Morton Subotnick ~ Silver Apples of the Moon
date & artist unknown
Showing posts with label Morton Subotnick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morton Subotnick. Show all posts
October 11, 2021
June 15, 2021
November 25, 2020
Morton Subotnick articles/mentions
mentions:
Samuel Beckett ~ Waiting for Godot
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
Terry Riley ~
20,000 vinyl LPs 254: Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
~
Side 2:
B - Thunder - Electronics – Joan La Barbara, Timpani [Tympani] – Bruce Ditmas, Warren Smith - 22:59
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Chiaroscuro Records
Recorded At – Downtown Sound Studio, New York
Credits:
Art Direction – Ron Warwell
Composed By – Joan La Barbara (tracks: A1, B1)
Design [Album] – Victor Diaz (2)
Engineer [Recording] – Gerry Garszva*
Liner Notes [Mesostic] – John Cage
Photography – Rollo Phlecks
Producer – Hank O'Neal, Joan La Barbara
Voice – Joan La Barbara
Notes:
Solo For Voice 45 (From Songbooks) composed by John Cage for Joan La Barbara.
Recorded at Downtown Sound November 1977.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: ASCAP
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
vinyl LP front cover
album design by Victor Diaz/Chic-Art Studio
photo by Rollo Phlecks
photo of album cover by Styrous®
By all rights this album should go in the “Just the cover, ma’am!”
category because I only bought it because of the cover photo. However,
it is just too great to limit it to that category.
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
vinyl LP back cover
album design by Victor Diaz/Chic-Art Studio
photo by Rollo Phlecks
photo of album cover by Styrous® Joan La Barbara is an American vocalist and composer known for her explorations of non-conventional or "extended" vocal techniques. Considered to be a vocal virtuoso in the field of contemporary music,
she is credited with advancing a new vocabulary of vocal sounds
including trills, whispers, cries, sighs, inhaled tones, and
multiphonics (singing two or more pitches simultaneously).
She has worked with the "Greats" of experimental music, John Cage, Philip Glass in 1978 (Einstein On the Beach), Alvin Lucier, Robert Ashley, Morton Subotnick, Morton Feldman (Three Voices),
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
vinyl LP back cover details
album design by Victor Diaz/Chic-Art Studio
photo by Rollo Phlecks
detail photos of album cover by Styrous® 
Her career as a composer/performer/soundartist/actor explores the human voice as a multi-faceted instrument expanding traditional boundaries in developing a unique vocabulary of experimental and extended vocal techniques: multiphonics, circular singing, ululation and glottal clicks that have become her "signature sounds, influencing several generations of composers and singers.
Joan La Barbara ~ Solo for Voice
vinyl LP back cover details
detail photos of album cover by Styrous® 
Her awards in the U.S. and Europe include: Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award (2016); NewMusicUSA Project Awards: "The Early Immersive Music of Joan La Barbara" and "Dreams of Water Beyod One’s Depth"; Civitella Ranieri Fellowship (2013); Premio Internazionale "Demetrio Stratos" Per la sperimentazione musicale (2011); the American Music Center Letter of Distinction for her significant contributions to contemporary American Music (2008); Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition (2004); DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program; 7 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Music Composition, Opera/Music Theatre, Inter-Arts, Recording (2), Solo Recitalist and Visual Arts; ISCM International Jury Award; Akustische International Competition Award; Aaron Copland Fund for Music; Foundation for Contemporary Arts grants; Collaboration Award of NY Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts and Media Finalist; Meet The Composer, New Music USA and ASCAP Awards.
La Barbara has collaborated with artists including Lita Albuquerque, Matthew Barney, Cathey Billian, Melody Sumner Carnahan, Judy Chicago, Ed Emshwiller, Kenneth Goldsmith, Peter Gordon, Christian Marclay, Bruce Nauman, conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner and Steina and Woody Vasulka who founded The Kitchen in 1971.
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
Joan La Barbara ~ Tape Songs
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Cathing - 8:02
A2 - Solo For Voice 45 (From Songbooks), Arranged By [Realized By] – Joan La Barbara, Composed By – John Cage - 13:30
A2 - Solo For Voice 45 (From Songbooks), Arranged By [Realized By] – Joan La Barbara, Composed By – John Cage - 13:30
Side 2:
B - Thunder - Electronics – Joan La Barbara, Timpani [Tympani] – Bruce Ditmas, Warren Smith - 22:59
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Chiaroscuro Records
Recorded At – Downtown Sound Studio, New York
Credits:
Art Direction – Ron Warwell
Composed By – Joan La Barbara (tracks: A1, B1)
Design [Album] – Victor Diaz (2)
Engineer [Recording] – Gerry Garszva*
Liner Notes [Mesostic] – John Cage
Photography – Rollo Phlecks
Producer – Hank O'Neal, Joan La Barbara
Voice – Joan La Barbara
Notes:
Solo For Voice 45 (From Songbooks) composed by John Cage for Joan La Barbara.
