"Here are some pictures Joe took of me and John mixing the last few bits of the album. As you can see, we used 3 generations of mixing console on the record; an MCI 416 from the early 70s, a Studer 900 from the early 80s and a DXB from the mid 00s"
Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in. New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process. If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com. This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!
On a reltated note, Benge, aka zackdagoba, is the man behind It's Full of Stars and currently plays with John Foxx & The Maths who have a few shows coming up.
Pictured: "Here a a beautiful Johnathon Barnbrook design for our tour"
"This is the legendary PPG Realizer that we have all heard about. From my understanding, only two of these were made. This is one of those two. Please contact us if you are interested in buying this rarity."
For those not familiar with the PPG Realizer, see this post from Nov 2005. In short it was PPGs attempt to create a virtual modeling synthesizer back in 1986. If you look at the knobs you will see lines going from each to the screen. The screen would actually show an image of the synth being modelled, with virtual knobs that the lines connected to. The Minimoog was the one in all the pics. Realize this is 1986. The graphics were green and vector like. See the post linked directly above for an image.
"An impressive exhibit from PPG was the Realizer (about $50,000). This consists of software versions of familiar synthesizer configurations. It allows you to design your own analog, FM digital, and sampled sounds, patch any of the components of one instrument into another instrument, and then sequence or sample the resulting sound. Wolfgang Palm, designer of the Realizer and head of PPG Instruments, earns the the quote-of-the-show award for explaining how he designed it: 'I copied the circuit diagrams into software.' No easy task."
Was the Realizer the first software modeled hardware synth? Credit typically goes to the Yamaha VL1 (1994 - Physical Modelling), Clavia Nord Lead (1995 - Analog Modelling/VA), and Korg Prophecy (1995 - Physical & Analog Modelling). Considering the ability to mix and match components, modern day hardware equivalents would be Arturia's Origin and John Bowen's Solaris. As for ability for the display and controls to morph into unique individual synths, the iPad would be the obvious realization of the Realizer.
Be sure to see the video link to PPG System Demo 1986 with Tom Oberheim.
Also scroll all the way down for the larger pics.
Update via Wolfgang regarding the remaining two: "as far as i remember :) there were two left in the end.
one went to Steinberg, when i started to work for them in '87
the other remained in the USA with PPG America Inc.
but where these two systems ended up...i dont know."
Update via Peter Stone on FB: "I'm glad I was able to at least get a demo of the one in the L.A. office before the office closed. That and the HDU doing some great real-time time stretching way before it's time..." Sounds like it was indeed working. See the Facebook thread for more. Here's an interesting note from Andy Thomas regarding graintable synthesis: "I was scaring people with the time-stretched intro to the 1970s hit by Supertramp called 'Logical Song' in 1986/87. Peter, you and Kevin Lamb were there! All the graininess a synthesist could resample before we termed it granular!"
Anyone ID the top synth at 1:09 in the second to last (blue) video below?
"AND PARTY EVERY DAY: THE INSIDE STORY OF CASABLANCA RECORDS is a BRAND NEW 320-page, hardcover book from Casablanca cofounder Larry Harris and the authors of KISS Alive Forever. Visit http://www.casablancabook.com to read excerpts from the book and purchase a signed copy directly from the authors.
SPACE: This is an excerpt, from a Kinescope version, of the original 1979 Casablanca Records promo film for Space's single "Save Your Love For Me." SPACE were a French dance band that released two LPs through Casablanca in the late 1970s. Sadly, this is all we have of this wonderful music video; if anyone has a full copy please let us know as we are trying to reacquire several "lost" Casablanca Records film and videotape elements. See our Web site for more details.
AND PARTY EVERY DAY is the very first full-length book about the infamous 1970s record label and its enigmatic founder Neil Bogart. In a blizzard of wild parties, spending, and fearless ambition, Casablanca Records launched the careers of KISS, Donna Summer, Parliament Funkadelic, Angel, the Village People, and single-handedly created the disco movement. Add an Academy Award-winning film division with product like The Deep, Midnight Express, Foxes, and The Hollywood Knights and you begin to understand why Casablanca became the hottest record label of the 1970s. Visit http://www.casablancabook.com to see more Casablanca Records videos."
And two more previously posted:
Space Magic Fly 1977 Original Video Sound Remastered
juansimivi | November 06, 2009 |
"In honor of this large group."
