EMS Founder Peter Zinovieff Has Passed Away

Update: Image of Peter Zinovieff (previously in via Brian Kehew).

"Circa 1975: A photo from the Frankfurt Music Fair

Peter Zinovieff in the EMS synthesizer booth.

They are featuring the rare SYNTHI P model, just announced on the left side and stand. Underneath the board listing EMS musical artists is a SYNTHI HI-FLI effects unit is barely seen. Another unusual/prototype model is next to the Hi-Fli."


Peter Zinovieff and Electronic Music Studios video upload by JeffreyPlaide


Peter Zinovieff: Synth Pioneer video upload by Sound On Sound magazine Jul 21, 2016


Peter Zinovieff talks about modern musical interfaces video upload by Expressive E Jan 6, 2016


Peter Zinovieff feature uploaded by Erica Synths on Nov 23, 2020. This was the latest video to feature Peter Zinovieff that I am aware of.


Peter Zinovieff interview 2015 video upload by 香港電子音樂社 Hong Kong Electronic Music Society Jun 30, 2015


Dr Peter Zinovieff intro & performance excerpt - Deliaphonic 2017 video upload by Deliaphonic Aug 29, 2018

And a few perspectives from others:

Bright Sparks Behind The Scenes - The Brits video by GForce Software published Feb 16, 2021

Cosmic Tape Music Club Podcast hosted by The Galaxy Electric - E1 Peter Zinovieff

video by The Galaxy Electric published Jan 27, 2021

Peter Zinovieff Electronic Calendar

video by Mark Jenkins published Dec 9, 2019 - Electronic Calendar available through this post.

You can find a history of posts mentioning Peter Zinovieff here.

via The Guardian

"Peter Zinovieff, a hugely influential figure in British music whose early synthesisers helped to change the sound of pop, has died aged 88. He had suffered a fall at home earlier this month.

With its marketing slogan 'think of a sound – now make it', his company Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was one of the first to bring synthesisers out of studios and to the public. With products such as the portable VCS3 and Synthi A, EMS customers – including David Bowie, Kraftwerk, the Who, Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd – were often taught to use the instruments by Zinovieff.

In 1967 he collaborated with Paul McCartney on Carnival of Light, a performance of a 14-minute avant garde composition created between Beatles sessions for Penny Lane that has never been released.

He was also a respected composer of his own work, including early experiments with AI composition and sampling – he claimed to have invented the latter technique." You can read the full post here.

via Wikipedia:

"Peter Zinovieff (26 January 1933 – 23 June 2021) was a British engineer and composer, whose EMS company made the VCS3 synthesizer in the late 1960s. The synthesizer was used by many early progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd[3] and White Noise, and Krautrock groups[4] as well as more pop-oriented artists, including Todd Rundgren and David Bowie. In later life he worked primarily as a composer of electronic music.

Zinovieff was born on 26 January 1933;[5] his parents, Leo Zinovieff and Sofka, née Princess Sophia Dolgorouky, were both Russian aristocrats, who met in London after their families had emigrated to escape the Russian Revolution and soon divorced.[6] During World War II he and his brother Ian lived with their grandparents in Guildford and then with their father in Sussex. He attended Guildford Royal Grammar School, Gordonstoun School and Oxford University, where he earned a doctorate in geology.[7][8]

Zinovieff's work followed research at Bell Labs by Max Mathews and Jean-Claude Risset, and an MIT thesis (1963) by David Alan Luce.[9] In 1966–67, Zinovieff, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson ran Unit Delta Plus, an organisation to create and promote electronic music. It was based in the studio Zinovieff had built, in a shed at his house in Putney. (The house is near the Thames, and the studio was later partially destroyed by a flood).[10][11] EMS grew out of MUSYS, which was a performance controller operating as an analogue-digital hybrid.[12] It was a synthesiser system which Zinovieff developed with the help of David Cockerell and Peter Grogono, and used two DEC PDP-8 minicomputers and a piano keyboard.[13] Unit Delta Plus ran a concert of electronic music at the Watermill Theatre in 1966, with a light show. In early 1967 they performed in concerts at The Roundhouse, at which the Carnival of Light was also played; they split up later in 1967.[11] Paul McCartney had visited the studio, but Zinovieff had little interest in popular music.[14]

In 1968, part of the studio was recreated at Connaught Hall, for a performance of pieces by Justin Connolly and David Lumsdaine.[15] At the IFIP congress that year, the composition ZASP by Zinovieff with Alan Sutcliffe took second prize in a contest, behind a piece by Iannis Xenakis.[16]

In 1969, Zinovieff sought financing through an ad in The Times but received only one response, £50 on the mistaken premise it was the price of a synthesiser. Instead he formed EMS with Cockerell and Tristram Cary.[17] At the end of the 1960s, EMS Ltd. was one of four companies offering commercial synthesizers, the others being ARP, Buchla, and Moog.[18] In the 1970s Zinovieff became interested in the video synthesizer developed by Robert Monkhouse, and EMS produced it as the Spectron.[19]

Jon Lord of Deep Purple described Zinovieff as "a mad professor type": "I was ushered into his workshop and he was in there talking to a computer, trying to get it to answer back".[20] Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, in their history of the synthesizer revolution, see him rather as aristocratically averse to "trade".[21]

Zinovieff wrote the libretto for Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus,[22] and also the words for Nenia: The Death of Orpheus (1970).[23] The section Tristan's Folly in Tristan (1975) by Hans Werner Henze included a tape by Zinovieff."

