looks like someone needs to edit her name into the wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record. id sure as hell want credit if it were me.
― am0n, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 01:15 (fourteen years ago) link
She's not a recluse. I mean as far as I can tell. I emailed her a couple of years ago to ask some questions about her music and I got a really nice reply within a day. I think she's just greatly under appreciated.
recluse is a harsh word, I just wish we could get her out to SF. she does play around brooklyn; a friend of mine was playing on the same bill with her at an EMF / ear to the earth show two years ago -- she evidently showed up seeming a little overwhelmed and shy, but after the soundcheck got to feeling more comfortable and proposed that she and my friend do a joint improv, which went down great, so I don't mean to suggest she's anti-social
xpost wikipedia's music list leaves off 'The Sounds of Earth' -- 40 seconds of Spiegel's realization of the Kepler piece kick off that track, which is otherwise field recordings / natural sounds.
http://www.discogs.com/Laurie-Spiegel-Harmonices-Mundi/release/261289
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 01:26 (fourteen years ago) link
"the expanding universe" is really nice. i am now going to enter terminal regret about not buying it when i last saw it.
― MACROSOLUTIONS II MEGAHAWKWINDZ (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 12:24 (fourteen years ago) link
Wow, I need this stuff. Thanks ILM.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link
ok this part of the 'unseen worlds' liners, worth transcribing
'A Strand Of Life' (1990) happened one afternoon while I was sick with a virus. Fantasizing that I could tame my own virus by doing so, I decided to map the complete genetic base sequence of a viroid into the musical pitch domain. I didn't have the data for a real DNA virus, but I found complete information on a viroid (which has only RNA) in an old copy of Scientific American (jan 1981; 'Viroids' by T.O. Diener). If you substitute adenine for each A, uracil for each E, guanine for each G, and cytocine for each C in this piece, you will have a self-replicating, genetic strand which lives in the cells of others in a state so close to the border of life that it is a moot scientific point whether it can be considered alive or not. It is completely another question whether a being so simple that a minute of music can contain its entire informational self can be conscious (and if so, then conscious of what), but since I tend to anthropomorphise a lot, I gave it a bit of an old time country music personality when mapping it for translation...
rest of the liner notes are like that which is why you need to buy the CD, and I had to reconfirm that 'unseen worlds' like most of her music was all improvised in real time (though some pieces got another pass through effects)
― Milton Parker, Friday, 11 September 2009 06:27 (fourteen years ago) link
Listening to Obsolete Systems now and there are parts of it that are so sparkling and crystalline and perfect - but yes, so warm and organic and rich at the same time.
― Evren Kader (Masonic Boom), Friday, 11 September 2009 14:05 (fourteen years ago) link
this thread is a treat. think i've listened to laurie at least once a week for a few years now. just got lost in her website in that way that doesn't seem to happen anymore. frames! content! stuff! and it's all very enjoyable :)
http://retiary.org/ls/index.html
― pagan diskow (Crackle Box), Monday, 26 March 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
Sediment is listed in the credits as being a part of the musical score for The Hunger Games film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02DvJvPppI0
non-album 1972 piece that came out for the first time a few years ago on a Sub Rosa Anthology. deep drone piece. this youtube rip is a lot more aggressive that the CD version, sounds less like a meditative drone and more like a noise piece. the youtube comments are kind of fun.
― Milton Parker, Monday, 26 March 2012 19:53 (twelve years ago) link
/than the CD version
the fact that this film's got people sourcing obscure Laurie Spiegel tracks for the soundtrack is exactly what is going to tip the scales into me going to see this monster
― Milton Parker, Monday, 26 March 2012 19:57 (twelve years ago) link
this is p great in all regards
― ogmor, Monday, 26 March 2012 22:14 (twelve years ago) link
Whoa, this could be a reason for me to go too.
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 26 March 2012 23:15 (twelve years ago) link
fyi: she's on facebook. her posts are great!
