NoiseWiki

Some of you 'round these here parts may have noticed my growing interest in early electronic music, specifically in how it relates to the development and history of [contemporary] noise. FLORIDA MAN already posted a link to Edgard Varèse's seminal 1958 piece Poème Électronique but there's so much out there and, given the apparent (albeit minimal) interest, I thought it'd be prudent or at least a fun idea to share with you all some other gems from the broader canon of early electronic music.

Speaking of broad, "early" in this context basically means anything prior to the late 1980's, though it depends a lot on the technology [and often the intent] of the work involved. Personally, I only consider electronic music up to and including the late 1970's as "early," but if it's notably experimental in nature or captures a similar sound/aesthetic, I'll make an exception.

My goal is to post a youtube video or sound clip a day... or every other day... or until I get too busy with real life matters. For now, let's start with a few relevant links:

• I just found this article today by virtue of me writing up this very topic: I haven't explored it much but suffice to say it looks quite comprehensive and very interesting. While most of my personal favorite recordings date to maybe the late 1920's at their earliest, it's worth pointing out the roots of electronic music go much further back; the first synthesizer, arguably, dates back to the 19th century!
• Creel Pone is a legendary label in some circles, bootl--I mean reissuing incredibly rare early electronic and avant garde records since 2005 (and even earlier counting the "proto"-CP releases). I've bought from the label many times and can vouch for label operator Keith Fullerton Whitman's prompt customer service.
• If you want to try before you buy, there's plenty of people sharing this sort of material, though one I often find myself frequenting is Electronic Orgy, an active blog with a well-curated collection of high quality and hard-to-find recordings. Recently, they've been re-uploading entries from the notorious Avant-Garde Project as well as some obscure live recordings from the late Klaus Schulze.

In terms of youtube clips, knew I had to start off this topic with the work of Tom Dissevelt and Dick Raaijmakers (aka Kid Baltan). The example I included here isn't very "noisy" at all (and rest assured, I will be sharing harsher examples of early electronic "proto-noise" later on) but these two men were just so ahead of their time; it's telling how truly prescient they were when another video clip from this EP described it as "acid house from 1958." If this kind of thing trips your trigger at all, I'd highly recommend tracking down the Early Dutch Electronic Music box set any way you can: I'm not joking when I say some of the stuff in this set sounds like it was recorded for dance clubs in the 80's, and yet its most recent track dates back to just 1963. Mr. Raaijmakers also created music that was more experimental in nature as well: I mention this now because I'm not sure I'll be able to find examples of his more "out-there" material floating around on youtube.

Robert Ashley (vocals) & Gordon Mumma (electronics) - The Wolfman (1964; performed 1967):


Whoah! Just discovered this track after researching the work of a different artist altogether--perhaps one I'll cover later--and it's total bonkers. I was confused until I saw that Gordon Mumma was involved and it all made sense: for anyone who's spent any time digging through early electronic records, that name should sound familiar. Maybe I'll go more in depth on Mumma at a later time, but all you need to know for now is his works tended to be on the harsher side. I have no idea who Robert Ashley is but Mumma's involvement on a track like this comes as little surprise to me.

Is this early enough?
Halim El-Dabh
Wire Recorder Piece, (1944)

More early stuff.
Pierre Schaeffer
Études de bruits, (1948)

Indeterminacy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 3:21 amHalim El-Dabh
Wire Recorder Piece, (1944)

Ahhh, yes! Arguably the earliest known example of "tape" music, predating Schaeffer's work by four years. Apparently, the final version of this piece was much longer; it was presented at an art gallery that same year so it'd stand to reason it still exists in some form, but I haven't had any luck in tracking it down myself. A real shame since Mr. El-Dabh passed away not too long ago, at the ripe old age of 96.

The first half or so of that album in general is pretty cool. Mr. El-Dabh went on to produce similarly experimental and then-cutting edge pieces at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, which itself would pay host to an assortment of other infamous figures in the history of electronic music. Here's another such Columbia-Princeton alumnus, Bülent Arel, with a piece that appeared alongside one of El-Dabh's other pieces on a compilation record from the early 1960's:

I do want to post some 1920's-30's stuff eventually, though for now let's jump a decade or two forward with some more obscure, primitive weirdness from the late 70's:

William Strickland - An Electronic Visit To The Zoo / Sound Hypnosis (1979)

A particularly intriguing aspect of early electronic music is the uncommon abundance of female artists therein: Daphne Oram, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, Beatriz Ferreyra, Else Marie Pade, Maryanne Amacher, Laurie Spiegel... just to name a few. Though largely unheard of in their own time, they've gradually gained greater recognition over the years.

Pauline Oliveros was another such unsung heroine of electronic music. Known largely for her pioneering concept of "deep listening," I remember her as one of my very first introductions into the world of early electronic music, and let me tell you: that's one hell of an introduction.

The video below is an excerpt from the monumental box set Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970. To think music this boldly experimental--to the point I'd argue it's bonafide proto-harsh noise--existed as far back as 1961 was as utterly mind-blowing to me then as it is now. I'd highly encourage anyone who's into noise, especially if they're into noise history, to track down a copy of this set any way they can.

Pauline Oliveros ‎– The Day I Disconnected The Erase Head And Forgot To Reconnect It (1966)

It has it's moments..