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

By Rachel Johannigmeier and David Luftig

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Collection Overview

Title: Experimental Music Studios Records, 1924-2016

ID: 12/5/70

Primary Creator: Experimental Music Studio (1958-present)

Extent: 37.6 cubic feet

Arrangement: Materials are arranged into four distinct series 1) Studio Historical Records, 2) EMS Technical Reports, 3) Audio and Visual Recordings, and 4) Equiptment. Series 1 is arranged chronologically by material type. Series 2 is arranged numerically by the assigned catalog number for each technical report. Series 3 is arranged into three separate sub-series: Sub-Series 1 "Cataloged Audio Recordings" consists of audio recordings that were arranged numerically by catalog number, which was 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; Sub-Series 2 "Non-Cataloged Audio Recordings" consists of audio recordings without an assigned catalog number and 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]; Sub-Series 3 "Video Recordings" is arranged alphabetically. Series 4 is arranged chronologically.

Date Acquired: 02/17/2015. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Composition, Computer Music, Illiac Computers, Music, School of

Formats/Genres: Experimental Music

Languages: English, French, German, Polish

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Audio recordings, correspondences, technical reports, lecture notes, music manuscripts, photographic prints, film negatives, promotional publications, and newsclippings documenting the operations of the School of Music Experimental Music Studios (EMS). Included in these documents is information regarding subjects including computer-assisted composition, the ILLIAC digital computers, EMS equipment acquisition and maintenance, renovation of EMS facilities, and grant proposals. The technical reports cover information pertaining to the specifications and usage of audio equipment witin the EMS. Correspondances detail significant authors including: Lejaren Hiller, Herbert Brün, James Beauchamp, and Scott Wyatt.

This collection also consists of audio recordings of materials that were created both within the EMS and by composers not affiliated with the institution. The collection contains both recording masters and copies. The audio collection was originally intended to serve multiple purposes within the EMS including being used for pedagogical and research purposes, to archive the recordings that were created within the EMS, and to be utilized for live performances. The recordings that were not created within the EMS were donated through mail correspondences, through a composer's on-campus, or at various conferences.

Some of the notable recordings from within the audio collection includes the master recordings of Lejaren Hiller's Seven Electronic Studies and A Triptych For Hieronymus, Music by Computers by Various Composers (commercially released in 1969), Salvatore Martirano's Underworld (Performance Loops), and a demonstration tape of James Beauchamp's Harmonic Tone Generator.

Significant composers within the audio collection who the EMS include: Jon Appleton, James Beauchamp, Herbert Brün, Kenneth Gaburo, Lejaren Hiller, Ben Johnston, Paul Koonce, Salvatore Martirano, John Melby, Gordon Mumma, Harry Partch, and Scott Wyatt.

The audio collection also features many recordings originating from non-EMS affiliated composers. The collection is particularly strong in materials from the Polish Experimental Music Studio (featuring composers Bohdan Mazurek and Boguslaw Schaeffer).

Other significant recording studios prominently featured within this collection include: Bell Laboratories, Columbia-Princeton Music Center, Dartmouth College, Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio in Warsaw/Polskie Radio i Telewizja, Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the University of Michigan, the University of Utrecht.

Many of the tape cases from these external institutions were custom made or have institutional markings and documentation on them.

Within the audio tape collection, sixty-one of the tapes have additional documents in the tape cases. Such documents include composition and composer information, program notes, and correspondences originating from the composer.

Many of the recordings also utilize significant electronic and custom instruments. Significant electronic instruments utilized within these recordings include: the Bell Labs GROOVE Systems, the Buchla 200 synthesizer, The Harmonic Tone Generator, the Illiac, the Moog Modular Synthesizer, the RCA Mark II, the Sal-Mar Construction, the Synclavier, and the Theremin.

Although the EMS was founded in 1958, there are recordings in the collection that date back to 1924. These recordings are copies and were used within the EMS for research and pedagogical purposes.

Biographical Note

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.

Subject/Index Terms

Composition
Computer Music
Illiac Computers
Music, School of

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals:

Three historic sound recording devices transferred from EMS by Scott Wyatt on June 1, 2016. Four hundred and seventy six audio and visual recordings along with fifty-four historic documents were transferred from the EMS by Eli Fieldsteel on December 12, 2016. This accession comprised of twenty-six cubic feet of materials.

