PAUL LANSKY
presentation date: march 24, 2005
Woolworth Hall 102, 4:30 pm
The Evolution of An Idea:
I will consider my own work in terms of the evolving relation between
music and computer technology. What was it that we thought we were looking
for 40 years ago when this work was new and revolutionary, and how does
this compare with today's situation? How has this technology influenced
our perceptions of what music is and can be?
About the artist:
Paul Lansky's musical training was typical for an American composer.
He studied music in high school and in college. After graduating, he
began his career as a horn player (playing in the Dorian Wind Quintet
from 1966 to 1967). He returned to school, eventually receiving a Ph.D.
in composition from Princeton, where he has taught since 1969. He has
received numerous awards and grants, and has written many articles for
musical journals.
Since the 1970s Lansky's music has focused on the use of the computer and musical synthesis. He is fascinated with the sounds of the human voice and uses the computer as what he calls an "aural microscope" to explore this world and to recreate it in his music. Many of his pieces make use of synthesized or electrically modified voices as a central element of their soundscape. More recently he has turned to other human sounds in his pieces: the ambient sounds of shopping malls and highways, for example.