Space - Magic Fly (Discomare 1977) video kurtigghiu
kurtigghiu | September 15, 2009 |
"dallo Spazio alla Sicilia ....gli SpAce eseguono, con tanto di "ballerine", la mitica "Magic Fly" al Discomare 1977 (Selinunte)"
Saving the pic for the bottom of this one. Don't scroll past the dots if you want to save it for last. Congrats to Benge! Don't know whether to love him or hate him at the moment... :)
"Something amazing just happened that normally only happens in daydreams you know where you walk past a charity shop and imagine seeing a Moog modular in the window for £20
Well I got an email from a friend (thanks Phil J!!!) who has a friend who works at a London university in the music department one day a week. This chap was clearing out a cupboard and found a load of old gear that hadn't been used for years and wanted it to go to a good home, rather than it just being neglected or even worse chucked out. So I got passed this email saying there was a load of EMS gear from the 1970s and did I know of anyone who might want it!?!? So rather excitedly I replied that yes I am someone who is an avid fan of EMS equipment and that I own the rest of the matching series!! I had to pay a nominal fee to keep the bursar happy, but the amazing thing is I have now got the full set of EMS modules and keyboards and they are an exact match of my EMS VCS3 and DK1 (one of the first synths I bought 20+ years ago)
Here is a picture, my existing Putney and Cricklewood, and the new TKS touch keyboard and sequencer, 8 octave filter bank, pitch to voltage converter and random voltage generator. This is a very powerful system! Lucky me!!!!"
Pictured to the left is Professor William Hoskins (via). What you see there is not the mystery Moog, but his Moog modular system. This post is about another Moog synth, one most likely based on the Sonic VI. If you have any information on what this synth might be after reading this, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly. My contact info is on the bottom right of the site. I have already contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew author of Kaleidoscope Eyes A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper, as well as Trevor Pinch, author of Analog Days [Amazon hardcover & paperback, preview on Google books], and featured in this exclusive post. I also contacted James Husted of Synthwerks, George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular, Steven Jones of Synthwood, and Carbon111, all of whom know their synth history. None were familiar with what the synth might be.
The story: I was recently contacted by a Paul Rego with the following:
"I've been searching the Internet for over a year now and have not been able find a specific synth. Since you seem to know and work with every type of synth known, I thought I'd ask you...
Around 1973 - 1974, I took private synthesizer lessons at Jacksonville University (Florida). The instructor was Professor William Hoskins and the synth was a custom Studio Moog assembled by Professor Hoskins.
One day, Professor Hoskins showed me his personal, portable synthesizer. He brought out what looked like a brown suitcase. When he opened it, I saw a Moog Sonic VI.
This is nothing new. I've seen lots of images of this synth on the Internet. The one aspect of this particular synth, that I cannot find anywhere, is that it had a touch-sensitive keyboard. The keyboard was made of plastic and had a gray / brown color. Outlining the keys (showing the location of the 'white' and 'black' keys) was an almost medium blue color (about an eighth-inch thick). (He and I tinkered with this synth for about a half-hour to an hour.)
Professor Hoskins passed away several years ago, so I can't ask him about it. I did contact his family but they don't remember anything about this synth.
I do remember Professor Hoskins telling me that he and Bob Moog had 'gone to school together'. I think he was referring to electronics school but I never asked him more about it. I thought I had read somewhere that Professor Hoskins and Bob Moog had briefly worked together on a Sonic VI prototype but I don't know if that's true. (Even if what I saw was a prototype, someone has to own it now and should be proud enough of it to post some photos somewhere.)
I thought the background story might help in your own research on this.
Basically, I'd just like to know if this synth ever existed or am I just not remembering it correctly.
Thank you for your time and attention."
My first obvious guess considering the blue was the Buchla Music Easel or separate Buchla touchplate keyboard modded into the case of a Sonic VI. I sent Paul a couple of links to various images.
Paul replied: "the synth I saw didn't look like the Buchla Easel. Good call though.
The 'blue', which outlined the keys on the Sonic VI I saw was a bit lighter in color than the blue in your photos and maybe had a bit of green in it (closer to turquoise). There was no red or other color on the keyboard (that I can remember) and the entire keyboard seemed to be one piece of plastic with only the blue / green outlines separating the 'keys'.
I also read a story recently about the time when Musonics bought Moog and had a synth ('Sonic V'?) of their own, at that time, but I haven't research this too much yet. One thought I had was the synth I saw was something from Musonics but was never officially released (until it had the 'Moog' name placed on it). I'm pretty sure the synth I saw had the 'Moog' logo and the word 'Sonic VI'. (Not 100% sure but it seems clear in my memory.)"
I also sent Paul images of the EMS Synthi AKS. Paul replied it was the closest, but definitely not it.
I contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew to see if they knew of anything. Michelle replied: "...I can tell you that we have several of William Hoskins reel-to-reel tapes in the archives, so there was obviously a significant professional relationship between he and Bob.
I don't ever remember reading anything about the Sonic VI, but maybe Brian does. One thing I can tell you for sure is that Dad began working with John Eaton in 1970 on the Multi-Touch Sensitive keyboard [left via]. The main component of the MTS was the touch-sensitive keyboard, of course. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Dad would have used his work with John to push boundaries on another project."
Brian replied: "Bob didn't design or build the original Sonic V (from Musonics before they bought Moog) that was Gene Zumchak: The Sonic V did have a brown wood style. It's even unlikely Bob did much on the Sonic Six as it was the same thing with a new outer case.
The Sonic VI was the version Moog made in 1972 and later, in a plastic suitcase version. Many of these were made vs the very few Sonic V's. So one might think they saw a Sonic VI when it was the V (same front panel and features). But the brown suitcase and colored keys and touch sensitive thing are ALL unusual. I know a little about Prof Hoskins from the paperwork of the past, but no mention of this synth. Definitely unusual to have keys like that anywhere, anytime!" Followed by: "And there IS touch (velocity) sensitivity on Wendy Carlos' synth by 1971 for Clockwork Orange, but it's used under the normal keyboard. THIS velocity was very possible, but would not make the keys look different. Again - maybe a Sonic V was retrofitted with a cooler keyboard later in the 80s, but why not do so on a BETTER synth!?" :)
On a separate thread, Trevor Pinch got back to me with the following: "Bill Hoskins was important in that he was one of the first people David VanKouvering approached about minimoog reiail sales etc. I have a good album of his somewhere! I think he may have been Bob's favorite composer for a while.
I have no idea about the touch key board but I'm in touch with Gene Zumchak the guy who designed the Sonic Six, so I'll ask him. (I guess you know the joke that the Sonic Six was known by Moog engineers as the Chronic Sick!)
Actually its story might be kinda interesting - Zummy (as he is known) told me that it was made with 741 op amps and in many ways was more advanced than the minimoog.
Maybe it has had an unfair press. I never heard one or saw one for real."
James Husted sent me the image of Professor Hoskins at the top of this post. I sent it to Paul to see if maybe it brought back any memories that might help.
He replied: "The custom Moog modular in that photo is the same one I took lessons on. However, this is an early photo and when I saw that Moog modular, Professor Hoskins had already added a top layer to that cabinet — which included a Moog sequencer. (I have a photo of it, that I took around 1990, but the top part of the photo, showing the upper section, is cut off.)
The reason you didn't see Professor Hoskins' 'Sonic VI' is... I'm guessing that he didn't bring it to the university very often. When I saw it, I was at his home. He had invited me over one Saturday afternoon to see HIS custom Moog modular. It was in his garage, which he had made-over into a nice studio. It also had a two-manual organ, at least two reel-to-reel tape decks and LOTS of recording tape. Later, during that same session, he said 'There's something else I want to show you. Come inside.' We went into the living room and I sat on the couch. He said 'I'll be right back.' After about a minute, he came back carrying a brown 'suitcase'. He set it on the coffee table in front of me and sat down on the couch. He opened it up and... Whoa! I had never seen one of these and it was the first time I had seen a Ring Modulator!
---
I remember seeing Professor Hoskins play his Sonic VI during a live performance of his album 'Galactic Fantasy / Eastern Reflections'. The Jacksonville University orchestra played most of his composition but at one point his Sonic VI was brought out and he played it while at center stage. I could see it clearly from my seat but, of course, I could only see the back of it, which simply looked like the back of a brown suitcase.
---
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Since I think this is important, I thought I'd try to recreate the 'Sonic VI' I think I saw. I 'Photoshopped' a production Sonic VI and attached it to this message. It's the best image of what I think I saw.
Modifying the image forced my memory to go into more detail. Here's what I'm fairly certain of:
• The outer color of the "suitcase" was almost dark brown.
• The outer shape was more square than the production Sonic VI.
• The thickness of the top and bottom sections was thicker than the production Sonic VI model.
• The keyboard was made of slightly textured plastic, otherwise completely flat, was brown / gray in color and had a vibrant blue outline between the keys. (I'm not 100% sure if the "black" keys were outlined or solid blue.)
• The background color of the back panel and the area surrounding the keyboard was almost dark brown. It looked like it was made out of either pressed cardboard or thin wood. It really reminded me more of the thin 'wood' used in old, tube televisions and radios (during the 1960s).
