some information about
ELECTRONIC REALIZATIONS FOR
ROCK ORCHESTRA (1975)


 

When the album "Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra" was originally released in mid-1975, an avalanche of mail landed at the Passport Records company offices. Many of the letters asked similar questions about the LP. The mimeographed answer sheets that were mailed out in response provide a terrific time capsule from 1975. It shows the state of recording technique and commercially available synthesizer equipment at the time. It also gives a little insight into what I was planning at the beginning of my recording career. What follows are the answers to some of those early frequently asked questions.

Remember, at this time (1974-75) there were no personal computers as we know them. Apple Computer didn't exist yet; Microsoft was two hackers selling tiny BASIC code for other experimenters. Synthesizers were mostly analog and usually restricted to playing one note at a time (no chords). MIDI was years away. And digital recording was still pretty much a development lab project, though a few early classical recordings were being made on specialized equipment.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

WHAT IS SYNERGY:

HOW WAS THE ALBUM RECORDED:

ANSWERS TO THE MOST-ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EQUIPMENT USED:

WHAT IS THE BACK COVER, HOW WAS IT DONE:



THESE ARE ANSWERS TO THE MOST-ASKED QUESTIONS FROM 1975 AS THEY WERE ANSWERED IN 1975-1976:

 

WHAT IS SYNERGY:

SYNERGY is technically a property or reaction where the sum exceeds the properties of the component parts. A metal alloy that is stronger and more durable than any of its component parts is an example of SYNERGY. So are many chemical reactions. And so would a recording of a limited number of discrete sonic elements done on a 16 or 24 track recorder that ends up sounding like a 150 piece orchestra. That is why I adapted Buckminster Fuller's central physical-ecological theme to my music.

SYNERGY as a musical unit is intended to be somewhat free-form and expandable. Right now it is based purely in electronic music, but it can easily cross over into multi-media work, more conventional rock and classical forms, and eventually, I expect into electronic technical developments. Though I am the main member of SYNERGY, it might include others in the future, as projects warrant.


return to top of FAQs

HOW WAS THE ALBUM RECORDED:

From July through December 1974, I recorded 4-track demo versions of all the material on a TEAC 3340 recorder. These started as small sections which were revised and expanded into the original pieces that appeared on the album. During the latter part of September, in a fit of frustration, I recorded the entire length of "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue", one of my old favorites, just so that I could have a complete piece of electronic work under my belt. Producer Marty Scott liked the piece so much that we decided to use it on the LP. Following the demo version of "Slaughter", the other pieces began to fall into place. Though most of the original material on the album is new, some of it dates back 2 or 3 years to college music course projects, and some of my old group's music.

During December (1974), I recorded timing and reference tracks at home to be dubbed onto the 2 inch 16 track master. All track recording was done at House Of Music Studios in West Orange, NJ. I did all recording on my own synthesizer equipment set up next to the control room board so that I could act as engineer and tape-op. The recording was done using Ampex 406 2" tape on an MCI 16 track machine connected to an MCI 18 in/16 out board. dbx noise reduction was used. All instrument lines were, of course, direct. Recording was fairly unaltered except for some UREI compression on the Mellotron. Altec monitor speakers powered by Phase Linear amplification were also used.

Since it became imperative that a computer mix be done, it also became necessary to do a tape transfer to convert the dbx noise reduction over to Dolby A. This was done at Bearsville Sound in Bearsville, NY using 2 Ampex MM-1000 16 track recorders with the appropriate noise reduction devices. The copy was onto Scotch 250 2" tape.

Mixing was done at Media Sound in New York. It was the first mix done on the API/Allison 32 input computerized mixing board at Media. The playback machine was an Ampex MM-1100 24/16 track. Mixdown was in quad with a simultaneous QS encoded 2 track master (from which the LP was cut) and 4 track 1/2" discrete version made for safety purposes and Q8 cartridges. The mix was monitored on quad sets of both Altec studio speakers and KLH home speakers. The mix was onto Scully 2 and 4 track machines. Mastering was done at Sterling Sound in New York by Robert Ludwig using the 2 track QS, Dolby master mix.


return to top of FAQs

ANSWERS TO THE MOST-ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EQUIPMENT USED:

 

Galvanic Skin Response Voltage Controller: More questions have been asked about this toy than all of the other instruments put together. It is a custom device that I built which sends a small current through the player's skin. Varying the pressure of any skin surface on a pickup plate causes variation in skin impedance causing a corresponding change in the controller's voltage output. It is surprisingly easy to control. When patched for VCO pitch control it gives sweeping frequencies much like a ribbon controller.