The SONY MCI (Music Center Incorporated) JH-110 Tape Machine, two dbx 180 Type I Noise Reducation Systems and SONY MCI Audio Location III System with audio cables were transferred to from the Experimental Music Studio on January 4, 2019 by Eli Fieldsteel.

Additional materials including photographs, programs, articles, correspondence, and a flexi-disc was added on February 20, 2024.

Acquisition Source: Scott Wyatt and Eli Fieldsteel, Experimental Music Studios

Related Materials:

Scott Wyatt Personal Papers and Sound Recordings, 1961-2017. Series Number: 12/5/73

James W Beauchamp Harmonic Tone Generator and Papers, 1963-1966. Series Number: 12/5/69

Kenneth Gaburo Papers, 1936, 1945-1993. Series Number: 12/5/33

Michael Manion Music and Papers, 1965-2008. Manion served as Assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen. Series Number: 26/20/188

Salvatore Martirano Music, Personal Papers, and Sal-Mar Construction, 1927-1999. Series Number: 12/5/42

Harry Partch Estate Archive, 1918-1991. Series Number: 12/5/45

In addition for further information about other Lejaren Hiller sound recordings and personal papers please visit the University at Buffalo's Lejaren Hiller Papers.

For more information please see https://research.lib.buffalo.edu/hiller.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Studio Adminstrative Records, 1952-2016],
[Series 2: EMS Technical Reports, 1961-1974],
[Series 3: Audio and Audio Visual Recordings, ca. 1924-2015],
[Series 4: Equipment, ca. 1940-1957],
[All]

Series 1: Studio Adminstrative Records, 1952-2016

Consists of administrative records, correspondence, photographs, scores, technical reports, concert programs, and brochures created by the EMS between 1952 and 2016.

Box 1

Folder 1: EMS Beginnings, 1952-1968
Folder 2: EMS Names and Dates, 1955-1976
Folder 3: Photographs, 1958-1994
Folder 4: Photographs, 1958-1994
Folder 5: Photographs, Negatives, and Slides, 1958-1994
Folder 6: Negatives and Contact Sheets, undated
Folder 7: Herbert Brün Items, 1965-1966
Folder 8: Re: Herbert Brün, undated
Folder 9: From Herbert Brün, ca. 1965
Folder 10: Illiac II and CSX-1, 1964-1966
Folder 11: From Tom Siwe, 1964-1984
Folder 12: Photocopied Articles, undated
Folder 13: Photocopied Articles, ca. 1980s
Folder 14: Photocopies of Books Mentioning EMS, ca. 1969-1980s
Folder 15: Harmonic Tone Generator Write-up of Studio A, 1976
Folder 16: EMS Moog Modules Description, 1965
Folder 17: Requests for Equiptment, ca. 1970s
Folder 18: 70's Equiptment Lists, ca. 1970s
Folder 19: First EMS Brochure, 1976
Folder 20: 1978 Concert Programs, 1978
Folder 21: 20th Anniversary Programs, 1978-1979
Folder 22: EMS 20th Anniversary Programs and Designs, ca. 1978-1979
Folder 23: EMS Programs and Posters, 1953-1984
Folder 24: History of EMS for the 25th Anniversary by Mike Kosch, 1983: See Also Box 3, Folder 1.
Folder 25: EMS 25th Anniversary Anniversary Programs, 1983
Folder 26: EMS Soundshapes, 1987
Folder 27: Letters to Scott Wyatt from known Composers, 1987-1999
Folder 28: 1989 EMS Brochure, 1989: See Also Box 3, Folder 2
Folder 29: 1980s Equiptment and History, ca. 1983
Folder 30: Computer Music Lab, 1984
Folder 31: 90's Equiptment lists, Student Information, and Correspondence, 1993-1999
Folder 32: EMS 40th Anniversary and 50th Anniversary of Tape Music, 1999-2003: See Also Box 3, Folder 3
Folder 33: Circuts and Electrical Engineering Diagrams, 1965-1981: See Also Box 3, Folder 4
Folder 34: Computer Music Project, 1993-1995
Folder 35: KCPA 25th - Commission, 1993-1994
Folder 36: Studio A and B rebuild, ca. 1995-1997
Folder 37: hotWired Program Notes, 1999
Folder 38: Studio D Rebuild, ca. 1996
Folder 39: Speaker Manual and Cart Schematics, ca. 1998
Folder 40: Composition-Theory Brochure and Poster, ca. 1987
Folder 41: Great Hall Technical Information Packet, 1987
Folder 42: EMS Poster, ca. 1988
Folder 43: CMP Brochure, ca. 1987
Folder 44: EMS Brochure and Poster, ca. 1987-1995
Folder 45: Thesis: Structural Processes in the Music of Edgar Varese, Glenn Hackbarth, 1972
Folder 46: Technical Report No. 12: Operator's Manual for the CSX-1 Music Machine, March 1966: NOTE: The cover sheet for technical report no. 12 was found within the EMS technical report no. 13, and was move to box 1, folder 46, on August 21, 2018 to complete the identification of this originally unidentified report.
Folder 47: EMS Concert Programs and Festival of Contemporary Arts Programs, 1963-1984

