I’ve been presenting a series of lectures at Ravensbourne College, London over the last two weeks, exploring the history of electronic music and the evolution of the technology that has made the music I love possible. From Edison’s Phonograph, which though staggeringly important, offered no more than recording and playback, to magnetic tape, which allowed manipulation of sound (backwards, forwards, slowed down, sped up, re-sequenced) and gave birth to music concrete and some of my favorite music, through to the voltage controlled era of synthesisers such as Moog, Buchla and EMS.
Even with a world of virtual studio tools at their finger tips in the form of laptops, it is encouraging to see the students interest in some of the pioneering techniques and how these might be used in combination with new technology to create exciting new sounds. No-one wants a world filled with sound-alike Logic Pro/Pro Tools virtual instruments! Even a cheap reel to reel tape recorder can be used to add a bit of texture to the other wise cold digital world.
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