Update:

Peter Zinovieff: A Tribute by CatSynth TV

video upload by CatSynth TV

"We look back at the life and work of Peter Zinovieff, who passed away last week at the age of 88. His work at Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was a major influence on musicians of the 1970s and beyond. At EMS, he co-created the well-known and coveted VCS3 and Synthi series. But he was also a composer in his own right, working on pioneering electronic music in the 1960s and returning to active composition in the 2010s with several collaborations with artists in other media and exploring massive sound spatialization.

Additional background music provided via the Arturia Synthi V as a tribute."

You can find additional posts featuring Peter Zinovieff here.

The Seventh Wave Festival of Electronic Music #7 w/ Delia Derbyshire Collaborator David Vorhaus

David Vorhaus Analogue Electronic Music 1979 Published on Sep 13, 2009 JeffreyPlaide

Update: Festival info further below. Thought I would start with a couple of videos featuring David Vorhaus.

"In this historical video excerpt, David Vorhaus talks about two of his analogue inventions - the MANIAC analogue sequencer, and the Kaleidophon from 1979.

The MANIAC (Multiphasic Analog Inter-Active Chromataphonic (sequencer)) was an analogue sequencer having variable step lengths, and the ability to split sequences into several smaller groupings giving considerable sonic potentiality. Addition and subtraction of events was possible, as well as the possibility to chromatically correct the output during performance. David could program his MANIAC sequencer to play a background rhythm or combination of musical events, to then improvise over the top with another instrument or synthesizer.

The Kaleidophon was a double-bass-like instrument using four velocity-sensitive ribbon controllers instead of strings. The instrument is played entirely using the left hand, leaving the right hand free to manipulate the sound via a number of controllers and a joystick.

David speaks about the processes of making electronic music, and the developments that such possibilities can provide for the imaginative electronic musician. This excerpt is taken from the BBC 1979 documentary entitled "The New Sound of Music" hosted by Michael Rodd."

WHITE NOISE Electric Storm in Hell [not quite Full Album]

Published on Mar 9, 2013 musick2138

"The Seventh Wave presents

White Noise - a Fifty Years Celebration of An Electric Storm & Other Sonic Adventures

Voyd - live set / White Noise - live set / White Noise - talk and q&a

Friday 14 June 2019 Doors 6.30 pm.

Curfew 10.00 pm.

The Blue Orange Theatre, 118 Great Hampton Street, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham B18 6AD.

White Noise - An Electric Storm - Review

When White Noise's debut album, An Electric Storm, landed on Island Records in 1969, it must have sounded like nothing else. Packaged in a striking black and white sleeve that pictured a spark of lightning streaking across a black sky, this was an album that - quite rightly as it turned out - resembled as much a scientific experiment as any conventional musical document.

White Noise came into being when David Vorhaus, an American electronics student with a passion for experimental sound and classical music attended a lecture by Delia Derbyshire, a sound scientist at the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop whose claim to fame was writing the original Doctor Who theme tune. With the help of fellow Radiophonic Workshop composer Brian Hodgeson, Vorhaus and Derbyshire hunkered down at Kaleidophon Studios in Camden to pen an album that reconciled pop music with the experimental avant-garde. The result is a set of eerie, delightful songs that, for all their surface simplicity, shimmer with vestigial synthesiser swells, strange echoes, disembodied voices, and distant music-box trills.

Outside of a few equally adventurous '60s releases - the debut album from US psychedelic pioneers The United States Of America, for instance - this is pretty much uncharted territory, particularly for a major label release. On ''My Game Of Loving'', a dozen multi-tracked voices built to a panting orgasm, while the closing ''Black Mass An Electric Storm In Hell'' ushers the record to a freeform close in a clatter of freeform drums, cavernous echo and chilling, animalistic screams. Perhaps unsurprisingly, An Electric Storm would struggle to find an audience on its release, and in the following years, great leaps in synthesiser technology somewhat diminished White Noise's experimental achievements. One thing that would remain timeless, however, were the songs themselves. An Electric Storm would later become a key inspiration on bands like Add (N) To X and Broadcast, synthesiser explorers who picked through these primitive, vestigial sound experiments, took careful notes, and eventually, set out to craft their own futuristic pop lullabies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/pq9x/

The other two dates of the festival feature:

Banco de Gaia (Toby Marks) - he will once again be accompanied by Patrick Dunn on visuals (Patrick produces visual content for Tangerine Dream!!!).

The Black Dog is a British electronic music group, founded by Ken Downie along with Ed Handley and Andy Turner. The group are considered pioneers who, along with acts like Autechre, Aphex Twin, LFO et al came to define the UK techno movement in the early 1990's.