Box 2

Folder 20: SUNY Technical Report No. 10, October 1978: "Phrase Generation in Computer Music Composition," by Lejaren Hiller for the National Science Foundation Project No. GK-14191, State University of New York at Buffalo.
Folder 21: "Electronic Sonata and Midnight Carnival," Lejaren Hiller, 1976: "A report to the National Endowment for the Arts that also Constitutes the 'score' of the composition." Completed at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Two bound copies.
Folder 22: "Computer Music Compositions of the US; a bibliography", Carol Melby, 1975: Compiled by Carol Melby; prepared for the Music Computation Conference II held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, November 7-9, 1975.
Folder 23: EMS 25th Anniversary Concert programs, February 24, 1984
Folder 24: EMS and Scott Wyatt Newsclippings, 1986-1991
Folder 25: EMS Photographs, 2006-2015: Data CDR, contains 16 JPEG files (72 dpi res.). Files include photographs of the interior of five EMS studio rooms; professor Scott Wyatt; students, Benjamin Whiting, Mimi McParland, Jason Mitchell, Andrew Burnson, Halim Beere, Daniel Swilley, Lucas Smith, and Kyle Shaw; as well as a concert performance of Scott Wyatt's Risky Businees at the Tesla Coil Concert at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Box 3

Folder 1: EMS 25th Anniversary brochures, 1983: Oversize materials. Removed from Box 1, Folder 24.
Folder 2: EMS brochure draft (photocopy), undated: Oversize materials. Removed from Box 1, Folder 28.
Folder 3: EMS 40th Anniversary poster, 1998: Oversize material. Removed from Box 1, Folder 32.
Folder 4: Casiotone M-10 manual, schematics, and notes, ca. 1973-1980: Oversize materials. Removed from Box 1, Folder 33.
Folder 5: EMS and Scott Wyatt Photographs, 1985-2009
Folder 6: Scott Wyatt Newsclippings, 1979-1994

Box 29

Folder 1: Experimental Music Studios Placard, undated: 18 inch plastic placard reading "THE EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC STUDIOS."
Folder 2: John Melby - 91 Plus 5, 1972: 73 page musical score. Note on cover states: "American Composers Alliance." Stamp on cover reads: "Property of Scott Wyatt."
Folder 3: Paul A. Oehlers - Archetypal Infusion: MemEry2k, 2001: Nine page bound musical score.
Folder 4: Paul A. Oehlers - Delphium Helix for Prepared Piano and Two-Channel Electronics, 2003: Seven page musical score.
Folder 5: Paul A. Oehlers - Residual Impact for Lead Steel Drum and Tape, 2001: Seven page bound muscial score.
Folder 6: Andrew Walters - Moth to Flame For Flute and 2-Channel Tape, 1995: Thirteen page bound musical score.
Folder 7: Chin-Chin Chen - Points of Departure for Live Vibraphone and Tape, 1996: Nine page bound musical score. Full Score and Parts.
Folder 8: Andrzej Dobrowolski - Music For Magnetic Tape and Oboe Solo (Muzyka Na Tasme Magnetofonowa i Oboj Solo), 1966: Sixteen page bound musical score. See Also Box 27 Item 16.
Folder 9: Marcel Landowski - Concerto Pour Ondes Martenot, Orchestre a Cordes et Percussion, 1957: Twenty-one copied pages of a muscial score.
Folder 10: Heinrich Taube - The Aeolian Harp for Piano and Computer Generated Tape, 2000: Nineteen page bound musical score with additional one-page compositional information.
Folder 11: Scott Wyatt - Four for Flute, ca. 1976: Fifteen page musical score with accompanying composition information.

