This page contains links to sound files and videos for Music 51, Music Technology and Computers, Summer 2013, at the University of California, Irvine.
Pieces played in class on Tuesday June 25, 2013:
Etude aux chemins de fer (“Railroad study”, 1948), musique concrète mixed and edited on disc, by Pierre Schaeffer
Gesang der Jünglinge (“Song of the youths”, 1956), electronic and recorded sounds mixed and edited on tape, by Karlheinz Stockhausen
Barrage No. 4 (1995) for computer-processed electric guitar, by John Stevens
The Vanity of Words (1989) for computer-processed voice (pt. 1), by Roger Reynolds, performed by Philip Larson, baritone
Pendulum Music (1968) for microphones suspended over loudspeakers, by Steve Reich
Pieces played in class on Tuesday July 2, 2013:
Poème électronique (1958) for electronic and concrete sounds mixed and edited on tape, by Edgard Varèse
Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) (1958) for voice edited on tape, by Luciano Berio, performed by Cathy Berberian, soprano
Revolution 9 (1968), recorded sound collage mixed and edited on tape, by The Beatles
Textorias (1994) for computer-edited guitar, by Arthur Kampelas
Student compositions completed Tuesday July 9, 2013:
30-second musique concrète compositions by members of the class
Pieces played in class on Tuesday July 9, 2013:
Player piano roll of Scott Joplin performing his own composition Maple Leaf Rag (1899)
Ballet mécanique (1924) for mixed instrumental ensemble by George Antheil
Study No. 21 (Canon X) (1950s) for player piano by Conlon Nancarrow
Leon Theremin performing on the theremin, which he invented in 1920
Pieces played in class on Thursday July 11, 2013:
Main Title music from Forbidden Planet (1956) by Louis and Bebe Barron, recorded on electronic circuitry of their own design
Sinfonia, from Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (Cantata BWV 29) by Johann Sebastian Bach, recorded on a Moog modular synthesizer by Wendy Carlos on the album Switched-On Bach (1968)
From the Beginning (1972) by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the final minute of which features a Moog synthesizer solo and overdubbed Moog synthesizer effects performed by Keith Emerson
A computer-synthesized rendition of the song Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two), programmed by technicians at Bell Laboratories (Max Mathews, et al.) in 1961
I’ve made a YouTube video in two parts (part 1 and part 2) demonstrating some basic operations of the Moog modular synthesizer in the CLASSic synthesizer studio at UCI.
Pieces played in class on Tuesday July 16, 2013:
The Robots (1978) for synthesizers and electronically processed voice, by Kraftwerk
The Chase (1978) for synthesizers, by Giorgio Moroder
I Feel Love (1977) for synthesizers and voice, by Donna Summer / Giorgio Moroder
Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant (1976) by Return to Forever, featuring Minimoog synthesizer by Chick Corea (especially 4:28-6:04)
Pieces played in class on Thursday July 18, 2013:
Musikalisches Würfelspiel (1787) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (attributed), generated for MIDI by a program written in Java by John Chuang (you need to click on the “Make Music!” button under the heading Compose a Minuet)
Illiac Suite (1956) by Lejaren Hiller and Leonard Isaacson, performed by members of the Orquestra Sinfónica de Navarra
Rag (after Joplin) (ca. 1997), by David Cope’s EMI software, performed on piano by Mary Jane Cope (as this file is provided on a FTP server, you may need to download the file to your own computer in order to play it)
Degueudoudeloupe (1985) by Christopher Dobrian, for computer-synthesized sounds
Entropy (1991) by Christopher Dobrian, for computer-controlled piano
Pieces played in class on Tuesday July 23, 2013:
There’s Just One Thing You Need To Know (1998) by Christopher Dobrian, for Disklavier, synthesizer, and interactive computer system, performed by Daniel Koppelman, piano
Microepiphanies: A Digital Opera (2000) by Christopher Dobrian and Douglas-Scott Goheen, a computer-controlled multimedia theatrical presentation
Mannam (“Encounter”) (2003) by Christopher Dobrian, for daegeum and interactive computer system, performed by Serin Hong, daegeum
Pieces played in class on Thursday July 25, 2013:
Data.Microhelix (2005) by Ryoji Ikeda, for computer, demonstrating the use of digital “glitches” as fundamental musical material
Eigenspace (2011) by Mari Kimura, for computer-processed violin and computer graphics, using the “augmented violin” gesture-following system developed at IRCAM
Modus 01 (2013) by Danny Sanchez, for Yamaha Disklavier computerized piano and computer