Barry Schrader & Death of the Red Planet

CEC eContact! has a post up on a 1973 article from American Cinematographer on the film Death of the Red Planet. The film was by Dale Allan Pelton and featured music from Barry Schrader on the Buchla 200. From Dale in the page pictured to the left:

"At last I heard Celebration, a work by Barry Schrader, a young teacher of electronic music at Cal-Arts. I immediately knew he was the one to score the film. He had a unique ability to generate startling high-energy music. Barry's final quadraphonic mix was produced in the space of two months after many all-night sessions with the Buchla 200 electronic music synthesizer. Using complex timbres and as many as twenty layered tracks, Barry achieved incredible sound densities (sound events per unit time). The Buchla sound is quite different from that of the Moog synthesizer which we have become famiiliar with in pop music. The Buchla does not use a keyboard. The various sound events and dialogues amongst its modules are initiated internally, and externally controlled by touch sensitive tabs."

You can find other films by Dale Allan Pelton on IMDB here and Barry Schrader here. You can find Barry Schrader's official website here.

Update: you can find an excerpt of the music on Barry Schrader's site here. You'll also find some additional notes and pics.

Follow-up to this post.

Barry Schrader Lost Analog on the Buchla 200

See my extensive 2015 interview with Barry Schrader here. You can find additional posts featuring Barry Schrader here.

Press release follows:

Barry Schrader has announced the release of a new album, “Lost Analog.” This is a collection of previously unreleased works Schrader composed between 1972 and 1983 on the Buchla 200 synthesizer, aka The Electric Music Box. This album of definitive works of West Coast electronic music serves as a companion collection to Schrader’s famous “Lost Atlantis” release, widely regarded as a benchmark for classical electronic music works. The “Lost Analog” album contains music from the film “Death of the Red Planet”, the complete versions of “Bestiary” and “Classical Studies”, and an electronic suite of three movements from “Moon-Whales and Other Moon-Songs.”

The release date for “Lost Analog” is Friday, October 28, 2022. The limited-edition CD and the digital tracks will be sold on Bandcamp, and the tracks will also be sold on all major online music stores. Until then, you can hear previews of the tracks at https://barryschrader.hearnow.com/.

“…the music outsynthesized Tangerine Dream in its hypnotic electronic coloration.” - New York Times review of “Death of the Red Planet"

“Schrader's music has fascinatingly subtle shifts of color and volume. The listener could wrap himself in a development of metallic sounds seamlessly transformed from speaker to speaker, a delicate but penetrating pulsation of notes woven with a music-box effect, or a melange of dizzying, sliding, wind rushing patterns that make the revving-up of a jet plane seem demure.”
- Los Angeles Times review of “Bestiary"

Those interested in getting the CD or digital download should sign up on Barry Schrader’s “Follow” mailing list on Bandcamp before October 28 in order to get special offers when the album is released.

Innova Recordings Releases Schrader's Monkey King CD

Be sure to see the notes from Barry on the synths used further below.

"Barry Schrader’s Monkey King CD has been released by Innova Recordings on Innova 703. The CD contains music inspired by the five elements of ancient Chinese tradition in Wu Xing – Cycle of Destruction, and by stories from the great Chinese classic Journey to the West.

Wu Xing - Cycle of Destruction deals with the Chinese concept of Wu Xing, the five elements in ancient Chinese tradition: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. These are important in Chinese astrology, medicine, and BaGua, a system of trigrams used in Fengshui and other areas of Chinese life and culture. The five elements are often arranged in one of two cycles: the cycle of birth, ending with earth, or, as in this work, the cycle of destruction: metal, wood, earth, water, fire. Wu Xing - Cycle of Destruction explores these elements in transcendent ways. The Metal and Wood sections are aural depictions of the elemental density of the mediums, while Earth considers the metaphysics of planetary rotation and revolution. Water reflects on the conceptual aspects of the world's oceans at various depths, voyaging from the darkest abyss to the light of distant shores. Finally, in Fire, there are the physical and spiritual effects of all-engulfing flames.

Monkey King is based on scenes from the classic Chinese book Journey to the West, written around 1550 by Wu Cheng-en. Considered one of the great classics of Chinese literature, the book chronicles the adventures of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, one of the most fascinating fictional characters ever created. Barry Schrader has taken some of the most famous scenes from this book and created Monkey King, a new electronic music journey into the imagined past of Chinese legend. In the tradition of Schrader's Lost Atlantis, Monkey King explores an immense imaginary aural landscape.

