Gary Chang and Neil Leonard Illuminate Sacred Spaces in Italy

Via the Grant Richter of Wiard on the Wiard Group:

"During the month of June, 2007, notable composers Gary Chang and Neil Leonard will visit several sites in Italy with the task of completing 5.1 installations of a program of music entitled "Sanctuaries," which are meditative ambient analog electronic music pieces composed by Chang and realized on a Wiard Modular Music System, specifically designed for playback in churches and other public locations.

The tour is sponsored by Sguardi Sonori 2007, Festival of Media and Time Based Art, for which Leonard is a also a curator.

The cities in the tour will include Rome, Benevento, Torino, Venice, San Galgano and La Spezia. While in La Spezia, Chang and Leonard will also have access to the Naval base, where there are very large rooms (indoor drydocks for warships, for instance) and other interesting ambiances, such as marble quarries and museums, where further explorations in unusual ambient spaces will be recorded and cataloged.

Utilizing Blue Sky Monitors and extensive Taralabs wiring at each installation, each
location will be recorded using a Soundfield SP422B mic, which is a recording system that can yield from mono up to a 7.1 playback. Recording will be achieved using a tcelectronic Konnekt Live, interfacing to a laptop computer and portable firewire drives. In addition, Impulse Response data will be collected from each of the locations to create a library of interesting convolution reverb spaces for McDSP's Revolver.

Following the Italian journey, Chang and Leonard will give many presentations on the
project, including a workshop presented by GASP Gallery in Brookline for senior students in electronic music at Berklee College of Music.

This project would not be possible without the generosity of sponsors, who include The City of Rome; The City of Venice; La Marrana - environmental art park, (for graciously coordinating recording and installation sites during a week long residency in La Spezia); Sguardi Sonori 2007, Festival of Media and Time Based Art; Blue Sky Speakers; TaraLabs Cables; tcelectronic digital audio interfaces and processors; The Wiard Synthesizer Company; Transaudio Group/Soundfield Microphones and The Berklee College of Music.

Confirmed Schedule - (Actual locations to be announced).

June 12/19 LA SPEZIA
June 20 ROME
June 21/22 BENEVENTO
June 23/24 TORINO
June 26/27 VENICE
June 28 SAN GALGANO (Installation includes "Echoes and Footsteps" by Neil Leonard in addition to "Sanctuaries")
June 29 - July 4 LA SPEZIA

SANCTUARIES
An installation by Gary Chang and Neil Leonard
San Galgano, Sienna, Italy

NOTES: GARY CHANG
The music entitled "Sanctuaries" that I have composed for installation in churches is designed for such an environment of spirituality and meditation. The musics are ambient in quality, designed to fill the space with warmth and emotion, but never does the musics every confront the visitor - though there is some abstraction, the dynamics of the pieces are quite controlled, never overtly dramatic. In the best of all things, I am hoping that the music installation will simply be another contributor to the specialness of the Church's ambiance - my special prayer in the space. In loving memory of Diana Lee Chang.

NOTES: NEIL LEONARD
Echoes and Footsteps is a reflection on the sound of Italy, where I lived and work for much of 2006. The primary sources are the sound of cowbells recorded in the region of Lazio, and the songs of workers celebrating the end of the work day in the Palazzo di Ragione market in Padova. The pointed gestures of the bells and bursts of cathartic song were transformed using time-stretching and delay techniques. The resulting composition evolves in slow motion and outlines large sonic contours that celebrate the essence of daily life as I head it while living here.

GARY CHANG SHORT BIO
Sound artist and esteemed film composer Gary Chang worked his way up through the LA
studio musician ranks playing with the best musicians in the country (e.g. Robbie Robertson, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report, Barbara Streisand and Henry Mancini,)
later to compose music for many eminent filmmakers (including John Frankenheimer,
Jonathan Demme and Stephen King). Few composers have mastered such a wide range of
musical genres that Chang has (orchestral, electronic, installation, jazz, soundtrack, dance). Chang is a protagonist in the field of music synthesis. He has recorded on and programmed almost major every hardware and software synthesizer over the last thirty years, built dozens of custom systems, and designed a personal studio that is optimized for recording synthesizers in multi-channel and high definition audio. Chang won the National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Jazz Composers while attending California Institute Of the Arts. Chang is a pioneer in the use of 5.1 surround sound in cinema, concert and installation settings.

