Devolution is Real - Easter at Mutato Muzika

flickr set by josh™
(click for more)

"An insane amount of old DEVO gear, most, things you don't normally see in real life."

Pictured here:
The Electronium
The EMS Polysynthi
Modded Minimoog Voyager with an added knobabove oscillator #1 labeled 'smart LFO' and the Original Mini
http://www.mutato.com/

Be sure to see Josh's flickr set for a ton more.

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RIP Mike Brown of Livewire Electronics

Via an Interview with Mike Brown on Vicmod
(Be sure to click through for the full interview):

"Mike tell us a little about yourself.

This is the one I usually dread... (I'm not one for talking about myself much) but how about this: Played in a few bands during the '80s & '90s... if anyone remembers Cafe'Noire, Aura Circuit, or my solo project, Electronium (probably not... haha) Studied electronic music at Cal State University San Bernardino under Dr.Raymond Torre-Santos (now at Hunter College in New York). At the time they did not have an electronic music program, so when I showed up for recitals with my reels of tape music... the jury of music dept. administrators threw me out... haha...2 years later they had a full blown electronic music major program. figures.

I had always wanted a modular synth... but being married with small kids,had no hope of justifying the expense. Then around 1994, I discovered a book in the local library... 'build your own synthesizer' by Thomas Henry. I thought "I can do *this*!" so I set about gathering parts from local surplus stores and schematics from anywhere I could get them... library books mostly... I was on the internet, but this was pre-web days I think... So then I went about starting small fires for the next six years or so... ;) Eventually, the circuits began to actually work... and then I was thoroughly hooked."

And we were too. Thank you for everything Mike, we are going to miss you.

http://www.livewire-synthesizers.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Livewire-Electronics/301279517212 - Livewire
https://www.facebook.com/L1V3W1R3 - Mike Brown


Image of Mike Brown and Gur Milstein of Tiptop Audio at NAMM 2011.

I met Mike at NAMM 2010. I was pretty humbled. He was one of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever met. He just made you feel comfortable and happy to be around. Like a beacon of peace in chaos. A great soul of a man.

For a look at the influence of his work: 510 posts and counting. His work, memory, and legacy will live on forever.

Raymond Scott - Soothing Sounds For Babies

via wikipedia:
"Soothing Sounds for Baby (1964) is a three-volume set of ambient electronic music by American composer, musician, and inventor Raymond Scott. Scott originally intended to lull infants to sleep with the music, but later generations have found value in the music for its minimalist aspects, often comparing it to the works of Brian Eno, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream despite having predated such artists by more than a decade.

Originally released in collaboration with the Gesell Institute of Human Development[1], the volumes are split up into three age groups: Volume 1 is 1 to 6 months; Volume 2 is 6 to 12 months; and Volume 3 is 12 to 18 months. The music gets more complex with each volume. Scott created much of the music on the albums with instruments he created, such as the Electronium and the Clavivox. "Particularly on Soothing Sounds for Baby, Scott proved to be one of the first composers to merge the Brave New World of electronic sounds with a rhythmic pop sensibility."[2] Basta Music of Holland released the albums as a 3-CD set in 1997[2]."


Surprisingly you can currently find copies on eBay here.

Vol. 1 Track Listing
1. Lullaby
2. Sleepy Time
3. Music Box, The
4. Nursery Rhyme
5. Tic Toc

Vol. 2 Track Listing
1. Tempo Block
2. Happy Whistler, The
3. Toy Typewriter

Update: Per above I was surprised to see these on eBay. It turns out these are re-issues. Via Jeff E. Winner in the comments: "We issued CDs of all 3 volumes in 1997 — which are still in-print & selling very well — and these vinyl LPs, also still in-print. We have a 3-LP vinyl version of our MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. compilation too (but it doesn't include the amazing, 144-page hardcover, full-color book):" link