For further information email theseventhwave@btinternet.com

Tickets available at https://www.skiddle.com/groups/theseventhwave/"

Radio Frequencies

Published on Jan 3, 2018 JeffreyPlaide

"Radio Frequencies is a free-form experimental electronic music composition using the free control of individual audio oscillators to create modulating and FM tone sources as the basis for wild and free tonal expression not unlike the early electronic music pioneers who used discrete signal generators for the creation of complex sonics. The Eurorack modular synthesizer system was used as the most flexible form to build up complex sounds. The Eurorack modular system afforded the most complete platform for pulse and modulation free expression of frequencies and pulse-sequenced sonic textures. No sequencers or other memory devices were used to create the cascading rising and falling textures. Four Pittsburgh oscillators were used. Oscillator one frequency-modulated oscillator two, then oscillator three frequency-modulated oscillator four. The triangle wave outputs of the oscillators two and four were mixed and fed into a MakeNoise Echophon module for a mild delay effect applied. The output of the Echophon was then patched into an Audio Damage frequency shifter for a mild phasing effect. Five tracks were recorded while manually manipulating all of the four oscillator frequency controls in real-time. The oscillators were 'played' in this manual form for instant free-form electronic interactions. Where certain combinations of sounds clashed, "drop-in" new recordings erased the old, replacing them with something more complementary. The total mix of the composition owes much to the performance of the manipulation of the oscillators in real-time rather than to any carefully structured arrangement. The result is a wild and stimulating cascade of waveform modulations taking the listener into a 1950s science fiction realm. The composition is therefore largely atonal, untempered and loosely non-structured, but conforming to interesting sets of combinations. The visuals attempt to reflect the rapid-fire pace of the audio oscillators by rapid cutting, editing and pattern development. Background logically-constructed visual textile-weave patterns were created emulating the possibilities of the vintage EMS Spectron video synthesizer. Different texture weaves were intercut in real-time to follow the tempo of the music. To this rapidly-edited background of visual textures, various sinusoidal waveforms were superimposed, representing the idea of frequency energy to convey information. Several different kinds of sinusoidal waveshapes were added, pulsating to create complementary strobing to the already strobing background textures. Imagery was used to convey signals, frequency, modulations, and waveforms - even in abstracted form. Towards the end of the composition, the visual pace slows, and a single black modulating circle concludes the rapid-fire editing with a calming role. I call the composition "Radio Frequencies" because I wanted to express the fundamental role radio technology has played from the beginning of the 20th century in all forms of wireless communication. The electromagnetic spectrum is an incredible phenomenon in the Universe and for electronics and communication. It helps to celebrate sometimes technology we may take for granted because it is so commonplace in all our lives."

Phasic Cycloid Shimmer Voices

Published on Mar 11, 2014 JeffreyPlaide·100 videos

"Phasic-Cycloid Shimmer Voices is a highly unusual original experimental electronic music composition utilizing "shimmer chords" and swarming combinations of waveforms creating surreal modulating choruses of glass-like shimmers and piercing sonic effects. The inspiration behind this work came from the un-tapped potential of cross-coupled chaotic oscillators and the beauty of swarming 8-oscillator chord combinations. The SynFactory 1.15 software modular synthesizer provided the prime waveforms and sonic effects for the work. SynFactory is so versatile, modules can be configured to perfectly replicate the cross-coupled chaotic sounds of twin oscillators modulating one another. Several tracks utilized the SynFactory 8-oscillator configuration fed into an 8-channel mixer module, then slightly filtered and processed by a triplet of delays. One 8-oscillator patch used square and triangle waves to sound like the interior of the Miniscope from a Doctor Who story. Another patch used all triangle waves for a refined shimmer. Another patch used all square waves. Variations on the 8-oscillator approach included first and second through a ring modulator, the third and fourth likewise, the fifth and sixth, etc. using four ring modulators feeding into a second-order ring modulator then filtered, mixed and delay applied. The chaotic cross-coupled patch just consisted of two oscillators and two delay units to produce the chaos. Variations on this theme included introducing ring modulators into the configuration and additional oscillators to control the FM. Signal generation tones also provided additional effects, especially when modulated and slowed down to create eerie "wobbulator-like" motions. The final mix seems to shimmer and resonate with metallic overtones as each of the SynFactory 8-oscillator swarmings come in and out of prominance. The visuals are the result of pure video synthesis techniques. The backgrounds were a direct inspiration from the fabulous EMS Spectron video synthesizer. Multiple exposure NAM modulations were superimposed upon colourised, solarised and XOR (exclusive OR) created backgrounds. Many different effect layering and processing techniques were used, some directly emulating the functionality of the EMS Spectron. Interestingly, many of the foreground motifs used 8 multiple exposures to compose the complex pictures. Some of the patterns resemble early computer graphics or experimental film animation with multiple exposures. The images vibrate in synchronisation with the music. Pulsations move with the resonating 8-oscillator chords. Light patterns fall in and out of existence. Scintilating vibrating motions capture the essence of the motor-like metallic resonances. Alien or extraterrestrial inspirations cannot be ruled out in the making of this work. The entire piece is extraterrestrially-orientated to a large degree."

