The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center is one of the most important institutions in the history of electronic music. Founded in 1958, it was the first center for research in electronic music and was responsible for groundbreaking works by composers such as John Cage, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Morton Subotnick.

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center

The Early Years

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center was one of the first places in the world where electronic music was created and performed. It was founded in 1958 by composer Vladimir Ussachevsky and engineer Peter Mauzey, with funding from Columbia University and Princeton University.

The first piece of electronic music composed at the Center was “Orchestration of Noises” by Ussachevsky, which premiered at a concert at Carnegie Hall in 1961. The Center quickly became a magnet for composers from around the world, who came to study and work with its state-of-the-art equipment. Notable composers who worked at the Center include John Cage, Georges Lentz, Mario Davidovsky, Chou Wen-chung, Ingmar Bergman, and Leonard Bernstein.

In 1960, the Center’s residents moved from Columbia University to a new location at Princeton University. The new facilities included studios for live electronics, tape composition, and electroacoustic composition. The Center continued to thrive in its new home, producing groundbreaking works of electronic music and training a new generation of composers.

The Center Today

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center is a research institution and performance space dedicated to the study and dissemination of electronic music.

Located in New York City, the Center houses a state-of-the-art performance space, studio facilities, and a world-renowned research library. The Center regularly hosts concerts, lectures, and other events open to the public, and its facilities are also available for rental by qualified artists and organizations.

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center is home to a community of artists, composers, performers, and scholars who are at the forefront of electronic music innovation. The Center’s facilities and programs provide valuable resources for these artists to develop their craft and connect with other like-minded individuals.

The Music

The composers

The Music of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center

The composers associated with the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center have been responsible for some of the most important and influential works in the history of electronic music. Among them are Milton Babbitt, George Crumb, Mario Davidovsky, Lukas Foss, Philip Glass, Witold Lutoslawski, Steve Reich, and Vladimir Ussachevsky. These and other composers associated with the center have helped to define what electronic music is and can be.

The Performers

Some of the most influential and important composers and performers of electronic music have been associated with the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Composers such as Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Mario Davidovsky, Ingolf Dahl, Maija GripasShih, Ross Lee Finney, Gregory Tucker, Chou Wen-chung, and Peter Wende have all worked at the Center. Many of these composers have gone on to teach at institutions such as UCLA, Dartmouth College, Queens College (CUNY), University of Iowa, Brandeis University, Northeastern University, Boston Conservatory, The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory and Harvard University. In addition to these distinguished faculty members, the Center has also served as a creative home for internationally renowned guest artists including Aaron Copland, John Cage, Leonard Bernstein, Lejaren Hiller, Darius Milhaud, Witold Lutoslawski and Krzysztof Penderecki.

The Instruments

There are four main types of instruments at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center: the Voltage-Controlled Amplifier, the Voltage-Controlled Filter, the Ring Modulator, and the Noise Generator. Each one produces a different sound, and they can be combined to create a wide range of sounds.

The Theremin

The Theremin is one of the earliest electronic musical instruments, and the best known. It is unique among instruments in that it is played without physical contact by the performer. The player controls the pitch by moving his hands in the area around two metal antennas, one controlling pitch and the other volume.

The instrument was invented in 1919-1920 by a young Soviet physicist named Lev Sergeyevich Termen (in the West he adopted the name Leon Theremin).

The Ondes Martenot

The Ondes Martenot is a musical instrument designed by Maurice Martenot in 1928. The first public performance of the Ondes Martenot was given by Martenot’s sister, Ginette Marguerite in Paris on April 15, 1929. The instrument consists of an adjustable piano-style keyboard, a volume pedal, and a ring-shaped “stylophone” attached to the side of the keyboard. The player manipulates the stylophone with one hand while playing the keyboard with the other.

The Ondes Martenot is capable of producing a wide range of sounds, from delicate glissandi to powerful sonic blasts. The instrument has been used by a number of renowned composers, including Olivier Messiaen, Darius Milhaud, and Leonard Bernstein.

The Trautonium

The trautonium is an electronic musical instrument invented in the early 1930s by Paul Trautwein. It was one of the first electronic instruments to be widely used in music, and was an important influence on the development of electronic music.

The trautonium is played by pressing keys on a keyboard, which are connected to electrical circuits that generate sounds. The instrument can be played with or without using a special pair of gloves, which allow the player to control the pitch and timbre of the sound.

The trautonium was used by a number of influential composers, including Edgar Varèse, Olivier Messiaen, and John Cage. It has also been used in popular music, including by David Bowie on his album “Low” (1977).

The Legacy

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center was founded in 1958 by Vladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening. The goal of the Center was to explore electronic music and produce new works using the latest technology. The Center quickly became a leading institution for the development of electronic music.

The Columbia-Princeton legacy in electronic music

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center was founded in 1958 and was one of the first institutions in the world dedicated to the research and creation of electronic music. It was a collaboration between two major universities, Columbia and Princeton, and quickly became a leading center for electronic music.

The Music Center was home to some of the most important early electronic music composers, including Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Milton Babbitt, and John Cage. These composers pioneered many of the techniques and technologies that are still used in electronic music today.

The legacy of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center can be heard in the work of many contemporary composers and performers. Its influence can be seen in the popularity of electronic music festivals, such as Moogfest, which celebrates the work of early electronic music pioneer Robert Moog. The Music Center also inspire new ways of thinking about music composition and performance, which is evident in the work of composer Holly Herndon, who uses machine learning algorithms to generate her compositions.