Sound Pages via Ron

Click here for a number of SoundPage Flexidiscs (flexi disk) sent my way via Ron aka nonbeing. Enjoy. The following is the full track listing:

DISK 1 (One)
1. “Cranes In Their Nest”
Arranged, performed, and produced on synthesizer by Isao Tomita (with Goro Yamasuchi on Shakuhachi)
Soundpage No. 11 (August 1985)
Flip Side: Blank

2. “My Wife with Champagne Shoulders”
Composed, performed, and produced by Mark Isham
Soundpage No. 14 (November 1985)
Flip Side: Blank

3. “Moon Machine”
Jean-Michel Jarre
Soundpage No. 18 (March 1986)

4. Flip Side of 3: “An Introduction to the Kurzweil 250”

5. “Sometimes . . . Not Always”
Ralph Grierson
Soundpage No. 20 (May 1986)

6. Flip Side of 5: “The Kurzweil 250 Rock Block – A Demonstration”
Original music composed and performed by Paul Heckert live to 2-track master using Kurzweil 250 presets only.

7. Synth Sketch for “Varying Lengths”
Lyle Mays
Soundpage No. 22 (July 1986)

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FascinationMachine Promo

FascinationMachine Promo from Stan Warnow on Vimeo.

"Sample video of Rebel Technologies modern version of Raymond Scott's Fascination Machine--it's essentially a micro-Electronium, and it will be at --The Raymond Scott Festival, at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, CA., this Saturday, September 8th. More info at www.raymondscottfestival.com"

Raymond Scott - 'Twilight in Turkey' - Electronium

Published on Mar 22, 2013 gopogator

Casio SK-1

Click here for shots via this auction.

"Dual Mounted Modified Devices Offer a Fully Modular Independently Arrayed Open Patch System With Momentary Engage Buttons, Selectable Engagable Step Busses, & a Versatile Variable Speed / Length / Step / Patch Sequencer System with Unusual Timing Features like the Chaos Modifier, Freeze, & Freeze & Step Settings. Simply Put This Crazy Thing Will Generate All Manner of Unique Raymond Scott Karloff & Electronium Or Krell Musical Effects that Will Blow You Mind ! Patch Your other gear Right in with Ease and Use Any Part Of the Sequencer System to Glitch or Cross Glitch Any Number Of Bent Devices in Tru e modern Modular Synth Style. 1950's Retro Sci-Fi Modern."

Mark Mothersbaugh's Tour of Mutato Muzika

Published on Jun 4, 2013 keyboardmag1·273 videos

"In this archival clip from May 2010, Mark Mothersbaugh gives us a tour of some of the vintage synths in Mutato Muzika, DEVO's headquarters in L.A."

EMS SYNTHI AKS, Oberheim TVS, Moog Memorymoog, Minimoog & Sonic Six, various circuit bent gear, EMS VCS3, custom DIY modular Aries Modular, EDP Wasp, Novachord, Electronium, TONTO, EML 500, Polybox, Octave CAT, Pink Floyd's Ondioline, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 & more.

Update via Michael Hewel in the comments: "the modular around 08:00 is an Aries"

Michael Jacson and The Electronium

via the Raymond Scott blog.

See the update and comment at the bottom of this previous post.

Raymond Scott 100

Science Reporting has an excellent post up on Raymond Scott. The following are a few excerpts (be sure to check out the full post on Science Reporting).

"In 1942, he became Music Director for CBS Radio and made history by hiring black musicians. His CBS band was the first racially integrated band for radio. In 1946, he founded Manhattan Research Inc, "the world's most extensive facility for the creation of Electronic Music and Musique Concrete." It was the first electronic music studio...

In 1949, Raymond said, 'Perhaps within the next hundred years, science will perfect a process of thought transference from composer to listener. The composer will sit alone on the concert stage and merely think his idealized conception of his music. Instead of recordings of actual music sound, recordings will carry the brainwaves of the composer directly to the mind of the listener.'

