John Oswald (composer)
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John Oswald (born May 30, 1953 in
Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...
) is a Canadian
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 ...
, saxophonist, media artist and dancer. His best known project is ''
Plunderphonics Plunderphonics is a music genre in which tracks are constructed by sampling recognizable musical works. The term was coined by composer John Oswald in 1985 in his essay "Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative", and even ...
'', the practice of making new music out of previously existing recordings (see
sound collage In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage. This is often done throug ...
and
musical montage In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage. This is often done throu ...
).


Early life

Oswald was introduced to sampling from a young age having been gifted a reel-to-reel player from his parents at age 9. He then attended
Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...
in the 1970s, becoming part of
World Soundscape Project The World Soundscape Project (WSP) was an international research project founded by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer in the late 1960s at Simon Fraser University. The project initiated the modern study of acoustic ecology. Its ultimate goal is ...
while on campus. It was there that Oswald became familiar with recorded sounds from different environments and applying them to new work created.


Philosophy

Oswald coined the term "
plunderphonics Plunderphonics is a music genre in which tracks are constructed by sampling recognizable musical works. The term was coined by composer John Oswald in 1985 in his essay "Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative", and even ...
" to describe his craft in a paper calle
"Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative"
which he presented at the Wired Society Electro-Acoustic Conference in Toronto in 1985. Inspired by
William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
' cut-up technique, Oswald had been devising plunderphonic-style compositions since the late 1960s. In an interview with Norman Igma following the release of the Plunderphonics EP in 1988, he described the concept as follows:
''A plunderphone is a recognizable sonic quote, using the actual sound of something familiar which has already been recorded. Whistling a bar of "
Density 21.5 ''Density 21.5'' is a composition for solo Western concert flute, flute written by Edgard Varèse in 1936 and revised in 1946. The piece was composed at the request of Georges Barrère for the premiere of his platinum flute, the density of platinu ...
" is a traditional musical quote. Taking Madonna singing "Like a Virgin" and rerecording it backwards or slower is plunderphonics, as long as you can reasonably recognize the source. The plundering has to be blatant though. There's a lot of samplepocketing, parroting, plagiarism and tune thievery going on these days which is not what we're doing.''
Plunderphonics Plunderphonics is a music genre in which tracks are constructed by sampling recognizable musical works. The term was coined by composer John Oswald in 1985 in his essay "Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative", and even ...
is related to but distinct from sampling used in genres such as hip-hop.


