In the two decades during which synthesizers shrank from the size of a room to the size of a briefcase, new sounds emerged – along with numerous approaches to controlling oscillators, filters and envelopes.
43 minutes with works by Conrad Schnitzler, Daphne Oram, Erkki Kurenniemi, Laurie Spiegel and others, generated between the early Sixties and 1977 (plus an exception).
Featured cover art: Suzanne Ciani – Lixiviation Ciani/Musica Inc. 1969-1985
Playlist
Don Preston – Analog Heaven #5
Part 5 of a 26-minute suite by the keyboardist of the Mothers Of Invention, whose contribution helped develop the Mini-Moog. (1975, Sub Rosa)
Erkki Kurenniemi – Sähkösoittimen ääniä #1
The pioneer of electronic art in Finland designed his own instruments and experimented with user interfaces for them. (1971, Love Records)
Kühn – Tomograph
The extraordinary Max Brand synthesiser, custom-built by Robert Moog in the 1960s, is being rediscovered and played half a century later. (2009, Moozak)
Conrad Schnitzler – 09/1975
Improvisation with pre-recorded cassettes containing so-called solo tracks, created with the EMS Synthi. (1975, Bureau B)
Bernard Parmegiani – Versailles…peut-être 1
Imaginative music by the former head of the Musique-Image Departement at French television station ORTF .(1977, Transversales Disques)
Daphne Oram – Mermaid (excerpt)
Music from a device that converts images into sound, invented by the English composer herself and known as Oramics. (early 1960s, Young Americans)
Ruth White – Evening Harmony
Setting to music a poem by the French poet Charles Baudelaire. (1969, Black Mass Rising)
Laurie Spiegel – Appalachian Grove II
The synthesist is investigating a radically new system for controlling synthesisers at Bell Labs in New Jersey. (1974, Unseen Worlds)
Seesselberg – Speedy Achmed (Verhaltensanweisung)
The two West German brothers mainly presented their self-built synthesiser in art galleries and museums of modern art. (1973, Plate Lunch)
Suzanne Ciani – Lixiviation
Suzanne Ciani is an icon of both the experimental US underground scene and the commercial advertising world. This is from her film collaboration with kinetic artist Ronald Mallory, using a Buchla 200. (1970, Finders Keepers Records)
Tim Blake – Metro Logic
After becoming famous for his work with Gong and Hawkwind in the field of space rock, Tim Blake introduced electronic instruments into live performances, accompanied by spectacular laser light shows. (1977, Esoteric Recordings)
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