Tobias Fischer of Tokafi writes:

"Monkey King is a colorful combination of Schrader's recognizably arousing orchestral maneuvers with an immediate melodic appeal, gentle harmonic textures, and electronic echoes of traditional Chinese instruments. While individual elements sound strangely familiar, the resulting entity is without direct reference, a style which is as timeless as it is futuristic and which revels an ancient mythology with the tools of today. Without a single doubt, this piece is the most accessible in Schrader's oeuvre."

Some of the scenes depicted in Schrader's Monkey King are the birth of Monkey, his underwater journey to visit the palace of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea where Monkey takes possession of the Staff of the Milky Way, Monkey's attempt to jump over Buddha's palm, and Monkey's apotheosis in becoming the Buddha Victorious in Strife.

Barry Schrader has been acclaimed by the Los Angeles Times as "a composer born to the electronic medium," named "a seminal composer of electro-acoustic music" by Journal SEAMUS, and described by Gramophone as a composer of "approachable electronic music with a distinctive individual voice to reward the adventurous." "There's a great sweep to Schrader's work that puts it more in line with ambitious large-scale electronic works by the likes of Stockhausen (Hymnen), Eloy (Shanti) and Henry (take your pick), a line that can be traced backwards to Mahler, Bruckner and Beethoven." writes Dan Warburton of the Paris Transatlantic Magazine. Computer Music Journal states that Schrader’s "music withstands the test of time and stands uniquely in the American electronic music genre." Schrader's compositions for electronics, dance, film, video, mixed media, live/electro-acoustic music combinations, and real-time computer performance have been presented throughout the world. He has been a member of the Composition Faculty of the California Institute of the Arts School of Music since 1971, and has also taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the California State University at Los Angeles. His music is recorded on the Innova label. His web site is barryschrader.com."

I asked Barry what he used on the CD:
"As to what I used to compose 'Monkey King' and 'Wu Xing - Cycle of Destruction,' the only hardware I used (other than my Mac) was a Yamaha TX816. Here's a list of the software: Digital Performer, Unisyn, Peak, Rocket Science, and Cycling 74 Pluggo. The last two, of course, are bundles, and have multiple plugins, too many to name. DP also has a lot of plugins.

"As for synthesis techniques, I used additive synthesis, subtractive synthesis (including granular), amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, and transfer functions, which, of course, involve the use of wavetable synthesis. So everything, including all of the sound sources, is digital. I know most of the people who visit your site love analog. I composed with analog equipment for many years, and I still enjoy hearing music created on analog systems. But I'm so used to working with computers now, that I don't think I could go back to analog, and I also don't think I could get the degree of control I need to compose the way I want.

"I work mainly in event lists so that I can specify data. All of the timbres for 'Monkey King' and 'Wu Xing - Cycle of Destruction' were designed specifically for these works. This is a general practice of mine and relates to my compositional point of view. (There's some information on this on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Schrader.) As a result of these practices, I compose very slowly, and I average about 20 hours of work for 1 minute of music. There were times with 'Monkey King,' particularly Part 2, where the work was so strenuous that I had to quit composing for several weeks in order to maintain my equilibrium. The composition of that movement alone stretched out over 6 months.

"I think these may be the last works that I compose with the TX816. I've bought Native Instruments Complete 5 package and have been porting my timbral designs into FM8, which allows for more possibilities than the Yamaha 6-operator design. I'm also learning other programs in the NI package, mainly those that allow me to create electronic material directly. I remain rather uninterested in dealing with concrete (acoustic) sound files. Everything on the 'Monkey King' CD, by the way, as is true of almost all of my music, is electronic. The only computer concrete piece that I did was 'Beyond,' and that was done on the old WaveFrame workstation at UCSB. I'm also going to get additional software for my next big work, which I'll probably begin in January, as I have a sabbatical from CalArts next year. I have a need to keep pushing myself to create new things in new ways. It may be difficult to top some aspects of the music on the 'Monkey King' CD, which, I think is some of my best, but I'm not going to worry about it. For me, each new work is its own universe."

Barry Schrader Interview Live on Outsight Radio

Update: For those that missed it, you can find a streamed archive here for the next week or so:

http://www.live365.com/stations/94510

Update: This is starting now. Direct link. Save the file and open it with Winamp or your favorite streaming player. He's currently talking about the Buchla Electric Music Box - 200 System. And a plug for Plan B.

Barry Schrader's website

When: Sunday, February 25, 2007

Where: On the Web (see <http://www.new-sounds.com/> for links)

Time: 5:00 P.M. PST (February 26, 1:00 A.M. GMT)

On Sunday, February 25, Barry Schrader will be doing a live interview with Tom Schulte on his Outsight Radio Hours show. Outsight Radio is also available on demand from the New Artist Radio site.