― scott seward, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 01:04 (twelve years ago) link
you're using your Condé Nast powers for the forces of good, Geeta
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/rare-electronic-music-hunger-games/
― Milton Parker, Thursday, 29 March 2012 17:59 (twelve years ago) link
Front page Slate article trampolining off of Geeta's article, re-interviewing on the subject of not getting paid by Sub Rosa, and goes into depth on her back catalogue in a way that is incredibly satisfying to read in a national forum.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/03/30/laurie_spiegel_s_sediment_in_the_hunger_games_how_the_new_movie_righted_a_musical_wrong.html
I've e-mailed a bit with the person assembling these compilations at Sub Rosa, and he came across as an unusually knowledgable student of the history of electronic music. Maybe I'm just used to a world in which labels have stopped paying anything for compilation tracks, but I'm still a little uncomfortable with a nationally read blowing up Laurie's reasonable Amazon.com review into a full on railing against Sub Rosa without including him in the interview and giving him a chance to respond.
― Milton Parker, Friday, 30 March 2012 21:11 (twelve years ago) link
Meantime here's the scene in question (or at least a lo-res version of it):
http://lincolnmoreira.tumblr.com/post/19877170785/the-hunger-games-cornucopia-scene
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 30 March 2012 21:13 (twelve years ago) link
Ha, wow, the three pieces I was most impressed by them using for the film all get used in that one sequence: Spiegel, Reich and Chas Smith
http://www.amazon.com/A-Wasp-on-Her-Abdomen/dp/B000QWNDZ6
They mix and match between those three pretty freely, especially the Smith & the Reich pieces which they blend together into one piece pretty seamlessly. I'm a big fan of those Chas Smith records, it is almost kind of a shame he's not getting as big a boost out of this: http://www.allmusic.com/album/chas-smith-nikko-wolverine-r512808
― Milton Parker, Friday, 30 March 2012 21:31 (twelve years ago) link
Hmm, sounds like I need to investigate further..
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 30 March 2012 21:44 (twelve years ago) link
After I saw the movie, I came across the Tumblr of some teenager who was crowing about how she'd recognized an excerpt from Music for 18 Musicians on the score. Since I recognized no such thing, I'm relieved to find out it's a different Reich composition, one I haven't listened to dozens of times.
― Cuba Pudding, Jr. (jaymc), Friday, 30 March 2012 21:52 (twelve years ago) link
If you like pedal steel guitars, ambient country & the Lanois tracks on 'Apollo Soundtracks' as much as you like Alan Lamb or Harry Bertoia, then you pretty much automatically like Chas Smith
― Milton Parker, Friday, 30 March 2012 21:55 (twelve years ago) link
Ah well, that's that, then!
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 30 March 2012 23:04 (twelve years ago) link
expanding universe reissue with FIFTEEN extra tracks. yes please!
http://thewire.co.uk/articles/9349/
― Crackle Box, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 10:48 (eleven years ago) link
*cartwheels*
― White Chocolate Cheesecake, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 10:51 (eleven years ago) link
downloaded that from some blog about two years ago, so it's nice to be able to put that right... (works out around £15 in english, including delivery)
― koogs, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 11:01 (eleven years ago) link
Splendid
― Too Busy Thinking About Mr. Abie (Tom D.), Tuesday, 3 July 2012 11:09 (eleven years ago) link
hoping there's a nice balance between the folky counterpointish algorithmic stuff and far out space drones
― Crackle Box, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 11:22 (eleven years ago) link
pre-ordered & most psyched
― ogmor, Tuesday, 3 July 2012 19:11 (eleven years ago) link
http://cec.sonus.ca/econtact/10_2/images/SpiegelLa_musicmouse_screenshot.gif
― Milton Parker, Monday, 23 July 2012 20:19 (eleven years ago) link
http://cec.sonus.ca/econtact/10_2/images/SpiegelLa_musicmouse_keyboard.gif
― Milton Parker, Monday, 23 July 2012 20:22 (eleven years ago) link
http://rhizome.org/editorial/2008/oct/2/early-computer-art-from-1970s-bell-labs-laurie-spi/
― Crackle Box, Monday, 23 July 2012 20:47 (eleven years ago) link
^ cheeee this woman is amazing.
