Bebe and Louis Barron and Template:Irish republicanism tasks: Difference between pages

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'''Louis''' (1920–1989) and '''Bebe Barron''' (b. 1927) were two [[United States|American]] pioneers in the field of [[electronic music]]. They are credited with writing the first electronic music for [[magnetic tape]], and the first entirely electronic [[film score]] for ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''.

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==Early work==

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As a young man, Louis had an affinity for working with a [[soldering gun]] and [[electrical]] gear. He studied music at the [[University of Chicago]]. Bebe studied music with [[Wallingford Rieger]] and [[Henry Cowell]].

The couple married in [[1948]] and moved to [[New York]]. Louis' cousin, who was an executive at the ''Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company'' ([[3M]]), gave the newly weds their first [[tape recorder]] as the wedding gift{{ref|hitler}}. Using their newly acquired equipment, the couple delved into the study of [[musique concrete]].

The first [[electronic music]] for [[magnetic tape]] composed in America was completed by Louis and Bebe in [[1950]] and was titled ''Heavenly Menagerie''. This was long before [[Samplers]] and [[Synthesizers]] were invented and this meant that making [[electronic music]] was slow and laborious. The tape had to be physically cut and pasted back together to edit the finished sounds and compositions together.

==Production==

The [[1948]] book ''Cybernetics: Or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine'', by [[mathematician]] [[Norbert Wiener]] from [[MIT]] played an important role in the development of the Barrons' composition. The science of [[cybernetics]] proposes that certain natural laws of behavior apply to both animals and more complex electronic machines.

By following the equations presented in the book, Louis was able to build [[electronic circuit]]s which he manipulated to generate sounds. Most of the tonalities were generated with a circuit called a [[ring modulator]]. The sounds and patterns that came out of the circuits were unique and unpredictable. Some circuits would die, and the Barrons could never reconstruct them back. Because of the unforeseen life span of the circuitry, the Barrons made a habit of recording everything.

Most of the production was not scripted or notated in any way. The Barrons didn't even consider the process as [[music composition]] themselves. The circuit generated sound was not treated as [[note]]s, but instead as 'actors'. In future soundtrack composition, each circuit would be manipulated according to actions of the underlying character in the film.

After recording the sounds, the couple manipulated the material by adding effects, such as [[reverb]] and [[Tape delay (audio effect)|tape delay]]. They also reversed and changed the speed of certain sounds{{ref|pitch}}. The [[mixdown]] of multiple sounds was performed with at least three tape recorders. The outputs of two machines would be manually synchronized{{ref|synchronization}}, and fed into an input of a third one, recording two separate sources simultaneously. The synchronization of future film work was accomplished by two 16mm [[movie projector|projectors]] that were tied into a 16mm tape recorder, and thus ran at the same speed.

While Louis spent most of his time with the circuitry, Bebe did much of the [[Musical composition|composing]] and [[Audio engineering|production]], and [[arrangement]]. She had to sort through hours of tape and edit as appropriate. Together they arranged and manipulated the sounds to create otherworldly and strange electronic [[soundscape]]s.

==Recording studio==

Soon after relocation to New York, the Barrons opened a [[recording studio]] at 9 West 8th Street in [[Greenwich Village]] that catered to the [[avant-garde]] scene. This may have been the very first electronic music studio in America. At the studio, the Barrons used a tape recorder to record everything and everyone. They recorded [[Henry Miller]], [[Tennessee Williams]], and [[Aldous Huxley]] reading their work in a form of early [[audio book]]. In June 1949 [[Anais Nin]] recorded a full version of ''[[House of Incest]]'' and four other stories from ''[[Under a Glass Bell]]''. These recordings were pressed on red [[vinyl]] and released on the Barrons' ''Contemporary Classics'' [[record label]] under the ''Sound Portraits'' series.