That would be in the next twenty minutes or so folks. Previous Barry Schrader posts.

Update via tearaway in the comments:
"Hello, Tom Schulte of Outsight Radio here. Thanks for the interest in my show and the Barry Schrader interview. Fortunately, I recorded the interview and it is here:

http://www.musicsojourn.com/AR/Alt/page/s/SchraderBarry.htm

"the real punk was the synthesizer" - that's a great quote!

It also makes me think about how some early punk in England (Crass, Sham 69, Damned, Clash) and U.S. West Coast (Germs, Flipper, the scene around The Masque club), East Coast (NYC No Wave of James Chance, Lydia Lunch, Suicide, DNA, etc.) was much more diverse and experimental than the surviving punk rock sound is, which is just a distillation sub-genre of rock (Southern LA, NYC) and glam (England).

Upcoming interviews are with Mark Volman (Turtles), Roye A (Nektar), Sonja Kristina (Curved Air), 180-Gs (a cappella group covering Negativland)"

Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne - CalArts studio B-304

"The following flickr stream was from CalArts studio B-304 taken in the fall of 1976 featuring Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne and a whole lotta Buchla 500. John as you may remember came up a couple of months ago on Matrixsynth in the posting regarding Mort's use of the 300 at Ircam [link]. He went on in later years to become the Assistant Dean of the CIA School of Music and founder of it's Music Tech department. Photo b_304.2 has a good view of the entire studio, save the three other JBL's which are out of frame (it was a quad studio - there was one in each corner)."

b_304.1 pictured.
"Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne stand in front of the Buchla 500 in CalArts' sudio B-304 in the fall of 1976."

via Peter Grenader. 


Posts featuring Barry Schrader
Posts featuring Morton Subotnic
Posts featuring John Payne

Update: As always check the comments for more info.

via Peter:

"There are two more 500's that I know off - at Evergreen and another somewhere in Europe (pardon the senior moment, i don't remember where exactly). This is not to say there aren't others...I'm just not aware of any. The one in the photo here was the first - the development system Don constructed while on staff at CalArts. I do know the 500 was adondoned quickly and resurfaced as the 300 series which included direct routing of computer control the various modules (259 VCO and 292C Gate for example) -and- the digital VCOs."

"the box screwed into the side of the main cabinet is a speaker selector which i f i remember correctly wasn't on line. Another bit of trivia - this was taken about the time of Mort's Game Room project that Gary Chang, Jill Frazer, Darrell Johansen, Sue Harvey and I worked on. The room next to 304 (other side of the wall which is shown behind the Buchla) was 305. It had a large 100 system (three cabinets) and for the Game Room we cut a hole in the base of that wall to run audio cables out from the tape machines to play quad audio snippets into the game area. This also took signals directly from the game board in 305 where signals were decoded and sent to the various controllers (audio, film, Buchla-controlled OCR light dimmers, etc.).

Against the other wall - opposite the one behind the 500 - was studi oB-303, which was pretty much a duplicate of this one sans the computer control - so it was a 200 studio, not a 500 studio. It also had the huge JBL monitors which were hung form the ceiling on metal brackets made by Chas Smith (which are still in place today). There's a photo of 303 at Barry's Schrader's website: link

Most people preferred working in 303, mainly because the 258's were easier to get to. On the 500 system they were all on the top row, which was a pain for most. The upside - studio time was easy to book in 304 for this reason I spent a lot of the early mornings here - tarting usually at 4AM and going until classes began around 9."

via an anonymous comment:
"Evergreen has/had an early 300 its computer is non functional. There were 3 500s from what i understand, 1 went to Norway, 1 to a campus studio in NY and the 3rd was of course at CalArts..

the Norway one was moved around a lot as it was purchased by 2 or 3 studios/organizations and because of its fragile nature it didnt survive.. it was apparently parted out after it became nonfunctional.

The CalARTs system was also disassembled and parts were sold to various buyers around the US in the famouse 90's sale ..nobody is too sure what happened to the digial components..

the 3rd that was in NY was sold to a collector in the 90's, tho it should be noted that that system was returned to Buchla for upgrading/overhaul in the late 70's and was reassembled with 300 series components, so it is more of a 300 now then 500... I don't believe it has been tested or turned on in over a decade.

another note, there were 2 versions of the 300.. the early system used tech from the 500 (the gating matrix for example - which controlled early versions of the 281 and 292B gates - the remote function on later 281s and 292Cs was never implemented) the later 300s were more of a self contained system ( with 200 modules for processing ) which eventually became the Touché and the 400."

