Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

I have a great two-album (vinyl) set of music and talks by Hugh LeCaine. His
name doesn't seem to come up often in discussions of Moog, Pearlman, Buchla,
etc. But like Raymond Scott, here was a wild man doing some cool stuff
before his time up in Canada.

You may have heard the classic piece "Dripsody" which is a whole work based
around the recorded sound of one drop of water. He recorded this on a
multi-reel monstrosity of a tape recorder he invented whose motor speeds
were under keyboard control. Can anyone say "Mellotron" decades before the
Mellotron?

He also created a Theremin-like continuous sweep instrument that was
keyboard controlled called the "Electronic Sackbut" And a rack-mounted
sequencer. Much of this stuff was done back in the Forties. He had a weird
idea for making his electronics talk to each other called "Voltage Control."
I always read about people arguing whether Buchla or Moog should be credited
with this invention, but here's a quiet guy who was putting it to practical
use decades before the other two started work on their modulars.

Worth looking into Mr. LeCain's work if you're into EM history.