Electronic and Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology and Composition

This book covers the history of electronic music throughout the world, and the people who created it. Beginning with the theory of sound production, the book proceeds through the decades, outlining key composers and instrument designers who pioneered electronic music. Beginning with early instrument designers like Thaddeus Cahill and Leon Theremin, the book proceeds through Pierre Henry's and Pierre Schaeffer's early experiments with tape composition; Robert Moog and the birth of the synthesizer; John Cage and his experiments in a number of different electronic media; LaMonte Young and "live" electronic performance; Robert Ashley and Gordon Mumma and the pioneering ONCE festivals; the San Francisco school, including Pauline Oliveros and Morton Subotnik; through today's ambient music composers (like Brian Eno) and experimenters in turntablism (DJ Spooky) and electronic music revivalists (like Sonic Youth). The reader is exposed to a variety of approaches to electronic composition, generation, and performance that will inspire further experimentation. The second edition of a classic text on the history of electronic music, this book has been thoroughly updated to present material on home computers and the Internet, as well as enlarged sections on history and theoretical issues.