Recording and Electronic Music

Track one of the album New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media: Women in Electronic Music, Music of the Spheres, was recorded in the year 1938 by Johanna Beyer. The piece begins with an odd electrical noise resembling the sound one makes when they trill their lips. The low pitched sound occurs in constant intervals, starting off with a low amplitude before it crescendos into a loud roar with a high amplitude. It slowly fades out in the distance as it reverts back to the amplitude it began with, a low one. What seems to be an acoustic triangle is played at specific points throughout the piece. It should be noted that this is the only acoustic instrument used within Music of the Spheres. This recording of sounds from nature pays homage to the form of electronic music Musique Concrete. As the low pitched trills come to an end, sine waves make their way into the mix, increasing and decreasing in pitch dramatically throughout the entire piece. With the introduction of these sine waves, I really felt as if this piece resembled the type of music one would expect to hear in a science fiction movie. It is almost as if this track is completely accompanying the visuals to a movie consisting of aliens invading earth. I felt that the slow changes in the sine waves’ pitch emitted a sensation of dark mystery and wonder, while the loud trills in the beginning gave off a feeling of suspense and excitement. All in all, Music of the Spheres, was quite different from the type of electronic music we hear in today’s day and age, but nevertheless it was quite entertaining to listen to.

The track succeeding Music of the Spheres is called World Rhythms, a piece composed by Annea Lockwood. It begins with a sound similar to an old car engine trying to ...

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...roduction of a loud violin about halfway through the piece. Even so, I felt as if the combination of instruments and timbres within Time to Go worked well together, creating a fluid and enjoyable composition.

To conclude, I felt as if New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media: Women in Electronic Music, contained a large array of musical styles and compositions unlike anything I have ever heard before. I would not recommend this album to today’s generation as I believe they would be opposed to the oddity many of these tracks exhibit. However, there are particular tracks within the album that I would definitely recommend because of certain characteristics that make them an enjoyable listening experience. Overall, New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media: Women in Electronic Music, gets a five out of ten rating since it possessed a good mix of duds and diamonds.