San Francisco Tape Music Center: 1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde

The book is a valuable addition to the history of Experimental and Electronic Music, though I found it slightly dry in places.What really stood out for me was the accompanying DVD, which provides very high quality documentation of a sort of 'reunion' concert. Watching it I wished I'd been at the show, and I was delighted to have such a good resource to recommend to my students. The DVD also allowed me to hear pieces I had previously only read about, as some of the performances/tape pieces included are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere.

A wonderful examination of an important period in electronic and electroacoustic music. All of the people involved are pioneers and have had a major influence in musical composition, recording and thinking. Comes with a DVD performance of Pauline Oliveros.

An interesting and eye opening glimpse of the underground electronic music scene in 1960s San Francisco. It is very well done and includes information that is nowhere else.

Engrossing!

Great book, but it didn't come with the DVD! Luckily my local library has it so I will burn it, but this should have been more clearly advertised!

An informative look at a time of creative transformation linking innovative artists with new energies.

DVD too!

Great documentation and interviews with major figures from the scene, including Oliveros, Subotnick, Sender, Buchla and an especially interesting interview with visuals pioneer Tony Martin.The book is accessible for the general reader, and essential if you're interested in any of these musicians or the early history of electronic and tape music -- and also the birth of (west coast) modular synthesis.It also has good detail about the challenges of running an independent artistic enterprise on virtually no budget, and when working at the very edge of what the media and general public considered music to be. It becomes clear that building a functional, independent electronic music studio at this time was no small feat, given that this was still a time when most electronic music creation was confined to academic and government institutions.The DVD of the reunion concert is a nice bonus, but unfortunately it looks pretty bad -- only a few camera angles, poorly framed shots from distance, etc.