Barry Schrader CalArts Farewell Concert Set for Saturday, September 26

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
Update: live stream from ROD Webcast added above. Interview with Barry here.

Barry Schrader, one of the founders of the early electronic music scene at CalArts School of Music is retiring after 45 years. Many of you will remember him from previous posts here on MATRIXSYNTH. Here he is with a Buchla 500 in CalArts' studio B-304, along with Morton Subotnick and John Payne. If you are in the area, you do not want to miss this event. This is a chance to see one of the founders of our scene perform live. For those not in the area, the concert will be available on the live ROD Webcast. I hope to have an extensive interview with Barry Schrader in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that as well.

"Active in the promotion of electro-acoustic music, Schrader is the founder and the first president of SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States). He has been involved with the inauguration and operation of several performance series such as SCREAM (Southern California Resource for Electro-Acoustic Music), the Currents concert series at Theatre Vanguard (the first ongoing series of electro-acoustic music concerts in the U.S.), and the CalArts Electro-Acoustic Music Marathon. He has written for several publications including The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grolier’s Encyclopedia, Contemporary Music Review, and Journal SEAMUS, and is the author of the book Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music."

via Barry Schrader:

"After what will have been 45 years on the faculty of the CalArts School of Music, I've decided to retire at the end of this academic year. Starting as a graduate student at CalArts in 1970, I was hired on the faculty by Mel Powell, then the Dean of the School of Music, in 1971. It’s been an incredible adventure to have experienced the evolution of the school from its beginnings at the temporary Burbank Villa Cabrini campus to its current incarnation as The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts. Along the way I’ve been fortunate to have had superb composers and performers as colleagues and friends, a host of talented students, and also to have met and worked with many brilliant people in various areas of the arts throughout the world.

To mark my retirement from CalArts, I’ve decided to present a farewell concert containing a variety of works from a forty-year period. This program will be held on Saturday, September 26, at 8:00 pm in CalArts’ Roy O. Disney Hall. Admission is free, and there will be a reception following the concert. I’ll also be giving away a limited number of my CDs to those that attend the event.

The concert will feature Mark Menzies on violin playing Fallen Sparrow, and Vicki Ray on piano performing Ravel. Also on the concert will be the original quadraphonic version of Trinity, along with short sections of Monkey King and The Barnum Museum. Adam Beckett’s groundbreaking 1973 film Heavy-Light will be shown, along with Michael Scroggins’ early computer video, 1921>1989.

For those that wish to hear and view the concert online, it will be available live on the live ROD Webcast."

15 Questions to Barry Schrader

"In the 70s, Schrader was one of the first to work with the now famous Buchla 100 Modular Synthesizer (also played by Wendy Carlos, among others) and at the forefront of a movement which would change the face of the music world forever. Today, meanwhile, his analog equipment from that period is mostly considered "retro" at best and, although only 30 years old, considered as out-of-date by many."

Previous post on Barry Schrader

Title link takes you there. Via Peter Grenader of Plan b, ear, and Buzz-Click.

Update: Barry Schrader's Lost Atlantis is all Buchla. I added it to the Synth CDs list on the right of the site.

Barry Schrader's website

An Interview with Barry Schrader Questions 6F: The Barnum Museum & 7 Current State of Synths

The final two questions in my interview with Barry Schrader are now live. Barry discusses what may be his magnum opus, The Barnum Museum, followed by his take on the current state of synthesizers. There are some tie ins to his previous work on Atlantis as well as Louis and Bebe Barron.

"If someone were to ask me what I considered to be my best work, there’s no question in my mind that I would respond that it’s The Barnum Museum. Taken as a whole, this is my longest and most ambitious composition, and one that took me four years to compose. At this time, it remains my last completed work.

The idea for The Barnum Museum came from a short story by one of my favorite living authors, Steven Millhauser. Millhauser is a unique writer, and, so, difficult to classify. He’s been compared to such authors as Calvino and Borges, as well as other writers classified as “magical realists,” but I think he’s in a class by himself. The Barnum Museum is a short story in a collection with the same title. I was fortunate to get permission from Millhauser and his agents to base the work on his story. I was especially lucky that Millhauser agreed to a years-long email correspondence about the work: I would send each movement to him as I finished it and he would comment on the work and my ideas behind it. This was invaluable help in my completing the piece.

P. T. Barnum established two museums in New York City in the nineteenth century. Barnum's American Museum was on the corner of Broadway and Ann Street from January 1, 1842 to July 13, 1865 when it burned to the ground. Barnum built a second museum soon after, but it was also destroyed by fire in 1868. The attractions made the venue a combination of a zoo, museum, lecture hall, wax museum, theatre, and freak show. At its peak, the museum was open fifteen hours a day and had as many as fifteen thousand visitors daily."

