About BEAM
Advisors
Don
Buchla is widely regarded as one of the major pioneers in
electronic musical instruments; Don constructed the
first voltage-controlled synthesizer in 1964. Since then, he has produced
a variety of conceptually and technically advanced instruments, many
of which are in use in university and private studios around the world.
He has consulted for several instrument manufacturers, including CBS,
Kimball Piano, Zeta Music, Yamaha International, Gibson Guitars, and
E-Mu Systems. He has served as technical director of California Institute
of the Arts, technical director of the Electric Symphony, co-director
of the Artists' Research Collective.Don has received grants from the
Veterans' Administration (guidance devices for the
blind), the Guggenheim Foundation (music languages), and the National
Endowment for the Arts (composition). He recently received the prestigious
2002 SEAMUSLifetime Achievement Award "in recognition of his pioneering achievements
and lifetime contribution to the art and craft of electro-acoustic
music". Hundreds of his unique instruments continue to be in
use and vintage Buchla synthesizers continue to be
in strong demand. Don received a degree from UC Berkeley in Physics
in 1960, and holds several patents in the fields of optics and musical
instruments.
Dave
Smith founded Sequential Circuits, the premier manufacturer
of professional music synthesizers, in the mid-70s.
In 1977, he designed the Prophet-5, the world's first
microprocessor-based musical instrument. This revolutionary
product was the world's first polyphonic and programmable
synth, and set the standard for all synth designs that have followed.
The Prophet instruments played a major part in the recordings of all
popular music styles, and are still prized by musicians today. Dave
is also generally known as the driving force behind the generation
of the MIDI specification in 1981—in
fact, he coined the acronym. In 1987 he was named a
Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) for his continuing work
in the area of music synthesis. After Sequential, Dave was President
of DSD, Inc, an R&D division of Yamaha, where
he worked on physical modeling synthesis and software
synthesizer concepts. He then started the Korg R&D group in California,
which went on to produce the professional musician
favorite Wavestation products and other technology.
He then took over as President at Seer Systems and developed the world's
first software based synthesizer running on a PC.
Tom
Oberheim has been developing electronic products for musicians
for over 35 years. He invented a number of innovative electronic music
products, including: the first polyphonic music synthesizer, the first
phase shifter and ring modulator for the performing musician, the
first completely programmable music synthesizer, and the first electronic
music system that incorporated a synchronized music synthesizer, digital
sequencer and digital drum machine. He has founded and managed three
electronic music product companies, and served as a CEO and CTO. He
also participated in the development and implementation of the MIDI
standard.
David Wessel is Professor of Music at the UC Berkeley where he is Director of CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technology). In 1985 he established a new department under Pierre Boulez devoted to the development of interactive music software for personal computers. David founded the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) and is a highly regarded performer and composer.
Jay
Cloidt is a composer and sound designer working in the San
Francisco Bay Area. He studied at the Center for Contemporary Music
at Mills College with Robert Ashley and David Behrman. As a
composer, he has collaborated with many groups, beginning with the
late Ed Mock’s group and including the Paul Dresher Ensemble,
the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, the Gary Palmer Dance Company,
ODC/San Francisco, California EAR Unit and Kronos Quartet. Current
projects include premiere performances of two new dance scores for
ODC/SF: “Flight to Ixcan”, and “Noir”. Other
notable recent projects include “Span”, a piece for solo
piano commissioned by pianist Vicki Ray of the California EAR Unit;
music for the feature film “Send Word”, directed by Lynn
Feinerman; and “Eleven Windows”, his third commission
for Kronos Quartet. He produced a CD of Paul Dresher’s
music theater works, “Anybody’s Land”, to be released
in 2004. A CD of electronic music, “Dark Matter” was
released on Phthalo in 2002; and a CD of his chamber music and electronic
works, “Kole Kat Krush”, is available on Starkland Records
(ST-208). The San Francisco Chronicle has dubbed Cloidt “The
Spike Jones of the Bay Area new music scene.”
Paul
Dresher is an internationally active composer noted for his
ability to integrate diverse musical influences into his own coherent
and unique personal style. He is pursuing many forms of musical expression
including experimental opera and music theater, chamber and orchestral
composition, live instrumental electro-acoustic chamber music performances,
musical instrument invention and scores for theater, dance, and film.
His most recent projects include a collaboration with former Kronos
Quartet cellist Joan Jeanrenaud on his cello concerto Unequal Distemperament
and the music theater work Sound Stage, for which Dresher designed
and constructed a stage full of large-scale invented musical instruments.
