Experimental Music Studios Records, 1924-2016 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Materials are arranged into four distinct series:

Series 1) Studio Historical Records, is arranged chronologically by material type.

Series 2) EMS Technical Reports, is arranged numerically by the assigned catalog number for each technical report.

Series 3) Audio and Visual Recordings, is arranged into three separate sub-series: 1) Cataloged Audio Recordings, which consists of audio recordings that were arranged numerically by catalog number and created by Scott Wyatt (then Director of the EMS), the cataloging schema starts on number 5000 and ascends numerically, but does not correspond to the chronological date in which it was created; 2) Non-Cataloged Audio Recordings, which consists of audio recordings without an assigned catalog number and which is arranged alphabetically by batch maintaining the original order of the tapes as they were found [Note: Boxes 5, 14, and 19 are displayed first in this finding aid with each box arranged alphabetically. Following that, Boxes 21-27 are arranged alphabetically by batch, following original order]; and 3) Video Recordings, which is arranged alphabetically.

Series 4) Equiptment is arranged chronologically.

The University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios were founded in 1958 by Lejaren Hiller, Jr. and were arguably the first of their kind in the Western Hemisphere (the Columbia-Princeton Music Center officially opened around the same time). Faculty members and students working in these studios have been responsible for major developments in both electro-acoustic music and electronic music instruments (often in collaboration with the University of Illinois College of Engineering). Notable developments within the field of electro-acoustic music include: Lejaren Hiller's Illiac Suite (the first musical score composed by computer), Kenneth Gaburo's Lemon Drops (utilizing tape and locally created electronic instruments), and Salvatore Martirano's Underworld (utilizing Salvatore's unique hand-built synthesizer).

Notable electronic music instruments that were developed within the EMS and the University of Illinois include James Beauchamp's Harmonic Tone Generator (which was developed in 1964 and was one of the first voltage controlled instruments) and Salvatore Maritrano's Sal-Mar Construction (built ca. 1970 utilizing remaining circuit boards of the University's Illiac computer).

The EMS participated in multiple group and individual commercially released albums including Electronic Music From The University Of Illinois (Heliodor Records, 1967), Computer Music From The University Of Illinois (Heliodor/MGM Records 1967), and Music by Computers with accompanying book (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.1969). Albums from individual composers from within the EMS included Kenneth Gaburo's Music For Voices, Instruments & Electronic Sounds (Nonesuch Reccords, 1968), Salvatore Martirano's L's GA (Polydor Records, 1968), and Lejaren Hiller and John Melby's Computer Music (CRI Records, 1973). The EMS also created its own record label (EMS) which it used to release LPs and CDs from the 1970s through the 1990s.

As of 2017, the facility continues as an active and productive center for electro-acoustic and computer music composition, education and research.