What I'm not 'fairly sure' of:
• I can't remember if it had a Mod Wheel.
• I think there was more space between the modules.
• I think it had two speakers (placed on the left and right side of the back panel). Each might have been the size of the center speaker-grill in my photo.
• I can't remember if there were any connectors, switches or knobs on the keyboard section."
Update: via Aaron aka theglyph in the comments: "Holy shit! That's the guy from JU. There was an electronics repair/pawn shop here in Jacksonville called Active Electronics that had a bunch of synths back in 90's. The owner had a sign in the store explicitly stating that the synths were not for sale and that customers were not allowed to walk up and look at them or touch them. I walked in day and walked close enough to notice that the MiniMoogs had very low serial #'s. It wasn't until I read Analog Days that I found out that the earliest Mini were sold here in Jacksonville. There so much more to this story that I don't know where to begin but I can say that I did an obscure Moog at the store that I've never seen photographed since and I simply thought I was loosing my mind recollecting it. WOW!
Cheers,
theglyph"
Update: Above, Brian originally mentioned Bill Hemsath as the person that designed the Sonic V. He meant to say Gene Zumchak. This has been updated.
Updates: via Dorothy in the comments:
"HI, as a Hoskins kid, I watched Dad perform on the synthesizer and I know we had the Sonic but I thought it was a "V". Dad had several custom modules built for him by Bob Moog. They were friends but didn't go to school together -- Dad went to Trumansburg NY to work with Bob on the synthesizer that they got for Jacksonville University (in 1969, I think). I will have to go digging in the Will Hoskins letters that I have. Those of you who knew Dad know that he was very meticulous about writing up the components that he bought and what they were for.
Late in Dad's life, when he was basically letting go of most composing effort except for revising existing scores, Bob helped Dad find a collector (in Germany, as I recall), who bought all of Dad's big home synthesizer. I think some of the smaller units were in the hands of Steve Smith, who was Dad's right-hand man at the JU studio for some years. Whatever happened to them, I don't think Dad would have cared as long as someone was using them to create music. He wouldn't have collected synthesizers as museum pieces, he actively used everything he got from Moog until he was ready to let it go."
Followed by: "BTW, that last time I spoke to Bob Moog was after Dad died, when Bob came to Rochester NY http://www.esm.rochester.edu/news/?id=132 which is near where I live now. Bob spoke very fondly of working with Dad, because Dad cared as much about the science of music synthesis as any composer Bob knew. Dad did some work with him on modulators and other components for JU and the Hoskins home studio."
Followed by: "Hoskins synth photo --not a Sonic -- in news article 1970 [link]"
Update 6/6/2010:
Some more interesting bits of Moog history:
Trevor Pinch checked with Gene Zumchak who had the following to say:
"I am not aware of a touch sensitive keyboard on the Sonic V or 6. It did have a two-note keyboard and the highest key pressed and lowest pressed could be routed to Osc 1 and Osc 2.
They removed the keyswitch bus and superimposed a highpitch (100KHz?) tone on the voltage string. This might have been the source of a whine that some users complained about that wasn't present in the Sonic V."
via Josh Brandt: 'Okay, I did hear back from David Mash [VP of IT at Berklee and friend of Bob Moog], who says that the story he was telling me several years ago was about a keyboard Bob was building for John Eaton. I asked about the story he'd told me and if the pictures you posted could be of the instrument he'd been talking about, and he said:
"The story I was no doubt telling was definitely about the keyboard Bob built for John Eaton [middle pic above]. Bob was going to show us the completed instrument (which my friends Jeff Tripp and Paul Derocco helped complete), but we never got to see it due to the way the conversation turned over dinner. I did see the instrument several times during the design/build stages and again later after it was complete.
The keyboard was simply a controller and not a synth, so definitely not the portable synth the blog is referring to. I know Brian, and was involved briefly with him and a bit more with Michelle Moog on the NAMM Museum exhibit, and they used a couple of my photos for the exhibit. They're great people and working hard to preserve Bob's legacy.'"