― Ignite the seven canons (Ówen P.), Monday, 23 July 2012 21:18 (eleven years ago) link
I almost revived this thread this morning, this woman is the true drone and all other drones are false
― Ignite the seven canons (Ówen P.), Monday, 23 July 2012 21:19 (eleven years ago) link
This interview is 15 years old but it's new (and interesting) to me and I don't see it on the thread:http://cec.sonus.ca/econtact/10_2/SpiegelLa_KD.html
Need to order reissue, have been paralysed by indecision about vinyl vs CD since seeing it mentioned on this thread
― still small voice of clam (a passing spacecadet), Monday, 23 July 2012 21:46 (eleven years ago) link
definitely the CD for the bonus material alone, but even then: the last piece is a quiet rolling 28 minute drone with a lot of low end so it really doesn't even matter how good the new pressing will be, you're just not going to hear all of the piece on vinyl
― Milton Parker, Monday, 23 July 2012 23:54 (eleven years ago) link
So thankful for this thread!
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 00:55 (eleven years ago) link
definitely the CD for the bonus material alone
you get a download code for all the CD tracks (as lossless, if you wish) w/the vinyl though! that is the source of my dilemma. but I probably will go CD if only for cheaper international shipping. thanks for the info re the last track, looking forward to all the drones
― still small voice of clam (a passing spacecadet), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 09:59 (eleven years ago) link
was wondering this morning where these cds had got to. just got this email:
"Thanks so much for your preorder of our 2CD set of The Expanding Universe.International orders for this format have been shipped as of today and youshould see it in about a week."
― koogs, Wednesday, 5 September 2012 20:29 (eleven years ago) link
I missed this! Might have to break my CD buying moratorium (which come to think of, I just broke last month) for this.
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 5 September 2012 20:32 (eleven years ago) link
Pre-ordered the vinyl which has been delayed, but a compensation the label sent a download code for the FLACSs of the extended release early, working my way through now, some amazing work.
― Chewshabadoo, Tuesday, 11 September 2012 14:52 (eleven years ago) link
Very. Got a promo copy a little while ago and it's just astonishing stuff.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 September 2012 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
Got my CD in the mail, listened to the first disc and liked it a lot. The first track was beautifully programmed, and "Drums" is an interesting early attempt at creating electronic drum polyrhythms. I'm not fond of vinyl rips, so I'd never heard the eponymous track itself before... It was slow as melasses, and I actually fell asleep on the sofa while listening to it (something which I shouldn't have done, according to the liner notes by Spiegel, as she says this isn't ambient music but something to listen to carefully), but what I caught was luminous and pretty. Can't wait to play disc 2!
Speaking of the liner notes, though, while it's great that there's plenty of background information written by Spiegel herself, the choice to print some of the text white on yellow background is poor, as it makes the text hard to read. Also, tracks 2 and 3 are listed in different order in the inner sleeve than in the back cover, so I'm not sure which one is which. Still, it's intriguing to read all the technical explanation on how the tracks were realized, even though I don't understand half of it.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 11 September 2012 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
i have a feeling most of us don't read italian, but spiegel will be part of this new book:
Come anticipate Johann Merrich's "Le Pioniere Della Musica Elettronica," about female electronic composers
― lord sitar and peter gunz (get bent), Tuesday, 11 September 2012 17:43 (eleven years ago) link
feature in wired this month:
http://boomkat.com/books/570949-the-wire-issue-344-october-2012
― koogs, Friday, 14 September 2012 12:30 (eleven years ago) link
IMO the second disc isn't as good as the first one, but there's some interesting stuff there too. "Clockworks" wouldn't feel out of place on a 1990s IDM album, and "The Orient Express" has a cool perpetual motion sound.
All in all, I feel the more melodic and/or mood-based pieces on the comp still sound great today, whereas the ones where Spiegel experiments with rhythm/pitch/etc aren't quite as impressive, since the technical limitations of the era mean the experimentation doesn't work as well as Spiegel (probably) would've wanted it to work. Even with those pieces, though, it's still cool to read about the concepts behind them in the liner notes.