For a short time, the Barrons held a monopoly on [[Sound recording#Magnetic Recording|tape recording]] equipment. The only other competition in town were the studios owned by [[Raymond Scott]] and [[Eric Siday]]. The connection through Louis' cousin working at [[3M]] proved to be vital in obtaining batches of early [[magnetic tape]]. Due to the lack of competition in the field, and to the surprise of the owners, the recording business was a success.

Most of the equipment in the studio was completely built by the Barrons. One of the home made pieces included a monstrous [[Loudspeaker|speaker]] which could produce very heavy [[Bass (musical term)|bass]]. [[Electronic oscillator]]s that produced [[sawtooth wave|sawtooth]], [[sine wave|sine]], and [[square wave]]s, were also a home built prize possession. They had a [[Audio filter|filter]], a [[Reverberation|spring reverberator]], and several [[tape recorder]]s. The thriving business brought in the income to purchase some commercial equipment. The Stancil-Hoffmann [[reel to reel]] was custom built by the inventor for looping the samples and changing their speed.

The Barrons' music was noticed by the [[avant-garde]] scene. During 1952-53 the studio was used by [[John Cage]] for his very first tape work ''[[Williams Mix]]''. The Barrons were hired by Cage to be the engineers. They recorded over 600 different sounds, and arranged them with Cage's directions in various ways by splicing the tape together. The four and a half minute piece took over a year to finish. Cage also worked in the Barrons' studio on his ''Music for Magnetic Tape'' with other notable composers, including [[Morton Feldman]], [[Earle Brown]], and [[David Tudor]].

==Film work==

The Barrons quickly learned that the [[avant-garde]] scene did not reap many financial rewards. They turned to [[Hollywood]], which had already been using electronic instruments such as the [[theremin]] in film soundtracks for several years.

In the early 50s, the Barrons collaborated with various celebrated filmmakers to provide music and [[sound effects]] for [[art film]]s and [[experimental cinema]]. The Barrons scored three of [[Ian Hugo]]'s films based on his wife's, [[Anais Nin]]'s, writings. The most notable film was ''Bells of Atlantis'' (1952). The Barrons assisted [[Maya Deren]] in the audio production of the [[soundtrack]] for ''The Very Eye of Night'' (1959), which featured music by [[Teiji Ito]].

In [[1956]] the Barrons composed the very first electronic score for a commercial film &ndash; ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''.

==Forbidden Planet==

{{main|Forbidden Planet}}

The soundtrack for Forbidden Planet ([[1956]]) is today recognized as the first entirely electronic score for a film. Eerie and sinister, the soundtrack was unlike anything that audiences had heard before. Music historians have often noted how groundbreaking the soundtrack was in the development of [[electronic music]].

On the album sleeve notes of the Forbidden Planet soundtrack, Louis and Bebe explain: <blockquote>

''We design and construct electronic circuits which function electronically in a manner remarkably similar to the way that lower life-forms function psychologically. [. . .]. In scoring Forbidden Planet &ndash; as in all of our work &ndash; we created individual cybernetics circuits for particular themes and leit motifs, rather than using standard sound generators. Actually, each circuit has a characteristic activity pattern as well as a "voice". [. . .]. We were delighted to hear people tell us that the tonalities in Forbidden Planet remind them of what their dreams sound like.{{ref|sleevenotes}}''

</blockquote>

The producers of the film have originally wanted to hire [[Harry Partch]] to do the music score. The Barrons were brought in to do only about twenty minutes of [[sound effect]]s. After the producers have heard the initial sample score, the Barrons were assigned an hour and ten minutes of the rest of the film. The studio wanted to move the couple to [[Hollywood]] where most of the film scores were produced at the time. But the couple would not budge, and took the work back to their New York studio.

The music and the sound effects stunned the audience. During the preview of a movie, when the sounds of the spaceship landing on ''Altair IV'' filled the theater, the audience broke out in spontaneous applause.

