J. Alex Lang
MRT 383 Electronic Music
Prof. Jeff Snyder
April 14, 1998
| Morton
Subotnick J. Alex Lang MRT 383 Electronic Music Prof. Jeff Snyder April 14, 1998 |
|
Morton Subotnick was always interested in the relationship between technology and performance, and he was somewhat influential in inventing new ways performers can interact with music. His electronic music works in the 60's and 70's had historic significance, but did not seem to influence many musicians the way Stockhausen's or Varese's music did. Subotnick was a pioneer in developing new interfaces between electronic music and performers.
Morton Subotnick was born on April 14, 1933, in Los Angeles. After several bouts with bronchitis, he was encouraged to play a wind instrument by his family doctor. He then started playing clarinet; by the time he was twelve, he began composing ("Musical Explorer" web page - intro.htm). He received his B.A. from the University of Denver (while performing with the Denver Symphony on clarinet) and received his M.A. from Mills College, where he studied composition with Leon Kirchner and Darius Milhaud (Gagne 335). His earliest forays into electronic music were musique concrète pieces composed for theatrical scores while he was Music Director of the Ann Halprin Dance Company. Many of his musique concrète pieces were composed by creating new types of sound before recording, instead of being created primarily by manipulation of tape. Some of these sounds included close-miked streetcar coil springs, water-filled gas tanks, old pianos, etc.
Although he was best known for his electronic music, he never concentrated solely on that; instead, he was always interested in bringing various media together. The first concert from what would become the San Francisco Tape Music Center was a multimedia event. It was a
Musicians played based on the actions of a tank of tropical fish - the fish became the score. This concert got predictably unfavorable reviews, but it led Subotnick and Ramon Sender to found the San Francisco Tape Music Center (which survives today as part of Mills College).
Subotnick soon moved to New York City, where his work with Donald Buchla resulted in the creation of what became (according to Subotnick) the first "home-use" voltage-controlled "all-in-one" synthesizer - the "Buchla Synthesizer"- which was controlled by "touch plates as well as by keyboard. Work on this as well as some musique concrète brought some attention to him while in NYC. As a result of his reputation (which he is fond of touting in his interview), he was a prime supplier of electronic music to the first Electric Circus on St. Mark's Place in New York. Also, his work attracted the fledgling record company Nonesuch, who commissioned him for his first work on the Buchla synth, "Silver Apples of the Moon" in 1967. This was the first ever commission of a composer for electronic music. "Silver Apples", a rather drawn-out, "clangerous" work, was the first piece to be composed expressly for the LP record medium. These two historic tidbits are primarily responsible for Subotnick's presence in electronic music history.
In 1968, Nonesuch commissioned Subotnick's "The Wild Bull", which loosely represents the ideas presented in an ancient Sumerian poem. "The Wild Bull" is similar to "Silver Apples" and is considered to be an extension of "Silver Apples of the Moon" by Subotnick himself (Gagne 343). Both pieces, as well as others later on, were frequently choreographed by dance companies worldwide. In 1970, Subotnick composed "Touch", which was Columbia Records' first quadrophonic piece written for home listening (Gagne 346). These early pieces were all written for the "venue" of the living room; Subotnick considered the living room to be the listening area for "twentieth century chamber music". Subotnick felt that this would become a new frontier for classical music, but instead it was embraced by commercial music. He also felt that record media was not best for material that should be played live; he instead felt that a "new art" should be formed that is designed for record media (Gagne 343-344).
"Sidewinder", and "Four Butterflies" are two more compositions that were created using the Buchla synthesizer in following years. Songs from this time period of Subotnick's composition are "marked by sophisticated timbres, contrapuntally rich textures, and sections of continuous pulse suggesting dance" (New Albion Records' web site). Several of Subotnick's compositions from this time period are commonly choreographed by dance companies worldwide.
Subotnick's next phase dealt more with the use and manipulation of control voltages to control various parameters of synthesis. In the early seventies, Subotnick would create a melody or sound, then run it through an envelope follower - thereby generating control voltages based on the melody or sound. These control voltages could then be used to modify other parameters. Subotnick soon began saving these control voltages to tape. This could be fine-tuned and adjusted to allow Subotnick to "sculpt" shapes out of the sound instead of relying on operating the synth real-time while recording multiple tracks.
