Kees Tazelaar: The analogue studio for electronic music at the Institute of Sonology

Old Machines for New Music | Symposium


Sat, 12/01/2012


Although Sonology in Utrecht was very early when it came to the
use of computers
for sound synthesis, analogue production techniques still
remained an
important subject after the first PDP-15 computer had arrived by
the end of
1970. Equipment for voltage control was further developed at
Sonology’s electronics workshop,
and when the institute in Utrecht closed its doors in 1986, it
still had three analogue studios.
After Sonology had moved to the Royal Conservatory in The Hague,
the best
pieces of equipment of these three studios were combined and
installed in one
new analogue studio. At the same time, digital techniques became
more and
more prominent with the arrival of the personal computer.
When in 1993, I was asked to take over Jaap Vink’s position as
teacher in
analogue studio techniques, it was questioned whether it was
necessary at all to
have such a studio. I personally was convinced that an analogue
studio could
make an important contribution to the curriculum, but then still,
the question
was if analogue techniques were only relevant because they are
part of the
historical development of electronic music, or if the methods
applied in an
analogue studio might still be relevant at a time when digital
techniques were
taking over.
After having studied Gottfried Michael Koenig’s methods for the
production
of his Terminus (1962) and the Funktionen series (1967-1969) and
the realization
of a series of new pieces with voltage control techniques myself
(Depths
of Field 1-4 and Geoglyphs), my answer is yes!


Kees Tazelaar (July 27, 1962) was taught at the Institute of
Sonology from 1981 to 1983
(Utrecht) and from 1987 to 1989 (The Hague). He
subsequently
studied composition with Jan Boerman at the Royal Conservatory in
The Hague, graduating in 1993.
Since then Tazelaar has been teaching at the Institute of
Sonology. He
is head of Sonology since June 2006.
In addition to his own autonomous works, he has contributed to
music theatre projects
by Dick Raaijmakers (Die glückliche Hand geöffnet, Scheuer im
Haag) and Theatergroep Hollandia (Perzen, Varkensstal).
Tazelaar has also been intensively engaged in the restoration and
reconstruction of major electronic works from the past.
In his specially equipped studio, he has created new versions of
compositions by Gottfried Michael Koenig , Jan Boerman, Edgard
Varèse,
Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, Luctor Ponse and Dick
Raaijmakers.
During the winter semester of 2005/2006, Kees Tazelaar filled the
Edgard Varèse
Guest Professorship of the DAAD at the Technische Universität
Berlin.