OHM+ the early gurus of electronic music TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF RARE ARCHIVAL PERFORMANCES, INTERVIEWS, ANIMATIONS, AND EXPERIMENTAL VIDEO WORKS BY THE PIONEERS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC. Clara Rockmore — John Cage — Jean-Clau... more »de Risset
Steve Reich
Morton Subotnick
Holger Czukay
Bebe Barron
Paul Lansky
Leon Theremin
IannisXenakis
Milton Babbitt
Laurie Spiegel
David Behrman
John Chowning
Robert Ashley
Max Mathews
Pauline Oliveros
Alvin Lucier
Mother Mallard
Robert Moog Produced by: Thomas Ziegler, Jason Gross, and Russell Charno« less
Genres:Music Video & Concerts, Documentary Sub-Genres:Pop, Other Music, Documentary Studio:Ellipsis Arts Format:DVD - Color DVD Release Date: 02/21/2006 Original Release Date: 01/01/2006 Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/2006 Release Year: 2006 Run Time: 2hr 30min Screens: Color Number of Discs: 1 SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 3 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Languages:English
"Back in 2000, Ellipsis Arts released OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, a fantastic and essential three CD set tracing the evolution of "electronica" from Messiaen, Cage, and Xenakis to Schulze, Eno, and Hassell. This set was recently reissued (as OHM+) along with a bonus DVD (which is thankfully now available separately for those of us who already have the CDs.) You can read plenty of excellent reviews of the original 3CD set on Amazon (and elsewhere), so I'm going to focus on the new DVD in this review.
The OHM+ DVD is jam-packed with over two hours of archival and more recent footage that runs the gamut from engrossing to mildly interesting to unwatchably dull.
If seemingly endless "talking head" interviews with Milton Babbitt and Bebe Barron are your idea of video entertainment, you've come to the right place. An interview with John Cage digitally altered beyond all recognition? Check. Swirling psychadelic colored dyes right out of a Saucerful of Secrets-era Pink Floyd concert? No problem.
There are some tastier goodies to be found on this DVD, however...
The segments with Clara Rockmore and Leon Theremin have an appealingly amateurish home movie quality to them. It's also a real treat to see the 1978 footage of underappreciated minimalist guru David Borden and Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company "on the road" hauling around their truckload of big old analog synthesizer equipment. Laurie Spiegel is fun to watch as she tinkers with a big grey metal box called a "Concerto Generator" with an extremely serious expression on her face. And Alvin Lucier's "Music for Solo Performer," where he hooks up wires to his head and produces sounds using his brainwaves and two tympani, simply must be seen to be believed.
The Pixar-ish computer animation accompanying Paul Lansky's "The Dust Bunny" is sort of cute, but it goes on for about 10 minutes too long. Surely most of the OHM target audience already has the DVD of Steve Reich's Three Tales, but it's nice that they included the best part - the ominous yet goofy "Dolly" segment. Many have also probably seen Hans Fjellestad's documentary Moog before, but the six minute excerpt provided here is really about all you need.
It's too bad there isn't a more interesting John Cage segment, and regrettable that there aren't any Stockhausen videos (those would certainly be a riot!)
Overall, though, while the OHM+ DVD is not as consistently engaging as the CD set of the same name, it is a worthy companion to it. And if you don't have either of them yet, the complete OHM+ 3-CD & DVD "special edition" box set is a no-brainer."
Ohm... Ohm... Ohm...
svf | 03/31/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ohm... Ohm... Ohm...
Back in 2000, Ellipsis Arts released OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, a fantastic and essential three CD set tracing the evolution of "electronica" from Messiaen, Cage, and Xenakis to Schulze, Eno, and Hassell. This set was recently reissued (as OHM+) along with a bonus DVD, which is thankfully now available separately for those of us who already have the CDs.
The OHM+ DVD is jam-packed with over two hours of archival and more recent footage that runs the gamut from engrossing to mildly interesting to unwatchably dull.
If seemingly endless "talking head" interviews with Milton Babbitt and Bebe Barron are your idea of video entertainment, you've come to the right place. An interview with John Cage digitally altered beyond all recognition? Check. Swirling psychadelic colored dyes right out of a Saucerful of Secrets-era Pink Floyd concert? No problem.
There are some tastier goodies to be found on this DVD, however...
The segments with Clara Rockmore and Leon Theremin have an appealingly amateurish home movie quality to them. It's also a real treat to see the 1978 footage of underappreciated minimalist guru David Borden and Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company "on the road" hauling around their truckload of big old analog synthesizer equipment. Laurie Spiegel is fun to watch as she tinkers with a big grey metal box called a "Concerto Generator" with an extremely serious expression on her face. And Alvin Lucier's "Music for Solo Performer," where he hooks up wires to his head and produces sounds using his brainwaves and two tympani, simply must be seen to be believed.
The Pixar-ish computer animation accompanying Paul Lansky's "The Dust Bunny" is sort of cute, but it goes on for about 10 minutes too long. Surely most of the OHM target audience already has the DVD of Steve Reich's Three Tales, but it's nice that they included the best part - the ominous yet goofy "Dolly" segment. Many have also probably seen Hans Fjellestad's documentary Moog before, but the six minute excerpt provided here is really about all you need.
It's too bad there isn't a more interesting John Cage segment, and regrettable that there aren't any Stockhausen videos (those would certainly be a riot!)
Overall, though, while the OHM+ DVD is not as consistently engaging as the CD set of the same name, it is a worthy companion to it. And if you don't have either of them yet, the complete OHM+ 3-CD & DVD "special edition" box set is a no-brainer."
Not your grandson's electronic music.