Update via WmJHeart in the comments:
"Thanks Matrix, for hosting this page. I own a copy of Will's Galactic Fantasy & Eastern Reflections (my personal favorite) recording on vinyl. But I also discovered and listened to the entire album on YouTube recently! Here:"
Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections (1979)[Full Album]
video upload by
Published on Jul 12, 2017 TheHomecoming
"Rare electronic/synth/moog private pressing LP
TITLE 'Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections'
William Hoskins, "Galactic Fantasy, Eastern Reflections" [CP-158]
TRACK 01 AUDIO TITLE "Overture : Stars Are Suns" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 00:00
TRACK 02 AUDIO TITLE "Intermezzo : Interplanetary Communique" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 06:39
TRACK 03 AUDIO TITLE "Star Nocturne" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 08:11
TRACK 04 AUDIO TITLE "Scherzo : Comets" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 16:35
TRACK 05 AUDIO TITLE "Beyond Beyond" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 18:54
TRACK 06 AUDIO TITLE "Prolog : Theme and Variation" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 23:40
TRACK 07 AUDIO TITLE "Lower Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 27:55
TRACK 08 AUDIO TITLE "Song : Open Skies" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 31:22
TRACK 09 AUDIO TITLE "Drum Chime" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 35:28
TRACK 10 AUDIO TITLE "Upper Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 39:41
TRACK 11 AUDIO TITLE "Epilog : Processional" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 41:30
A1
Overture: Stars Are Suns
A2
Intermezzo: Interplanetary Communique
A3
Star Nocturne
A4
Scherzo: Comets
A5
Beyond Beyond: An Entropy Study
A6
Eastern Reflections
Eastern Reflections
B1
Prolog: Theme and Variation
B2
Lower Heterophonie
B3
Song: Open Skies
B4
Drum Chime
B5
Upper Heterophonie
B6
Epilog: Processional
Criminally under-rated set of Early American Moog Modular Synthesizer Music - the sole release by composer William Hoskins, the 'Director of Electronic Music and Composer-in-Residence at Jacksonville University in Florida.' Issued in 1979 by the Harriman, NY-based Spectrum - a 'Division of UNI-PRO Recordings, Inc.' the LP consists of a pair of discrete pieces, with each taking up a side of its own."
Update via Kimberly S Beasley in the comments:
"Hello, everyone. I am the current chair of the Department of Music at Jacksonville University and I have the original Sonic VI manuals and one of Hoskin's Moogs....happy to share photos tomorrow."
Kimberly sent in the images with the following:
"This has been in the possession of our Professor Emeritus Dr. William Schirmer as it was given to him by Hoskins. Hoskins' granddaughter Dorothy is also aware of the instrument. We also have a large collection of manuscripts of Hoskins.
There is also a mini-Moog we just refurbished in our recording studio."
You can see WM. Hoskins written on the top right of the manual. Note "Home Copy" on the blue cover. It's kind of neat to think of him perusing through the manual in the comfort of his home.
I'm normally a lazy, good-for-nothing, apolitical f*#k, but I've somehow become consumed, in the last few weeks, by the plight of three young women, currently facing severe jail terms in Russia for performing 30 seconds of a song critical of Russia's president Vladimir Putin. The women are members of an all-woman punk band called Pussy Riot.
If you're not familiar with the story, I urge you to google 'Pussy Riot' to learn more. Essentially, these young women are being punished by a repressive government for singing a song.
Some people think I ought to be in jail for having written 'Lucky Stars' and rhyming 'dumb' with 'glum', ;-) so, as a songwriter, the Pussy Riot trial has made a strong impression.
I suppose, also, that being here at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where the streets are teaming with artists/performers exercising their freedom of creative expression every day of their lives, the issue really hit home.
I'm participating in a Free Pussy Riot rally, tomorrow, Friday Aug. 17th at 11:00am at the Sweet Grassmarket venue, Edinburgh, immediately prior to the anticipated 'guilty' verdict to be issued by the Russian court an hour later.
If you happen to be in the Edinburgh area, you're invited to drop by. Three actors will be reading translated transcripts from the trial of the Pussy Riot women's testimony. It's very powerful stuff.
And if you're halfway around the world, give it some thought, and if it strikes a chord, you're encouraged to spread the word.
Edinburgh Fringe performers to participate in global day of action on behalf of feminist Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, currently on trial, facing 7 year prison sentences for singing a song critical of Russia's president, Vladimir Putin.
Fringe performers will gather at the Sweet Grassmarket this Friday 17th August at 11:00am to read trial transcripts, including testimony by Pussy Riot members, prior to the trial's announced verdict due mid-day (BST).
Pussy Riot band members were arrested, and have remained imprisoned since February, after giving an impromptu performance in Moscow's main cathedral to call for an end to Vladimir Putin's rule.
The three women - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23; Maria Alekhina, 24; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 - who have already been in custody for five months, high-kicked and danced as they belted out their "punk prayer" in Christ the Savior Cathedral in February. The youtube video of their performance can be viewed here:
Amnesty International has called the women 'prisoners of conscience'.
The three women were charged with 'hooliganism motivated by religious hatred', which carries a maximum sentence of seven years. The trial has been seen as part of the widening government crackdown on dissent that followed Putin's election in March to a third presidential term.