Works

His 1975 track "Power" married frenetic
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
guitars to the impassioned exhortations of a Southern US evangelist years before hip hop discovered the potency of the same (and related) ingredients. Similarly, his 1990 track "Vane", which pitted two different versions of the song "
You're So Vain "You're So Vain" is a song written in 1971 by American singer and songwriter Carly Simon and released in November 1972. It is one of the songs with which Simon is most identified, and upon its release, reached No. 1 in the United States, Canada, ...
" (the
Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...
original and a cover by
Faster Pussycat Faster Pussycat is an American hard rock/glam metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985 by vocalist Taime Downe, guitarists Brent Muscat and Greg Steele and bassist Kelly Nickels. The group has since gone through numerous lineup changes lea ...
) against each other, was a blueprint for the contemporary pop subgenre, 'glitch pop' or '
mashup (music) A mashup (also mesh, mash up, mash-up, blend, bastard pop or bootleg) is a creative work, usually a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumenta ...
'. In 1980, Oswald founded the Mystery Tapes Laboratory, which created unnamed, unattributed works on cassette, described on th
plunderphonics website
as ''"little boxes of sonifericity specifically formulated for the curious listener. Available in your choice of aural flavors: subliminal, blasted, excerpted, repeatpeateatattttttedly, these cinemaphonically-concocted aggregates of très different but exquisitely manifest, unprecedentedly varied festerings of audio quality fine magnetic cassette tapes are the best of whatever you've been listening for"''. Oswald continues to be Director of Research at Mystery Tapes. His greatest source of controversy was the 1988 release of the Plunderphonics EP, which he distributed to the press and to radio stations. It contained four plundered tracks: "Don't" by
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
which included piano accompaniment by
Bob Wiseman Robert Neil "Bob" Wiseman (born 1962) is a film composer, songwriter, author and music teacher. Wiseman discovered or produced many artists including Ron Sexsmith, The Lowest of the Low, Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, Anhai, and former ...
, "Pocket" by
Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
, a version of
Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
singing "The Great Pretender" in which "she gets to sing a duet with himself(sic)", and "Spring", a version of
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
's
The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring''. Full name: ''The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts'' (french: Le Sacre du printemps: tableaux de la Russie païenne en deux parties) (french: Le Sacre du printemps, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral ...
. In 1989, Oswald released an expanded version of the Plunderphonics album containing twenty-five tracks, each using material from a different artist. In 1990, notice was given to Oswald by the Canadian Recording Industry Association on behalf of several of their clients (notably
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
, whose song "Bad" had been cut up, layered, and rearranged as "Dab") that all undistributed copies of Plunderphonics be destroyed under threat of legal action. An excerpt from
press release
on th
plunderphonics website
is repeated below:
''"I wasn't selling the disc in the stores, so I let listeners tape it off the radio for free," explains Oswald, who paid for the production and manufacture of the CD out of his own pocket. He receives no royalties or financial compensation for airplay. Brian Robertson, president of CRIA says, ``What this demonstrates is the vulnerability of the recording industry to new technology...All we see is just another example of theft."'' ''Oswald received notice from CRIA's lawyers demanding that he cease distributing Plunderphonic as of Xmas eve '89. "They insisted I quit playing Santa Claus," Oswald observes.''
In 1993 Oswald released ''Plexure''. Arguably his most ambitious composition to date, it attempted to microsample the history of CD music up to that point (1982–1992) in a 20 minute collage of bewildering complexity. The ambition of this piece would later be recalled by the British bootlegger
Osymyso Osymyso (real name Mark Nicholson) is a musician and DJ from the United Kingdom who specialises in the genres of mashup / bastard pop and breakbeat. He has been making music since 1994 and released his first album, '' Welcome to the Pailindrome ...
, whose "
Intro-Inspection Osymyso (real name Mark Nicholson) is a musician and DJ from the United Kingdom who specialises in the genres of mashup / bastard pop and breakbeat. He has been making music since 1994 and released his first album, '' Welcome to the Pailindrome ...
" emulates the pop-junkie feel of ''Plexure''. From 1993-1996, Oswald worked on and released ''
Grayfolded ''Grayfolded'' is a two-CD album produced by John Oswald featuring new edits and re-mixes of the Grateful Dead song " Dark Star". Using over a hundred different performances of the song, recorded live between 1968 and 1993, Oswald, using a proce ...
'', a 2-Disc set commissioned by the
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
consisting of pieces created from over 100 performances of the song "Dark Star". Oswald initially created and released disc 1, "Transitive Axis", which contains a 59 minute 59 second work in 9 movements. Feeling that there was more territory to explore, Oswald worked on disc 2, Mirror Ashes, which is a composition in "6*" movements. Once both discs were complete they were packaged together with extensive liner notes and a "visual time map" of the sources used in the compositions. ''
Grayfolded ''Grayfolded'' is a two-CD album produced by John Oswald featuring new edits and re-mixes of the Grateful Dead song " Dark Star". Using over a hundred different performances of the song, recorded live between 1968 and 1993, Oswald, using a proce ...
'' was selected the #1 international recording of the decade by the ''
Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
''. In addition to his extensive work in "plunderphonics", Oswald is also involved with acoustic music, as a composer and improviser. His compositions for orchestra often do include electronic elements, such as ''Concerto for Wired Conductor and Orchestra'' (?), but has also composed for acoustic ensembles, such as ''Acupuncture'' (1991). Oswald improvises with the
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
, and is a member of free improvisation group CCMC.


Other projects

Oswald is also actively involved in
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
, as a composer for dance works, as a collaborator with
choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
s, and as an active Contact Improviser. Oswald founded the record label ''fony'', which produced the retrospective box set '' 69 plunderphonics 96'' (a.k.a. Plunderphonics 69/96) and reissued ''
Grayfolded ''Grayfolded'' is a two-CD album produced by John Oswald featuring new edits and re-mixes of the Grateful Dead song " Dark Star". Using over a hundred different performances of the song, recorded live between 1968 and 1993, Oswald, using a proce ...
''. The label also rereleased ''Plexure'' and released ''Aparanthesi'', a work which uses the single note A in an experiment with
timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...
, dynamics, and layering, on CD in 2003. Since 2000 Oswald has been as active in exhibiting his visual art as in continuing his musical activities.


Legacy

In 2004, Oswald was one of six artists to win the annual
Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts are annual awards for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. Up to eight awards are presented annually with the prize amount is $25,000 Created in 2000 by then Governor General Adrie ...
, as awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts, for lifetime achievement.