In 1975, Subotnick released "Until Spring" for Odyssey Records. "Until Spring" made significant use of control voltages stored on tape. The next step of this CV development led to the invention of the "ghost box", which consisted of pitch and envelope followers for live signal, and a voltage controlled amplifier, frequency shifter, and a ring modulator. Control voltages could then be stored on tape or EPROM. Subotnick would create a "ghost score" by creating a series of control voltages and recording them to tape or EPROM. A miked live instrumentalist could then play "through" the ghost box, using the "ghost score" to control effects on the instrumentalist, like the frequency shifter and ring modulator. Both live and effected sounds would be blended together. The performer would be given timing information (the equivalent of sheet music) about the "ghost score" so that he could coordinate with the "ghost score". "Two Life Histories", composed in 1977, was the first piece to utilize the pre-recorded "ghost score". Subsequent works making use of this technology include "Liquid Strata" for piano, "Parallel Lines" for piccolo, "The Wild Beasts" for trombone and piano, "Axolotl" for solo cello, "The Last Dream of the Beast" for solo voice, and "The Fluttering of Wings" for string quartet.
Subotnick reached the pinnacle of his live-processing stage with "Ascent into Air", composed in 1981. "Ascent into Air" was notable for several reasons: it was composed for the powerful 4C computer at IRCAM, which allowed Subotnick to use more advanced means to change timbres of instruments. Also, "Ascent into Air" used quadrophonic speakers, as well as physically placing the musicians "quadrophonically"on the stage. Most significantly, Subotnick used some of the instrumentalists to modulate the timbres of other instrumentalists. This was accomplished by generating control voltages from several groups of musicians - by miking them through ghost boxes. Opposite of the "ghost score" principle, these control voltages would then be used to modulate different parameters of other miked groups of musicians.
Improvements in technology in the early 1980's allowed Subotnick to expand into multimedia composition (as he originally intended). In 1984, he composed "The Double Life of Amphibians" for the 1984 Olympics Arts Festival in Los Angeles. "The Double Life of Amphibians", a collaboration with director Lee Bruer and visual artist Irving Petlin, used dancers and projections, as well as speakers surrounding the auditorium. Through the 1980's, Subotnick composed his multimedia opera, "Jacob's Room". "Jacob's Room", premiering in 1993, used projections of images, electronic and acoustic music (including solo cello), in addition to dance, acting, and singing. At the time of the interview (Gagne interview), Subotnick was beginning work on a theatrical piece that would use holograms.
Essentially repeating history, Subotnick composed the first work released exclusively on CD-ROM. "All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis" was based on a picture collage book by Max Ernst, and released in 1992. In this piece, the computer listens and reacts to the MIDI-controlled piano and mallet instruments. The music contains trite sampled text, and sounds much more mechanical due to the prevalence of computer-generated music. "All My Hummingbirds" is very interactive, allowing the user to start and stop the music at any point, follow the score, view sections from Max Ernst's book, view a written narrative, read program notes and biographies, etc. "Five Scenes for An Imaginary Ballet" was the first piece composed intentionally for CD-ROM. It was released the same year as "All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis", 1993.
Subotnick hasn't become the most influential through his multimedia work; instead, his influence became strongest through his creation of new performer-to-computer interaction. The advent of personal computers furthered Subotnick's interest in interaction with computers to generate MIDI events based on acoustic (live) events. "The Key to Songs", released in 1985, used orchestra as well as pre-recorded, sequenced tracks; the conductor also operated the computer. "And The Butterflies Begin To Sing", released in 1988, used pre-recorded sequences as well as real-time computer-generated music created through the response of the computer to the live music being performed. "A Desert Flowers" used a new type of MIDI controller: the conductor's baton. The baton controlled VCA's to "influence" the overall amplitude of the orchestra. "A Desert Flowers" also used computer-generated music as well as sequences. "All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis" used a great deal of computer-generated passages - random music "composed" by the computer in response to the performance of live musicians.
Subotnick's work with interaction resulted in a Dance-to-MIDI converter, which is essentially a Twister game with sensors in it. Subotnick also worked on a conductor-to-MIDI translator, which was to have become two sleeves connected to a computer. Subotnick's vision was for it's software to determine time signature, tempo, and other control events based on the conductor's movements (Gagne 350).
Subotnick left traditional classical music in favor of his goal of
blending
various media into one art form. More interested in creating true
multimedia
works, Subotnick blended technology and media with music in new ways.
This
interest in the relationship between live performers and technology is
more
likely to be where Subotnick's influence will be seen, although history
books
will more likely remember him for "Silver Apples of the Moon" and his
other
"firsts". Subotnick will be remembered more for his methods of composing
rather than the actual compositions.
Books
Gagne, Cole. SOUNDPIECES 2 Interviews With American Composers. The Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, NJ., 1993.
Websites
"Morton Subotnick",
(http
://arts.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/music/landmarks/subotnick.html).
Downloaded April 1, 1998.
Mabee, Stephanie. "Musical Explorer" ASU Research Magazine,
Fall/Winter
1995.
"Morton Subotnick" New Albion Records website
"Morton Subotnick" Louisiana State University 51st Festival of
Contemporary
Music.
Album Liner Notes
Silver Apples of the Moon Nonesuch 71174 lp (1967).
The Wild Bull Nonesuch 71208 lp (1968).
Touch Columbia 7316 lp (1970).