Electronomusic: obscure early electronic John Pfeiffer

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John Pfeiffer: Electronomusic-- Warm-Up, Canon and Peace (For Inharmonic Side-Band); Reflection of a String (For Contraformer); Drops (For Programmer and Sines); Moments (Events for Parametric Blocks); Take Off (For Metric Transperformer); Forests (Modes for Alphormer and Set); Pavone (A Duotonic Transform); Orders (For Sequential Sines); After Hours (For Ordered Simpliformer)


RCA VICS-1371 USA 1968 LP Vinyl: vg+ (few light scuffs)
Cover: vg (edge wear, with a split starting to form at the center of the bottom seam and a few small tears; marker along part of the spine; back has writing, ring wear, and a light stain mark) Great and hard to find lp with little-known experimental electronic works created by this veteran RCA producer in his own private studio. These studies in sound patterns, undated but probably all from the 60s, are endearingly primitive (even if their titles are a bit conceptually overblown) and show the influence of the Columbia-Princeton set (Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Ilhan Mimaroglu, etc.). Pfeiffer claims he is trying to infuse his work with a more popular aesthetic as a reaction against "radical avant-gardism," and amidst his abstract soundscapes, recurring melodies and repetition (sometimes bordering on minimalism) can be heard. The highlight is the great After Hours, a musique concrete collage of sounds from "the modern business office"; telephones and filing cabinets become "percussion instruments of a mammoth orchestra. We imagine that they could dispose themselves in rigorous rhythm..." Pfeiffer incorporates microtonal scales but often returns to the traditional diatonic to invoke a sense of tranquility and "musical security." His stated goal is to use "musically organized sound built from electronic technology" to "order the sensory being to re-form time, space, and their occupants."

Pfeiffer was a jazz pianist, composer, and audio engineer who helped pioneer stereo, quadrophonic, and digital recording techniques; he was known primarily for producing many of RCA's greatest classical recordings, working in the studio with artists like Jascha Heifetz, Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein, Van Cliburn, Wanda Landowska, Leontyne Price, Arturo Toscanini, Fritz Reiner, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, and Charles Munch. References for this lp: Raymond Scott, Bruce Haack, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Francois Bayle, Luc Ferrari, Tod Dockstader, Autechre, Pauline Oliveros, Milton Babbitt, Steve Reich, Herbert Eimert, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, Bernard Parmegiani, Oskar Sala... Check out my other auctions this week for more avant garde/experimental, early electronic/electroacoustic, free jazz/improv, 20th century classical, microtonal, audiophile, prog/psych, modern poetry, and artist records. Shipping - US shipping is 4.20 for 1-2 single records by Media Mail, then 0.50 for each additional (Priority Mail, other expedited shipping options, and insurance are all available on request). International shipping for 1 12" lp to Western Europe/UK/Scandinavia is 8.00 surface or 13.00 air; to Japan/Taiwan/Australia is 8.00 surface or 14.50 air; to Canada by air is 7.00; other international destinations vary. 7" and 10" records will cost less; heavy box sets will cost more. Combine multiple items to save on shipping. Note: I can now offer international buyers the super-cheap M-Bag bulk mail rate for orders of 8 or more lps; to most destinations this starts at 21.50 for surface mail or 33.50 for air for up to 17 lps, a huge per-record savings over standard rates for smaller parcels! Feel free to email with any shipping questions. Payment - I prefer Paypal (which allows for fastest possible shipment) and also accept money order (from US financial institutions only, including BidPay, US Postal, certified US bank check, etc., international bidders please take note!). If you are paying by Paypal and have won multiple items, please use a single Paypal payment. I will send an invoice email to all winners shortly after my auctions close, and another email after payment has been received to confirm item shipment. Packing - I pack professionally and with the utmost care drawn from years of experience trading vinyl internationally. I use new record mailers from Cameron Packaging (which I have determined are the best and most protective) reinforced with cardboard inserts and bubble wrap padding. All records are shipped with poly plastic sleeves. All packages are completely sealed with strong packing tape covering all openings. If you'd like your package done any differently, just let me know. Feel free to email me if you have any questions (need more info, want more pictures, etc.); you can use the 'ask seller a question' link above. My condition rating scale is -G+/-VG+/-EX+/-NM/M (only sealed records are M). Satisfaction guaranteed; if you have any problems with your order please contact me directly. Check out Ebay[track], my free realtime ebay auction tracker (currently in beta), which can refresh multiple auction statuses every second, alert you when bids are placed and when auctions end, let you place bids, and more. It's a useful tool for bidders, snipers, sellers, watchers... This item description is (c)opyright 2007 keymap records; please contact keymap records for permission before reproducing any text.