Episode 170

Chapter 29, Buchla Analog Synthesizers. Works Recommended from my book, Electronic and Experimental Music 

Welcome to the Archive of Electronic Music. This is Thom Holmes.

This podcast is produced as a companion to my book, Electronic and Experimental Music, published by Routledge. Each of these episodes corresponds to a chapter in the text and an associated list of recommended works, also called Listen in the text. They provide listening examples of vintage electronic works featured in the text.

The works themselves can be enjoyed without the book and I hope that they stand as a chronological survey of important works in the history of electronic music. Be sure to tune-in to other episodes of the podcast where we explore a wide range of electronic music in many styles and genres, all drawn from my archive of vintage recordings.

There is a complete playlist for this episode on the website for the podcast.

Let’s get started with the listening guide to Chapter 29, Buchla Analog Synthesizers from my book Electronic and Experimental music.

Playlist: MUSIC MADE WITH BUCHLA ANALOG SYNTHESIZERS

Time

Track Time

Start

Introduction –Thom Holmes

01:38

00:00

1.     Morton Subotnick, “Prelude No. 4” (1966). Early work for piano and electronic tape using sounds created on the Buchla 100. Pianist, Richard Bunger, recorded in 1973 (Buchla tape from 1966).

05:15

01:40

2.     Morton Subotnick, “Silver Apples of the Moon” (Part 1) (1966). First commissioned work of electronic music from Nonesuch Records.

04:23

08:32

3.     Gerry Olds, “4/3 + 1” (1967). Jazz mixed with electronics created on the Buchla 100 at a San Francisco Tape Music Center Concert.

11:19

12:58

4.     Buffy Sainte- Marie, “Better To Find Out For Yourself” and “The Vampire” (1969). Electronic “settings,” processing of Sainte-Marie’s voice and guitar done on Buchla 100 modular systems (3 units) used by Michael Czajkowski at the electronic music studio of NYU.

04:39

24:16

5.     Douglas Leedy, “Entropical Paradise” (1970). Sonic environments created by the Moog and Buchla modular synthesizers.

20:09

28:52

6.     George Marsh, “Wind Borne” (1973). Prepared Buchla 200 Synthesizer with sequencing, George Marsh.

08:28

49:06

7.     David Rosenboom and Donald Buchla, “How Much Better If Plymouth Rock Had Landed On The Pilgrims, Section V” (1978). Buchla modular synthesizers by composer Rosenboom and the inventor himself, Donald Buchla.

22:47

57:34

8.     Morton Subotnick, “The Last Dream of the Beast” (1978, 1982, 1984). Featured the Buchla 400.

14:47

01:20:20

9.     Mel Powell, “Three Synthesizer Settings” (1981). Moog and Buchla synthesizers.

08:47

01:35:06

10.   Morton Subotnick, “A Sky of Cloudless Sulphur, Opening” (1980). Buchla 200 and Subotnick’s “ghost shadow electronics.”

11:15

01:43:51

Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.

My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022.

See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation.

For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.

Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.