noyzelab). The A-side revolves 14 succinct blatz, ranging from cranky percussive pieces to queered microtonal dissonance and SAW II-like atmospheres -- notably including one track made on a Sequentix Cirklon sequencer and PreenFM2 synth gifted him by Richard D. James. The B-side contains a steeply immersive spectral drone tract that (never) ends in a locked groove, especially cut at D&M, Berlin. The results are wholly unique and speak to the endless, playfully experimental variation of NYZ's art/research. They reveal visceral, alien microcosms of curdled microtonal tunings and proprioceptive chicanery bound to thrill and induce strange, new sensations in even the most hard-to-please fiend of electronic music. It's strongly recommended to followers of Russell Haswell's chaotic gnash, the mind-bending tunings of Aphex Twin, the visionary algorithmic scapes of Roland Kayn, and Eliane Radigue's microtonal meditations. In Dave's own words:
"SHFTR FRQ is a series of experimental studies into simple synth setups controlled by varying levels of generative complex systems [MANIAC cellular automata]. SHFTR FRQ was recorded over the last six years on an ever-changing hybrid of equipment encompassing the domains of modular and MIDI-based microtonal sound synthesis [analog and digital]. Setups were always ultra-minimalist, often with just the MANIAC cellular automata sequencer and one or two modules/synths to provide a consistent sensory focus. The studies range from ultra-short sequences, micro-ditties, investigatory motifs, to a full length high spectral drone meditation."
Burraston has previously collaborated with Alan Lamb on recordings of a mile-long telephone wire in the Australian outback, and more recently he issued nearly a dozen NYZ tapes and CDs with some of the most crucial modern music labels, as well as a number of releases under the Noyzelab and Bryen Telko aliases. In 2014, Dave self-published SYROBONKERS!, the most technical and in-depth interview ever given by Aphex Twin. Screen-printed jacket. RIYL: Russell Haswell, Aphex Twin, Eliane Radigue, EVOL/ALKU, Roland Kayn."
Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction, priced at $126,508.32 + $1,640.77 Shipping.
This one was spotted and sent in via an anonymous MATRIXSYNTH reader. It was once for sale back in August, 2017.
Details via the listing, captured for the archives:
"Selling my beloved ARP 2500 - Model 2515 Studio Cabinet. Serial number - 74-005
I am the second owner of this fantastic piece of history and purchased this instrument from a dutch composer/violinist who in turn ordered it directly from the Arp factory around 1976. Before my ownership, it was used in a reasonably well known studio in Hilversum for a multitude of experimental recordings throughout the 70s and 80s.
It is in pristine condition and original state with only a few cosmetic blemishes. It has been used and stored in a smoke free, temperature controlled environment and is a joy just to look at, let alone play. A well laid out collection of modules that offer many many years of deep exploration, I spent almost 6months just with the 1036(Sample/Hold/Random voltage) module :).
All modules are working and sounding fantastic. The filters are especially lush, definitely nothing else sounds like a 2500 and the unique matrix switch system is ripe territory for happy/accidental patching discoveries.
The fabulous ARP 2500 was used by famous musicians like Aphex Twin, Pete Townshend, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Jimmy Edgar, Luke Vibert, Vince Clarke, Faust, Eliane Radigue. And used in films like Logan's Run and communicating with the aliens in Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Here is your chance to own an instrument capable of taking you on an intergalactic journey through time and space...
Important Records wrote in to let us know they have three new releases showcasing one synth each. Alessandro Cortini's "Forse2" was made entirely on the original Buchla Music Easel, Eliane Radique's Adnos I-III was composed with an ARP 2500, and ELEH features an 8 panel Serge modular wynthesizer.
Full details and links:
"-Alessandro Cortini’s “Forse 2” is now available. Made entirely on an original Buchla Music Easel, just like 'Forse 1' but with an entirely different mood to it.
