Episode 59 – West Coast – East Coast
On the 59th Episode of The Big Note on 3MDR 97.1 FM I had the pleasure of having Timmus-Tim Streckfuss in the studio with me and we played some fantastic music as well as discuss the beginnings or electronic instruments and their sounds in modern music. In the world of modular synthesis, “West Coast” and “East Coast” synthesis refer to two distinct philosophies and approaches to sound design, each pioneered by influential figures in the history of electronic music. These terms emerged during the 1960s and 1970s and have since become fundamental concepts in the world of synthesis. They not only serve as a framework for the different kinds of music each type made but also the differences in the physical way the instruments are put together. Electronic music and the use of electronic instruments be they hardware equipment such as synthesisers or software based virtual instruments is so pervasive in most popular music now it is very much taken for granted and probably not thought about that much. We should note that in the timeline of musical history, composition, performance and instrumentation, it is quite a recent phenomenon. When I was just a little over 1 year old an English band called The Tornados released an instrumental single called “Telstar” it was produced by Joe Meek & reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 1962. “Telstar” was named after the Telstar communications satellite, which was launched into orbit on 10 July 1962. “Telstar” was one of the earliest pop tracks influenced by science fiction, and for its time, it was so futuristic, and it still sounds pretty weird today. The influence of “Telstar” can be observed in the 2006 single “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse; Notably, Muse’s singer and guitarist, Matt Bellamy, is the son of the Tornados guitarist George Bellamy. Whilst people might have heard synth/electronic sounds in popular early science fiction movie classics such as the use of the Theremin in “The Day The Earth Stood Still” (1950) and the use of Lois & Bebe Barron’s handmade electronic circuits to make otherworldly soundtrack of “Forbidden Planet” (1956) Telstar is probably one of the very first hits to introduce electronic instrumentation to popular music and popular culture. From that time on, the sound of moving voltages began to be heard more and more.
I Miss You Now (Feat. Chloe Kae & CRUSH3d) by Willaris. K
Plunder Slumber And Different Temperaments (Finn Rhodes Remix) by Timmus from The Bridge Remixes Vol 1 & 2
Into the Blue by Ducks!
I LIKE THAT by Poltergeist 9000
The Space Between by Vinted Vineer
Rhythmic Medicine by Haptics
Lixiviation (Ronald Mallory Art Film Collaboration) by Suzanne Ciani from Lixiviation (Ciani/Musica Inc. 1969-1985)
Chorale Prelude “Wachet Auf” by Wendy Carlos from Switched On Bach
Driver by Garagee from Garagee III
Soul Beam (James Russller Remix) by Timmus from The Bridge Remixes Vol 1 & 2