Don't miss the full interview question here. You can also go back to the beginning of my interview with Barry Schrader here.

And don't forget, Barry Schrader's Soundtrack to Galaxy of Terror is currently available for Pre-Order.

Wadada Leo Smith and Barry Schrader - Pacific Light and Water/Wu Xing - Cycle of Destruction

Barry Schrader has a new release with Wadada Leo Smith. Barry tells me there will be a CD version limited to 100 copies, 40 of which will be available through CD Baby starting January 15. There will also be an mp3 version available. Be sure to check out my interview with Barry Schrader here. There's some fascinating synth history to be discovered there.

Barry Schrader on the new release:

"In early 2005, I was approached by the remarkable composer/ performer Wadada Leo Smith to create what he calls an 'overlay' work. This is a work in which Wadada creates a composed/ improvisational performance on the trumpet against a fixed electronic piece that I had made. This overlay concept allowed each of us to create a work simultaneously, and then Wadada would perform his work over mine, allowing the fixed structure of my piece to influence his performance. Wadada's side of this unusual duet was Pacific Light and Water, and we had a discussion early on in the process about what we would do, in which Wadada gave me a drawing he made depicting the various frequencies of light that would filter through the Pacific ocean at different depths. My mind was filled with things Chinese at that moment from all of the research and work I had been doing on my work Monkey King, which I had already started composing, and so the water idea led to using the Chinese concept of "wu xing", of which water is one of the five elements (metal, wood, earth, water, fire). These are usually ordered in one of two ways: the cycle of birth, which ends with water, and the cycle of destruction, which ends with fire. I chose the latter for this piece, and, at Wadada’s request, created a graphic score (available from Theodore Front Music) to allow him to coordinate with the electronic music. This, then, is a rare combination of compositional approaches and means, blended into a unified whole."

http://barryschrader.com

Lost Analog by Barry Schrader

You might remember the announcment for Lost Analog by Barry Schrader posted back in September. Not mentioned was some of the unique history and significance of this particular release featuring the Buchla 200 in the liner notes, including possibly the first quadraphonic electronic music score for a commercial film.

The liner notes for the release follow:

I’ve chosen to call this album Lost Analog not only with reference to my previous release, Lost Atlantis, but also because all of the works are analog electronic music, and parts of them are, indeed, lost. All of this music was created from 1972 through 1983, using the Buchla 200 analog modular synthesizer, also known as “The Electronic Music Box.” The music contained in this Lost Analog album was originally created in 4 channels, sometimes referred to as quadraphonic sound. In mixing and remastering these pieces as stereo files, some of the original aural intent has unavoidably been lost, another reason for calling this release Lost Analog. As I write this, realizing that some of this music hasn’t been heard in public for almost fifty years, I’m taken back to much earlier days in my life and career, which, although remembered, are also lost, as are all of our pasts.

Death of the Red Planet Suite” (1973) is made from parts of a score for the film “Death of the Red Planet." The 20-minute film was the first to be created from images made with lasers, and it toured theatres along with “Yessongs,” a concert film of the band Yes. It is, I think, the first quadraphonic electronic music score for a commercial film. This suite of the music from the score is all that I have of the original soundtrack. Whether or not the film still exists in its original theatrical format, I have no idea. More information on this film may be found here.

“Bestiary" (1972-74) is a five-movement work drawing on mythological creatures from medieval bestiaries, treatises about real and fictitious animals. Originally, I had planned seven movements, but ended up composing only five. The first and last movements are imaginings of mythological beasts convening and dispersing (the latter in an increasingly disorderly way), while the interior three sections focus, respectively, on sea serpents, a unicorn, and basilisks, the latter being venomous winged reptiles that supposedly lived in caves or deep wells. “Bestiary” is the first work of mine to fully incorporate what has become one of my main compositional concerns: the creation of new and transformational timbres.

After composing “Lost Atlantis”, I wanted to do something very different, and so I wrote "Classical Studies" (1977). These three short pieces use abstractions of old musical forms: canon, chorale, and perpetuum mobile. The timbres are almost always changing with each successive event in these works, very quickly so in “Perpetuum Mobile."