Radon Atomic Resynthesis

Published on Jun 14, 2013 JeffreyPlaide·94 videos

"Radon Atomic Resynthesis is an ethereal, wildly-surreal experimental electronic music composition. The composition is inspired by almost random electronic tonalities and frequency modulations created on the Ionic Performer VST synthesizer. The beauty about the Ionic Performer (like the EMS Synthi synthesizers of which the Ionic Performer is a re-worked variation with integrated keyboard and a push-button matrix instead of patch pins) is that the envelope (trapezoid function) can be automatically re-triggered. This creates a repeating simple sequence of a single music event. By altering the oscillator controls, modulation sources and ring-modulation, many interesting and wild pulses can be produced in real-time and recorded. It was the raw stream of re-triggered pulsations and modulations that became the basis for the whole work. Inspired by early science-fiction electronic music, the Ionic Performer VST could deliver the sonic combinations and unexpected tonal collisions that cross-modulated audio oscillators can create if connected in this way. The first mix consisted of a bass track created on the Ionic Performer VST - low pulses with shrieks of higher modulations. Next came the mid-tones. Again created on the Ionic Performer, but with higher pulsations and strange FM collisions. It was then necessary to create an ambient texture "wash", so the bass line was slowed by a factor of 300% and processed with heavy reverb - sounding very science fiction and somewhat alien in context. An organ-like chord was created on the ORGANized trio VST with the Valhalla Frequency Echo for added effect. This 5-note chord gave added strange texture. The low-frequency background vibration is the same chord slowed by a factor of 500% and processed with flanging. The chorus of voices was created using the Tapeotronic (Mellotron emulation) keyboard playing a 3-note chord with added delay. Another Tapeotronic chord was used for the higher "alien voices" that fade in and out. This whole first mix was slowed by a factor of 200% with added reverb, and added to the first mix session. This gave the feeling of a kind of infinity feedback sound. All of these elements became part of the main master first mix. This main mix was then further added to by a ring-modulated and convoluted version of itself. In the middle portion of the composition a ring-modulated, convoluted, filtered, flanged, reverberated and 300% slow version came into being with added low-frequency background vibrations and pulsating bass sinewave tones created by signal generation. The middle portion is bracketed by falling nodulated inverted sinewaves. The last element is a high sinewave tone - rather like a singing tone. This final mix created the strange combination of forces that married all the textural elements into a full and atmospheric collage of electronic tone structures and modulations. The visuals were created by pure video synthesis techniques - electronic texture weaves, linear pulsations and sinusoidal moire patterns. Superimposed are strange solarised and edge-processed derivations of elliptical formations. The atom is represented by rotating moiré ellipses, with a cloud of particles representing the nucleus. Many kinds of solarised rotating forms are included to graphically illustrate the process of atomic synthesis. The end represents just a cloud of electrons being swept away by quantum forces in the matrix of space-time."

Assimilative Epitrochoidal Sirens

YouTube Uploaded by JeffreyPlaide on Apr 9, 2012

"Assimilative Epitrochoidal Sirens is an original, experimental and entirely electronic musical composition. It has a very strange atmosphere associated with it resultant from the background atmospherics created by processed generated test tones that give the impression of "singing sirens". Experiments were made using the VS-1 Oscilloscope VST synthesizer. With three oscillators to work with, chord functions and a great regenerative delay feedback effect, the VS-1 is a great instrument to work with - it even has its own version of an oscilloscope display. The idea was to emulate the tape delay systems of the past whereby two open-reel tape recorders were used to create long delays. One tape recorder recorded a sound. The same sound was then fed to a secondary machine separated by a distance to the first, with the first machine recording the output from the second machine. The result is a delay feedback system creating repeating recorded loops of sounds - decaying away as desired, controlled by the musician. I used a similar approach, but with software, I increased the feedback level of the delay setting until the regenerative sequences almost reached unity. I then played some melody lines for a couple of minutes and recorded the result. Two versions were made - the first being the original experiment. The second was slowed to exactly 200%. By themselves, the sequences sounded too familiar as organ tones, so I ring-modulated both by pure sinewaves. The result was a glistening or shimmering ringing resonance that was quite pleasing. The ring-modulated versions of the sequences recorded from the VS-1 Oscilloscope synthesizer were mixed together, but something was missing. To create a kind of choral background conclusion, generated test tones created within Adobe Audition provided the solution. Modulated inverted sinewaves from rising frequency to falling frequency covering 30 seconds were generated. These were processed by a modulating chorus and multi-tracked four times - each track delayed or shifted by a certain amount. The stereo mix of all these created an eerie and strange falling alien choral pad that is quite unusual and intriguing to listen to. A low frequency extract was taken from this recording with a forwards and backwards sample joined to create a smooth loop. This provided the strange low-end pad throughout the work. A high-frequency extract (treated in the same way as the low-frequency extract) loop provided the higher chorus effect faded in towards the end of the composition. The result is an ethereal, ambient glistening and cascading work shimmering with ring-modulated arpeggios created from the delay feedback effect, and the strange choral effect created by just using inverted sinewaves treated with modulation, chorus, and then multi-tracked to create a further chorus effect. The visuals comprise electronic modulating textile weaves superimposed with mythological creatures and god-like figures to create an other-worldly or angelic representation to what the music may be implying."

Forbin Accenta Electronica & RADIOPHONIC EXPLORATIONS

YouTube Uploaded by JeffreyPlaide on Jun 4, 2011

"Forbin Accenta Electronica is an entirely electronically-produced experimental composition using the KX-Synth X16software synthesizer. The KX-Synth X16 is a successful and extremely flexible software re-creation of the famous EMS VCS3 Putney or various Synthi models, using a virtual pin matrix to inter-connect the various oscillators, filters and modulation effects together. For this work, twin KX-Synth X16 synthesizers were connected in parallel within the VST host. Both synthesizers responded to playing, making the sounds truely bi-timbral, with both outputs able to be recorded by the host software for later integration into a multi-track environment. Various presets were used and modified to create etheral tones. Most of the patches employ ring modulation , or were configured by the virtual pin matrix to add ring modulation and extra feedback delay to create metallic and etheral melody lines. Those who every wanted to play an EMS VCS3 or Synthi synthesizer can have a feel for what it is like playing a KX-Synth X16 VST synthesizer on their own computer. The experience is extremely satisfying and open for much exploration and experimentation. The first mix comprised a reverberant tonal line with two tracks of a lone reverberant synthesizer line with heavy short feedback delay. These tracks were mixed down to one stereo track and slowed down significantly to create a more dreamy combination. Added to this was a metallic vibration tone with very short delay and heavy feedback. This was faded in and out as appropriate to the first mix. At the end are two time-shifted tracks of a sample of the ending, looped, then progressively slowed down until a very low frequency combination is heard receding into the distance. This then concluded the composition. The final mix was twice-compressed to level out the dynamics, then this version was used for the video. The visuals comprise vintage digital and analogue computers from the last 50 years - including UNIVAC, ORACLE and other systems, including SketchPad by Ivan Sutherland and various radar systems such as SAGE. These images were colourised with painting software, then keyed over modulating derivatives of a striped pattern, or motion-tracked versions of other images. The music reminded one of the feel of the music score in the film The Forbin Project; so the title of the work pays homage to this science fiction classic. The vintage computer images help to connect the music to previous generations when the technological landscape of computer science was of a different order."

