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David First (born August 20, 1953) is an American composer. His music most often deals with
The Music of David First
Kyle Gann's blog review of Privacy Issues
New Music Box review of Privacy Issues
interview with David First in Pitchfork Media, Pitchfork
Kyle Gann recommended composer: David First
Listen/Watch: Members of TVOTR, Liturgy Record an Occupy Wall Street Anthem
, ''PitchFork.com''. 1953 births Living people 21st-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub
David First (born August 20, 1953) is an American composer. His music most often deals with drones
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
and interference beats, the latter aligning his music with that of Alvin Lucier
Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in M ...
. He usually plays computer or guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
and has led the World Casio Quartet
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, Joy Buzzers and The Notekillers The Notekillers are an instrumental avant-rock band based out of both Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The current line up consists of David First (Guitar), Stephen Bilenky (Bass), and Barry Halkin (Drums). The band officially began in 1977 and was closel ...
which originally existed from 1977–81 and reformed in 2004. He is also a member of Matter Waves
Matter waves are a central part of the theory of quantum mechanics, being an example of wave–particle duality. All matter exhibits wave-like behavior. For example, a beam of electrons can be diffracted just like a beam of light or a water wav ...
, which includes Kid Millions on drums and Bernard Gann
Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname.
The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
on bass, and the music collective New Party Systems
David First (born August 20, 1953) is an American composer. His music most often deals with drones and interference beats, the latter aligning his music with that of Alvin Lucier. He usually plays computer or guitar and has led the World Casio ...
.
His albums include 1991's ''Resolver'', instrumental pieces influenced by minimalism
In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
and 2002's relatively pop-oriented ''Universary'', which consists of "songs and drones". More recent releases include 2010's ''We're Here to Help'' (Prophase Records) by The Notekillers and ''Privacy Issues'', a 3-CD set of droneworks on the XI label.
In 1995 First, along with visual artist Patricia Smith created an opera, ''The Manhattan Book of the Dead'', which was presented at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in th ...
's Annex Theater in 1995 and The Washaus in Potsdam, Germany in 1996.
First received a 2001 Foundation for Contemporary Arts
The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was ...
Grants to Artists Award.
In January 2012, the music collective, New Party Systems, an ensemble containing First, released a song First wrote (C2011 Silent Graph Music ASCAP), "We Are" –– an anthem for the 99%, with a video by director, Toni Comas.
Sources
External links
The Music of David First
Kyle Gann's blog review of Privacy Issues
New Music Box review of Privacy Issues
interview with David First in Pitchfork Media, Pitchfork
Kyle Gann recommended composer: David First
New Party System
Listen/Watch: Members of TVOTR, Liturgy Record an Occupy Wall Street Anthem
, ''PitchFork.com''. 1953 births Living people 21st-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub