Modulating tape bias?

[R.Fahl]

I recently ordered two Pauline Oliveros CDs from FOrced Exposure.  One of
them is entitled Electronic Works.  It's way out there electronic music.
sometimes painful listening.

In the liner notes she wrote:

I of IV was made in July 1966, ath the University of Torlonto Electronic
Music Studio.  It is a real time studio performance composition (no editing
or tape splicing), utilising the techniques of amplkifying combination
tones and tape  repetition.  the combination tone technique was one which I
developed in 1965 at the San Francisco Tape Music Center.  The Equipment
consisted of 12 sine tone square wave generators (sic) connected to an
organ keyboard.  1 line amplifiers, mixer, Hammond spring type reverb and 2
stereo tape recorders.  11 generators were set to operate above 20,000 Hz,
and one generator at below 1 HXZ.  The keyboard aoutput was routed to the
line amplifiers, reverb and then to channel a recoder 1.  the tape was
threaded from recorder 1 gto recorder 1.  Recorder 2 was on playback only.
Recorder 2 provided playback repetioin approximately 8 seconds later.
Recorder 1 channel a was routed to recorder 1 channel B, and recorder 1
channel b to recorder 1 channel a in a double feedback loop.  Recorder 2
channel a was routed to recorder 1 channel a and recorder 2 channel b was
routed to recorder 1 channel b.  the tape repetion contributed timbre and
dynamic changes to steady state sounds.  the combination tones produced
bythe 11 generators and the bias frequencies of the tape recorders were
pulse modulated by the sub audio generator.

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I've never heard of such a  strange thing, pulse modulating tape bias.
That's a pretty hardcore approach in my book.

R>