NEIL LEONARD SHORT BIO
NEIL LEONARD is a sound artist, composer and saxophonist. His compositions are a
synthesis of concert, improvised and electronic musics that transcend categorization. Leonard's recently premiered works include Dreaming of an Island for orchestra, electronics and live-video (performed by Kirk Trevor and the Indianapolis Chamber
Orchestra), Totems (performed by Byron and Caine at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City), and the music for Relatives (by Tony Oursler and Constance DeJong that was featured at the Whitney Biennial). His collaborative work with visual artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons was featured by premier venues for modern art including 49th Venice Biennial; Museum of Modern Art, NY; and presented by the U.S. State Department at DakArt/Dakar Biennial in Senegal.

Leonard is co-owner of Gallery Artist Studio Project GASP and curator of the GASP sonic arts series in Boston. His ensemble has featured Marshall Allen (Director of the Sun Ra Arkestra), Bruce Barth, Dave Bryant, Don Byron, Kenwood Dennard, Robin Eubanks, Frank Lacy, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Uri Caine.

Neil Leonard is an Associate Professor in the Music Synthesis Department at Berklee
College of Music.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Mr. Chang and Mr. Leonard wish to thank Bruce Weisberg of Blue Sky Speakers, Rebecca
Barnhardt of TaraLabs Cables, Ed Simeone of tcelectronic, Grant Richter of The Wiard
Synthesizer Company, Bradley Lunde at Transaudio Group/Soundfield Mics, and Carl Dito at Coast Audio for their sage advice and contributing their companies' products on behalf of our project. Gary wishes to thank his family, Ann and Arthur Chang and Margaret Craig-Chang.

Special thanks goes to Stephen Croes and Kurt Biederwolf of Berklee College of Music for their continued support.

Thanks to Anthony Baldino, Tara Sarmov and Pierce Warneke, students of the Music
Synthesis Program at Berklee College of Music for assisting with the installation.

Extra special thanks are extended to Carlo Fatigoni, Sandro Cecchi and Marisa Corazzol of Sguardi Sonori 2007. Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons of Gallery Artists Studio Projects GASP Gallery, Colonel Sergio Cavanna of The SAVTAM Aeronautica Militare, Cadimare - La Spezia Italy, and Gianni and Grazie Bolongaro of La Marrana di Montemarcello, La Spezia Italy."

The SynthSummitShow Ep. 34 Gary Chang

video upload by Ken Flux Pierce Fluxwithit

Beautiful Wiard system in the backgroud.

"about Todays guest : Gary Chang is an American composer of scores for film and television. Working primarily in the action and thriller genres, he has composed the scores to over seventy films, including Under Siege, Sniper, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. He is also a long-time collaborator of directors John Frankenheimer and Craig R. Baxley. For his work on Under Siege, he won a BMI Award.[1]"

You can find additional posts mentioning Gary Chang here.

Gary Chang: Make Noise Pressure Points

flickr by Analogue Haven
http://analoguehaven.com/
"Here's a pair of Gary Chang's Pressure Points mounted in a small tabletop enclosure (the manufacturer and model # is PacTec Model CM69-120 / www.pactecenclosures.com/Plastic-Enclosures/CM69-120.html ).
They have been modified by Tony of Make Noise to run off a 9v battery.

From Gary: "I sent my Pressure Point back to him and he modified a pair of them for battery power so that I can move it around in my studio to use with whatever modular that I want - the Wiard, Serge or Eurorack...."

The modules can also draw their power from Gary's Eurorack rig via a custom cable, when desired.

LINK (unofficial website): www.garychang.net/."

Gary Chang's Custom Wiard Modular

via Gary Chang's Photos where you'll find some back and forth between Gary and George Mattson. Gary shared this pic after seeing George's monster EML. Don't miss the modular in FU Studio.