Not everyone was happy with the score. Louis and Bebe did not belong to the [[Musicians' Union]]. The original screen credit for the film, which was supposed to read "Electronic Music by Louis and Bebe Barron", was changed at the last moment by a contract lawyer from the [[American Federation of Musicians]]. In order to not upset the union, the association with the word ''music'' had to be removed. The Barrons were credited with "Electronic Tonalities". Because of their non-membership, the film was not considered for an [[Academy Award|Oscar]] in the soundtrack, or special effects category.

==Closing==

Purists would often quibble as to if the Barrons' [[atonal]] creations could be classified as "music". This was to cause problems throughout their careers, and they were never to become members of the Musicians' Union. As a result they were never to score another film. The Barrons did not continue to keep up with technology, and as a result some have said that they found themselves at a creative dead end.

In 1962, the Barrons moved to [[Los Angeles]]. Although they divorced in 1970, they continued to compose until the death of Louis in [[1989]]. Bebe Barron was the first Secretary of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the [[United States]] from 1985 to 1987. In [[1999]] she was invited to create a new work at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]], using the latest in sound generating technology. She completed her work in [[2000]] titled ''Mixed Emotions''.

Today, Bebe is fluent in [[computer music|computer-generated]] [[audio synthesis]] and real time [[programming language]]s like [[SuperCollider]].

==Quotations==

*"[Barrons' music sounds like] a molecule that has stubbed its toes." &mdash; From the ''Diary of Anais Nin'', Volume 7 (1966-1974).

==Works==

''(in alphabetical order)''

*''Bells of Atlantis.'' Film score. 1952.

*''Cannabis.'' Film score. 1975.

*''The Circe Circuit.'' Tape. 1982.

*''The Computer Age.'' Film score. 1968.

*''Crystal Growing.'' Film score. 1959.

*''Elegy for a Dying Planet.'' Tape. 1982.

*''For an Electronic Nervous System.'' Tape. 1954.

*''Forbidden Planet.'' Videotape or Laserdisc. [[MGM]]/UA Home Video, 1991.

*''Heavenly Menagerie.'' Tape. 1951-52.

*''Jazz of Lights.'' Film score. 1956.

*''Miramagic.'' Film score. 1954.

*''More Than Human.'' Film score. 1974.

*''Music of Tomorrow.'' Tape. 1960.

*''New Age Synthesis II on Totally Wired.'' Pennsylvania Public Radio Associates Cassette Series, 1986.

*''Space Boy.'' Tape. 1971. Revised and used for film of same name, 1973.

*''Time Machine'' on Music from the Soundtrack of Destination Moon and Other Themes. Cinema Records LP-8005, 1970.

==Notes==

# {{note|hitler}} The first tape recorder given to the Barrons was the same type as used in recording [[Hitler]]'s speeches.

# {{note|pitch}} Speeding up and slowing down the tape in effect changed the [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] of the recorded material and individual sounds.

# {{note|synchronization}} Manual [[synchronization]] was accomplished by actually counting out loud "one-two-three-go" and pushing the play back buttons at the same time. Precise synchronization was not necessary in composing [[atmospheric]] music.

# {{note|sleevenotes}} Quoted from the sleeve notes of the Forbidden Planet soundtrack. See References.

==References==

*Barron, Louis and Bebe. Forbidden Planet soundtrack LP. Small Planet Records (1956). Album sleeve notes.

*Holmes, Thom (2002). ''Electronic and Experimental Music'' (2nd ed.). New York: Routeledge ISBN 0-415-93644-6

*Stone, Susan. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4486840 ''The Barrons: Forgotten Pioneers of Electronic Music'']. Text and Audio Broadcast. [[NPR]], Morning Edition, February 7, 2005.

[[Category:1920 births|Barron, Louis]]

[[Category:1989 deaths|Barron, Louis]]

[[Category:American musicians|Barron, Louis and Bebe]]

[[Category:Electronic music pioneers|Barron, Louis and Bebe]]

[[Category:Experimental composers|Barron, Louis and Bebe]]