Publisher: (private, field recording)
Publication Year: 1984
Catalog Number: NA
Format: 60 Min. Cassette Tape
This cassette-tape field recording was made during the 76th annual AES (Audio Engineering Society) Convention, which took place in New York in October of 1984. The first segment captures a short dialogue concerning the capabilities of a curious device called the Monster, which is described as a “Mono Stereo Coherency Evaluator”. The second and third segments capture a demonstration of the Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument), a digital sampling synthesizer designed in 1979. The Fairlight had a huge impact on the face of modern music and was used by such stellar artists/groups as Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, New Order, OMD, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Vince Clarke, Brian Eno, etc. The demonstration is given by legendary musician and album producer Todd Rundgren (New York Dolls, Patti Smith, XTC, Psychedelic Furs…), and his collaborator Roger Powell. Some of the highlights of the recording include a sound clip in the style of Rundgren’s then soon to be released album “A Cappella”, which he created using nothing but samples of his own voice; a subversive remix made by sampling the speech of Ronald Reagan from the Reagan/Mondale debate which took place earlier that month; and a clip of the then soon to be released album “Love Bomb” by The Tubes, which Rundgren produced and composed using the Fairlight. If you listen closely before each demonstration you can here the bang and whir of the 7-inch floppy discs as the sample programs are being loaded.
Audio Oddities 