The New Sound Of Music 1979 - BBC Documentary Featuring EMS & More

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide | October 17, 2010 |

"The New Sound of Music is a fascinating BBC historical documentary from the year 1979. It charts the development of recorded music from the first barrel organs, pianolas, the phonograph, the magnetic tape recorder and onto the concepts of musique concrete and electronic music development with voltage-controlled oscillators making up the analogue synthesizers of the day. EMS Synthesizers and equipment are a heavily featured technology resource in this film, with the show's host, Michael Rodd, demonstrating the EMS VCS3 synthesizer and it's waveform output. Other EMS products include the incredible Synthi 100 modular console system, the EMS AKS, the Poly Synthi and the EMS Vocoder. Most of the location shots are filmed within the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop studios as they were in 1979. Malcolm Clarke demonstrates the Synthi 100, also known as the "Delaware", Michael Rodd demonstrates musique concrete by tape splicing and manipulation and Paddy Kingsland demonstrates tape recorder delay techniques (also known as "Frippertronics"). The Yamaha CS-80 analogue synthesizer is demonstrated by both Peter Howell and Roger Limb. The EMS Vocoder is also expertly put to use by Peter Howell on his classic "Greenwich Chorus" for the television series "The Body in Question". Dick Mills works on sound effects for Doctor Who using a VCS3 unit, and Elizabeth Parker uses bubble sounds to create music for an academic film on particle physics. Peter Zinovieff is featured using his computer music studio and DEC PDP8 computer to produce electronic variations on classic vintage scores. David Vorhaus is featured using his invention, the MANIAC (Multiphasic ANalog Inter-Active Chromataphonic (sequencer)), and playing his other invention, the Kaleidophon -- which uses lengths of magnetic tape as velocity-sensitive ribbon controllers. The New Sound of Music is a fascinating insight into the birth of the world of recorded and electronic music and features some very classic British analogue synthesizers creating the electronic sounds in this film. The prime location for these demonstrations is the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where much creativity and invention took place during the period the workshop was in operation in the latter part of the twentieth century. Electronic music today is used everywhere, and many musicians gain inspiration from the past, as well as delving into the realms of sonic structures and theories made possible by the widespread use of computers to manipulate sounds for the creation of all kinds of musical forms."

The New Sound Of Music 1979 (part 2)

CLICK FOR MORE »

Optigan "Musique Concrete"

via the Optigan email list:

"Hi all, just a quick reminder that sound submissions for our upcoming Optigan "Musique Concrete" disc are due Nov. 1st. You can find out more information here.

Also, the Orchestron "Organ" and "Solo Female Voice" discs just went in the mail yesterday, so if you ordered them, you'll have them soon! And if you haven't, we've still got some left, as well as "Violin" and "Pipe Organ," and Optigan "Sitar" and "Surf Rock" discs: [link]

Cheers!
Pea"

Musique Concrete

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide | March 25, 2009

"Musique Concrete is the experimental technique of musical composition using recorded sounds as raw material. The principle uses the assemblage of various natural sounds to produce an aural montage. A precursor to the use of electronically generated sound, musique concrete was among the earliest uses of electronic means to extend the composer's sound resources. Before the days of sampling and computer manipulation of sounds, musicians used analogue tape recorders to record natural sounds and tape splicing techniques. Music concrete uses natural sounds to create aural compositions. This excerpt is taken from the BBC 1979 documentary 'The New Sound of Music'."

Edgard Varêse and Le Corbusier - Poême électronique (1958)

YouTube via mjsebit | September 20, 2007

"Edgard Varêse and Le Corbusier - Poême électronique (1958)"

