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[vcoadsr-deactivated20171226]

The 2nd edition of ”Electronic Music: Systems, techniques and controls” by Allen Strange published in 1983 is considered by many to be the definitive text on modular synthesis.

The book covers the subject of making electronic music from the perspective of technique starting from...

[jbinjapan]

Throbbing Gristle (1978)

[willejohns-deactivated20151019]

ahh the plumbutter

[pfurmel]

Drum And Drama

[papernoize-deactivated20160924]

Dieter Doepfer, father of the modern Eurorack modular format.

He’d need a logo redesign though :)

[pfurmel]

Another picture of the custom build

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Turing Machine eurorack module

[trackandhold]

John Chowning - Stria (1977)

Chowning is known as the discoverer of frequency modulation (FM) audio synthesis. His method was licensed by Stanford to Yamaha, who built a huge range of synthesizers and audio chips that used the method (including the familiar FM sound generators in the Sega Genesis and various Adlib and Sound Blaster cards). 

This piece uses FM to produce swells of metallic dissonance that could be called bell-like, if they resembled any known bell in reality. The shifting, droning inharmonics show a subtlety and care in construction that goes far beyond the stereotypes of 80s pop music or farty misuse of Yamaha chips in video games.

[jozefsquare]

.. Andrei Tarkovsky’s excellent movie idea turned into this beautiful poster | unfortunately, the Author of this outstanding movie poster remains unknown | poster was designed almost six years after the movie was made 1972-1978, screening must have been also delayed, but not certain about the destiny of Solaris/Tarkovsky in old Czechoslovakia, all we know Andrei was not their usual propaganda subscriber :) | jozefsquare.com ..

(via Andrei Tarkovsky | Solaris, Vintage Movie Poster, 1978)

[speakingparts]

[merzbow-derek]

People have often asked me what the Zone is, and what it symbolizes, and have put forward wild conjectures on the subject. I’m reduced to a state of fury and despair by such questions. The Zone doesn’t symbolize anything, any more than anything else does in my films: the zone is a zone, it’s life, and as he makes his way across it a man may break down or he may come through. Whether he comes through or not depends on his own self-respect, and his capacity to distinguish between what matters and what is merely passing. Andrej Tarkovskij Сталкер STALKER, 1979

[comparator]

Eliane Radigue. From the late 1960’s until 2000 she created her work exclusively on a single synthesizer ( ARP 2500 ) and tape.

[apracticalintroduction]

[heartcountry]

kvelle:

Tree Drawings, Tim Knowles

“A series of drawings produced using drawing implements attached to the tips of tree branches, the wind’s effects on the tree recorded on paper. Like signatures each drawing reveals the different qualities and characteristics of each tree.”

[thesixthear]

Jim O’Rourke, Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M and Tatsuya Yoshida. Performing at The Lounge Axe, Chicago, Ill in 1998. 

This was a huge show for me. Visiting Chicago in the late 90’s watching bands that you’d never get the chance to see perform in Saint Louis was a real treat. This also marked the first time I ever saw a modular synthesizer played live. It took me about a year to find out what system (Doepfer A-100) Jim O’Rourke was using and about another two years to save up and buy one. This gig really changed my life and I was so pleased to find the negatives. Thank you Chad for scanning them for me. 

[makenoisemusic]

I had a similar experience. Living in Chicago at this time, I too witnessed Jim O’Rourke performing on his Doepfer Modular Synthesizer. My friend Ryan and I called it simply, “the suitcase synth.” It took me quite a while to figure out how to get one of my own, and eventually led to my founding Make Noise where we now design and build “the suitcase synth.” Thank you so much for posting these images. Takes me back to a very important time. O’Rourke’s opened up musical doors for many people.

[gownroundup]

[jame-s]

[trackandhold]

David Tudor - Pulsers (1976)

Tudor was a pianist and experimental composer who often collaborated with John Cage and was associated with the San Francisco experimental scene. 

This piece is underlined by a constant, pounding electronic pulse - a beat, but not a drum machine - that predates Underworld’s Born Slippy by two decades. It explores variation in the beat’s timbre and accents, and in the reverberations from what appears to be the space in which the piece was recorded. The second half of the piece adds a floating, modulated instrumental line and pushes the beat into quieter and then progressively more frantic territory.

[makenoisemusic]

Some old school stickers @mitchgtz set us. This band featured @mitchgtz and legendary skateboarder @mikevallely what a cool piece of history. Thanx!

[pfurmel]

208r testing