'With every day an increasing number of people start to realize that if the political machine turned against girls who performed in the Christ the Savior Cathedral for 40 seconds, this means only that this political system is scared of the truth and the sincerity that we bring," Pussy Riot band-member, Tolokonnikova said in her final words, addressing a packed courtroom. "We have more freedom than all those people from the prosecution in front of me - because we can say what we want.'
Defence lawyers have invited activists around the world to show their solidarity with the band by holding a global protest on Aug. 17, the day Judge Marina Syrova is to issue her verdict.
The Sweet performance is part of a global day of action with events planned in dozens of cities around the world. The transcript reading was proposed by poet, Sasha Dugdale and playwright EV Crowe, whose program is to be performed at the same time at London's Royal Court Theatre. The verbatim testimony was translated from Russian by Sasha Dugdale, who has been monitoring live feeds of the trial. She described their words as "extraordinary, poetic, full of passion and innocence".
Director, John-David (JD) Henshaw, Venue Manager of the Sweet Grassmarket (Fringe) Venue remarked, "These three young women - some, mothers with young children - face unconscionable persecution, and severe prison sentences, for merely doing what each and every performer here at the Fringe does every single day of their lives - these women are being punished for exercising the simple basic human right of free creative expression,"
Henshaw continues, "We support them in our modest way by exercising that very same right of creative expression, and in doing so, remind ourselves how much we must always cherish the right of free expression that we enjoy in our own country. We hope for their safe return to freedom and their families, and for their undeniable right to pursue their art."
A verbatim reading of the trial transcripts will commence at the Sweet Grassmarket venue [Apex International Hotel 31-35 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2HS ] at 11:00 am prior to the Pussy Riot verdict being announced. Attendance is free. Please direct all press enquiries to Lynne Campbell: lynne@sweetvenues.com / phone: 07939-818902.
Update3 8/27/13: We have confirmation from Sorrell Hays herself. It indeed was her that composed Doris Hays - Scared Trip [1971] in the video below and not Delia Derbyshire. It was composed using the Buchla 101 keyboard pictured below. I'll see if I can get the WikiDelia article mentioning Delia updated. As a side note, for those on Facebook there's some conversation going on regarding this post here. Laurie Spiegel chimed in as well.
Start of original post before we had confirmation from Sorrell Hays:
This post can be a little confusing, so I thought I'd try and clear it up front. I spotted this post on It's Full of Stars on Sorell Hays, an electronic artist that used a Buchla keyboard. I clicked through the link in the post and found that the video directly below wasn't actually by Sorrell Hays, but by Delia Derbyshire. Apparently Delia produced the tracks under the pseudonym Doris Hays. The real Doris Hays went by Sorrell Hays and is pictured further below. I have no idea if there was a connection between the two or if it was all just coincidence, but there you have it.
Update1 via eben in the comments: "hi Matrix thanks for reposting. it is quite a confusing situation! did you see the original post over on toys&techniques from a while back? it seems to suggest that the tracks on the Southern LP 'electronic music' might actually be sorrel and NOT delia - see also the comments to the post:
Uploaded on May 21, 2011 TheCoffeeShopShop·2,525 videos
Re-Published on Nov 21, 2014 Doris Hays - Topic
I'm guessing this is a mix of tape and EMS based on the year. Click here for more posts featuring Delia and EMS at the time.
via WikiDelia: "It is claimed that in 1971 Delia produced 14 tracks of electronic music for the British record label Southern Library of Recorded Music, published as Electronic Music with catalogue number MQ/LP 38[1] under the pseudonym Doris Hays.[2] The other four track on the album are credited to John Matthews, claimed to be John Baker[1] and included on the album 'The John Baker Tapes'."
There is a real Doris Hays who is also a electronic and musique concrète composer, also active in 1971, born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941.[3]"
Pictured here is Doris Hays [not Delia] who went by Sorrel Hays. Via her last.fm site: "Sorrel Hays was born Doris Hays in Memphis, Tennessee, but being a “sound” person she decided that “Sorrel” sings (her maternal grandmother’s family name was Sorrels) so in 1985 she adopted the name Sorrel.
In 1971 Hays won first prize at the Gaudeamus Competition for Interpreters of New Music in Rotterdam, and began her international career as a performer of contemporary music. She performed concerts at broadcasting stations in Germany, Holland, Italy and Yugoslavia, appeared at the Como Festival and Pro Musica Nova Bremen, and was invited to celebrate John Cage’s 60th birthday by performing his Concerto for Prepared Piano and Orchestra with the Orchestra at the Hague. She gave the first performance in Europe of her own music at the Gaudeamus Composers Week in Holland in 1972, a composition called Hands and Lights for piano strings with photocell activated switches and flashlights beamed across the interior of a grand piano, a composition which she later performed for the Chattanooga Debutante Cotton Ball.