On the Wiard:
"the Wiard system is my own design of aluminum cabinetry, which is of a monocoque construction - the top, back and bottom of the cabinet is one piece of aluminum, bent to form to fit the module shape, but also the bends provide natural strength without interior supports. The end pieces are welded onto this, and, when the modules are mounted in the cabinet, they provide a very strong, yet ultra lightweight structure. The case is powder coated blue (of course) which gives it a durable finish that should last for years...!"

Also worth mentioning is the stand:
"It is a Freedom Breakdown Stand, which is, by far, the most stable stand on the market. Aside from the stability, the other key features include 1). foot pedal actuated motorized adjusted height, which is great when getting around a big system, and 2). for as hefty a load that this stand can support, it can be completely taken apart for moving." http://www.solidstand.com/

FU Studio Pics

http://fu.downloadsnow.net/

via Gary Chang

"In this shot, you can see the Eurorack system, which acts as Time Square, where Ableton Live interfaces with the modular and other analog devices through the Eurorack system (via the Cwejman AI-2s in the lower righthand corner, next to a pair of Make Noise Pressure Points with Brains. Above that is the TipTop row, with a Z8000 sequencer, a pair of Z3000 MK2 VCOs, and a Z-DSP). Also patched in is Schippman Ebbe und Flut, Mungo Sync, OTO Biscuit, Pigtronix Echolution and a Zerotronix Min-LE passive spring reverb. In the left foreground is a Monome 256 running Stretta's Monome suite for Max For Live, and glowing off to the right is an ancient Cooper MSB 16/20 MIDI patchbay....."

"Gary Chang has composed and produced over 80 film and television projects, including 8 films directed by film legend John Frankenheimer and 3 Primetime mini-series written and produced by Stephen King. A former student of Morton Subotnick while studying at California Institute of the Arts, Gary’s involvement in the usage of early music technology in the 70’s had enabled him to have worked for many illuminaries of music, including Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Weather Report, Robbie Robertson, Al Jareau, and, eventually film composers Patrick Williams and Giorgio Moroder."

Listen here: http://fu.downloadsnow.net/

Sanctuaries Tour Information

Title link takes you to Sanctuaries a blog that will cover tour information for a number of shows featuring Gary Chang and Neil Leonard. You might remember Gary Chang from this post on his Wiard modular and this previous post on Sactuaries. The shows will feature the Wiard modular and will take place in religious sanctuaries - churches from times past. When you get to the site, be sure to scroll down and click on "Older Posts" to get to see all of the posts. If I were in the area of any of these events, I would not want to miss it.

You can find audio excerpts on the site as well.

SCREAM 2007: ANALOGLIVE!

"The program for SCREAM: Analoglive!, November 16th at the Redcat Theater in the Disney Music Hall in Los Angeles, is as follows:

Gary Chang: Sanctuaries: Faith (2007)

Chas Smith: The Ghosts on the Windows (2007)*

Richard Devine: Captract (2004)

[intermission]

Alessandro Cortini: Paris 1 (2006)*

Thighpaulsandra: The Aborted Ascension Of Angel Assassins (2007)*

Peter Grenader: The Secret Life of Semiconductors (2003)

*Denotes a premiere. Gary Chang's 'Sanctuaries: Faith' was part of his summer performance tour in Europe 2007. Richard Devine's 'Captract' is from his 2004 Schematic Records release 'asect/dsect' and Grenader's ' Secret Life of Semiconductors', in which only Part 4 will be presented, was originally written for and performed by the Odin Dance Company in 2003.

The performance will be heavily documented - photographed and filmed - with both posted at a future date on the EAR site and of course MATRIXSYNTH.

For more information or to purchase tickets, go here: http://redcat.org/season/0708/mus/scream.php"

Scream 2007: ANALOGLIVE! Performances Now Available

via Peter Grenader:

"It gives me great pleasure - for the first time, ever and with the permission of the composers involved to upload the audio files from the live performance ANALOGLIVE, realized and recorded at the Redcat Theater - downtown Los Angeles November 16th, 2007.