The”Moon-Whales Suite” presents three sections of a larger work, “Moon-Whales and Other Moon Songs" (1982-83). This is a seven-movement work for soprano and electronics. The even-numbered movements are for soprano accompanied by electronics, and the odd-numbered movements are for soprano solo followed by an electronic music section without voice. The three movements presented here, are the 2nd, 4th, and 6th sections of the work, without the soprano introductions. The work is based on poems by Ted Hughes, the British Poet Laureate from 1984 to 1998, taken from his collection “Moon-Whales and Other Moon Poems." The three poems referenced are also the titles of the pieces in this suite: “The Moon-Oak,” “The Moon-Bull,” and "Moon-Wings". Reading the poems will help to uncover the inspirations and ideas behind these works, but I think they also stand on their own as musical compositions. While the master tapes for the electronics of these pieces still exist, they are unplayable due to tape deterioration, yet another reason for this album to be called “Lost Analog."

You can find the release on Bandcamp: https://barryschrader.bandcamp.com/album/lost-analog and other platforms: https://barryschrader.hearnow.com

You can find additional posts featuring Barry Schrader here. Don't miss my interview with Barry from 2015.

Barry Schrader Interview

The following interview is up for live streaming. Title link takes you there.

"Outsight Radio Interview: Barry Schrader This 25 February chat with Barry Schrader covers his '60s and '70s innovations with early Buchla models and the animal kingdom input of a bird ("Fallen Sparrow") and a musical pot-bellied pig ("Duke's Tune"). (Barry Schrader has generously made his albums Available as a Member Premium (In Limited Quantities) for your Membership Support of this series - Click Here)" [link after the hop]

BarrySchrader.com

Barry Schrader's Soundworld at the Redcat LA

Via Peter Grenader of Buzzclick Music:
"All - There will be much Buchla bleeping at this event:
Barry Schrader Soundworld
When: Wednesday, February 22
Where: REDCAT
631 West 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Time: 8:30 P.M.
Admission: $10, $14, $18

REDCAT presents a multimedia celebration of the electro-acoustic composer's
music on the occasion of his 60th birthday. This retrospective concert of
works from the past 33 years includes the world premiere of "Fallen
Sparrow", a solo work performed by violinist Mark Menzies, and a new dance
theater setting of the piece "After Death" by choreographer Kyu Hee Park and
video by Francesca Penzani. Also making special guest appearances are
harpsichordist Barbara Cadranel and pianist Vicki Ray. Schrader's music this
evening is accompanied by films and videos by Adam Beckett, Steve Eagle,
Jules Engel and Michael Scroggins.

For more information:
email: info[]barryschrader.com
phone: 213-237-2800
web site: http://redcat.org/season/0506/mus/barry.php"

Barry Schrader's website

Barry Schrader: Moon-Whales

YouTube via ExMachinaPub | Feb 22, 2011 |

"This video is from a 1985 concert at CalArts that dealt with real-time video processing of live performances. This is the final movement of Schrader's "Moon-Whales and Other Moon Songs" (1982-83), based on poems by Ted Huges. Performers include Maurita Phillips-Thormburgh, soprano, and Michael Scroggins, live video processing. The electronic music was created on a Buchla 200 system (Electric Music Box)."
http://www.barryschrader.com/
via Barry Schrader:
"Moon-Whales is the seventh and final movement of my work Moon-Whales and Other Moon-Songs composed in 1982-83, and based on children's poems by the late British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. It was originally composed for the soprano Maurita Phillips-Thornburgh, who performs in this video. The work was performed several times throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe. The final performance was at the funeral of my friend and colleague, vocalist/composer Frank Royon Le Mée in Marseilles in 1993, at his request. Moon-Whales and Other Moon-Songs was my final non-improvised work with the Buchla 200. Unfortunately, the master tapes, being on Ampex 456, are no longer playable due to the binder problems with that tape formulation. As the masters are, therefore, lost, there will probably never be any more performances of this work. I did do a digital transfer of one of the solo electronic movements, Moon-Wings, for some dance groups many years ago, but, unfortunately, not the other movements of the work. I recently came across this video tape, and although both the video and audio quality are poor, I thought it might be interesting to some people as a documentation of the final movement of the work."

Update: some additional info from Barry Schrader in response to a question from the Buchla 200e list:

"All of the electronic music in Moon-Whales was done on the Buchla 200. The Fairlight referred to is the Fairlight CVI, an early hybrid video processor. The "thanks" is because the CalArts School of Film/Video had one on loan from Fairlight at the time.

[Regarding] the '…melodic 12-tone scale…', the electronic music here, as in all of my works involving live performers, has an "orchestral" accompaniment function. Thus, here, it must support the vocal line, and, yes, it is tonal, in a 20th century, abstracted sort of way. Not all of my music created on the Buchla 200 uses a tempered scale. Then, as now, I use a variety of tunings, some of which are invented for a specific piece or section of a piece. "Monkey King", for example, is entirely pentatonic.