During 1989-1990 Sorrel Hays was a resident artist at the Yamaha Communications and Research Center in New York City, commissioned to create music for the Yamaha MIDI Grand Piano. These pieces, 90’s, A Calendar Bracelet , for MIDI Grand and tone generator, are recorded by Loretta Goldberg on the CD “Soundbridge” from Opus One."
Buchla at 1:13: Update2: the Buchla is the 200 101 keyboard as seen in this video.
Southern Voices: A Composer's Exploration - PREVIEW
This documentary traces the development and premiere performance of an avant-garde symphonic work by Southern composer Sorrel Doris Hays. Commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Hays' piece is based on the sounds and rhythms of Southern speech and musical traditions. It is a journey into childhood memories via the melodies and rhythms of Southern dialect. Stoney combines analysis of her work with interviews in which Hays discusses her struggle with racism and paternalism of Southern culture.
a film by George Stoney with Sorrel Doris Hays
distributed by Documentary Educational Resources"
I did a quick search on YouTube to see if I could find anything else and found the following:
Invasion of the Love Drones (1977)
Uploaded on Sep 19, 2009
Invasion of the Love Drones, 1977 sci-fi movie from Jerome Hamlin. Soundtrack by Sorrel Hays, Mike Michaels, Richard Lavsky's Music House and Barry Forgie (uncredited). Additional dialogue by Charles Flowers (uncredited).
"Although the name Michael Czajkowski is virtually unknown outside of certain academic music circles, his “People The Sky” album was an advance reconnaissance into the burgeoning synthesizer scene of the late sixties. Ignorance of his work is understandable, as his entire back catalogue, comprised of just this one solo album plus session work on Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Illuminations” album, are but a pair of tiny blips in the universe of recorded electronic music. But the sounds and emotions he conjured up on these two albums were daring and exquisitely handled non-linear excursions rendered in a newly-discovered language that had only recently been invented. One cannot attempt to recount the story of Czajkowski without that of avant-garde composer Morton Subotnick, folk rock star Buffy-Sainte Marie and one of the earliest electronic keyboards, the Buchla synthesizer that linked them together without at least a cursory overview of the events that led to these pioneers and that unique musical apparatus crossing paths during their artistic pursuits of the late sixties."
"If you are looking for a tweakable, uncomplicated and great-sounding source of electronic drum sounds, the Syncussion might be worth its weight in gold.
Sparkling analogue drum sounds are what you need to turn your tracks to gold, Germany's Touched By Sound company may have the answer in the form of the DRM1 eight-piece analogue drum module.
"Warp Records celebrate their 30th anniversary with three-day NTS Radio takeover, including exclusive mixes and giveaways.
For the past 30 years, UK based label Warp Records have been consistently setting the bar in the electronic music world, always pushing the boundaries of the genre and thrilling music fans worldwide.
Founded by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell in the back of a record store in Sheffield in 1989, Warp has become the pioneer of its genre with a unique yet reliable catalogue of electronic music. Responsible for bringing to the world the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher and Nightmares on Wax, plus loads more, Warp have also more recently ventured into film, art installations and their own online independent record store, Bleep.com.
This weekend, Warp are set to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Partnering with NTS, they’ll bring together their legendary roster with a packed out 100-hour schedule of music, including exclusive mixes, tributes and giveaways.
As part of the celebrations and in honour of the release of our recent Bass Station AFX update, listeners will have the chance to get their hands on a very limited edition Warp Records x Aphex Twin x Novation Bass Station II, 1 of only 5 made. For a chance to win, simply sign up for the WXAXRXP mailing list following the link below [bottom of page here].
We’ve also compiled a selection of our favourite Warp releases spanning the past thirty years. With so many releases, we could have kept this list going on for ages, but here are ten particular highlights from the past three decades chosen by some of the team over at Novation HQ:
via Trunk Records (NSFW warning: at the top of the site is a rotating header with nudes now and then). There's not much on the synth front in the article other than the EMS Gear pron of course. Note the Synthi Sequencer 256. The following is the short intro: "As is usual with Trunk releases it’s best if I just tell it like it is and was. So, here’s the story of this remarkable thrity year old recording, followed by a biography of the great Edward Williams. And a full tracklist. All very exciting…"
MUSIC TO THE 1979 BBC TV SERIES BY EDWARD WILLIAMS
Cat number JBH034CD / JBH034LP You can find the release on Amazon hereand Ebay here. I added this to the Synth CDs post.
