Part 1: Laurie Spiegel Bell Labs Interview 1984

[jazzmunky]

Wow, I wish I was this articulate! What an interesting person

[SPFXsynthesisers]

Synth babe.

[DoctorRazzArea4]

she is so pretty

[yvamarquer]

The computer is an amplifier

of what I can put out

as a human being

in sound

- L. Spiegel

[goatgodagain]

Laurie was also involved in the PBS production of "The Lathe of Heaven" at the same time that she was frequenting Murray Hill. It's hard to find but well worth it.

[MusicMouse]

Not that hard to find. There are copies on amazon and an IMDB entry at imdb.com/title/tt0081036 It's a real science fiction, not just a monster flick pretending to be one. Audio special effects by Laurie Spiegel. Thanks for mentioning it.

[SallyHewson]

There are a few of us. I've been married for 20 years to a man with an excellent vintage synth collection which he actually plays.

[SallyHewson]

There are a few of us. I've been married for 29 years to a man with an excellent vintage synth collection which he actually plays.

[paulj0557]

Mr. Mathews looks exactly like my dad! My dad passed away in 1988 and looking at this video is cool for me in two ways because of this. My dad was an electronics engineer and he taught me electronics in 8th grade, beginning the day I was cut from the baseball team. He saw me laying down looking sad and told me to come along- ' We;re going to Radio Shak'. Now of course this was when the store had more parts and materials for the electronics hobbiest. Built 1st syth with old parts & rotary sw.'s.

[hewstigator]

truly an inspiration...makes me wish i still had my amiga (re: music mouse software)! george mattson turned me onto laurie spiegel recently and aside from loving the music, it is refreshing to see someone so brilliant but also so "friendly and non egotistical"...

[electro257]

i love the music you have created.. laurie IS a zeitgeist of modern electronic music... a heroin to me and many others i am sure too...

[Kincajou]

Back in the day, if I knew this woman, I'd have probably fell in love with her.

[polymorphictotempole]

Laurie, I started listening to your album 'Unseen Worlds' about 15 years ago and think it's really fantastic. Fractal music, what a brilliantly innovative and natural idea! The sound you create is like nothing else. Great work!

[iamnaughty123]

Response to personNumber0123, I think Laurie was trying to say that human ability to create music was running out of ideas and that computers could replace the human. And maybe so, as we are into 2011. How many lawsuits are around of artists suing each other for copying a certain sound or theme in a song? Alan Parson Project "Eye in The Sky" and Lady Antebellum "Need You Now?"

[MusicMouse]

@iamnaughty123 Not at all. Computers can't replace humans and we are far from running out of ideas. Instead, computers allow us to go further, to discover ideas that could never have been thoughts of, sounds that could only be imagined before. They increase our power as individuals, so that we can explore and create beyond what we couldn't even imagine before them. They do this partly by taking care of a lot of the simpler more mechinical stuff for us, such as playing notes accurately on time.

[ewicher01]

I was introduced to Laurie's music on a VHS video entitled Tornadoes!! The Entity. Very surreal and I have always been intrigued with this type of music.

[holycannoli2]

wow... how far we have come thanks to pioneers like Laurie! I wonder if Laurie still performs live?

[personNumber0123]

WTF would anyone want the instrument to compose the music. That's the dumbest shit I ever heard. Sure, play the music on anything. But make the music in the brain.

Someone just make me a f'n guitar that will write and play the music then I won't even have to be a musician.

[mindpiss]

Laurie - you're an inspiration!

[nexusdawn]

Any chicks out there who are total synthesis geeks? I think its soo sexy, and want to marry you. Im tired of only talking to guys when it comes to music, especially electronic music production.

[petergrenader]

Hey Laurie...n nice to see you commenting here. be well! - P

[dvamateur]

1984 was a hopeful year, I remember. One year after the DX7 came out. The styling of products was great too (Ferrari Testarossa to prove it).  Now, what about now? An idiot like me is watching this video on a laptop. 2010 is a hopeless year.

[rpmvw72]

Not that hopeless. You're on a laptop!!!!!!!! That anyone can afford!! a pipe dream in 1984. 2010 ain't all bad.

[HEXWHY]

WOW, huge depth of context. She also clarified that the computer wasn't "writing the music for her" A popular misconception at that time. Rather a way to facilitate and deliver greater intenstiy of expression. She was way back there with the advent of the synthesizer , the Robert moog modular concept etc. the essence of electronic music. Her central message..whatever allows the expansion of the sonic pallette let it be

[HEXWHY]

Drooling over those AMPEX mic preamps

[HEXWHY]

@HEXWHY

maybe Universal audio

[seablue]

great interview! thanks for posting it. take care.

[tamatama14]

Wow he looks like my programming lecturer. Do your have look like this to be good at programming haha

[Dreadkid08]

And now everyone makes music on computers :D

[OnychaHazel]

thank you very much for uploading this interview.

[OnychaHazel]

Laurie expresses herself so clearly and understandably. Beautiful.

[HD41117]

I liked the take with the sound of the hair on the mic! Wish people - sound guys in particular - weren't so finicky about such things; they're usually a much more accurate representation of what actually occurred in that moment. Well, at least we can experience it here. I feel very fortunate to be able to see this footage. Thank you, Laurie.

[VDGG94ki]

This is interesting stuff, an interesting window into music technology back then. I know this stuff is taken for granted now, but nobody was doing this stuff back then. This is amazing.

[MusicMouse]

I didn't record anywhere near a cd's worth on the Alles prototype. Most of my time with it was spent coding software, not on music. It went from BTL to Oberlin c/o Gary Nelson, so maybe a cd's worth of music was made there. The software by me and others at Bell Labs was not sent to Oberlin with it, and I don't know what they did code-wise or music-wise. It's fortunate that even this 1 recording survived.

Much thanks to all who have posted the various votes of confidence. Appreciated.

- Laurie

[miltonparker]

hope there's a CD worth of those improvisations on the Alles still waiting to be compiled.

[supersoulrecs]

thx so much for uploading this. i am such a fan of Laurie's work.

[wurlybird9]

it would appear you are actually thanking Laurie directly. No DMCA issues with uploading the materials here, because she owns it!