Like most things, the limitations of the Buchla 200 depend on the person using it. Some of the ideas that are important to me in the electronic music I create are the development of new timbres, having a high degree of control over what I'm doing, and trying to go beyond what's been done (both by myself and others) in the past. While little of my analog work is commercially available, the "Lost Atlantis CD" contains music that was entirely done on the Buchla 200 in 1976-77. The booklet that comes with the CD has some technical information. I didn't find it difficult to create any particular type of scale with this synth, as I developed procedures for insuring precise control. For example, with "Moon-Whales", I measured voltage data to 2 decimal places with a VOM, and, using this and other means of notating patch data, I usually was able to faithfully recreate a given patch.

The original version of "Moon-Whales" was quadraphonic, and, on this video, everything is really crushed together. Still, you can get an idea of what it sounds like."

An Interview with Barry Schrader - Question 5

5. Who came through the studio in the later years at CalArts? Were there any notable experiences that you remember?

You'll find the answer in the main interview post with Barry Schrader here. You'll find some fascinating history there including the early Buchla systems at Cal Arts studios B303, B304, B305 and B308, as well as the transition of the studios in the 1980s. You'll find experts of Barry Schrader's music, including the full film of Galaxy of Terror which featured a score composed by Barry on the Buchla 200.

1921 > 1989

YouTube Uploaded by ExMachinaPub on Jun 26, 2011

"This is the second of two collaborations between Michael Scroggins and Barry Schrader in the late 1980s. For more information, and an explanation of the title, go to barryschrader.com ➔ video"

via Barry Schrader:
"This was a relatively early computer video work, the second of two that Michael Scroggins and I collaborated on in the late 1980s.

The music was done with a Yamaha TX816.

1921 > 1989 Notes

In beginning my first work in 3-D computer video, I found that the basic spatial parameters of the computer were described by the Cartesian coordinates of X, Y, & Z (width, height, and depth). The symmetry of this lattice structure reminded me of the right angle orientation of Neoplasticism, especially the three dimensional constructions of Theo van Doesburg. The correspondence between the spatial model of the computer and the elegant simplicity of the reductivist formal devices of De Stijl suggested an interesting discipline for my first experiments with computer animation.

In researching the theories of De Stijl in order that I might be true to their ideal, I discovered that in the search for universal and immutable principles of art, Van Doesburg's thinking was in constant revolution, and that each edition of the journal De Stijl brought forth new definitions. In 1926, Van Doesburg found it necessary to supersede Neoplasticism with Elementarism declaring:

"As a result of a new orientation relative to the earlier attempts at renewal in life and art (including Futurism, Cubism, Expressionism, Dadaism, Neoplasticism, etc.), Elementarism has assimilated all truly modern elements (often ignored through one-sidedness).

"Elementarism is to be regarded, therefore, as the synthesis of the new plastic consciousness of the age. The "isms" of the last decades have mostly perished, either because of their one-sided, dogmatic limitations, or because of compromise or chauvinistic tendencies. They no longer have any force or value for renewal."

As a result of a new orientation relative to the earlier attempts at renewal in life and art (including Futurism, Cubism, Expressionism, Dadaism, Neoplasticism, etc.), Elementarism has assimilated all truly modern elements (often ignored through one-sidedness).

In order to work within the limits of De Stijl, it became useful to fix a particular date as a reference, and so the piece became 1921 > 1989.

Michael Scroggins

__________________

When Michael Scoggins first came to me with quite detailed plans for his computer video work 1921 > 1989, I was struck by the overriding importance of structure in the piece. While it was obviously in three large sections, the intricacies of the details of each section were such that they not only displayed specific characteristics which gave each sections its unique character, they also seemed to exhibit in visual terms the musical qualities of exposition, development, and expanded recapitulation, something akin to the classical sonata form. In addition, the precision of the timing of the movements called for composing a score that would catch the specific “hits” of the action. At the same time, I realized that constantly “stinging” the images would quickly grow tedious; some sort of deflection from the obviously expected was occasionally necessary in this regard. Finally I saw that the limitations of images and colors, which were explored in great detail of variation, demanded a similar approach in the musical materials.

I decided to employ these observations in composing the music, and also to take the attitude of scoring to a preexistent choreography. I saw 1921 > 1989 as a dance, not of human dancers, but of plastic geometric entities, constantly reorganizing themselves in different ways. The music, then, was arrived at by considering the score as if I were composing music to a dance already created. The resulting work reflects these attitudes, moving from accompaniment to counterpoint and back again to a more synchronous style of scoring, thus reflecting the overall structure and plasticity of the piece and creating a unified whole.

