Aardvarks IV (1972-75) CD 06

Warren Burt

Scarlet Aardvark CD 06

Title: Aardvarks IV (1972-75)

Noise fans will love this one. I think its my first major work: it's been called "the best electronic piece since the First World War." A long, violent fresco, it was made with Aardvarks IV, an almost intelligent composing machine that I built because I couldn't afford a computer at the time. Evolving from an uneasy drone into complex and roaring sounds, the piece rises to what seems like a climax, only to dissolve into a sense of mystery and curiosity. If you want to find out what the state of the art in electronic music technology was in the early 70s, here it is.

“The chief reason for building the machine was to explore a certain kind of waveform synthesis which made sounds of a constantly changing timbre. When heard on their own, these sounds make drones of a constantly changing character. Sounds such as these are heard in the first part of the piece. When the waveforms are used to modulate each other, however, they make noisebands of great complexity, not to say ferocity. These noisebands are explored in the second section. The waveforms are then vastly slowed down and used to produce pitch sequences for the third and fourth sections. The final result is a piece which continually and slowly evolves from one

sound world to another, making a vast sonic fresco for the ears.”

Track List:

1. Aardvarks IV (On the Natural Structural Superiority of Pink African Nocturnal Mammals Over Small Hispanic Plastoid Aquatic Beings) (72:00)

Keywords:

Homemade Electronic Instruments

Digital Logic Based Composing Systems

Algorithmic Music

Interactive Music

Real-Time Electronic Improvisation

Center for Music Experiment

University of California, San Diego

Aardvarks IV (composing machine)

Serge Modular Music System

Teac Mixer

Frequency Modulation Patch

Waveform Assembly Systems