Recorded at Downtown Sound November 1977.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: ASCAP
Joan La Barbara – Tapesongs
Label: Chiaroscuro Records – CR 196
Series: Jazz Band Series –
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1977
Genre: Electronic
Style: Modern Classical, Experimental, Minimal
Label: Chiaroscuro Records – CR 196
Series: Jazz Band Series –
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1977
Genre: Electronic
Style: Modern Classical, Experimental, Minimal
January 3, 2018
Viewfinder full moons
La Mercé full moon ~ 2010
F3 Full Wolf Moon ~ 2013
Friday the 13th full moon ~ 2017
New Year's day full moon ~ 2018
full moon ~ 2018
photo by Styrous®
September 19, 2016
20,000 Vinyl LPs 69: Don Buchla & Morton Subotnick ~ their Silver Apples of the Moon
Cover Art – Anthony Martin
Cover, Design – William S. Harvey
photo of album cover by Styrous®
One of the pioneers of Electronic music died a few days ago. Don Buchla formed his electronic music equipment company, Buchla and Associates, in 1962 in Berkeley, California. Buchla was commissioned by composers Morton Subotnick and Ramon Sender, both of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, to create an electronic instrument for live performance.
Buchla began designing his first modules for the Tape Music Center in 1963. With partial funding from a Rockefeller Foundation grant made to the Tape Music Center, Buchla assembled his modules into the Buchla Modular Electronic Music System
(later known as the Series 100), which he began selling commercially in
1966.
Don Buchla ca 1960's
photographer unknown
Buchla's synthesizers experimented in control interfaces, such as
touch-sensitive plates. In 1969 the Series 100 was briefly sold to CBS Musical Instruments, who soon after dropped the line, not seeing the synthesizer market as a profitable area (silly wabbits).
1970 saw the release of the Buchla 200 series Electric Music Box, which was manufactured until 1985 (link below to YouTube). Almost every parameter can be controlled from an external control voltage.
Buchla created the Buchla Series 500, the first digitally controlled analog synthesizer, in 1971. It is possible there were only three ever in existence.
in front of the Buchla 500
CalArts' sudio B-304
fall of 1976.
Shortly after, the Buchla Series 300 was released, which combined the Series 200 with microprocessors.
The Music Easel, a small, portable, all-in-one synthesizer was released
in 1972. The Buchla Music Easel, an instrument combining the 208 Stored
Program Sound Source and 218 Touch Activated Voltage Source in an
aluminum case with power supply.
Buchla Series 300, The Music Easel
The Buchla 400, with a video display, was released in 1982. In 1987, Buchla released the fully MIDI enabled Buchla 700.
In 2015, various websites, including FACT,
reported that Don Buchla had taken the owners of BEMI to court, citing
health problems due in part to unpaid consulting fees and asserting a
claim to his original intellectual property.
In 2016, BEMI and Don Buchla settled all issues prior to any Court or Arbitration proceedings.
Don Buchla died on September 14, 2016; he was 79. His influence and contribution to the field of music has been profound and completely underrated. The entire genre of electronic music owes Buchla a great debt, but it goes even deeper and wider than that. The technological advancements made by Buchla & Associates is unparalleled in so many ways, and no one did it with as much style and grace as Buchla.
In 2016, BEMI and Don Buchla settled all issues prior to any Court or Arbitration proceedings.
Don Buchla died on September 14, 2016; he was 79. His influence and contribution to the field of music has been profound and completely underrated. The entire genre of electronic music owes Buchla a great debt, but it goes even deeper and wider than that. The technological advancements made by Buchla & Associates is unparalleled in so many ways, and no one did it with as much style and grace as Buchla.
Subotnick preforms the Buchla syntheziser on the Silver Apples of the Moon. The work is in two parts: the first is slow, sparse and spacey for over a quarter of an hour. What it really means to "trip out".
The second half slowly develops a pulse then eventually "rocks" out and develops into an almost disco/jazz piece (disco was ten years in the future). I remember being on another planet far out in the universe and hearing the work for the first time. Oh, my goodness!
The album's trippy title is perhaps a little less trippy than it appears: Subotnick took it from Yeats's poem The Song of Wandering Aengus: "The silver apples of the moon, the golden apples of the sun." Subotnick said, "It doesn't really mean anything. I just liked the sound of it."
Morton Subotnick was born on April 14, 1933, in Los Angeles, California). He is best known for the Silver Apples of the Moon, which was the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. He was one of the founding members of the California Institute of the Arts, where he taught for many years.
Album cover artist, William S. Harvey, was the art director at Elektra Records from 1953 to 1973. He was half of the Elektra brain trust that revolutionized the music industry’s concept of album packaging and created many of rock and roll’s iconic images — for example, the Doors’ logo and the Elektra butterfly.