In 1993, Dresher premiered his Electro-Acoustic Band on a five-city
tour of Japan as part of Festival Interlink. This ensemble performs
the works of a broad range of contemporary music and has also premiered
the music for dance and theater collaborations with the Margaret Jenkins
Dance Company, ODC San Francisco, and the John Adams/June Jordan/Peter
Sellars production “I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I
Saw the Sky.” Born in Los Angeles in 1951, Dresher received
his BA in Music from U.C. Berkeley and his M.A. in Composition from
U.C. San Diego.
Chris Muir has been embroiled in computers and music for over thirty years. He has been heavily involved with music software environments for much of this time. Previous employment includes Beatnik (nee Headspace) a company creating synthesis engines for industry, Gibson Western Innovation Zone (GWIZ), an R&D lab run by Gibson Guitar, Electronics For Imaging (EFI), Zeta Music, and Salamander Music Systems (SMS). Chris has also worked with CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technology), and has contributed to Cycling 74's Max environment. An accomplished musician and composer, he has been involved with many projects, in many genres. He currently performs with "Lunar Asylum", "Yo Miles!" and "Zen Disaster". In his spare time he enjoys referring to himself in the third person.
Barry Threw is an electronic musician and programmer specializing in interactive and experimental media. His music attempts understand our relationship to technology and create beauty and space within its context. When he is not striving to perfect the systems at the BEAM Foundation, he works with Recombinant Media Labs and Immersive Media Research to develop tools and methodologies for surround media, and is an engineer and sound designer living in San Francisco, CA.
Ashley
Adams received her Bachelor's in double bass performance
at the University of Arizona School of Music, in 1996. She currently
performs regularly in both classical and club venues and has appeared
at numerous local and International New Music festivals. In
1997, The Ashley Adams Trio put out, "Flowers for Ms. Dalloway",
music based on the Virginia Wolfe novel on the Evander Label. Her
performance credits also include Ted Saveres, Ralph Carney, Beth Custer,
Eugene Chadborne, Tin Hat Trio, the Women's Philharmonic, Khadra International
Dance Company, Bay Area Balalaika Ensemble, Trio Garufa (Tango), The
Hulagains ( Hawaiian Trio), Zmrzlina, Octomutt, BottomFeeders
(electric cello/bass duo) , and the Bay Area Bass Band. Ashley has
taught privately, for the SF symphony's youth outreach program, and
as a clinician at the Golden Gate Bass Camp. In addition to her composition
and bass playing, Ashley has immersed herself in music programming
and audio processing. She has worked on MACAIS and performed with
Keith since 1998.
Drawing from a childhood dissatisfied with classical music recitals, Marielle Jackobsons aims to rebuild musical performance as a breathing system of sound, people, and space. Born in Cleveland in 1982, she received her B.A. in Music Performance and Biology from Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying contemporary piano performance with Anita Pontremoli. At the CCMIX in Paris, France, she studied computer music composition with Gerard Pape, Jean-Claude Risset, Trevor Wishart, and Curtis Roads. Completing her MFA in Electronic Music at Mills in May 2006, her thesis work deconstructs the violin as both performance interface and sound generator utilizing custom electronics and interactive computer programming. Recent solo work has been heard at Les Voutes (Paris) and the Luggage Store Gallery (SF), as well as performances with Agnes Szelag in the electro-acoustic pop duo myrmyr.
Margaret Anne Schedel is a composer and cellist
specializing in the creation and performance of
ferociously interactive media. Her works have been
performed throughout the United Stated and abroad.
While working towards a DMA in music composition at
the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of
Music, her thesis, an interactive multimedia opera, A
King Listens, premiered at the Cincinnati Contemporary
Arts Center and was profiled by apple.com. She is
working towards a certificate in Deep Listening with
Pauline Oliveros and has studied composition with Mara
Helmuth and McGregor Boyle. She is a founding member
of NeXT Ens, an ensemble with the unique mission to
perform and support the creation and performance of
interactive electro-acoustic works. She serves as the
musical director for Kinesthetech Sense and sits on
the boards of the BEAM Foundation, the Electronic
Music Foundation Institute, the International Computer
Music Association, the New West Electro Acoustic Music
Organization, Organised Sound, and the Women’s Audio
Mission. She can usually be found in the Bay Area
where she runs workshops for Cycling‘74 & Making Things.
