0:00:00 – 0:01:11: Stephen Halpern "Seventh Chakra Keynote B"
This could potentially be an electric piano or a metallophone rather than an actual Synth so maybe I should not have included it in this mix but it is very beautiful and a nice way to begin. I first heard it on the excellent 'I Am The Center' compilation on Light in the Attic records.
0:01:11 – 0:01:48: Robert Ashley "She Was a Visitor"
Robert Ashley was an American composer and contemporary of John Cage. He was an early adopter of electronics in his compositions. I digitised this piece from my vinyl copy so that I could freak people out during DJ sets.
0:01:48 – 0:02:45: "Tinntinnabulation"
I used a brief excerpt of this piece in my mix but the full piece is perhaps 20 minutes of computer-generated bell sounds. I find it incredibly relaxing to listen to. There is something about the gentleness of the tones in the bells and the fact that they are slightly dissonant.
0:02:45 – 0:05:20: Anthony Child "Super Sacred Sunday"
Anthony Child (aka Surgeon) made this piece recently in the jungles of Maui using a Buchla Music Easel.
0:05:20 – 0:11:30: Fennesz "Chateau Rouge"
I have been a fan of Fennesz since his Endless Summer album come out in 2001. This song is from his album 'Venice'. His clouds of digital noise can be very soothing.
0:11:30 – 0:21:30: JP Risset "Computer Music"
JP Risset was a pioneer of Computer Music who worked at Bell Labs in New Jersey. On the album Computer Music he tries to mimic the sounds of nature using early computer systems. The tones he generates are really amazing I think- they would make amazing samples for dance records and sound quite unlike most conventional synthesisers.
0:21:30 – 0:31:00: Pauline Oliveros "Beautiful Soop"
I like the electronic modulation of the voices in this piece- as the piece progresses the voices are rendered more and more unusual and otherworldly. This section of the mix makes me feel a bit queasy.
0:31:00 – 0:36:10: Paul Lansky "Chatter Of Pins"
Paul Lansky was sampled by Radiohead for their track 'Idioteque' on Kid A. I found the sample to be really beautiful so I looked for more music by Lansky, and I love the rhythms he creates with the voices in this piece.
0:36:10 – 0:41:22: Charles Cohen "Camera Dance"
Charles Cohen has been composing using just the Buchla Music Easel for maybe 40 years. He still performs live regularly and I saw him at Cafe Oto a few years ago. His pieces vary tremendously, there are some that feel like the most amazing modern techno records. this song reminds me of a recent Pangaea track.
0:41:22 – 0:45:58: Suzanne Ciani "Concert at Phil Niblock's Loft"
This piece has the sound of the Buchla Music Easel as well. It has a lovely, meditative feel. Ciani worked for Don Buchla for a while in order to save up enough to buy one of his machines.
0:45:58 – 1:00:02: Frank McCarty "Tactus Tempus (Tonal)"
Tactus Tempus is a piece written and first performed by Frank McCarty in 1973. In 2016 I took part in a new performance of the work after Ryan Smith of Bathing/Caribou suggested that a few synth friends get together to try it out. There were 8 of us in my small basement studio, playing an Arp, a Yamaha CS80, lots of Eurorack, a Buchla, a Roland System 100 and a slide projector.
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