response 1 of 87:

May 30 04:00 UTC 1997

It would seem Europe has more of an affinity for electronic instruments than
the US does.  Synthesizer music during the 80's came about during the second
British Invasion in music, and the current technodance craze that is sweeping
Europe is keeping it alive to a degree.  American musicians are avoiding this
craze like the plague; it is almost reminiscent of their disdain for disco
and the unemployment the machinated music brought about (A&E's History of Rock
N' Roll, video).  Yet MIDI comprises a huge amount of music manufactured
today.  Does America have a love/hate relationship with this medium?

MIDI especially has some shortcomings.  Many of the sounds can sound phony,
especially when technicians try to make them sound like real instruments. 
I've never heard a satisfying violin or trumpet sound on a module.  But it
is in this regard that I think electronic music as a whole has potential. 
It's not supposed to sound like a real orchestra; it's at its best when
musicians use unusual sounds and intricate riffs.  The advantage synth has
as a whole is that musicians can acheive super-tight percussive riffs with
less effort (and fewer drum lessons, I guess).  It shines when it beeps,
whirrs, and beats.

Musicians are learning.  When a solo instrument is called for, they generally
use the original electric or acoustic version.  MIDI through acoustic piano
and electric guitar is now possible.  A musician will make a sample if a
pre-recorded digital sound sounds too thin, or will use an analog synth
(although these are bulky and are becoming rare).  Hopefully, electronic
instruments will earn their respect along with the electric guitar.

response 3 of 87:

Jun 1 18:52 UTC 1997

The problem with electronic music, as I see it, is the fact that often it
attempts to imitate 'real' instruments rather than making its own sounds. 
Of course a synthesizer can't sound *just like* a trumpet--but it could sound
*just as good as* a trumpet.

response 5 of 87:

Jun 6 06:47 UTC 1997

I became a Walter Carlos fan back when the LPs were shiny and new:
my LP of SWITCHED-ON BACH is so old that it has a *grey* Columbia
label in the center.  Carlos has been best known for the Bach 
arrangements, and those are all that Columbia/Sony have kept in 
print.  Besides the original SWITCHED-ON BACH disc, there is also 
a collection of the Brandenburg Concertos, half of which is drawn 
from early recordings, and half of which was recorded specially
for this collection.

But many of my favorite Carlos performances were of works by other
composers, and since I heard them as a child they remain my mental 
ideal of those pieces.  Snippets from Monteverdi's opera ORFEO;
some Scarlatti sonatas; Purcell's "Music For The Funeral of Queen Mary;"
Rossini's overture to THE THIEVING MAGPIE; movements 2 & 4 from Beethoven's
9th.  These are all from the LPs THE WELL TEMPERED SYNTHESIZER and
WALTER CARLOS' CLOCKWORK ORANGE (*not* the official soundtrack release). 
Carlos was, for better or worse, most of my introduction to 
classical music.

There was an excellent interview in Playboy about 15-20 years ago in 
which Carlos talked about life as a transsexual.  When the first burst
of fame hit, Carlos was crossdressing, and the Columbia publicity 
department invested a lot of energy in keeping their star out of 
public view.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get into 
Carlos' work from the Wendy, post-op years.  I suspect that the 
resolution of the sexual tension had an impact on the art, somehow.

But I still love the old stuff; I was listening to the CLOCKWORK ORANGE
album just tonight. 

Not too long ago I heard some new synthesized Bach material: probably
on the CBC radio.  This was being performed by a woman, under the 
general title of "Bach for the 21st Century."  I've lost the scrap 
of paper which had the artist's name; time to go web searching, I guess.

Maybe I need some Tomita CDs.

response 7 of 87:

Jun 6 20:59 UTC 1997

Found it!  Kathy Geisler has a series of electronic classical 
recordings on her Well-Tempered Productions label:
 
  http://usashopping.com/paol/wtpThumb1.html
 
"21st Century Bach": selections from cantatas
"Christmas Tapestry":  masses of Josquin and Ockeghem
"Six Concertos":   for Oboe and virtual orchestra; Vivaldi, Telemann, Handel
"Virtual Vivaldi":  The Four Seasons, of course
"21st Century Messiah":  the seasonal classic
"21st Century Mandolin":  not by Geisler, but I just have to hear an album 
     with a 20 minute track called "Silicon Valley Breakdown."
 
Mmm, can I find any of this stuff immediately, or do I have to go 
direct order from the label?

response 9 of 87:

Jun 6 21:27 UTC 1997

Re #3: Well, I thought the point was to make sounds _different_ from
acoustic/electric ones (I challenge the notion that amplified and distorted
sounds are "natural").  Ideally, musicians will learn to use traditional
instruments when they are called for, and synth to create new sounds.  To do
so otherwise may save time and money, but it's just a lax use.  The medium
has such potential for creativity (and musicians have demonstrated it does)
that I cry when I hear it used poorly.

Now that I think about it, not all of America is completely opposed to synth.
The various genres of R&B and rap are fairly dependent on it.  Bono of U2
marveled once that hip-hop has and uses a wealth of technology at its
fingertips.  (He said this at about the time Zooropa was released.)  I
mentioned two African-American synth pioneers, Stevie Wonder and Herbie
Hancock.  I'm not sure what Wonder is doing now.  Hancock is more involved
with contemporary jazz (as he is a well-known and respected jazz musician);
fusion seems to have gone out of vogue several years ago.