― Tuomas, Friday, 14 September 2012 12:51 (eleven years ago) link
Aw yeah I have my CDs! First CD I've ever bought to show a glimpse of Fortran source code in the liner notes. Sounding great so far.
― still small voice of clam (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 14 September 2012 20:31 (eleven years ago) link
I had a brief email exchange with her a few years back, wherein she mentioned that she has lots of unarchived recordings in her home. Someone needs to convince her to make it all publicly available. I vote Dan Selzer to be in charge of this.
― DanielGr, Saturday, 15 September 2012 03:31 (eleven years ago) link
i would throw in some bucks to kickstart that!
― lord sitar and peter gunz (get bent), Saturday, 15 September 2012 03:40 (eleven years ago) link
By the way, in that exchange she was the friendliest person. There is really nothing not to like about this composer. She even said that she hopes that someday the archive is made public.
― DanielGr, Saturday, 15 September 2012 03:54 (eleven years ago) link
^^^^^^^
holy shit yes.
― gesange der yuengling (crüt), Saturday, 15 September 2012 04:30 (eleven years ago) link
same here, i'd imagine there are quite a lot of synthesizer geeks who would also go in on that too
― Crackle Box, Saturday, 15 September 2012 11:24 (eleven years ago) link
love the liner notes, especially the comparing of conscious interaction w/ programmed processes to conscious interaction w/ subconsciously generated processes (finger-picking patterns); there's some rich phenomenology in there. didn't realise the images that were posted upthread were actually programmed in a similar fashion to the music. that is so, so cool, i'd been thinking about this a bit after looking at databending & then, there they are. & she was a big john fahey fan! wld absolutely stump up for further releases.
― ogmor, Monday, 17 September 2012 21:49 (eleven years ago) link
i laughedSmeagol is always funny
― passion it person (La Lechera), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:53 (eleven years ago) link
i laughed
― the late great, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:58 (eleven years ago) link
― crüt, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 22:18 (eleven years ago) link
Aw, you guys.
― emil.y, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 22:19 (eleven years ago) link
I lold
― shave and a haircut...2 CHAINZ (m bison), Thursday, 20 December 2012 03:42 (eleven years ago) link
big piece by me in frieze:
http://blog.frieze.com/an-interview-with-laurie-spiegel/
― geeta, Monday, 24 December 2012 02:50 (eleven years ago) link
Hey geeta, I sent you an email to the address you give on theoriginalsoundtrack.com, with a link to download something I thought might interest you. Just a heads up in case you don't normally check that.
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 24 December 2012 04:17 (eleven years ago) link
Sorry, no Laurie Spiegel content.
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 24 December 2012 04:18 (eleven years ago) link
just saw it! thanks!!
― geeta, Monday, 24 December 2012 05:32 (eleven years ago) link
best article yet and that is saying something. placing cultural context is one thing, but emotional context is another
nice youtube of a guy who got Music Mouse running on an Atari ST emulator on his Windows machine, patched in through Reason as his synth. His improvisations are a lot more traditional than anything Spiegel herself released but it's nice to get a sense of the software by seeing the GUI in action
― Milton Parker, Tuesday, 25 December 2012 04:53 (eleven years ago) link
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8083/8306890717_56e6697742.jpg
― hot slag (lukas), Wednesday, 26 December 2012 03:31 (eleven years ago) link
Okay bought "The Expanding Universe," will listen and report back
― Raymond Cummings, Wednesday, 26 December 2012 17:48 (eleven years ago) link
Did this get linked somewhere? Jeremy Greenspan's reworking of Drums:
http://www.spin.com/blogs/junior-boys-jeremy-greenspan-reworks-laurie-spiegels-proto-techno-drums
― qbert yuiop (NickB), Tuesday, 15 January 2013 16:33 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.thewire.co.uk/news/22473/laurie-spiegel-designs-new-wiret-shirt
― koogs, Tuesday, 2 April 2013 14:05 (eleven years ago) link
Finally caved and bought the LP version of this. Very pleased. A question, though - the CD has a really big, detailed booklet with diagrams and photos. The LP doesn't? Or is it just my copy that lacks an insert?