Dreamsong 1983

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide — June 21, 2010 — "Dreamsong 1983 was my very first use of creating experimental music with the use of a multi-track recorder way back in 1983. Essentially it was an unsuccessful attempt at creating an interesting pop tune with a synthesizer, but I was young, and inexperienced in the structuring of musical compositions. This was the first composition to use multi-track facilities, and it was great to use the magic of over-dubbing, sound-on-sound effects and tape echo. This was a revelation for me in 1983. The track was produced using a very primitive setup only - just an open-reel tape recorder and a stereo cassette deck for mastering. The Realistic Concertmate MG-1 portable synthesizer was used. The bassline consists of a filtered and detuned sawtooth waveform. The melody and rhythm (short noise pulse reversed and played manually) were also created by the MG-1. The vocals were pitch-altered and tape-echo applied. The voice sounds female, but is in fact a male voice pitch-modified. No digital effects were used, and no equalisation applied. No rhythm units used and no sequencing. There weren't even any mixing facilities - only the use of a small mono mixdown box. The TEAC A-3400 4-track open reel recorder created the magic behind the composition. This classic analogue mutli-track model from TEAC came with sync-function and 7.5 and 15 inches per second tape speeds. There was also a pitch control and independent inputs and outputs for each channel. This machine was an affordable means to capture musical ideas by the solo musician in an era when cassette-based portastudios were a relatively new invention. Later on, experiments with tape loops and tape-splicing provided even greater means to create sound collages and special effects. In 2010 I re-mastered the work from metal audio cassette processed with dbx noise-reduction. The mono composition was given pseudo stereo by delaying left and right tracks very slightly and hard panning left and right and equalised to increase the bass. Dreamsong 1983 is important for me, in that it is the first real original experimental composition produced by any means."

Contemplative Ring-Modulated Partials

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide
"Contemplative Ring-Modulated Partials is an original electronic composition primarily composed on the Korg R3 synthesizer, and utilising extensive use of the 8-step arpeggiator and randomising sequencing functions. The work also features extensive use of double ring-modulated waveforms. Double ring-modulated effects produce some rather unexpected groans, warbles, wheezes, rumbles and squawks - due to the sum and difference effect acting twice on the source oscillator waveforms. The main sequence was composed using dual timbres each set to operating with dual triangle waveforms. Each waveform was ring-modulated by the second oscillator, processed with stereo delay, then further ring-modulated using a sinewave in note mode and adjusted until an interesting effect was achieved. The two timbres were each treated in this manner, then fed to the master reverb effect. The sequence was composed at 104 bpm and played using the 8-step arpeggiator set to random mode. Some steps were muted to create variety in the passage. The second sequence was created in the same way as the first but with different transpose settings for the timbres. Different oscillator ring-modulation settings were used for the individual oscillators, and different pitch settings for the second ring-modulation effect. Again an 8-step randomised arpeggiation sequence was called into play. The last sequence was created like the second sequence, but with lower filter cut-off and high-resonance to induce self-oscillation. Again, wildly variable settings were used for each ring-modulation function. The rhythm track was created on the Hammerhead Rhythm Station using basic electronic percussion set to a four-bar sequence. This was heavily equalised and reverb added. All these tracks were mixed down to create a sub-master with three distinct sequences following on from each other with very slow cross-fades. To the sub-master, an atonal ringing sequence was added comprising triangle waves tuned to non-octave intervals and played as a random arpeggiated sequence. For effect reverse reverb was applied to all tracks and mixed at certain times and panned manually to create an ambient "wash" in the background. This then became the master mix, and it became apparent that interesting poly rhythms could occur when using different arpeggiated settings, but synchronised to the same tempo reference. The result is an interesting trance-like ambient electronic composition with extensive use of ring-modulation and arpeggiated sequences. The visuals are a mixture of moving photo-montage panoramas and video synthesis techniques using modulating patterns superimposed over each other to create a complex cascade of motion and light."

Resolving Ambient Sequences

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide
" Resolving Ambient Sequences is an original work using the analogue-modelled modulations and selected sequences created entirely on the Korg R3 synthesizer. The work uses a simple base sequence with layered ethereal pads and arpeggios to create an atmospheric and surreal listening experience. A base ambient sequence recorded at 114 bpm tempo reference creates the foundational rhythm using a noise-variant timbre coupled with a filtered sinewave and recurring spangle-like sequence. Made up of a delay-swamped tone with higher-frequency arpeggios fading in and out, this sequence was recorded in real-time, with adjustments made as recorded. The next track was recorded as a separate stereo mixdown and consists of three separate softened Korg R3 sequences blending in and out during the mix. Ethereal string pads interact with ringing tones and resonant sinewave electronic convolutions with smooth pitch transitions. During the middle of the work a bell-like sequence plays, but this sequence has been slowed down by the Adobe Audition software to 100%, and fades out with a smooth envelope. After this, an arpeggiated sequence plays at 114 bpm with very short decay times and with stereo pan delay. The background of this sequence also contains a minor etheral melody line created as part of the patch on the Korg R3. The final touch is provided by filtered and modulated white noise fading in and out bringing about an additional atmospherics and panned manually as part of the final mix. The result is a very enveloping and atmospheric ambient composition using various arpeggiated sequences with heavy reverb and stereo delay effects with white noise making the work surreal and meditative. The visuals used represent pure video synthesis. Electronic modulations and animated fluid transformations were created using the Adobe Premier Wave Warp function, with several orders of modulation and colour modification being applied. Each animated sequence is connected with very long dissolves and superimposed over this background is a fluid light wave created from the "bubble" sequence used in the background itself. The result is an organic and surreal kaleidoscope of modulating light sources and soft-focus geometrics. "