Box 30

Folder 1: EMS Tape Collection List 1, ca. 1979: Fifty-four hand written pages containing a list of audio tapes inside the University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios. Item was originally found in a folder titled "Archive Materials."
Folder 2: EMS Tape Collection List 2, ca. 1979: Typed document containing a list of audio tapes inside the University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios. Documents contain some marginalia. Item was originally found in a folder titled "Archive Materials."
Folder 3: EMS Tape Collection List 3, ca. 1979: Hand written and typed documents containing a list of audio tapes found inside the University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios.
Folder 4: Electro-Acoustic, Electronic, and Computer Music Discs - An Inventory of Holdings in the University of Illinois., 1981: Forty-five page typed pages listing the tapes within the EMS tape collection. Note on first page of documents states: "Originally compiled by Jeff Gibbens in Summer of 1979; revised and enlarged by Kelly Nihols, Spring 1981. Item was originally found in a folder within the EMS labled "Archive."
Folder 5: EMS Concerts at the University of Illinois, 1965-1981: Contains documentation, playnotes, and ephemera regarding EMS performances that occured within the University of Illinois. This item was originally found in a blue binder. All materials have been scanned and are on the CD-ROM in Box X.
Folder 6: EMS Concerts Outside the University of Illinois, 1975-1980: Contains documentation, playnotes, and ephemera regarding EMS performances that occured outside of the University of Illinois. This item was originally found in a blue binder. All materials have been scanned and are on the CD-ROM in Box X.
Folder 7: EMS/Scott Wyatt Tape Correspondance, ca. 1979: Five typed documents signed by Scott Wyatt, Director of the EMS conatining information on various EMS recordings. Notes on front page states "In sending this tape, it is my hope to extend the rapport between our facilities and to keep you informed of the creative compositional activities within the University of Illinois. I also hope to encourage correspondence and the future exchange of compositions for concert performance. Please send tapes and scores if you are interested."
Folder 8: Derek Hurst: Tonus (Violin and Tape), 2000: Ten bound pages of containing the musical score of Derek Hurst's composition Tonus.
Folder 9: Christopher Preissing - A Comparison of XY and O.R.T.F Stereo Microphone Techniques, ca. 1990: Five typed pages with illustrations.
Folder 10: Scott Wyatt - A Time of Being (For Mixed Chorus, Percussion, and Tape), 1996: 13-page bound musical score. Note on cover states: "This work is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing that occured on April 19, 1995."
Folder 11: List of Compositions Produced at the Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio, ca. 1981: Ten typed pages containing an inventory of recordings from the Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio.
Folder 12: Repertoire International Des Musiques Experimentales: Studios Ceuvres Equipements Bibliographie, ca. 1962: Fifty-six page booklet in French. Created by the Publie Par Le Service De La Recherche De La Radiodiffusion-Television Francaise (RTF).
Folder 13: Wlodzimierz Kotonski - Etiuda Study Etude, 1959: Fifteen page bound booklet. Mixed langauges including English. Published by the Experimental Polish Radio in Warsaw.
Folder 14: J.C. Risset - Computer Study of Trumpet Tones, ca. 1965: 86 page formerly bound.
Folder 15: Richard Toop - Karlheinz Stockhausen Music and Machines (1954-1970), 1985: Fifty-Seven copied pages. Published by the BBC Concert Publications. Contains information on Karlheinz Stockhausen and his compositions.
Folder 16: Keyboard Magazine - MIDI Articles, 1986: 108 copied pages from the January, 1986 issue of Keyboard Magazine. Articles pertain to MIDI use and development.
Folder 17: David Luftig - EMS Archive Report, 2016: CD-ROM. This CD-ROM was created by David Luftig for an independant study project through the Univesity of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science and the School of Music. This independant study was carried out under the guidance of Dr. Eli Fieldsteel, Direcotr of the Exerimental Music Studios. Disc contents include: Photographs of the EMS archive before and during the move. Phoographs of the tape cases for numerous tapes, Microsoft Excel databases with a list of materials that were in the EMS archive and a list of materials that were transfered to the University of Illinois Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, A .PDF document containing the final report for the independant study, Scans of some documents found in the EMS archive. This includes: The Dartmouth Tape Catalog, the EMS concert notebook (see Folders 5-6 in Box 30 for ther original documents), the hand-written and typed list of tapes within the EMS archive (see Folders 1-3 of in Box 30 for ther original documents)

