Meeting Topic: Electronic Music in Toronto and Canada in the Analogue Era
Moderator Name: Jim Cox
Speaker Name: David Jaeger - Canadian Electronic Ensemble, Dennis Patrick - University of Toronto, Peter Jermyn - The Modern Rock Quartet, Dean Batute - Kyron Music, Norma Beecroft - Composer
Meeting Location: University of Toronto, Toronto ON
Electronic Music in Toronto and Canada in the Analogue Era
From the early 1960's, the University of Toronto was in the vanguard of electronic music in North America. This meeting examined the progress from the tape loops and signal generators, through the contribution of Hugh LeCaine at the National Research Council to the leading-edge technology of the time, and finally the development of the analogue synthesizer by the end of that decade. The technology and art of the era were brought together by a wide range of speakers who talked about topics ranging from composition, to synthesis, to live performance and beyond.
Speakers included renowned Canadian electronic music composer Norma Beecroft, former host of CBC Radio's "Two New Hours," who spoke about the history and various schools of thought in Electronic Music composition, as well as the difficulties in creating a system of notation in order to perform with other musicians.
Dennis Patrick, a member of the Theory and Composition Division of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, discussed the gear compliment at the U of T studios in the 60's and 70's. It was largely comprised of multitrack machines, tape loop players and racks of filters, as "we couldn't afford a modular synth back then."
Peter Jermyn, a keyboard player who formed The Modern Rock Quartet, discussed the design of a new musical instrument, the Sackbut, which he created with Dr Hugh LeCaine from the National Research Council, and demonstrated throughout the country.
Dean Batute, owner of Kyron Music, a business devoted entirely to the repair and preservation of vintage synthesizers, demonstrated on a perfectly preserved ARP 2600 how analog subtractive synthesis works. He explained how pitch, timing and timbre transcribed on a piece of sheet music can be translated into sound using each of the synthesizer's modules.
Closing out the evening was music producer, composer, broadcaster and a co-founder of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, David Jaeger. He discussed the electronic music scene in Toronto in the early 70's, and how it was inevitable that electronic musicians would want to take their music out of the studio and improvise and perform live.
The evening was as fascinating glimpse into the history of Electronic Music in Toronto. It was both an excellent introduction to those who were not there, and a chance for those who were to celebrate their innovations and accomplishments. This era changed our understanding of musical creativity and expression, and greatly expanded the tools and techniques that became the "studio as instrument" that now resides on our computers.
