Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center The Computer Music Center (CMC) at Columbia University is the oldest center for electronic and computer music research in the United States. It was founded in the 1950s as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Location The CMC is hou ...

'' was an album of

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

released in 1964. It was the recording of a concert performed at the McMillin Theater (today called the Miller Theater) at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

on May 9 and 10, 1961. The stereo version was MS 6566 and the monophonic version was ML 5966. There was a sequel released in 1998 on the New World label titled ''Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center 1961–1973''. Bülent Arel is the only artist who appears on both albums. The Arel composition is completely electronic, with articulated signals over a continuous background texture.

Halim El-Dabh Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh ( ar, حليم عبد المسيح الضبع, ''Ḥalīm ʻAbd al-Masīḥ al-Ḍab''ʻ; March 4, 1921 – September 2, 2017) was an Egyptian-American composer, musician, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who had ...

's composition, an "electronic drama," has a text drawn from the epic of

Layla and Majnun ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

, and consists primarily of tape manipulated instrumental and vocal sounds. Ussachevsky's work has lyrics derived from the '' Enuma Elish'' creation myth, with chorus and electronic accompaniment. Babbitt's piece is composed entirely on the

RCA Synthesizer The RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer (nicknamed ''Victor'') was the first programmable electronic synthesizer and the flagship piece of equipment at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Designed by Herbert Belar and Harry Olson at RCA, wi ...

of the Columbia-Princeton

Computer Music Center The Computer Music Center (CMC) at Columbia University is the oldest center for electronic and computer music research in the United States. It was founded in the 1950s as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Location The CMC is hou ...

. Davidovsky created a work manipulating sine wave, square wave, and

white noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines ...

generators. Luening's composition combines solo violin with RCA Synthesizer sound followed by tape manipulation.

Track listing

Side one

# Bülent Arel: Stereo Electronic Music No. 1 – 10:28 #

: Leiyla and the Poet – 5:20 #

Vladimir Ussachevsky Vladimir Alexeevich Ussachevsky (November 3, 1911 in Hailar, China – January 2, 1990 in New York, New York) was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music. Biography Vladimir Ussachevsky was born in the Hailar District ...

: Creation—Prologue – 8:09

Side two

# Milton Babbitt: Composition for Synthesizer – 10:36 #

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

: Electronic Study No. 1 – 5:50 #Otto Luening: Gargoyles – 9:21

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center (Album) 1961 live albums Columbia Records live albums Live electronic albums