Electronics Without Tears, a 35-track compilation of F.C Judd material (fully restored and mastered at D&M Berlin) will be landing soon on Public Information.
public-info.co.uk
soundcloud.com/public-information
ianhelliwell.co.uk/"
"xcerpts from forthcoming Public Information anthology of British Electronic Music pioneer, Frederick Charles Judd.
F.C Judd- Electronics Without Tears
PUBINF003
Released 16.01.12
Limited 12" LP / Digipack CD with Booklet
More details:
fcjudd.co.uk
public-info.co.uk
Released by: Public Information
Release/catalogue number: PUBINF003
Release date: Jan 16, 2012"
via http://www.fcjudd.co.uk/ :
"In early British electronic music history, FC Judd is not the only overlooked and little discussed composer working in the late 1950s and 60s – in fact he is one of a number now largely forgotten. His unacknowledged importance hinges on a wide range of electronic activities – from his compositions, self-built synthesizer and sound visualisation system – to his books, magazine articles, radio broadcasts and lectures to amateur tape recording clubs up and down the country. Fred was the prime mover in disseminating electronic sounds and musique concrete to the general public – not just encouraging them to listen, but moreover to experiment for themselves with tape recorders and tone generators.
Frederick Charles Judd was born in 1914 in Woodford, east London, and like so many youngsters of his generation developed an early and abiding passion for radio. With the outbreak of WW2 he served in the RAF Coastal Command working with highly secret radar equipment, just as electronic music pioneer Tristram Cary was engaged in similar work in the Royal Navy. Both men were later in contact, and used their skilled engineering backgrounds to develop their musical interests through electronics. Fred had no formal musical training though he was competent on guitar and organ, and it appears that the combination of music, radio, tape recording and circuitry inevitably drew him to experimenting with electronic music during the mid-1950s."
Update: some pics and details captured. I made the mistake of trying to capture them all and then realized how many were listed. :) I ended up switching to the more esoteric models. Quite a few have never been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH before. What's a little bit interesting, is only two new labels were needed, one for Domino and one for Side-Kick-Er. All other brands have been featured before. See the labels at the bottom of this post. Side note: Blogger limits the number of characters to 200 for labels, so I wasn't able to capture them all for this post. You can always search for the brand names featured for more. I assume most do this anyway. The labels are more for maintenance and for finding posts that may not feature brand names in descriptions.
via It's Full of Stars where you'll find more pics.
On a reltated note, Benge, aka zackdagoba, is the man behind It's Full of Stars and currently plays with John Foxx & The Maths who have a few shows coming up.
I contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew to see if they knew of anything. Michelle replied: "...I can tell you that we have several of William Hoskins reel-to-reel tapes in the archives, so there was obviously a significant professional relationship between he and Bob.
Above quote via The Seth Man on Head Heritage here. You can find some audio and additional info on It's Full of Stars.
For the past 30 years, UK based label Warp Records have been consistently setting the bar in the electronic music world, always pushing the boundaries of the genre and thrilling music fans worldwide.
Founded by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell in the back of a record store in Sheffield in 1989, Warp has become the pioneer of its genre with a unique yet reliable catalogue of electronic music. Responsible for bringing to the world the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher and Nightmares on Wax, plus loads more, Warp have also more recently ventured into film, art installations and their own online independent record store, Bleep.com.
via Trunk Records (NSFW warning: at the top of the site is a rotating header with nudes now and then). There's not much on the synth front in the article other than the EMS Gear pron of course. Note the Synthi Sequencer 256. The following is the short intro: "As is usual with Trunk releases it’s best if I just tell it like it is and was. So, here’s the story of this remarkable thrity year old recording, followed by a biography of the great Edward Williams. And a full tracklist. All very exciting…"
You can find the release on Amazon here
and Ebay here. I added this to the Synth CDs post.
Update: some pics and details captured. I made the mistake of trying to capture them all and then realized how many were listed. :) I ended up switching to the more esoteric models. Quite a few have never been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH before. What's a little bit interesting, is only two new labels were needed, one for Domino and one for Side-Kick-Er. All other brands have been featured before. See the labels at the bottom of this post. Side note: Blogger limits the number of characters to 200 for labels, so I wasn't able to capture them all for this post. You can always search for the brand names featured for more. I assume most do this anyway. The labels are more for maintenance and for finding posts that may not feature brand names in descriptions.