In 2007, in what composer Barry Schrader termed an historic event, the annual SCREAM EAM festival hosted Analoglive!, an ensemble conglomerate of live analog electronic music with film composer Gary Chang, Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Alessandro Cortini, Richard Devine, composer and instrument designer Chas Smith, Thighpaulsandra (of Coil and Spiritualized), Peter Grenader and video artist Paul Tzanetopoulos. Analoglive exists as the only sold out show of the SCREAM Festival's 36 year run.

1) Gary Chang: Sanctuaries: Faith (2007)
http://www.ear-group.net/faith.mp3

2) Chas Smith: The Ghosts on the Windows (2007)*
http://www.ear-group.net/ghosts.mp3

3) Peter Grenader: The Secret Life of Semiconductors - Part Four (2003-2009)
http://www.ear-group.net/slocscream.mp3
[intermission]

4) Alessandro Cortini: Paris 1 (2006)
http://www.ear-group.net/paris.mp3

5) Thighpaulsandra: The Aborted Ascension Of Angel Assassins (2007)
http://www.ear-group.net/assasins.mp3

6) Richard Devine: Captract (2004)
http://www.ear-group.net/richard.mp3

You can find pics from the event here and all posts on ANALOGLIVE here.

Tom Oberheim Two Voice Pro Excerpt by Gary Chang

video upload by GSF AGENCY

"Directed by Chris Morgan ... http://www.darkenergymedia.com
Produced by Geoff Farr / GSF Agency ... http://www.gsfagency.com

While the New TVS Pro is a 'reissue' of the TVS with the classic SEM sound of the '70s, a few details have transformed this instrument. Once destined to sit atop a Hammond B-3 or in a multi-keyboard setup, the new TVS is at home in any modular system, providing handy pitch and timing reference, and shining as an excellent compact master keyboard for playing polyphonic synths without having to fire up the DAW.

In this video, the Tom Oberheim TVS Pro plays sequence #1, while supplying clock to the modular systems' sequencers. External sounds include a Karp hi hat; Wiard kick, Mayhem and Pedal tone; a Tonestar grand casa; MiniMod Bass; Elements chunk; Serge funk; Serge and Nebulae suspense and 2 Roland MKS 80 Super Jupiters pads, played from TVS Pro Keyboard with Local OFF.

The music in the video is performed live, without overdubbing or editing. Special thanks to Anthony Baldino for sprucing up the mix before the shoot.

-Gary Chang"

Plan B Custom Modules

Title link takes you there.
Currently listed:
Gary Chang's MIlton Sequencer (pictured above)
John Frusciante's triple LPG
Steve Roach's dual Analog Shift Register
Gino Robair's quad LPG
Frac'd Model 15
NIN's Quad LPG
John Duval's custom panel o'fun
Dennis Verschoor's Serge (ish) VCO panel (posted here)
Dan Levey's Sawtooth Animator
Gary Chang's Frac'd Encore Frequency Shifter

Santuaries Makes the Associate Press

Remember Sanctuaries? Title link takes you to a write up via the AP.

"It was one of the more unusual summer concert tours veteran composer Gary Chang had undertaken, performing futuristic, electronic music in centuries-old sacred cathedrals.

Chang, who has composed dozens of soundtracks and scores for movies and television, recently returned from Italy, where he brought modern surround-sound-type compositions to some of the country's most venerable landmarks.

'It was kind of a monumental idea,' Chang said with a laugh. 'Let's send 500 pounds worth of gear halfway around the world and drag it around to churches.'

But he'd been fascinated for decades by the acoustics of the ancient cathedrals and always wondered how they might sound when filled with electronic compositions that were filtered through a state-of-the-art 5.1 theatrical sound system."

