The Experimental Music Studios (EMS) is an organization or center for electroacoustic and

computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ap ...

, focusing on

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors ** Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organ ...

and

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

performance of

art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...

,the Experimental Music Studios
, ''EMS.music.Illinois.edu''. Accessed: February 26, 2017 founded by

Lejaren Hiller Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr. (February 23, 1924, New York City – January 26, 1994, Buffalo, New York)Lejaren Hi ...

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 1958. The "second electronic music studio developed in the United States", Bohn, James (undated).
Early History of the Experimental Music Studios
, ''EMS.music.Illinois.edu''. Accessed: February 26, 2017. and the "first formally acknowledged electro-acoustic facility in the United States" (since the

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 hous ...

, "although formally acknowledged in 1959, in 1952"Battisti, Emanuele (undated).
The Experimental Music Studio at the University of Illinois, 1958-68
, ''EMS.music.Illinois.edu''. Accessed: February 26, 2017.) at an initial cost of $8,000, early equipment included an "old broadcasting studio control panel" as console, microphones, amplifiers, oscilloscopes, tape decks, and other donated items. The studios received a $30,000 grant from

Magnavox Magnavox (Latin for "great voice", stylized as MAGNAVOX) is an American electronics company that since 1974 has been a subsidiary of the Dutch electronics corporation Philips. The predecessor to Magnavox was founded in 1911 by Edwin Pridham and ...

in 1962, and a $53,100 grant from the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

in 1965. Directed by Scott A. Wyatt for forty years, it is currently directed by Eli Fieldsteel, and consists of multiple studios. Alumni include

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...

, Neely Bruce,

Herbert Brün Herbert Brün (July 9, 1918 – November 6, 2000) was a composer, pioneer of electronic and computer music, and cybernetician. Born in Berlin, Germany, he taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1962 until he retired, several y ...

Mary Ellen Childs Mary Ellen Childs (born April 13, 1957 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American composer and multimedia artist and founder of the ensemble Crash. She grew up as a dancer and writes music often influenced by dance rhythms. She currently administers t ...

, Insook Choi,

Donnacha Dennehy Donnacha Dennehy (born 17 August 1970) is an Irish composer and leader of the Crash Ensemble specializing in contemporary classical music. According to musicologist Bob Gilmore, Dennehy's "high profile of his compositions internationally, togeth ...

Robert Fleisher Robert Fleisher (born 1953 in New York City) is a composer and Professor Emeritus at Northern Illinois University and the author of ''Twenty Israeli Composers'', where he discusses with twenty Israeli composers about their inspirations, methods ...

, Mara Helmuth, Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner, Ben Johnston,

Salvatore Martirano Salvatore Giovanni Martirano (January 12, 1927 – November 17, 1995) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Born in Yonkers, New York, he taught for many years at the University of Illinois. He also worked in electronic music a ...

Larry Polansky Larry Polansky (born 1954) is a composer, guitarist, mandolinist, and professor emeritus at Dartmouth College and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a founding member and co-director of Frog Peak Music (a composers' collective) He c ...

David Rosenboom David Rosenboom (born 1947 in Fairfield, Iowa) is a composer-performer, interdisciplinary artist, author, and educator known for his work in American experimental music. Rosenboom has explored various forms of music, languages for improvisation, ...

Carla Scaletti Carla Scaletti (born April 28, 1956) is an American harpist, composer, music technologist and the inventor of the Kyma Sound Design Environment as well as president of Symbolic Sound. Biography Carla Scaletti was born in Ithaca, New York. She g ...

James Tenney James Tenney (August 10, 1934 – August 24, 2006) was an American composer and music theorist. He made significant early musical contributions to plunderphonics, sound synthesis, algorithmic composition, process music, spectral music, microtonal ...

David Ward-Steinman David Ward-Steinman (November 6, 1936 – April 14, 2015) was an American composer and professor. He was the author of ''Toward a Comparative Structural Theory of the Arts'', and co-authored ''Comparative Anthology of Musical Forms''. Ward-Stei ...

, David Weinstein, and

Olly Wilson Olly Woodrow Wilson, Jr. (September 7, 1937 – March 12, 2018) was an American composer of contemporary classical music, pianist, double bassist, and a musicologist. He was one of the most preeminent composers of African American descent in the ...

. Composers who worked at the center between 1958 and 1975 include

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

Michael Colgrass Michael Charles Colgrass (April 22, 1932 – July 2, 2019) was an American-born Canada-based musician, composer, and educator. Life and career Colgrass was born in Brookfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His musical career began in Chicag ...

Kenneth Gaburo Kenneth Louis Gaburo (July 5, 1926 – January 26, 1993) was an American composer. Life Gaburo was born in Somerville, New Jersey. He served as a professor of music at the University of Illinois, the University of California, San Diego, and the Un ...

Charles Hamm Charles Edward Hamm (April 21, 1925 – October 16, 2011) was an American musicologist, writer, composer, and music educator. He is credited with being the first music historian to seriously study and write about American popular music. He al ...

, and

John Melby John Melby (born 1941) is an American composer. Life and work John Melby is most widely known for his numerous compositions for computer-synthesized sounds, particularly in combination with live acoustic instruments. In addition to electronic mu ...

.EMS History Slide Show
(slides 3 and 15), ''EMS.music.Illinois.edu''. Accessed: February 26, 2017. Hiller created the MUSICOMP ("MUsic SImulator-Interpreter for COMpositional Procedures")

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...

for music composition with Robert Baker in order to create their ''Computer Cantata'' (1963) at the studios.Bohn, James (undated).
Lejaren Hiller
, ''ems.music.illinois.edu''. Accessed: February 26, 2017. MUSICOMP was used by Brün in generating his ''Non Sequitur VI'' (1966). Composer James Beauchamp developed the Harmonic Tone Generator (a form of

additive synthesis Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together. The timbre of musical instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier series, Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmoni ...

) at the studios.

References

{{Computer music

See also

References