OHM+: The Early Gurus Of Electronic Music : 1948–1980
•
2hrs
25mins
Directed by
Edin Velez,
Lillian Schwartz,
Beryl Korot,
Starring
Milton Babbitt,
Robert Moog,
Morton Subotnick,
Clara Rockmore
...
Over two hours of rare performances, interviews, animations, and experimental video. Milton Babbit’s discussion of the difficulties of working with archaic synthesizers in the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the 1950s and ’60s is a firm reminder of just how foreign electronic sounds were to even the academic community only 40 years ago. Likewise, Paul Lansky’s private lesson with theremin inventor Leon Theremin is an example of how non-user friendly electronic musical instruments could be, even to people who should have the best sense of how to approach them.