A Collection of Fairlight History via Peter Vogel's YouTube Channel

The following is a collection of Fairlight videos from Peter Vogel's YouTube channel. The first two are on the original Fairlight. The third is a playlist of the Fairlight CMI30A reissue, and the final is a playlist of the Peter Vogel CMI App which featured a CMI30A splash screen. Note Fairlight and Peter Vogel Instruments are two separate companies. Via Wikipedia:

"After rebirthing Fairlight Instruments in August 2009[7] and releasing the CMI-30A, the 30th anniversary model of the Fairlight CMI,[8] and Fairlight iOS apps for the Apple iPhone and iPad,[9] Vogel renamed Fairlight Peter Vogel Instruments in July 2012. When announcing the name change, the company foreshadowed a new range of synthesisers was being developed.[10]"

And the videos:

Computers Are People, Too! 1982 Fairlight bit

Published on Dec 30, 2013 Peter Vogel

"This is a segment from a 1982 documentary about the use of computers in art and music. The Fairlight CMI is demonstrated in this clip by Gary Chang -- American film composer, synthesiser player and producer. Gary was Fairlight USA support in the early 1980s and moved on to film scoring, including films such as The Breakfast Club, 52 Pick Up, and Under Siege."

Fairlight1984 extract from doco about MICs

Published on Apr 17, 2014

"Fairlight1984 extract from doco about Management and Investment Companies"

A Peek at the Fairlight CMI30A


Playlist:

A Peek at the Fairlight CMI30A
UNDERCONSTRUCTION 4
CMI30A-sampling
cmi30aFX11

Introducing the Peter Vogel CMI App

Playlist:

Introducing the Peter Vogel CMI app [note Stevie Wonder was the first Fairlight customer]
Video Guide #1
Video #2 -- Player vs Pro
Video #3 -- Voice sampling

iTunes:
Peter Vogel CMI Pro - Peter Vogel Instruments Pty Ltd
Peter Vogel CMI - Peter Vogel Instruments Pty Ltd

Buchla with a Touch of Serge

via Reed:
"Thought I'd throw another log on the fire regarding the Serge/Buchla debate [see comments of this post]. Here's a picture of my current home Buchla system, for bleeping without having to remain after hours at work. It features an embedded Serge panel, expertly tweaked by Mr. Verbos to accomodate the 0-15V Buchla range. It is a standard issue from the "red" series, comprised of a quantizer, shift register, dual transient generator, random source, smooth/stepped generator, cv mixer, dual slope generator and a vc-adsr. It provides a Swiss Army knife's worth of voltage processing. (Here's where the Serge fans get agitated that it's not being used to make sound).

On one hand, most of its functions can be accomplished (some may argue, more elegantly) with various Buchla modules. Sometimes you can pretend that when you're patching up a Serge "SSG," you're just avoiding tieing up half of a Buchla "SOU," a 257 Voltage Processor & a sample & hold. At other times it's fun to get sucked into the Serge mindset ("Whoa, everything's just something that goes up, down, or gets frozen in time, man"). Plus there are Serge quirks that yield unique results. The VC Rate on the Stepped generator comes to mind. Plus there are things that are simply fun & easy, like clock division with a slope generator.

Last time I saw Gary Chang he told me of his opposition to the "frankensynth" concept, meaning that the serious person should commit to one system & get down to music making. I tend to agree. Personally, nothing speaks more to my musical soul than Vietnam-era Buchla modules. But a souped-up Serge panel sure makes a robust plug-in, to use the parlance of our time.

There's a 259 on the shelf behind the Buchla in case I feel like getting trendy. An additional touch plate keyboard is out of frame. "

Tom Oberheim Two Voice Pro: Excerpt from Yesterday Afternoon

Published on Oct 10, 2016 darkenergymedia

"While the New TVS Pro is a 'reissue' of the TVS of the classic SEM sound of the 70's, there are a few details that have transformed this instrument - once destined to sit atop a Hammond B-3 or in a multi-keyboard rack, the new TVS feels really at home playing with my modular systems, providing handy pitch and timing reference, and it makes a nice compact master keyboard for playing polyphonic synths without having to fire up the DAW.

ABOUT THE VIDEO:

The Tom Oberheim TVS Pro plays sequence #1, while supplying clock to the modular systems' sequencers.

- a Karp hi hat
- a Wiard kick
- a Tonestar grand casa
- MiniMod Bass
- Elements chunk
- Serge funk
- 2 Roland MKS 80 Super Jupiters pad, played from TVS Pro Keyboard Local OFF.

