Allen Strange (June 26, 1943 – February 20, 2008http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/feb/25/allen-strange-leader-in-electronic-music-dies/ ''Allen Strange, Leader in Electronic Music, Dies at 64'' By Rachel Pritchet, Kitsap Sun) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He authored two books, ''Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls'' (first published in the 1970s) and ''Programming and Meta-Programming the Electro-Organism''. He co-wrote ''The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques'' with his wife, Patricia.

Career

Strange was born in

Calexico, California Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...

. He studied composition with Donal Michalsky at the

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. He received his MA in 1967. He later studied composition with

Robert Erickson Robert Erickson (March 7, 1917 – April 24, 1997) was an American composer. Education Erickson was born in Marquette, Michigan. He studied with Ernst Krenek from 1936 to 1947: "I had already studied—and abandoned—the twelve tone sy ...

Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...

, and Ken Gaburo, and

electronic media Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical means for the audience to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which today are most often created digitally, but do not require el ...

with

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

during 1967–68 and 1970–71. In 1970, Strange became a professor of music and the director of the

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 ( electroac ...

studios at San Jose State University. He received grants from the

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

Foundation for research into electronic music. Other grant support came from the American Music Center, Yamaha Corporation and the BIAHC Foundation. He attended

John Chowning John M. Chowning (; born August 22, 1934 in Salem, New Jersey) is an American composer, musician, discoverer, and professor best known for his work at Stanford University, the founding of CCRMA - Center for Computer Research in Music and Acou ...

's music seminar at the Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Center. Strange was one of the leading authorities on analogue electronic music; his book ''Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls'' is now a classic text. He also wrote ''Programming and Meta-Programming the Electro-Organism'', the operations manual for the

Buchla Music Easel Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments (BEMI) was a manufacturer of synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The origins of the company could be found in Buchla & Associates, created in 1963 by synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla of Berkeley, Californ ...

and documented the 200 Series synthesizers made by Buchla. He co-founded two performance groups: Biome (1967–1972), in order to make use of the EMS Synthi; and, with

Don Buchla Donald Buchla (April 17, 1937 – September 14, 2016) was an American pioneer in the field of sound synthesis. Buchla popularized the "West Coast" style of synthesis. He was co-inventor of the voltage controlled modular synthesizer along with Rob ...

in 1974, the Electric Weasel Ensemble. He was president of the International Computer Music Association from 1993 to 1998, and appeared as a guest artist-lecturer throughout the world. With his wife, Patricia, they published ''The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques'' (Scarecrow Press). Strange composed for live electronic instrumental ensembles, for live and taped electronics with voices and acoustic instruments, and for the theater; most of his works for acoustic instruments require extended performance techniques. He was particularly interested in linear tuning systems (as in ''The Hairbreadth Ring Screamers'', 1969, and ''Second Book of Angels'', 1979), spatial distribution of sound (''Heart of Gold'', 1982, and ''Velocity Studies'', 1983), the isolation of timbre as a musical parameter, and composing for groups of like instruments or voices. Elements of vaudeville, rock-and-roll, country-and-western music, and the guitar techniques of Les Paul are found in his works. His theater pieces employ various media including film, video, and lighting effects; he produced a series of such works in collaboration with the playwright and director Robert Jenkins, of which the most important are ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' (1979) and ''The Ghost Hour'' (1981), an audio drama. His later projects include works for solo and small ensembles (''Three Short Stories'', 2005), continuation of the ''Goddess Trilogy'' for solo violin (''Goddess'', 2003), works for electronic media with and without acoustic instruments (''Quinault Cathedral'', 2004 and ''Velocity Studies V: NGate'', 2007), compositions for various chamber ensembles (''Songs in Black'', 2005, ''Another Fine Mess'', 2006), works for orchestra (''Bainbridge Sketches'', 2006 and ''Brief Visits to Imaginary Places'', 2007) and a complete evening of settings of poems by

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missour ...