Discography

*''Burrows'' (1974–75) *''Power'' (1975) *''Improvised'' (1978) *''Moose and Salmon'' (Music Gallery, 1979) *''Alto Sax'' (Metalanguage, 1981) *''Plunderphonics EP'' (1988) *''Plunderphonic CD'' (1989) *''Electrax'' (1991) *''Discophere'' (1991) *''Rubiyat Plunderphonics'' (1991) - promo-CD made from
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
' '' Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary'' collection *''Acoustics'' (1993) - with Henry Kaiser, Jim O'Rourke, and
Mari Kimura (; born 1962) is a Japanese violinist and composer best known for her use of subharmonics, which, achieved through special bowing techniques, allow pitches below the instrument's normal range. She is credited with "introducing" the use of viol ...
*''Plexure'' (1993) *''
Grayfolded ''Grayfolded'' is a two-CD album produced by John Oswald featuring new edits and re-mixes of the Grateful Dead song " Dark Star". Using over a hundred different performances of the song, recorded live between 1968 and 1993, Oswald, using a proce ...
'' (1994) - a two cd mix of over 100 versions of the
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
song " Dark Star" *''Parcours scénographique'' (1997) *''aCCoMpliCes'' with CCMC ( Victo, VICTO 063, 1998) *'' 69plunderphonics96'' (a.k.a. ''Plunderphonics 69/96'') (
Box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
) (2000) *''
Complicité Complicité is a American theatre company founded in 1898 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni. Its original name was Théâtre de Complicité. The company is based in London and uses extreme movement to represent their work, wit ...
'' (2001) - with
Paul Plimley Paul Horace Plimley (16 March 1953 – 18 May 2022) was a free jazz pianist and vibraphonist. He was one of the doyens of the Canadian jazz avant-garde, a co-founder of the New Orchestra Workshop Society and frequent collaborator with the bassis ...
,
Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrot ...
and
Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...
*''Bloor'' (2001) - with
David Prentice David Prentice (4 July 1936 – 7 May 2014) was an English artist and former art teacher. In 1964 he was one of the four founder members of Birmingham's Ikon Gallery. Prentice's work features in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Mu ...
and
Dominic Duval Dominic Duval (c. 1944 – July 22, 2016) was an American free jazz bassist. Since the 1990s, Duval was active principally on the New York City jazz scene. He did not begin recording regularly until the 1990s, but since then had appeared on a ve ...
*''Dearness'' (2002) - with Anne Bourne and
Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...
*''Aparanthesi'' (empreintes DIGITALes, IMED 0368, 2003) *''Arc d’apparition'' (
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
) and ''Whisperfield'' ( CD) (2004) *''Number Nine'' with Michael Keith and Roger Turner ( Emanem 4129, 2005)


List of works

* ''Acupuncture'' (1991), for clarinet, trumpet, piano, 2 percussion and double bass * ''Aparanthesi'' (2003) * ''Ariature (from The Idea of This)'' (1999), for chamber orchestra and tape or tenor * ''b9'' (2011), for chamber ensemble * ''b9'' (2012), for the nine symphonies of Beethoven * ''Bell Speeds'' (1983, 90) * ''Blur (Bolton Chili Overdire); 1 Moment, 2 Wow, 3 Nest'' * ''Burrows'' (1974–75) * ''Compact (R.E.M.T.V. Hammercamp); 1 Phase, 2 Snap'' * ''Cyfer (Depeche Mould)'' * ''from Burrows: silence to say'' (1974) * ''Fee Fie Foe Fum'' (2017) * ''Grayfolded'' (1995) * ''Homonymy'' (1998), for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trombone, percussion, violin, cello, doublebass and video tape * ''Mad Mod (Jello Bellafonte)'' * ''Manifold (Bing Stingspreen); 1 Philosophy, 2 Phase'' * ''Massive (Ozzie Osmond); 1 Hazzard, 2 Warning, 3 Treacherous'' * ''Ohmigone'' (2001) * ''Open (Bo No Ma); 1 Suck, 2 Rip'' * ''Ridge'' (2001) * ''Skindling Shadés'' (1987) * "Spectre" (1990), on ''
Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
'' * ''Temperature (Beastie Shop Beach); 1 Tempus Amoré (Hyper Love Time), 2 Tempo Pact'' * ''Un paysage (Ouverture)'' (1996) * ''Urge (Marianne Faith No Morrisey); 1 Slow, 2 Slice, 3 Blink'' * ''Velocity (Aretha Vanilli); 1 Tremendous, 2 Tremulous'' * ''Worse (Anthrax Squeeze Factory)'' * ''Zoom (Sinead O'Connick Jr); 1 Alone, 2 Gogh''


See also

*
Anti-copyright Criticism of copyright, or anti-copyright sentiment, is a dissenting view of the current state of copyright law or copyright as a concept. Critics often discuss philosophical, economical, or social rationales of such laws and the laws' implem ...
*
Plunderphonics Plunderphonics is a music genre in which tracks are constructed by sampling recognizable musical works. The term was coined by composer John Oswald in 1985 in his essay "Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative", and even ...
*
Cut-Up Technique The cut-up technique (or ''découpé'' in French) is an aleatory literary technique in which a written text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. The concept can be traced to the Dadaists of the 1920s, but it was developed and popularized ...


References

;Sources
plunderphonics.comelectrocd.com
- commercial art gallery representing Oswald
The Canadian Music Centre


Further reading

*Oswald, John.

" ''eContact! 14.3 — Turntablism'' (January 2013). Montréal: CEC. *Steenhuisen, Paul. "Interview with John Oswald." In
Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers
'. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2009. . *Gans, David. "The Man Who Stole Michael Jackson's Face" in WIRED 3.02 199


External links


pfony.com
Oswald's record label FONY

on the plunderphonics site

2001 interview with John Oswald
Interview with John Oswald
(2010), for Ràdio Web MACBA {{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald, John 1953 births Living people 21st-century classical composers Canadian classical composers Canadian classical musicians Electroacoustic music composers Canadian sound artists Musicians from Kitchener, Ontario Canadian male classical composers Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners Emanem Records artists Incus Records artists 21st-century Canadian male musicians