archives of the columbia-princeton electronic music center (@ pratt)

Archives

of the

Columbia-Princeton

Electronic Music Center

(CPEMC)

Nick Patterson

Columbia University

Some History

• Composers Vladimir Ussachevsky and Otto

Luening

• Both working at Columbia and Barnard during

the mid-1940s

• Interests in electronic music via the tape

recorder began in early 1950s

Some History

• Music Dept. acquires an Ampex 400 reel-to-reel

tape recorder in ca. 1951, and WKCR gets

Magnachord recorder

• Ussachevsky and Luening both begin

experimenting with musical applications of tape

recorder

Early tape recorder experiments

• Experiments involved manipulating pitch,speed, and

tape direction of recorded material on tape, and using

tape echo

• Engineer Peter Mauzey assisted in getting these effects

• Here is an example of early experiments by

Ussachevsky for “Sonic Countours”

Vladimir Ussachevsky

Otto Luening

“The tape recorder was put in my charge,

and one day I suddenly realized that it

could be treated as an instrument of

sound transformation.” - Ussachevsky

Some More History…

• During the 1950s, Luening and Ussachevsky

continue to develop the musical use of the tape

recorder,

• In 1952, Ussachevsky presents “experiments” at

a concert at Columbia, and at a concert at

MoMA, the “first public concert of tape recorder

music in the United States” (Luening)

Some More History…

• During the 1950s, Luening and Ussachevsky

continue developing works incorporating tape

recorder, such as the “Rhapsodic Variations” for

tape recorder and orchestra (1954), premiered

by the Louisville Symphony Orchestra

• Unusual in that they collaborated as joint

composers

Birth of the CPEMC

• After a decade of experimentation with

electronics, in various locations at Columbia, a

plan was proposed for a center for electronic

music

• Funding was obtained from the Rockefeller

Foundation, for a joint center with Princeton, and

the CPEMC was established in 1959, in Prentis

Hall on W.125th St.

Formal incorporation

• In 1959, the CPEMC was formally

incorporated, assisted by a grant from the

Rockefeller Foundation.

• Ussachevsky’s notes indicate a grant of

$175,000.

• Ussachevsky, Luening, Babbitt, and Sessions

(all composers)formed the Committee of

Direction (Ussachevsky as chair).

In notes, Ussachevsky described

the Center’s aims:

“… a certain amount of research in sound

synthesis and some analytical studies will

proceed, parallel to the composers’

creative work.”

He goes on to mention work in musical acoustics, and

supplementing studies in psychology, psychoacoustics,

speech and electrical engineering

The RCA MKII Synthesizer

• This “state-of-the-art”, room-sized

synthesizer was the second model built by

RCA, based on work by H.F. Olson and

Herbert Belar (the earlier model was at

Princeton)

• It formed the centerpiece of the newly-

established Center


• Olson and Belar’s 1955 paper in the

Journal of the Acoustical Society of

America, v.27, no.3 provided an

interesting engineer’s perspective on

sound:

“The tones produced by bells… glockenspiel, and

xylophone are objectionable for two fundamental

reasons: first, because the strike tones are disagreeable

and, second, because the overtones are not harmonics”

or…

“… the bow scratch which has always been objectionable

in the violin…”

or…

“The objectionable noise of the hammer striking the string

together with mechanical rattle of the piano does not

exist in the tones produced by the electronic system.”


Babbitt, Peter Mauzey (engineer), and Ussachevsky


Note the keypads for punching the paper rolls

which drove the synthesizer

The RCA MarkII promised new

levels of control…

… but, “any sound that may be imagined

by the human mind” for RCA apparently

meant this:

… Milton Babbitt, however, had other

ideas… such as “Philomel” (1964):

… He could do this, because he’s a card-

carrying member of the Audio Engineering

Society…

The RCA MKII Synthesizer was

used mostly by Babbitt but also

by composer Charles Wuorinen,

for his 1970 Pulitzer-prize

winning composition “Time’s

Encomium”

Some other notable pieces

realized at the Center (but not

using the RCA MarkII) included:

• Mario Davidovksy’s “Synchronisms No.5” (1969)

• Charles Dodge’s “Earth’s Magnetic Field” (1970)

• (an early example of computer music)

Some later milestones

• Renamed Columbia University

Electronic Music Center in 1980 (Mario

Davidovsky, director)

• Renamed Columbia University

Computer Music Center in 1994 (Brad

Garton, director)

• Center is still active and well-represented

in the New York and international music

scenes

So… didn’t you mention some

archives?