Aschendar Alpha & Omega.wmv

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide
"This original musical experiment was created to explore a more disco, techno, dance or electronica genre of music with a certain perspective on sequenced melody lines, and the interaction of alternative sequences with alternate bass lines, and seeing where this might lead within a composition. A rhythm track was first created with a 125 bpm time from the Hammerhead Rhythm Station. Each rhythm element was separated on a different track of Adobe Audition recording software and equalised, panned and effected to produce the foundational tempo. The TS 404 software synthesizer was then used to construct two distinct sequences, each made from two timbres and set also within a 125 bpm framework. These two sequences were alternated alongside the rhythm track. The Korg R3 synthesizer was used to create the alternating bass line, the introductory melody, and also the ethereal atmospherics at the end of the composition. The Hammerhead Rhythm Station was also used to create additional rhythm effects and the reverse cymbal crescendo heard primarily to introduce a different melodic sequence. During mixing, the volumes of the rhythm track and sequences were muted to create variety. The melody at the beginning was designed to evoke a certain feeling and fades out to the main sequences. The conclusion of the track tails off by the ethereal atmospherics. A sharper, more punchier rhythm sequence and melodic structure was desired here with a certain degree of variation built into the multitrack arrangement. The imagery of the video draws from a selected range of surreal sources - stills consisting of dolls, mannequins and masks as well as mythical creatures and statuary. Wild and alternating sequences are superimposed within a panorama of dreamscapes and photo-montage effects."

Electronic Music Appreciation Visualisation

video upload by JeffreyPlaide

"This video and electronic music medley is a reworking of an earlier compilation, using new video material, imagery and original music. The work is a celebration of electronic and computer-based music composition and technologies. In four main parts, the piece depicts electronic hardware interfaces, electronic synthesis theory images and relationships, keyboards and performance tools, then finally a collage of multivision features. Many analogue and digital devices are featured, mainly from the 1980s period of experimentation and research. The Fairlight CMI is featured, along with sounds from the Synclavier system from New England Digital. Quite alot of EMS equipment is featured, including the EMS VCS3 and the inspiring Synthi 100 - the largest analogue modular synthesizer produced and probably the rarest being demonstrated at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1979. Other images include equipment from Arp, Alesis, Buchla, Korg and Yamaha. The Moog modular is played with other custom keyboard synthesizers, sequences and waveform analysis equipment. Many film sources are used in this compilation, including video and image to electronic sound production and effects. Other video sources depict demonstrations of audio production equipment. Film sources include the BBC documentary The New Sound of Music and from the United States, Discovering Electronic Music. I would also like to thank Marc Doty from Automatic Gainsay for allowing to use excerpts of imagery depicting analogue synthesizer hardware in the first part of this compilation. The music comprises automatically-generated music by Roxio software, electronic tone samples, some electronic keyboard samples cut and multi-layered with the last sequence composed on the Korg R3 synthesizer."

Structures Sonores Rediffusion

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide
"Structures Senores Rediffusion is an ambient, original music collage experimentation created almost entirely on the Korg R3 synthesizer. The piece explores ring-modulated sequences, non-synchronised rhythms, chords and surreal/ethereal pads placed within a structured framework. Within the multitrack session, a rhythm track created on the Hammerhead Rhythm Station was processed with a heavy reverb. To this an atonal melodic sequence loop was placed. This is a dual-timbre sound whereby each oscillator is ring-modulated by its neighbour. Each timbre is further ring-modulated creating double ring-modulation and sequenced, pitch-transposed and played as a short arpeggiated block whose swing time is skewed to a significant degree. Short "Balinese" ring-modulated variations on the first sequence were added at regular intervals. An additional short ring-modulated sequence was spliced onto an asynchronous synthesized percussive sound and this arrangement was repeated at every third "Balinese" ring-modulated sequence. Next came an organ timbre whose waveforms were not tuned to strict octave intervals. Another ethereal organ-like sequence loops twice. This timbre is a strange and beautiful chord-like shimmering tone created by the Korg R3 DWGS waveforms tuned to non-octave intervals. Finally, a chordal string pad was placed underneath all the other tracks and stereo-panned the full 180 degrees approximately every minute. The piece concludes leaving only a dark pad bass and the original double ring-modulated sequence fading to a dark decay. The music was inspired from listening to atonal Buchla synthesizer sequences and attempting to recreate these using the Korg R3 double ring-modulated possibilities. The background visuals were produced by animated graphic modulations created by Adobe Premier WaveWarp function. Several orders of linear modulation were applied to the first layer backgrounds. Second layer moire imagery was then superimposed over these visuals. A third video layer has been keyed over all of these including symbolic graphics, and a reworking of the Associated Rediffusion television logo for this synthesizer exploration."

Signal Generation Sequences

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide
"This purely electronic original atonal composition was created without the use of any kind of synthesizer or musical generator. The combinational signal sources were recorded from the Adobe Audition signal generator function to generate fundamental sine, triangle or square waveforms and their associated harmonics as chosen from the software. Various waveforms were recorded with different initial and final frequencies and modulation attributes. Some waveforms had period rests inserted to create short frequency bursts, with some frequency segments being pitch-shifted to create pseudo-arpeggiated patterns. These sequences were processed with light chorus, flanging or reverb. A small number of waveforms were generated using the DTMF signal function - similar pulses (but modified) to digital dial tone telephone signals. Three first-order sequences were mixed. The first sequence incorporated many spliced segments sequenced by the aid of a light rhythm pattern created on the Hammerhead Rhythm Station. The second sequence included several spliced patterns but without the rhythm track. The last sequence was a complex ring-modulated cascade of rising and falling sine waves added to further ring-modulated sine waves. A simple arpeggiated chordal pattern functions to conclude the work. These three first order sequences were mixed with overlap edits and re-mixed and equalised at specific regions along the timeline to emphasize particular frequencies. The result is an abstract, dark and atonal electronic composition reminiscent of the style and execution explored by some of the early electronic music pioneers who used signal generators and magnetic tape recorders to splice together complete compositions without the use of a keyboard or other music interface. The visuals are a mixture of video imagery combined with oscilloscopic modulations performed by the Adobe Premier WaveWarp function and utilizing second-order modulation processing and colour manipulation."