- a Wiard Pedal tone
- Wiard mayhem

- Serge and Nebulae suspense

The music in the video is performed live, without overdubbing or editing - special thanks to Anthony Baldino for sprucing up the mix before the shoot.


Thanks, Tom!

- Gary Chang

----

uploaded in 4K

directed by Chris Morgan
http://www.darkenergymedia.com

produced by Geoff Farr / GSF Agency
http://www.gsfagency.com

Tom Oberheim:
http://www.tomoberheim.com"

SCREAM 2007: ANALOGLIVE!

Tickets are now on sale. Title link takes you there.

Note: There are a couple of errors in the event listing as follows: Thighpaulsandra is credited as a percussionist and pianist. While there may be piano involved in his performance, he is part of the evening's analog ensemble, as is Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, who's name was mistakenly omitted from the Redcat event listing. Both of these errors will be corrected early next week.

"Prized for their vibrant sounds and the physical immediacy they allow performers, analog synthesizers are combined here with acoustic instruments and kinetic video sculptures in the annual concert presented by the Southern California Resource for Electro-Acoustic Music. This performance features an unconventional six-member ensemble comprising film composer Gary Chang, composer and sound designer Richard Devine, composer and instrument designer Peter Grenader, composer and instrument designer Chas Smith, pianist and percussionist Thighpaulsandra, and multimedia artist and video sculptor Paul Tzanetopolous."

Pictured here is Thighpaulsandra who has actually dropped by a few times to comment on Matrixsynth. Also note Peter Grenader of Plan b.

AnalogLive!

"We're pleased to announce AnalogLive! - an all-analog live ensemble performance coming to the Redcat Theater at LA's Disney Music Hall this Fall.

Performers include Gary Chang, Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, Richard Devine, Peter Grenader, Chas Smith and making a rare L.A. appearance -- Thighpaulsandra of the band Spiritualized, with live kinetic video sculpture by Paul Tzanetopoulos (not to mention miles of analog synthesizers).

More information will be posted in the coming weeks. For information on Redcat, go here: http://www.redcat.org"

AnalogLive! Photo Set

"It was an amazing night, as a packed house of 250 plus applauded Alessandro Cortini, Richard Devine, Thighpaulsandra, Gary Chang, Chas Smith,Paul Tzanetopoulos and Peter Grenader as they twisted sound and sight alike at the Redcat Theater in Los Angeles. Click here for the first flickr images taken from the final rehearsal and the performance itself and check back in the next few days as more are added." Previous posts on Analog Live!

Update: be sure to check out the comments in this post for some details on the show.
Update: More images via Anateur Chemist here.

AnalogLive! at the Redcat Theater - November 16th, 2007

"We're extremely pleased to announce the confirmation of AnalogLive! - a live all-analog ensemble performance at the CalArts Redcat Theater, located in the Disney Music Hall complex in Los Angeles, on November 16th.

Bringing together some of today's leading composers, performers and designers for a real-time presentation of works centered around the revival of analog synthesis, Analoglive! is a collaborative live ensemble performance from composers Gary Chang, Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, Richard Devine, Peter Grenader, Chas Smith, and a rare Los Angeles appearance by Thighpaulsandra of the band Spiritualized, along with Paul Tzanetopoulos - involving kinetic video sculpture, electro-acoustic music via analog synthesizers and acoustic instruments.

For more information on the show, click the link below and we hope to see you there!

http://www.ear-group.net/analoglive!.html"

Malekko: Wiard Envelator

flickr by Analogue Haven
"Photo of the upcoming Envelator by Malekko. This is the fifth and next Eurorack module to come from the intriguing collaboration between Malekko and modular company Wiard. The Envelator can be considered a very flexible envelope/modulator (i.e. multi-function generator).

From Grant Richter of Wiard: "We added a monostable in the "Cyc" feedback loop. Now you can make rolls, strums, echos and bounces with a single section. To get full audio range (500Hz) the delay only kicks in when the knob is pulled out. Delay time is from 4 milliseconds to 10 seconds, exponential curve. "Ext" is an external CV for the delay time, no room for attn. knob.