Christopher Costabile | Clearwater, FL USA | 09/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For those who are unacquainted, this set is the gateway into an entirely new experience of sound. Few listeners, and likely not many practitioners, for that matter, of dance, techno, and trance fully appreciate the extent to which "electronic music," as we know it, was borne from the world of avant-garde classical music...
...and don't expect a killer drum and bass rhythm section on any of these pieces. As you'll soon learn from listening to this box set and reading the ample liner notes (with intro by Brian Eno, no less), the origins of electronic music were anything but simple, or dull. The set takes off by introducing a couple standard-ish classical pieces which put to use some of the first electronic instruments invented. The theremin and ondes martinot (a small keyboard-based instrument which was a distant precursor to the synth) are featured in the first two tracks, respectively, and after that the set moves into some of the different movements and styles developed throughout the middle part of the 20th Century.
Track three is by Pierre Schaeffer. For all you dance and techno buffs out there, this was the first man ever to loop a track, play a track back in reverse, or use a host of other effects which are all common tools for musicians of today. His "Etude Aux Chemins de Fer," or "Railroad Study," is a field recording of various train sounds which was manipulated by Schaeffer in his Paris studio. He developed this method of documenting found sounds and applying various effects to them, dubbing it "Musique Concrete." The process caught on fast. John Cage uses the same method in "Williams Mix," but organizes the sounds in random, rapid succession according to complex principles of chance. This piece is absolutely jarring. Another amazing example of musique concrete is Hugh le Caine's "Dripsody," a virtuosic piece composed from the repetition and manipulation into different pitches of the sound of a single drop of water.
Before entering the age of synthesizers, there is some fine tape-music in the form of Varese's "Poeme Electronique," a fantastically subtle blend of found sounds and instruments grossly manipulated by tape cuts, as well as Richard Maxfield's "Sine Music," a sort of pointillist tape piece which rearranges the sound of a sine wave.
Shortly following the era of musique concrete, synthesizers were being brought into development. One of the first synth pieces on the Ohm set is an excerpt from Milton Babbitt's "Philomel," a complex serialist work scored for female voice and the Mark II synthesizer, (one of the earliest ever developed, to which Babbitt had sole access for a time). "Cindy Electronium" by Raymond Scott is another highlight, which uses Scott's own "Electronium," a "spontaneous composing and performing machine," as he described it, developed half a century ago. As you will notice when hearing this track, the Electronium was capable of producing electronic sounds which sounded as modern as anything churned out by the electronic musicians of today. Also provided in the synth category is a sample of Morton Subotnick's infamous "Silver Apples of the Moon," one of the most popular electronic pieces ever recorded.
The later tracks on this box set delve into digital computer pieces and soundscapes. Paul Lansky's "Six Fantasies" is a rather haunting piece for robotic-sounding voices harmonically enriched using early computer technology, and David Behrman's "On the Other Ocean," is a brilliantly thought-out improvisation between a solo cellist and a computer program written by Behrman himself, which reacts to the soloist's performance. The four or five tracks rounding out the set can be considered some of the earliest forms of New Age, as these artists used combinations of the earlier techniques to make some of the first intentionally ambient and hypnotic music.
The DVD included in this box is a nice supplement to the musical content. One can actually see a few of these artists at work, or being interviewed in person. The vintage Behrman performance, as well as an edit of the stunning light and dance piece by Max Mathews (which I really wish was longer) are two of the best segments.
To me, the most fascinating aspect of all of this music is not only the lack of conventionally-produced sound, but also in many cases the complete abandon of traditional compositional form. In 90-95% of the pieces, there exists either no recurring themes, introductions, crescendos, counterpoint, etc., or there exists merely a complete distortion of these standards. This music truly represents everything new and revolutionary we have come to expect from the beginnings of the postmodern era.
The Ohm box set serves as a fantastic historical document and THE definitive entrance point for anyone interested in the origins of electronic music. The fact that edits are occasionally used can be a bit frustrating (the original versions of many of these pieces are loooooong), but some of this music is not available anywhere else, and let's face it: after being infected by the incredible sounds encased here, you'll be searching for all of the artists' original albums, anyway."
The Standard Reference for Electronic Music
Dr. Brisket | New York, New York United States | 11/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This package is mind boggling. The DVD includes over 2 hours of rare footage too. If you want to know about the roots of electronic music, look no further."
An Audio Encyclopedia of Early Electronic Experiments
William Bagley | Ashland, Oregon | 01/01/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I enjoyed listening to the CD and watching the videos. Some of the selections, however, were not quite what I would call musical quality, but were interesting sound samples. I was glad that I heard them, but once heard they would not be something I would want to listen to as music or for a background when reading a book. Some tracks had a very good ambient environmental quality that would be good for creating a warm background, meditating or deep listening. Some showed that synths could do classical very well compared to the older instruments. As a collection, they were not categorized so that all the ones that would make ambient listening are grouped together, so I plan to do a mix of my own from this collection. It is PBS special quality as far as the DVD presentation, though some of the selections seemed more about the animation than the music in the background. I was very impressed with the presentation on STRIA and tried to find more on the internet afterwards. The idea of the a new musical scale from the phi ratio seems exciting to me. Clara on the Theremin, both on the DVD and on the CD was impressive and shows how well the Theremin can replace a violin. Having done a lot of healing work, it would be nice for violinists to know this option, because it is easier on their bodies. The neck kinking and tight shoulder throws the body out of balance a lot and sometimes leads to headaches or even migraines. It would be interesting to see a Theremin tweaked slight more to make it even sound more like a violin, but it is close already. All in all, I enjoyed the old collection and can organize the selections on my own from what they have given."