, ''The Cautionary Tales of Eugene Field'', 2006–07). Strange retired from academia in 2002 and moved to

Bainbridge Island, Washington Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

to pursue a full-time career composing, concertizing with his wife, and working with his jazz trio, Cuvée. He died on February 20, 2008, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Literary publications

*''Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls'' (1972) *''Programming and Meta-Programming the Electro-Organism'' (1974)
''The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques''
By Patricia Strange and Allen Strange. Scarecrow Press, Inc. (2001)

Discography

* ''Velocity Study No. 3: Rip'' - The Electro-Acoustic Piano vol. 1, Thinking outLOUD Records * Ghost Strings * Ghost Tracks * ''White Lady'' - MetaSynthia 3.2 * ''Return to Misty Magic Land'' -

60x60 60x60 is a collection of 60 electroacoustic or acousmatic works from 60 different composers/artists, each work 60 seconds or less in duration. 60x60 project showcases sixty new works, each sixty seconds or less, by sixty composers in a continuous ...

(2004–2005)

Vox Novus Vox Novus is a New York City-based organization consisting of composers, musicians, and music enthusiasts which presents and supports new music. Vox Novus was founded by Robert Voisey to promote contemporary composers in 2000. This organization ...

VN-001 * ''Shadow Boxer'' -

(2003)

Capstone Records Capstone Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Richard Brooks in 1986 and was based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has hundreds of releases featuring a w ...

CPS-8744 http://www.capstonerecords.org/CPS-8744.html 60x60 (2003) Page * ''Moon + Moon'' C.R.E.A.M. CD 1001, * ''Sleeping Beauty'' - Consortium to Distribute Computer Music Series Volume 18, Centaur Recordings * ''Shaman'' - Consortium to Distribute Computer Music Series Volume 26, Centaur Recordings * ''Music for Guitar and Tape'' - Consortium to Distribute Computer Music Series Volume 17, Centaur Recordings * ''Velocity Studies IV:'' - International Computer Music Conference 1992 Compact Disc, Executive Producer, ICMC'92 *Flutter for alto saxophone and prerecorded media, Capstone Records * ''Uncle Erhard'' - Audiozine Recordings * ''Dangerous Nights'' a collection of recorded stories with Robert Jenkins, Strange and Jenkins Productions. * ''The Thirty-Seventh Letter'' - Frogs Hollow Recordings. *Velocity Study V: NGate on "Flamethrower" New Music for Trumpet/Flugelhorn and Interactive Electronics (Stephen Ruppenthal, performer), Ravello Records *Misty Magic Land on "Flamethrower" New Music for Trumpet/Flugelhorn and Interactive Electronics (Stephen Ruppenthal, performer), Ravello Records

Interviews

Interview on Camel Audio

Articles and Reviews

''Toronto Metropolitan University: TMU Professor Raises Nearly $270,000 To Reprint Music Theory Textbook''
By Iednewsdesk On Oct 27, 2022

(archived) By Mary Ann Cook, Los Gatos Weekly Times
''The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques'' (review)
by Michael Steinberg, Project MUSE - Volume 59, Number 2, December 2002, pp. 352–354
''Allen Strange, 64, electro-music guru''
By Patrick May, Mercury News, Published 26 February 2008

By Gary Singh, Metro Silicon Valley, Published 27 February 2008
''New musical milestone Annual CSUS festival turns 25; many composers will be in town to present their works and discuss them''
The Sacramento Bee, Published on November 3, 2002
''HE CHOOSES A STRANGE WAY TO ACCEPT AN AWARD''
PAUL HERTELENDY, Mercury News Music Writer, Published on April 29, 1989, Page 2C, San Jose Mercury News (CA)

References

External links

* http://www.allenstrange.com * http://www.voxnovus.com/composer/Allen_Strange.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Strange, Allen 1943 births 2008 deaths American male composers American composers Pupils of Robert Erickson Pupils of Harry Partch People from Calexico, California 20th-century American male musicians