This is a 2xLP and the second in a series of 3 releases we have planned with Alessandro. Hopefully the CD Box will be out early next year. A cassette for our sister label Cassauna is in the works too for his Synthi A explorations.
You can find more info and a soundcloud track here:
Eliane Radigue "Adnos I-III" 3CD - Official Traile Published on Sep 19, 2013 importantrecords
"Eliane Radigue's Adnos trilogy was composed between 1973 and 1980 and is among her finest compositions. Adnos is a deeply meditative work of infinite depth and sensitivity; one of the high points of modern minimal electronic composition.
Packaged in a heavy duty 3CD jacket containing extensive archival materials.
Film & collage: John Brien for Imprec"
"Eliane Radigue’s masterful “Adnos I-III” 3xCD box-set containing a cleaner mastering of the album, new artwork, and an absolutely gorgeous booklet of archival material. Adnos I-III was composed using Arp 2500 feedback paths into multiple reel-to-reel tape recorders. A masterwork of minimal electronic composition."
"ELEH mail-order only CD 'For Moussavi Atrium' a studio recording initially created for a recent live performance at Cleveland Museum Of Contemporary Art using a custom 8 panel Serge Modular Synthesizer and loosely based on a composition by La Monte Young."
"‘All Connected’ is a new series in Huis23 that will feature concerts, films, readings and instrument presentations with and about artists who play with the language of ‘voltage control’. Artists who use the ‘modular’ as creative thinking process and who explore musical boundaries in doing so. Artists who work in the spirit of the San Francisco Tape Music Centre, a collective that came into being when pioneers like Terry Riley, Morton Subotnick, Steve Reich, Ramon Sender, Pauline Oliveros, and many others connected their oscillators and tape recorders together to produce the most progressive music of the period.
The title 'All Connected' is inspired by the idea of Dick Raaijmakers. He destabilised his studio and created unpredictable noises for pieces like Plumes and Flux, by connecting everything to everything and turning up the voltage as high as it would go - See more at: [link]"
"First day of the series [October 22] is with Daniël De Wereldvermaarde Botanicus with his collection of Korg MS synths, W. Ravenveer with a Eurorack modular system, a screening of a short Eliane Radigue documentary and Makino Takeshi will screen his movie Recorder with music from Jim O’Rourke.
On the second date, December 6, we will have Kassel Jaeger of GRM coming over with an all night event on the Coupigny synth and the INA-GRM.
Other dates will be announced soon."
Also:
In early 2014 there will also be specials on IPEM and on the San Francisco Tape Music Center. You'll find the ‘general’ project page for that here:
We are pleased to announce the newest podcast from Important Records:
Summary:
IMPREC podcast #3- "The Synthcast"
This weeks show will focus on the role of the analog synthesizer as a creative tool in the production of electronic music, modern composition, and sound art. This podcast highlights artists in the Important Records catalog that have made a connection with specific systems or instruments in the analog domain. Some artists have made momentary, inspired connections and managed to capture those results while others have spent decades exploring and mastering their given voltage-controlled instrument.
Each track represented in the podcast brings something unique and challenging to the table. This is not an attempt to fetishize or promote analog synthesis hardware; it is a snapshot of the results that are yielded by careful study, improvisation, and creative approaches to the technology available to artists at a given point in time. Although some may consider analog synthesis an archaic mode of expression, the tracks here attest to the opposite. There are three tracks featuring the EMS Synthi on this podcast but if you expect to hear something akin to "On The Run", well…you're in for a wild ride.
Track Listing:
Alessandro Cortini makes his Important Records debut with the track "Gloria" from the upcoming Forse 1 album. Alessandro created the Forse series of recordings using an original Buchla Music Easel. 2012
Pauline Oliveros- 'A little Noise in the system' (excerpt) from Reverberations (2012) was created on the Moog III modular system at UCSD in 1968.
Eleh- "Indictiva" from the Return LP. Eleh uses a custom Serge Modular. 2009
Jessica Rylan- 'Phantasia' (excerpt) from Interior Designs. Serge Modular feedback patch with home made electronics. 2006
Space Machine (Yamazaki Maso)- "Track D" from Space Machine 3. Maso uses multiple sound sources including the EMS VCS3, Arp Odyssey, Roland System 100M with various echo/tape delays. 2003
Christina Kubisch- 'Ocigam Trazom' from the Intorno al Flauto Magio exhibition, an interpretation of Mozart's opera 'The Magic Flute'. Performed on the EMS Synthi with processed field recordings. 1985
Astro (Hiroshi Hasegawa)- 'Artificial Lake' realized on an EMS Synthi with Tape Delay. From the album 'The Echo From Purple Dawn'. 2008
Eliane Radigue- 'Triptych Pt. 3' created on the ARP 2500 in 1978. From the album 'Triptych'.
We hope you enjoy the podcast and thank you for you continued support."
via Kickstarter where you'll find additional details and can help fund the project.
"the ear goes to the sound: the work of Laetitia Sonami is a film portrait of the French born, Oakland based electronic sound artist Laetitia Sonami. Sonami, a student of the pioneering sound composer Eliane Radigue, is perhaps best known for her Lady’s Glove instrument, which controls sounds and mechanical objects with gestures of the hand. I hope that this film will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of women working at the intersection of technology and art.
This documentary offers an intimate look at one of the most extraordinary, yet underappreciated electronic sound artists of today, and is structured around an intricate combination of performance and in-studio demonstration. The film features interviews with acclaimed composers John Bischoff, Maggi Payne, Eliane Radigue, and writer Melody Sumner Carnahan, and includes never-before-seen and rare performance footage from the early 1990’s to the present..."
"Our thirtieth & final winner of the Modular Pic of the Week contest goes to Damon Mar, for his 'Modular Dream.'
Mar, of Kansas-based electronic music instrument company Marsynth, composes and performs various genres of electronic music, including ambient and experimental, with his current-controlled modular system. Influences include the pioneering works by Morton Subotnick, Oscar Sala, Klaus Shulze, and Eliane Radigue. Photo shot with Canon T2i and Rokinon 8mm fisheye.
We'd like to offer our sincere thanks for everyone who submitted photos to the contest; We've seen some amazing systems and beautiful, creative photos - it has been a pleasure! We will be voting on the final Top5 photos from the 30 contest winners in the coming weeks. [Top5 winners: One of these photos will be selected as an official IDOW T-shirt design, and all 5 will be printed as a postcard set. T-Shirts and postcard sets are available as part of IDOW's IndieGoGo fund raising packages. Top5 winners will also receive a complimentary T-Shirt + postcard set.]"
"A portrait of Eliane Radigue, produced by the Austrian IMA (Institute for Media Archeology), which observes Eliane in her workspace, operating the ARP and talking about the process of composing and recording.
French audio with English subtitles, 15 minutes."
Featuring the ARP 2500. via Richard Lainhart. You might remember the trailer from this post. You can find all posts featuring Eliane Radigue here.
via Wikipedia:
"Eliane Radigue (born January 24, 1932) is a French electronic music composer. She started her work in the 1950s and her first creations were presented in the late 1960s. Until 2000 her work was almost exclusively created on a single synthesizer, the ARP 2500 modular system and tape. Since 2001 she composed mostly for acoustical instruments."
Update via Noiseconformist in the comments: "I had a chat with Eliane Radigue in May this year when she was featured during a two day festival here in Vienna. She's a lovely person! Her music is very inspiring to me!
"For some unknown reason I found this photo very interesting. I came across it while surfing synth stuff. Can anyone ID the woman. I think we know what the synth is."
ARP 2500 of course. Also anyone know the source of the image?
Update via Mark in the comments: "That is the great Eliane Radigue." I ran a quick search and found this site which has more info on her as well as this shot.
Update via John Levin in the comments: "You can get her CDs from the Lovely Music label, www.lovely.com"