David Vorhaus Analogue Electronic Music 1979

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide

"In this historical video excerpt, David Vorhaus talks about two of his analogue inventions - the MANIAC analogue sequencer, and the Kaleidophon from 1979. The MANIAC (Multiphasic Analog Inter-Active Chromataphonic (sequencer)) was an analogue sequencer having variable step lengths, and the ability to split sequences into several smaller groupings giving considerable sonic potentiality. Addition and subtraction of events was possible, as well as the possibility to chromatically correct the output during performance. David could program his MANIAC sequencer to play a background rhythm or combination of musical events, to then improvise over the top with another instrument or synthesizer. The Kaleidophon was a double-bass-like instrument using four velocity-sensitive ribbon controllers instead of strings. The instrument is played entirely using the left hand, leaving the right hand free to manipulate the sound via a number of controllers and a joystick. David speaks about the processes of making electronic music, and the developments that such possibilities can provide for the imaginative electronic musician. This excerpt is taken from the BBC 1979 documentary entitled "The New Sound of Music" hosted by Michael Rodd."  

Update via Mark Jenkins in the comments: "David Vorhaus now has a new version of the M.A.N.I.A.C. sequencer designed as a complete music system on a PC, and a new custom built MIDI version of the Kaleidophon controller. We've been performing as a duo with this setup for a couple of years, including shows in Holland, Germany, China and France as well as the UK. And yes, we have been playing "Cygnus Constellation", the piece heard at the end of this clip :-) The next show is in London on Saturday November 28th at the Greenwich Planetarium, where we'll be performing new White Noise music, and my own planetarium show "Supernova" which has a complete computer graphic backing. Tickets from the National Maritime Museum (£18.00 I think if sales aren't already live on their website www.nmm.ac.uk) and there are early and late shows the same evening. Hope to see some of you there - Mark Jenkins"  

Update: also see this post. via Dustin.

Atonal Ring Modulated Rhythms

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide

"The music for this work was created by feeding in an arpeggiated sequence from a Korg Mono/Poly synthesizer into the external inputs of a Korg R3 synthesizer and applying oscillator sync and ring modulation with another oscillator. Phase effects and stereo reverb was applied to the final output signal. These arpeggiated sequences were then cut and edited to fit a rhythm track created on the Hammerhead Rhythm Station. A total of five separate sequences were cut and arranged from the chorused rhythms. Some sequences were direct ring-modulated arpeggiated tones from the Korg R3 itself. The arrangement included only those sequences that could provide the most interesting atonal combination. At the conclusion of the piece, the whole mixed track was sped up at the end with sampled segments from itself to bring about an elevated climax. A different rhythm output from the Hammerhead Rhythm Station was added at the start and the end of the completed mixed track.

The visuals were created using the Wave Warp function of Adobe Premier video editing software to create various linear geometric transformations of a black and white striped image. Several orders of modulation were applied using pulse waves and extreme amounts of amplitude to distort the territory of the image greatly. The idea was to create pure electronic video synthesis forms in black and white and to generate moire geometric distortions that would complement an atonal ring-modulated music track. Minimal colour elements were added as an animation effect.

The inspiration for this work comes from the music produced by the EMS Synthi 100 analogue modular synthesizer, and the EMS Spectron video synthesizer. Inspiration was also gained from the work of Woody Vasulka and his scan-processed videos using the Rutt-Etra Scan Processor."

Descent From Digitana Sequences

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide
"This work was one of the first musical compositions composed almost entirely on the Alesis Andromeda synthesizer. A basic rhythm patch was programmed on the Andromeda, and this then provided the backing for the multi-part sequences using a short sustain and hard-synched oscillators. The sequences introduce the tempo of the melody with these being backed by a warm string-like pad. The optimism of the piece soon changes as darker pitch modulations come into play with a nightmare of surreal bird samples invading the scene. The Andromeda sequences die away to leave the bird calls and a very dark bass oscillation. This synthesizer experimentation was one of the first to bring about a complete phrasal change from the optimistic plucked sequences to the darkwave tones of the bird passages. The visuals for the music were entirely composed using pure video synthesis and transformational linear modulations created by the Adobe Premier software. This was done for the creation of analogue-like video modulations using entirely synthetic means. The result is an unusual interwoven synthesizer combination blending analogue and sampled sounds with pure electronic video animations. The composition represents a tribute to the EMS Synthi 100 audio synthesizer and the EMS Spectron video synthesizer."

Random Chimes of the Continent

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide
"This musical composition uses arpeggiated sequences from the Korg R3 synthesizer combined to produce a rhythmic, yet ambient experimentation. Arpeggiated sequences were cascaded with surreal synthesizer analogue pads creating sonic textures that form a tonal backdrop to carry away the listener to another time and space. High resonating filter frequencies combine with the bass tones for a very full stereo effect richly endowed with reverb. The visuals for the music are pure video synthesis, using electronically-generated shapes and modulations built up layer upon layer forming modulating optical rhythms. It is the closest one can come to analogue video synthesis using the resources of vision mixing and linear modulation techniques. The work exists as an audiovisual experience, with the music and images forming a pulsating, unifying composite. Both hypnotic and meditative, several aural and visual combinations are used to bring about an interesting immersive experience."