Album cover artist, William S. Harvey, was the art director at Elektra Records from 1953 to 1973. He was half of the Elektra brain trust that revolutionized the music industry’s concept of album packaging and created many of rock and roll’s iconic images — for example, the Doors’ logo and the Elektra butterfly.
Morton Subotnick – Silver Apples of the Moon
Tracklist:
A Silver Apples Of The Moon (Part One) 16:30
B Silver Apples Of The Moon (Part Two) 15:00
Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Nonesuch
Credits:
Composed & produced by Morton Subotnick, Synthesizer [Buchla]
Coordinator – Teresa Sterne
Cover [Cover Art] – Anthony Martin*
Cover, Design – William S. Harvey
Notes:
© 1967 Nonesuch Records
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout: H-71174 A
Matrix / Runout: H-71174 B
Label: Nonesuch – H-71174
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1967
Genre: Electronic
Style: Modern Classical, Experimental
Net links:
Morton Subotnick website
NY Times Buchla obit
KQED Buchla obit
The Guardian Buchla obit
NPR Music ~ Buchla
Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments
Links to YouTube:
Buchla 200 Modular Synth
Morton Subotnick: Silver apples of the Moon
Morton Subotnick: Silver apples of the Moon (complete album)
Styrous® ~ Monday, September 19, 2016
September 4, 2012
20,000 Vinyl LPs 8: Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air
~
I started the Vinyl LP series because I have over 20,000 albums I am selling; each blog entry of the series is about an album from my collection. Inquire for more information.
I remember being very, very, VERY stoned late in 1969 at a friend's house and hearing a piece of music the like of which I'd never heard before. It was rhythmic, fast and seemed to last an eternity. In those days, unless it was a piece of classical music, 18 minutes and 39 seconds was an eternity even if you weren't stoned. Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Mike Oldfield hadn't hit the music scene yet with their half-hour long pieces. I was mesmerized and nailed to the spot, whatever spot I was in at that moment; it could have been a bean bag (it had just been invented) but it could have been the floor, I can't recall. But I will never forget the experience of hearing it for the first time.
I started the Vinyl LP series because I have over 20,000 albums I am selling; each blog entry of the series is about an album from my collection. Inquire for more information.
I remember being very, very, VERY stoned late in 1969 at a friend's house and hearing a piece of music the like of which I'd never heard before. It was rhythmic, fast and seemed to last an eternity. In those days, unless it was a piece of classical music, 18 minutes and 39 seconds was an eternity even if you weren't stoned. Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Mike Oldfield hadn't hit the music scene yet with their half-hour long pieces. I was mesmerized and nailed to the spot, whatever spot I was in at that moment; it could have been a bean bag (it had just been invented) but it could have been the floor, I can't recall. But I will never forget the experience of hearing it for the first time.
The music was A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley from the album of the same name. The next day I rushed out and bought the album (not much of a surprise). It was one of the albums I recorded on tape as I knew I would play it to death, and I did (the tape, not the record which is still pristine).
(click on any image to see slideshow)
A Rainbow in Curved Air album cover
front cover montage by John Berg
front cover montage by John Berg
photo of album cover by Styrous®
A Rainbow in Curved Air album cover back
back cover illustration by Virginia Team
back cover illustration by Virginia Team
photo of album cover back by Styrous®
I kept up with Riley's music career and bought all the music he produced thereafter, In C was his follow up album. I listened to his music for decades then had the incredible luck to see, hear and photograph him in concert exactly 40 years later in 2009 at the Berkeley Art Museum (BAM).
Now I ask: How can anyone be so lucky?
Now I ask: How can anyone be so lucky?
Some background
A Rainbow in Curved Air was the third album by Terry Riley who is an experimental music and classical minimalism pioneer. Through the use of overdubbing, Riley, a keyboard virtuoso, played all the instruments on the title track: electric organ, electric harpsichord (Rock-Si-Chord), dumbec (or goblet drum), and tambourine.
photo by Kevin Hartnell
The album was recorded from 1967 to 1968 and released in 1969. The producer for the album was David Behrman one of the founders of The Sonic Arts Union along with Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Alvin Lucier and Gordon Mumma. These people have worked with music luminaries such as John Cage (his 100th birthday is this month) and David Tudor. The element uniting these divergent individuals, according to David Behrman, was the desire to create pieces "in which established techniques were thrown away and the nature of sound was dealt with from scratch."
The entire 18 minutes and 39 seconds of A Rainbow In Curved Air can be heard on YouTube.
Born in Colfax, California, Riley studied at Shasta College, San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Conservatory before earning an MA in composition at the University of California, Berkeley, studying with Seymour Shifrin and Robert Erickson. He was involved in the experimental San Francisco Tape Music Center working with Morton Subotnick, Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros, and Ramon Sender.
My thanks to all these creative people who have given me such pleasure.
Styrous® ~ September 4, 2012
~
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