By the mid-50's his studio began to look (according to friends such as Robert Moog) like a science fiction set. Over the years, Raymond invented numerous electronic musical instruments including the Clavivox and the Electronium.

Robert Moog credits Raymond as an important influence on the invention of the Moog Synthesizer. In 1962 and 1963, Raymond released Soothing Sounds for Baby. It was entirely electronic music he composed as an "aural toy" for children. While it was a commercial failure at the time, some now regard it as a strong pre-cursor to ambient music (over a decade before Brian Eno's recordings)."

Hohner Electronium Analog Synthesizer

via this auction

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Deconstructing Dad - Raymond Scott Film

Friday 17 / 19.45 / K1 On KLIK!"Raymond Scott was a prolific composer, musician and inventor whose music became synonymous with animated films during the Golden Age of Animation in the ‘30s and 40’s. In the 90’s, Scott’s music had a resurgence in animation through Ren & Stimpy, Duckman and the Animaniacs.Scott was also a pioneer in electronic music, building a “simultaneous composition and performance machine” called the Electronium and acting as the mentor of Robert Moog, who went on to invent the Moog Synthesizer."via vitomf, via cartoon brew

Update via Jeff E. Winner in the comments: "Jim Henson took that photo — that's his briefcase on the floor. And you're only seeing half of the shot — here's the entire thing"

Raymond Scott: The First 100 Years on BoingBoing

Cool to see something from our neck of the woods on Boing Boing. The following is just an excerpt. Be sure to check out the full post on Boing Boing for more.

"Since Scott couldn't hire the perfect musicians, he built them. From the 1940s thru the 1970s, Scott, whose recording studios doubled as science labs, worked increasingly with home-built techno sound generators. He's one of the great overlooked pioneers of electronica, with US patents to prove it. His 1963 Soothing Sounds for Baby series of repetitive, high-tech nap-inducers set the template for ambient music. In 1970, Motown founder Berry Gordy was so impressed with Scott's Electronium, an analog console that composed by artificial intelligence, that he commissioned a unit. Two years later, Gordy hired Scott at Motown-L.A., where the mad scientist toiled until 1977."

OHM+ The Early Gurus of Electronic Music

Reed posted a link to this in the comments section of this post on Laurie Spiegal. You can can order it from The Relaxation Company, or if you prefer Amazon, click here.

"Special Edition 3CD + DVD

New Collector's edition of this historic collection!

Leaps in technology: oscillators, generators, vacuum tubes, amplifiers, transistors, magnetic tape, integrated circuits, and the microchip—inspired new instruments: the telharmonium, theremin, ondes martenot,electronic sackbut, clavivox, electronium, moog synthesizer, and computers—and artists everywhere hungry for new modes of expression.

This collection is a humble but bold attempt to give form to the wonderful, multi-directional, inevitable birth of electronic music.

Three CDs—42 original music tracks from 1948–1980

112 Page Book—extensive artist interviews, commentaries, and archival photographs

Special Edition DVD—over two hours of rare performances, interviews,animations, and experimental video."

Final Set of A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

The listing is from the author Peter Forrest who states this is likely the last set.  These are great books and imo the most comprehensive.  Click on the pics to get an idea of what they are like.  Peter also has other items listed including The Museum of Synthesizer Technology and Synthesizer von Gestern II.

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Old Hohner Bassophon synthesizer "accordion" fisarmonica

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

I believe this is the first Bassophon to be featured on the site. Looks the same as the Electronium in this demo video by Hainbach.

"It is not a typical accordion, as the sound will be produced electrical, not by reeds. It is called "Bassophon" . The case includes its loudspeaker. Please note, that it has a German plug. (Maybe I can buy for your an adapter if you need one) The instrument makes sounds on most of the keys, but needs professional service and repair. Size: approx.17inch x 14,5" x 7,5" (43/37/19cm) The instrument needs repair and cleaning"

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