Oberheim Expander Module: A nice little box made by Tom Oberheim in California which has 2 VCOs, 2 Envelope Generators, 1 LFO, 1 multi-mode VCF and a VCA which can be wired into a standard Mini-Moog or directly to Oberheim's sequencer. The Expander Module was used mostly to get more sound out of the Mini-Moog onto a single tape track rather than having to use several multi-tracks of the Mini to get the same sound. The Expander was a great help in organizing the most economical use of the 16 tracks available.

Oberheim DS-2 Digital Sequencer: This is another magic box that serves as a control voltage and timing memory using computer memory techniques. When properly wired into the existing Mini-Moog circuitry, the DS-2 will "remember" up to 72 events (notes, triggers, filter changes, etc.) on command and play them back as needed. On playback the voltage outputs can be varied to provide several octaves of transposition, and the timing can be speeded up or slowed down by a factor of several thousand times. This is one of the most advanced pieces of synthesizer hardware on the market today. It is also one of the first commercial pieces of digital equipment which will most likely gradually replace our current analog-based synthesizer designs over the next 5 to 10 years.

360 Systems 20/20 Frequency Shifter: ...another magic device. This one has input and output jacks and a large control knob. If a signal is applied to the input, the control knob can be adjusted so that the output will appear the same except shifted up or down in frequency by up to 5000 Hz. Great for turning a baritone into a soprano or a set of bongos into timpani. On SYNERGY I used it mostly for its built-in ring modulator circuit rather than its frequency shift capabilities which are more suited to working with conventional instruments.

Mellotron: This is a standard Mellotron 400D with the usual flute, strings and cello tapes. The Mellotron actually only appeared on about 4 to 6% of the total tracking on the album since most of the time synthesized strings and flutes are much cleaner and crisper than the Mellotron's primitive tape playback systems. All Mellotron sounds are controlled tape playbacks of conventional instruments rather than totally electronic sound generation as with a synthesizer.

QS Quad: After looking over the several quad systems available, QS seemed to meet most of the requirements for releasing the record in quad better than the other systems. For a start, it is completely compatible. All copies of this SYNERGY recording are in quad; there is no separate stereo release. If you bought it at all, you bought it in quad. The QS quad plays on a stereo turntable with no damage to the record, and in mono with no problems if the mix was done right. QS broadcasts on FM with all quad encoding intact. It costs no more to press the records than stereo; and with Sansui's Variomatrix quad decoders it gives up to 20 dB separation in all directions. It also does a neat little trick with the stereo image when played back in stereo by spreading the stereo channels out wider due to the phase encoding used to differentiate the four channels. (see diagram)


return to top of FAQs

WHAT IS THE BACK COVER, HOW WAS IT DONE:

The back cover is an infrared color photo done without any filters of an old (ca. 1955) Brook hi-fi power amplifier. The amplifier puts out a whopping 10 watts which was considered pretty powerful back then for a home unit. For the photo, the tubes were all polished up and the amplifier run in a dark room for an hour or so. A series of photos were taken from different angles and with a variety of exposures. The one finally used was taken with a Nikon F camera with a standard 50 mm lens with a +1 diopter. The exposure was about 55 minutes @ f.16 on Kodak Ektachrome Infrared film.


return to top of FAQs

This is a jigsaw puzzle that was created from the poster for "Electronic Realizations" that was sent out to record stores in 1975. The album cover wasn't available since the artwork was only licensed for use on the record itself, not for posters. The hovering ear over the garden of electronic components got a lot of attention and weirded out a few people.


return to top of FAQs

HOME

THE ALBUMS:

ELECTRONIC REALIZATIONS
SEQUENCER
CORDS
GAMES
AUDION
COMPUTER EXPERIMENTS VOL 1
THE JUPITER MENACE
SEMI-CONDUCTOR
METROPOLITAN SUITE

SYNERGY DISCOGRAPHY

SYNERGY NEWS
SYNERGY FAQs
BIOGRAPHY
PROJECT DISCOGRAPHY
PETER GABRIEL
NEKTAR
LINKS
HOW TO BUY CDs
THIRD CONTACT
PRODUCTIONS & STUDIO
ODDS & ENDS
TRADEMARK
SOUND CHOICE ASSITIVE LISTENING


© 1997 Synergy® Electronic Music, Inc.

This page was last updated on August 12, 1997