Bálint András Varga: Conversations with Iannis Xenakis (1996)

“The music of the Greek-born composer, Iannis Xenakis, has been called brutal and violent. He first studied as an architect, but then turned to composition and put to musical use his knowledge of higher mathematics. In these conversations conducted between 1980 and 1989 he talks about his life and music.”

Publisher Faber and Faber, London, 1996
ISBN 0571179592, 9780571179596
255 pages

Review: Mihu Iliescu (Computer Music Journal, 2000).

Publisher
WorldCat

PDF

Trevor Wishart: Audible Design: A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Sound Composition (1994)

“This book provides detailed description of the craft of sound transformation using software instruments, with non-mathematical explanations and recorded music examples of all processes.

Many of these processes (e.g. sound morphing, spectral stretching, waveset distortion, sound shredding, grain manipulation, moving harmonic field filters) were first developed by Trevor Wishart, either at IRCAM, or as part of the Composers Desktop Project.”

Publisher Orpheus the Pantomime, 1994
139 pages
via author, HT xgz

WorldCat

PDF, PDF
Appendices PDF, PDF (57 MB)
Audio examples: Chapters 1-3, Chapter 4-6, Chapter 7-10, Chapter 11-13 (Bandcamp)

Gordon Mumma: Cybersonic Arts: Adventures in American New Music (2015)

“A candid account of a broad artistic community by an active participant and observer

Composer, performer, instrument builder, teacher, and writer Gordon Mumma has left an indelible mark on the American contemporary music scene. A prolific composer and innovative French horn player, Mumma is recognized for integrating advanced electronic processes into musical structures, an approach he has termed “Cybersonics.”

Musicologist Michelle Fillion curates a collection of Mumma’s writings, presenting revised versions of his classic pieces as well as many unpublished works from every stage of his storied career. Here, through words and astonishing photos, is Mumma’s chronicle of seminal events in the musical world of the twentieth century: his cofounding the Cooperative Studio for Electronic Music; his role in organizing the historic ONCE Festivals of Contemporary Music; performances with the Sonic Arts Union; and working alongside John Cage and David Tudor as a composer-musician with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In addition, Mumma describes his collaborations with composers, performers, dancers, and visual artists ranging from Robert Ashley and Pauline Oliveros to Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg.”

Edited with Commentary by Michelle Fillion
Foreword by Christian Wolff
Publisher University of Illinois Press, November 2015
ISBN 9780252039430, 0252039432
xxxiv+339 pages

Reviews: Eric Smigel (Intersections, 2015), Daniel Barbiero (Avant Music News, 2016), Aurelio Cianciotta (Neural, 2016).

Publisher
WorldCat

PDF (updated on 2022-11-21)