Barry Schrader

++++++++"

An Interview with Barry Schrader Question 6E: Monkey King (2005-2007)

Click here for the next installment of my interview with Barry Schrader. This one covers Monkey King (2005-2007), featuring the Yamaha TX816 and several computer applications, particularly FM8. As I'm finding with all of Barry Schrader's compositions, this one has a great story to go along with it. Once there, it is recommended that you start each video before reading each corresponding section. You can then read along as each part plays.

Also remember to scroll up for previous sections of the overall interview once there, if you haven't read them already, or come back to this post and click here to get to the top. There some incredible bits of synth history here. It's not often we get to follow the story of an artist that was not only there at the birth of it all, but one who continues to embrace new synthesis technology with a focus on making music, throughout the years. Don't miss this. Bookmark it for later if you have to.

Barry Schrader CalArts Farewell Concert This Saturday!

This is just a quick a reminder that Barry Schrader's CalArts Farewell Concert is this Saturday in Valencia, CA. You can find the previous post with details on the event here.  Remember you can also listen in online.

Be sure to check out the beginning of my interview with Barry Schrader posted here.

Pacific Light and Water/Wu Xing - Cycle of Destruction

Published on Jan 26, 2020 ExMachinaPub

"This is an excerpt from a collaboration between jazz legend and trumpet wizard Wadada Leo Smith and electronic music master Barry Schrader. Pacific Light and Water/Wu Xing - Cycle of Destruction is what Smith refers to as an 'overlay' composition, combining works by two composers. Schrader created a graphic score, available from Theodore Front Music, for live performers to follow and coordinate with the electronic music of Wu Xing."

See this post for details on the release, including a link to an interview with Barry Schrader.

Galaxy of Terror Original Soundtrack to be Re-Released on Vinyl

Galaxy of Terror Published on May 5, 2017 Pure Destructive Records

Barry Schrader composed the soundtrack for Galaxy of Terror entirely on a Buchla 200. The film was re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray back in 2010. You can read an excerpt from Barry here. You can also read about it in my interview with Barry here (scroll down to get to the section on Galaxy of Terror).

via Pure Destructive Records:

"Pure Destructive Records is proud to announce, for the first time ever, in any format..Galaxy of Terror original soundtrack!.

There will be two variants pressed. 150 orange/red swirl and 150 black. Both will be pressed on 180 gm vinyl

Tracklist :

1. Main Titles and Death of the Remus Crewman; in the Master's Study
2. Quuhod's Death
3. Damia's Death
4. Exploration Music; Discovery of the Spaceship Remus
5. Alluma's Death
6. The Cathedral Chamber; Magic Stairway to the Inner Chamber
7. Monsters of the Red World
8. Discovery and Exploration of the Pyramid
9. The Commander's Death
10. Baalon's Death.

More tracks may be added.

Over the past few weeks, P.D.R has been working directly with the composer of the score..Barry Schrader. With Barry's knowledge and help, this project is now becoming a reality!

Galaxy of Terror is a 1981 Roger Corman Sci Fi, staring a very young Robert Englund and Sid Haid.

Roger Corman has started the careers of many prominent Hollywood people with his films. Galaxy of Terror was one of the earliest films for director James Cameron, who served as Production Designer and Second Unit Director on the film. It was the second Corman film on which Cameron worked as a crewman

Dedicated to the memory of
ERIN MORAN
who played "Alluma" in the movie. *"

Update: Official trailer for the original film added below.


Published on May 13, 2013 ScreamFactoryTV

"When a team of astronauts land on a strange planet to rescue a stranded space ship, they are soon attacked by alien creatures - physical manifestations of fears projected by their own imaginations. This cult classic from legendary producer Roger Corman features Robert Englund, Sid Haig, Taaffe O'Connell and Grace Zabriskie and featured the production design of James Cameron.

BUY ON BLU-RAY: http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/1...
BUY ON DVD: http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/1..."

Barry Schrader Site Updates - Death of The Red Planet - Buchla 200 Audio

Barry Schrader wrote in to let us know his site has been updated with new content and more will follow.

"Of particular interest to your readers will probably be the excerpt from the music for the film Death of the Red Planet (1973), composed on the Buchla 200, and found in the "Free Audio Tracks" section of the site. This music has rarely been heard in the last 38 years, and I've mixed down a portion from the original quad tracks. As far as I know, this was the first quadraphonic electronic music track composed for a commercial film. It toured nationally and internationally with the concert film by the group Yes, Yessongs. There's also a link to the full American Cinematographer article on the film in pdf form."

http://barryschrader.com/

Update: added image of Death of The Red Planet & updated the title. This post originally went up at 10:13. See below for a few posts since then. Bottom pic is Barry and the 200 in 1973.