“Ancient life was all silence. In the nineteenth century, with the invention of the machine, Noise was born. Today, Noise triumphs and reigns supreme over the sensibility of men. For many centuries life went by in silence, or at most in muted tones. The strongest noises which interrupted this silence were not intense or prolonged or varied. If we overlook such exceptional movements as earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, avalanches and waterfalls, nature is silent.
Amidst this dearth of noises, the first sounds that man drew from a pieced reed or streched string were regarded with amazement as new and marvelous things. Primitive races attributed sound to the gods; it was considered sacred and reserved for priests, who used it to enrich the mystery of their rites.” - Luigi Russolo, Art of Noises Manifesto
In 1913, Italian composer Luigi Russolo wrote a letter to a friend who was a Futurist Composer known as Francesco Balilla Pratella. The letter argues that the human ear has become accustomed to the noise of the urban industrial landscape and concludes that electronics and other new technology will help composers & futurist musicians to substitute for the limited sounds available through traditional orchestras.
An instrument known as the Theremin was used in the twenties by composers like Honegger, Messiaen, and Verese. The instrument was known for an eerie high pitched wailing sound that was often used in horror films in the fifties. Another early pioneer was Oskar Sala who, along with Dr. Trautwein, built the Trautonium. The instrument was later altered into the Mixturtrautonium which was used to compose the music for Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”
With the proliferation on musical tools, the musicians of the day were inspired to think about music in a different way. In 1939 John Cage’s “Imaginary Landscape #1” became the first piece of electronic music to be reproduced. When he was in college, John Cage studied at UCLA with the classical composer Arthur Schoenberg. Cage had demonstrated in his lessons that he had no skill in creating harmony and Schoenberg insisted that Cage would not be able to create music. Schoenberg told Cage, “You’ll come to a wall and won’t be able to get through it.” Cage replied, “Then I will beat my head against the wall.” Cage soon found others who were interested in challenging the concepts of art forms of the past.
Cage’s early experiments involved altering standard instruments, such as putting plates and screws between a piano’s strings before playing. As his alterations became more drastic he realized that he needed entirely new instruments. Pieces such as “Imaginary Landscape Vol. 4” used twelve radios played at once and depended entirely on the chance broadcasts at the time of the performance for it’s actual sound.
With the invention of the Moog synthesizer in 1964, the golden age of electronic music was born. The rock musicians of the sixties were already experimenting wildly with both instrumentation and form and had no hesitation embracing these new tools. Shortly after, the Mellotron was invented. This instrument was capable of playing samples. Sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and re-using it as an instrument or different sound recording of the song.
This recording features the oldest electronic records in my collection and was recorded on July 21, 2009. It was imperative for me to do this recording because there was so much more that led to the rise of electronic dance music and it really began with experimental music and avant garde prior to becoming synchronized in a fashion that could be used on danceflooors. The songs on this session are very raw and will have an odd composure to most listeners, however it was these records that helped break the boundaries in standard classical music production to give way to the sampling and beat creation that we now take for granted.
Charles Dodge - He Destroyed Her Image
Oskar Sala - Elektronische Impressionen, Nr 2
Tod Dockstader - Eight Electronic Pieces #8
Tod Dockstader - Assembly
Laurie Spiegel - Appalachian Grove
Vladimir Ussachevsky - Wireless Fantasy
Oskar Sala - Elektronische Impressionen, Nr 1 (scratch in reverse)
