Chapter 33, Digital Synthesizers and Samplers. 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 33, Digital Synthesizers and Samplers from my book Electronic and Experimental music.
Playlist: DIGITAL SYNTHESIZERS AND SAMPLERS
Introduction –Thom Holmes
1. Jon Appleton, “Syntrophia”(1978) from Music For Synclavier And Other Digital Systems. Composed and performed on the Synclavier, Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer, Jon Appleton.
2. Claude Larsen, “Nitrogen” (1980) from Synthesis. Sounds a bit like “Oxygen” by Jarre from 1976. Programmed, performed, Fairlight CMI Music, Roland System 700, Oberheim TVS-1 Four Voice, Polymoog, Roland MC 8 Micro-Composer, Syntovox vocoder, Claude Larson.
3. Eberhard Schoener, “Fairlight 80” (1980) from Events. Featured the Fairlight CMI played by Schoener and vocals by Clare Torry.
4. Eberhard Schoener, “Events - A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu” (1980) from Events. Mellotron, Violin, Piano, Moog, Oberheim, Fairlight CMIsynthesizers, Eberhard Schoener; Fairlight CMI, Morris Pert; Gong, Percussion (Gede, Kempli, Rejong), Furst Agong Raka; Gong, Percussion (Gender, Lanang, Rejong), Ketut Tama; Gong, Percussion (Wadong, Rejong), Rai Raka; Percussion, Morris Pert; Fender electric piano, Roger Munnis; tenor saxophone, Olaf Kübler; Drums, Evert Fraterman, Pete York; Electric Bass, Steve Richardson; Electric Guitar, Ian Bairnson.
5. Klaus Schulze, “Death Of An Analogue” (1980) from Dig It. All music played on the Crumar GDS digital synthesizer/computer. All percussion by F.S. Drum Inc. and GDS.
6. Klaus Schulze, “The Looper Isn't A Hooker” (1980) from Dig It. All music played on the Crumar GDS digital synthesizer/computer. All percussion by F.S. Drum Inc. and GDS.
7. Joel Chadabe and Jan Williams, “Song Without Words” (1981) from Rhythms For Computer And Percussion. "The equipment used in RHYTHMS is a portable minicomputer/digital synthesizer system designed and manufactured by New England Digital Corporation in Norwich, Vermont, expressly for making music.” This was an early Synclavier without a keyboard controller. Synclavier digital synthesizer, Joel Chadabe; Percussion, Vibraphone, Marimba, Slit Drum, Log, Wood Block, Temple Block, Cowbell, Singing Bowls, Jan Williams.
8. Don Muro, “Deanna Of The Fields” (1981) from Anthology. Vocals, Piano, Electric Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Synthesizer, Korg M1 Music Workstation, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Don Muro.
9. Nervous Germans, “Hometown” (1981) from Nervösen Deutschen. Bass, Producer, Micki Mäuser; Drums, Udo Dahmen; Guitar, Manni Holländer; Vocals, Casio VL Tone micro keyboard, Grant Stevens.
10. Tuxedomoon, “Blind” from Time To Lose, Blind. Effects, Guitar, Peter Principle; Casio M-10, Blaine L. Reininger; Vocals, Moog, Soprano Saxophone, Steven Brown; Vocals, Winston Tong.
11. Herbie Hancock, “Rough” (1983) from Future Shock. Fairlight CMI, AlphaSyntauri, Emulator, Herbie Hancock; Background Vocals, Bernard Fowler, Grandmixer D.ST., Nicky Skopelitis, Roger Trilling; Bass, Bill Laswell; Drums, Sly Dunbar; Lead Vocals, Lamar Wright; Prophet-5, Michael Beinhorn; Turntables, Voice, Grandmixer D.ST.
12. Wendy Carlos, “Genesis,” “Eden,” and “I.C. (Intergalactic Communications)” (1984) from Wendy Carlos' Digital Moonscapes. Programmed All Sounds programmed and performed on the Crumar GDS/Synergy digital synthesizer, Wendy Carlos.
13. Ron Kuivila, “Household Object” (1984) from Fidelity. Casio VL toneand homemade electronics, Ron Kuivila.
14. Lejaren Hiller, “Expo ’85” (1985) from Computer Music Retrospective. Four short pieces highlight the versatility of the Kurzweil K250: “Circus Piece - A Cadential Process” (4:04), “Transitions - A Hierarchical Process” (2:12), “Toy Harmonium - A Statistical Process” (1:41), “Mix Or Match - A Tune Generating Process (5 Examples)” (3:44).
15. Third World, “Can't Get You (Out Of My Mind)” (1985) from Sense Of Purpose. Yamaha DX7, Prophet 5, PFR Yamaha, Grand Piano Yamaha Acoustic, Organ Hammond B3, Clavinet Mohner D6, Percussion, Vocals, Michael "Ibo" Cooper; Backing Vocals, Glenn Ricks, Meekaaeel; Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals, Percussion, Richie "Bassie" Daley; Drums Yamaha Acoustic Drums, Electronic Drums Simmons, Drum Machine D.M.X., Drum Machine Linn Drum Machine, Percussion, Backing Vocals, Willie Stewart; Keyboards, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar The Washburn Electro Acoustic, Vocals, Percussion, Stephen "Cat" Coore; Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Bill "Bunny Rugs" Clarke; Percussion, Neil Clarke; Percussion, Binghi Drums, Junior Wedderburn, Tschaka Tonge.
16. George Todd, “Sound Sculptures” (1985) from Music For Kurzweil And Synclavier. Synclavier Digital Music System, George Todd.
17. Russ Freeman, “Easter Island” (1986) from Nocturnal Playground. Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer, Keyboard Bass, Emulator II, Linn 9000 Drum programming, Russ Freeman; Drums, Percussion, David Renick; Percussion, Emulator II programming, Steve Reid; Alto Saxophone, Brandon Fields.
18. Donald Steven of G.E.M.S., “Images - Refractions Of Time And Space (1986)” from Group Of The Electronic Music Studio - McGill University. Yamaha DX7, Laurie Radford; Bass, John Oliver; Electric Flute, Jill Rothberg; Percussion, Elliot Polsky, François Gauthier.
19. Jane Brockman, “Kurzweil Etudes” (1-3) (1986) from Music For Kurzweil And Synclavier. Kurzweil K250, Jane Brockman.
20. Richard Burmer, “Across The View” (1987) from Western Spaces. Emulator II plus an analog synth, Richard Burmer.
21. Sonny Sharrock Band, “Kate (Variations On A Theme By Kate Bush)” (1990) from Highlife. Electronics, Korg M1, Korg Wave Station, Dave Snider; Bass, Charles Baldwin; Drums, Abe Speller, Lance Carter; Guitar, Sonny Sharrock.
22. Second Decay, “Taste” (1994) from Taste. Produced with the Roland Compu Music CMU-800R workstation and without MIDI; Simmons Electronic Drums,Thomas V.. Other synths used: ARP Odyssey, ARP 2600, PPG Wave 2.0, Emulator I and II, Roland SH-101, SH-7, CR-78, TR-808, MC-4, TR-606, EMS Synthi A, Solina String, Mellotron, Crumar Performer, Teisco 110F, Wasp, Linn LM-1, SCI Pro-One, Minimoog, Korg Mono-Poly, SQ-10, Elektro Harmonix Minisynth, Vocoder and effect devices, Compact Phasing A, Roland Echos RE 201, SRE 555.
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.