Indeed!

The Archives contain:

• 4,859 reel-to-reel tapes (ca. 55% 10” and 45%

7” reels)

• 700 recordings in other formats (DATs,

phonorecords, CDs, etc.)

• ca. 72 linear feet of printed documents,

manuscripts, and ephemera

• I conducted a rough survey and inventory to

obtain the best estimate I could, within time

constraints

The content?

• Full works by composers working at the Center from 1950s to present

• Work tapes (source material, manipulated recordings, loops, etc.)

• Some music manuscripts of full scores, and sketches and work notes

• Technical documentation relating to the RCA MKII and other studio equipment

• Photos, slides, and ephemera

Some examples

45rpm disc of filter experiments …

Some examples

No shortage of tape reels…

Some examples

Many have condition issues…

Some examples

... to put it mildly

Some examples

Tape parts to published works…

Some examples

Working tapes used in composition…

Some examples

Tape loops …

Some examples

Tape splicing equipment …

Some examples

Punched paper rolls for the RCA Mark II

Some examples

Note the keyboard on left, for punched paper rolls

Some examples“Sexual Symbolism of the American Automobile

(45rpm disc)

Some examples

French disc of “musique concrete” (1959)

Some examples

Some just plain weird stuff…

Some examples

… and some outright mysteries

Some examples

… and another mystery

But wait, there’s more…

• Recordings of the New York Composers’

Forum concerts, from ca. 1951 through the late

1970’s

• These continue the Composers’ Forum

concerts begun under the WPA Federal Music

Project in the 1930s, by Ashley Pettis, which

went on hiatus during WWII, but was revived

by Columbia and the NYPL in ca. 1947

Composers’ Forum concerts

(1951 – ca. 1975)

• One interesting feature, present in the

original series, is the inclusion of question

and answer sessions with the featured

composers

• Virgil Thomson served as moderator for

several of these

• NYPL has program notes for many of the

concerts …

• … but I believe Columbia has the only copies

of the original reels


(1951 – ca. 1975)

• Several of the works preserved are not found

in WorldCat, including for example works by

under-represented female composers of that

period, such as Julia Perry and Marion Bauer

• Here’s an excerpt from Marion Bauer’s “4

Moods for piano”

Here’s one example of a reel, which contains a discussion by composers Luigi Dallapiccola and Chou Wen Chung, from

1957


• Some audio examples:

• Composer Ilhan Usmanbash and

moderator Virgil Thomson



• Richard Maxfield, “Piano Concert for

David Tudor”



• Richard Maxfield, “Piano Concert for

David Tudor” – Discussion period (Jack

Beeson, moderator)



• Joan Tower, “Opa Eboni”



• Joan Tower, “Opa Eboni” – Discussion

period – Harvey Sollberger, moderator


• Composers Forum content identified as

a finite area, on which to start

preservation (funding + practical

constraints)

• 30 concert dates initially selected for digitization

• Grants from ARSC and NY State


• Phase I: 30 concerts digitized (by

George Blood Audio)

• Cataloged and made available in our

OPAC (CLIO)

• Full-quality audio files installed on 5

local workstations in Music & Arts

Library


• Phase II: remainder of concerts digitized

• awaiting cataloging

• we continue to look for a streaming solution

• barriers are internal tech issues and resources

• researchers already using materials

What’s happening with the

archives?

• Storage in the poorly controlled environment has taken its toll

• The collection has now been deeded to the Libraries

• Physical transfer to Offsite storage

• Preservation and re-formatting urgently needed

• Grants to pay for this all (Grammy? Other?)

• Continue to seek streaming access (but very likely limited to Columbia)

Summary

The archives of the Center is an important

collection of materials which provide insight into

the development of tape, electronic, and

computer music in the United States and

internationally; it documents the work of several

important composers, and contains many unique

original recordings, including the New York

Composers’ Forum concerts from ca. 1951-late

1970’s

Summary

The Composers’ Forum recordings feature question & answer sessions with the composers,

some moderated by Virgil Thomson and other noted composers. Some of the performers are also notable. Even with very limited access and lack of arrangement, this collection has already

been visited by researchers, and improved access and preservation would no doubt attract

the interest of future researchers.

Thank You!

Questions?

Nick Patterson

Columbia University

archives of the columbia-princeton electronic music center (@ pratt)

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