The other synth pioneers I mentioned are involved in or about the alternative
lifestyles culture (and I wasn't aware Wendy _was_ Walter Carlos).  Synth
seems to be a part of the gay culture, especially.  The culture and
gender-bending in general seemed ever-present in the videos of the early
80's.  I wonder if the backlash against synth isn't also a backlash against
the audiences the music was directed toward.  Perhaps some American bands
avoid synth to avoid sounding gay (and red-blooded male musicians seem to be
guitar trashers).  I'm sure this will all be subject to debate.

response 11 of 87:

Jun 9 15:10 UTC 1997

Huh, I hadn't really thought about that take on it before. . .
my favorite kind of el;ectronic music is the kind which comes out of music
concrete, like ussachevsky. There's alot of bad BAD stuff that's been made
in that style, but what's good in it is beautiful. . .
I'm also way into Negativeland. Anyone here into them? I just started
listening to them, I've got "Escape from Noise". . .it's amazing, it's really
funny and creepy. . . 

response 13 of 87:

Jun 15 19:45 UTC 1997

Yes, Negativland!!!!  A big 10-8 place is really fantastic, it's more
music cocrete than their early stuff, which is sampled.  There must be
24 tracks of analog tape on some the pieces, dense amazing stuff.  Also
hard to find these days.  I would be willing to trade a dub of this tape
for anything by Xenakis, or a decent tape of Bartok string quartets, or
early Sonic Youth.  Contact me via e-mail if yer interested..

response 15 of 87:

Jun 28 05:56 UTC 1997

#2 MIDI is not necessarily a standard for all electronic instruments; just
digital ones.  One runs into problems when you have an analog/digital setup.
The analog tracks must be recorded live, or the analog sounds must be
digitally sampled.  I've heard varying opinions on which is best-- analog or
digital.  Digital can be MIDI manipulated-- you can use a computer to go back
to hone and polish the music.  Digital synth also doesn't have that humming
sound, and you don't have to worry about VU meters.  On the other hand, analog
sounds have a quality to them that is somehow lacking in digital ones; and
I suspect it is because digital processes clean up certain noises more. 
Acoustically, we sometimes do want there to be variation, or "hair" on the
wavelength.

So, Re: #12, sometimes it's best to use analog sounds where they are best
suited, and digital ones where they fit best.  The question is, to sample or
not to sample?  Real analog synths are becoming rare fast, although it may
still be possible to put together your own analog with homemade connections
that is cheaper and better-sounding than many digitals (read analog "system",
not one unit itself).

re #13:  I had forgotten briefly that analog tape used to be the standard for
electronic music.  The forefathers of techno had to deal with this literal
cut-n-splice method of editing.  For that matter, I'm sure they were dealing
with reel-to-reel tape.  You could create reverb by manually manipulating the
speed of the tape while it was recording (transcribing).  One example is
"flanging," which involves gradually slowing the tape reel a bit and then
allowing it to return to normal speed.  It kinda makes the music sound like
it's coming through a tunnel, or if done a few times in short succession (say,
three times) underwater.  They have electronic devices to do that, and create
room acoustics, now.  They're called reverb machines (logically) and I had
the interesting experience to work with one some time ago in school.

response 17 of 87:

Jun 29 00:59 UTC 1997

There are a couple different distinctions that #15 is lumping together.
There's MIDI-controlled versus performed live.
There's Analog sound production versus Digital sound production.
And there's Analog or Digital recording.

response 19 of 87:

Jul 23 16:21 UTC 1997

"Electronic music" -- good choice on the title.  I think I would've had to
bring a bag if it got mis-appropriated as "new age".  That out of the way,
here are a few of the electronic musicians worth checking out...
 
Jean-Michel Jarre:  French synthesis pioneer from the 70s.  Still going. 
Son of Maurice Jarre, noted film music composer.  

Recordings to check into:  _Oxygene_ (1976) still stands the test of time;
_Zoolook_ (1984) features a distinct change in style -- shorter songs,
rock leanings -- features the notable talents of Adrian Belew and Laurie
Anderson, as well; _Rendez-vous_ (1986) features "Last Rendez-vous",
subtitled "Ron's Piece" (late astronaut Ron McNair was supposed to play a
sax solo from this song on the ill-fated shuttle flight); _En Attendant
Cousteau_ (1990) a pun on the celebrated French play _Waiting for Godot_
by Samuel "nothing to be done" Beckett; _Chronologie_ (1993) musical
musings about time.  

Jarre is known for his spectacular performances:  traffic backed up on the
highway for miles near Houston in the 80s for a show where he projected
lasers against downtown buildings, landed in a spacecraft, played laser
harp;  most recently performed huge show on the midieval French island Mt.
St.  Michel.  

Currently holding status as the "grandfather" of ambient music.  The most
unique feature of Jarre's work is how richly-textural his electronic
sounds are, and how thoughtfully composed his pieces are. 

response 21 of 87:

Jul 23 16:52 UTC 1997

Oops, make that "Schmoelling".  Sorry, Johan...

response 23 of 87:

Jul 23 19:12 UTC 1997

No OMMADAWN in your recommended list?  Ah well.  I need to get a fresh 
CD of that one for myself: it was an adolescent favorite, and my LP 
is pretty grunchy.
 
Then there was his 2-LP set, the name of which is now escaping me, 
which has one side of Maddy Prior singing Oldfield's arrangement of 
the poem "Hiawatha."  With Maddy's very very English accent... 
we used to fall over laughing at that one.
Hmmm, I'll bet Twila has never heard that one, either.