Box 31

Item 1: EMS Tape Catalog Cards, ca. 1985: Contains several hundred custom index cards with the catalog number, composition name, composer, and some addtional info for items within the EMS tape collection. These cards were used as a card-catalog to locate tapes within the EMS collection. Originally found in a wooden box within the EMS.

Box 32

Folder 1: EMS Research Proposal, 1975
Folder 2: EMS60 History Promotional Display Photos and Signage, 1958-2018
Folder 3: Photocopied Electronic Music Articles, 1967-1986
Folder 4: EMS 25th Anniversary Programs, 1984
Folder 5: EMS/Scott Wyatt Correspondence, 1996-2012
Folder 6: EMS 40th and 50th Anniversary Correspondence, 1998-2008

Box 33

Folder 1: HPSCHD Programs, Poster, and Newsclipping, 1969
Folder 2: EMS Holiday Party Photo Collages, 2001-2012
Folder 3: EMS Class and Technician Photographs, 2006-2016
Folder 4: EMS 50th Anniversary Poster, 2008
Folder 5: EMS60 Promotional Display Photograph, 2016: Printed photograph of the 1967 vinyl record "Electronic Music From The University of Illinois" by Brün, Gaburo, Hamm, Hiller, and Martirano. This was originally included with the EMS60 History Promotional Display Photos and Signage (see folder 2 in box 32).

Oversize Portfolio Box 1

Folder 1: EMS Posters, ca. 1978 - 2000

Folder includes three distinct bodies of material: CD Mock Ups, Concert and Event Posters, and Set Design Sketches.

CD Mock ups include: 1) Passages - In Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Record Label: EMS 9900. Composers: Andrew Walters, Michael Pounds, Richard Freeman-Toole, Ann Warde, J.C. Kilbourne, Chin-Chin Chen, Paul A. Oehlers. Measurement: 19" x 25"; 2) Orgins - Recently completed compositions by graduate composers at the Experimental Music Studios of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Record Label: EMS 2001. Composers: Michael Drews, Kyongmee Choi, Minsoo Choi, J.C. Kilbourne. Jesse Guessford, David Psenicka, Paul A. Oehlers, Tim Johnson, Mei-Fang Lin. Measurement: (copy 1) 26" x 21.5" and (copy 2) 22.5" x 18".

Posters include: In Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Experimental Music Studios (Mockup), Measurement: 22.5" x 17.5"; Two Concerts In Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Experimental Music Studios. December 7, 1983. Measurement: 24" x 17"; 40th Anniversary of the Experimental Music Studios. Poster contains information regarding EMS studio facilities. Measurement: 23.5" x 17"; Soundshapes Combined Media in Composition. Friday May 8, 1987. Measurement: 24" x 16"; 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States. 1995. Measurement: 21" x 17"; Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States; School of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. October 24-25, 1991. Measurement: 17" x 17"; A Cyberfest '97 Concert Event. March 12, 1997. Measurement: 17" x 11"; University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios 40th Anniversary Concert. March 24, 1999. Measurement: 17" x 17"; The Experimental Music Studios of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Poster has information regarding the EMS facilities. Measurement: 24" x 10". All posters have duplicates.

Sketches include: fourteen sketches of set designs at Krannert Performing Arts Center. Sticky note on folder states: "According to Scott Wyatt, this package is the proposal for lighting the Krannert for the EMS 20th Anniversary performance. These plans were not put into action due to budget constraints - David Luftig 12/16."