The normal range of the attack and decay segments is 1 millisecond to 40 seconds. The X10 knob extends the max time for both attack and decay into Gary Chang territory. I have no idea what to do with a 800 second envelope. But I am told they are cool.

The two pull switches are set up up on a composer level to allow ABCD changes on the fly."

We expect to have stock around the end of January.

Price: TBD.

LINK" http://www.analoguehaven.com/malekko/

Note the image was prevously posted here. Putting this one up for the description.

Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne - CalArts studio B-304

"The following flickr stream was from CalArts studio B-304 taken in the fall of 1976 featuring Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne and a whole lotta Buchla 500. John as you may remember came up a couple of months ago on Matrixsynth in the posting regarding Mort's use of the 300 at Ircam [link]. He went on in later years to become the Assistant Dean of the CIA School of Music and founder of it's Music Tech department. Photo b_304.2 has a good view of the entire studio, save the three other JBL's which are out of frame (it was a quad studio - there was one in each corner)."

b_304.1 pictured.
"Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne stand in front of the Buchla 500 in CalArts' sudio B-304 in the fall of 1976."

via Peter Grenader. 


Posts featuring Barry Schrader
Posts featuring Morton Subotnic
Posts featuring John Payne

Update: As always check the comments for more info.

via Peter:

"There are two more 500's that I know off - at Evergreen and another somewhere in Europe (pardon the senior moment, i don't remember where exactly). This is not to say there aren't others...I'm just not aware of any. The one in the photo here was the first - the development system Don constructed while on staff at CalArts. I do know the 500 was adondoned quickly and resurfaced as the 300 series which included direct routing of computer control the various modules (259 VCO and 292C Gate for example) -and- the digital VCOs."

"the box screwed into the side of the main cabinet is a speaker selector which i f i remember correctly wasn't on line. Another bit of trivia - this was taken about the time of Mort's Game Room project that Gary Chang, Jill Frazer, Darrell Johansen, Sue Harvey and I worked on. The room next to 304 (other side of the wall which is shown behind the Buchla) was 305. It had a large 100 system (three cabinets) and for the Game Room we cut a hole in the base of that wall to run audio cables out from the tape machines to play quad audio snippets into the game area. This also took signals directly from the game board in 305 where signals were decoded and sent to the various controllers (audio, film, Buchla-controlled OCR light dimmers, etc.).

Against the other wall - opposite the one behind the 500 - was studi oB-303, which was pretty much a duplicate of this one sans the computer control - so it was a 200 studio, not a 500 studio. It also had the huge JBL monitors which were hung form the ceiling on metal brackets made by Chas Smith (which are still in place today). There's a photo of 303 at Barry's Schrader's website: link

Most people preferred working in 303, mainly because the 258's were easier to get to. On the 500 system they were all on the top row, which was a pain for most. The upside - studio time was easy to book in 304 for this reason I spent a lot of the early mornings here - tarting usually at 4AM and going until classes began around 9."

via an anonymous comment:
"Evergreen has/had an early 300 its computer is non functional. There were 3 500s from what i understand, 1 went to Norway, 1 to a campus studio in NY and the 3rd was of course at CalArts..

the Norway one was moved around a lot as it was purchased by 2 or 3 studios/organizations and because of its fragile nature it didnt survive.. it was apparently parted out after it became nonfunctional.

The CalARTs system was also disassembled and parts were sold to various buyers around the US in the famouse 90's sale ..nobody is too sure what happened to the digial components..

the 3rd that was in NY was sold to a collector in the 90's, tho it should be noted that that system was returned to Buchla for upgrading/overhaul in the late 70's and was reassembled with 300 series components, so it is more of a 300 now then 500... I don't believe it has been tested or turned on in over a decade.

another note, there were 2 versions of the 300.. the early system used tech from the 500 (the gating matrix for example - which controlled early versions of the 281 and 292B gates - the remote function on later 281s and 292Cs was never implemented) the later 300s were more of a self contained system ( with 200 modules for processing ) which eventually became the Touché and the 400."