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Friday, 13 September 2013 06:45 (ten years ago) link
Sometimes, if I buy digital/Vinyl I email the record label and ask for a .pdf of the inlay card if its got loads of detail.
some have been great - RVNG.itl
some have been awful - Gronland records
I try to include the email invoice of the digital or a photo of me holding the record....
it kills me when the reviews talk of the amazing stuff in the liner notes and the vinyl has a white inner sleeve and nothing else..
― my opinionation (Hamildan), Friday, 13 September 2013 11:11 (ten years ago) link
I've had similar interactions with Matt who runs RVNG. Definitely one of the good guys.
― Position Position, Friday, 13 September 2013 12:12 (ten years ago) link
If you redeem the digital download code included with the vinyl of The Expanding Universe, you'll get a .pdf of the CD liner notes.
― J. Sam, Friday, 13 September 2013 12:57 (ten years ago) link
It's amazing that more labels don't do that. The downloads that come with those cards can be anything. When you buy any of the last 3 Acute releases (before they sold out that is), the download gets you the LP, plus tons of bonus tracks plus a PDF of the liner notes. More labels should include videos and other stuff like that.
― dan selzer, Friday, 13 September 2013 14:12 (ten years ago) link
Thanks J Sam - got it. Would still have loved the liner notes in tactile form--what if, in two years, I have the record handy but not the hard drive / laptop / whatever?--but at least now I can read 'em.
Vinyl gouging sucks bad enough without getting less than what you would get if you bought the CD.
tbf, though, this Spiegel reissue is super inexpensive, given what these sorts of things usually cost ($20ppd with download / pdf, etc)
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Friday, 13 September 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
but at least now I can read 'emYou might actually be one up on us CD owners there, as half of the text in the booklet is virtually illegible due to the tiny printing and odd background colour scheme choices (white font on yellow for example).
― Jeff W, Monday, 16 September 2013 19:17 (ten years ago) link
anyone seen this? http://cubittartists.org.uk/2014/05/29/a-caelo-usque-ad-centrum-dena-yago-laurie-spiegel/
― ogmor, Wednesday, 9 July 2014 16:13 (nine years ago) link
http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/laurie-spiegel-grassroots-technologist/
― Milton Parker, Monday, 3 November 2014 02:13 (nine years ago) link
thanks, fantastic interview. what a hero(ine)
― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, 4 November 2014 18:08 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fy5ilFJENo&list=UUEIPw9uWhRVz8K8nrCcxwPQ&index=2
I would love an album of her guitar playing, very curious about it
― nebulous British ilxor (ogmor), Thursday, 6 November 2014 18:42 (nine years ago) link
ah just meant to post this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDA2uQCJPjE
― nebulous British ilxor (ogmor), Thursday, 6 November 2014 18:43 (nine years ago) link
I played music in other people’s ensembles, played guitar or banjo or whatever for Tom Johnson and with Rhys Chatham. I would do these filigree patterns, and Rhys would do these long drone-like lines against the stuff. That balanced it.
has anyone else been trying to imagine this? mb it's niche but it sounds so promising to me
― nebulous British ilxor (ogmor), Monday, 10 November 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link
https://www.thewire.co.uk/video/watch-a-short-film-about-laurie-spiegel
― a passing spacecadet, Saturday, 2 September 2017 16:10 (six years ago) link
Quick drop in to say that I’m in an FM kinda mood and just listened to Unseen Worlds ... love this.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 27 January 2020 17:23 (four years ago) link
i just picked up a copy of Unseen Worlds a couple weeks ago! still digesting it - very different than Expanding Universe, which makes sense because it used a totally different setup/programming interface
― But guess what? Nobody gives a toot!😂 (Karl Malone), Monday, 27 January 2020 17:29 (four years ago) link
multichannel work in nyc in march https://issueprojectroom.org/event/laurie-spiegel-harmonic-algorithm-collaboration-seth-cluett-caterina-barbieri
― adam, Monday, 27 January 2020 17:38 (four years ago) link