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Dan Coren
His master's voice? No, it's mine
DAN COREN
Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article for Broad Street Review about the third annual Electro-Music Festival. It was not my best work, and in fact it has, with some justification, been ridiculed (along with the rest of Broad Street Review) by an anonymous Philadelphia Weekly blogger. (Follow the link search for “Coren.”)
In terms of my own personal gain, however, it was by far my most productive article. Seth Brown, whom I mentioned in the article, is the curator of this unique and marvelous website, “Evolution of Sound.”
Shortly after my article appeared, Brown contacted me, and, long story short, he more or less compelled me to reunite, by e-mail at least, with my former student and business partner, Harry Mendell, an amazingly creative thinker to whom I owe my professional career. I have also had the great pleasure of getting to know Brown, who maintains his site with the same sort of devotion and fervor that seems to drive BSR contributors.
I mention all this because just the other day— very fittingly, just after I’d finished my review of Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise —Seth, nearly a year late, finally posted his two separate interviews of Harry and me. Aside from his site itself, which offers a perspective on the history of musical technology you’ll find nowhere else, I highly recommend the interview with Harry Mendell, (Follow the time line at the bottom of Seth’s home page to 1975 and read the article on the digital sampler. Then follow the “People and Events” link at the bottom of Seth’s homepage and follow the timeline to 1974 for the interview.)
Seth’s interview with me is a verbatim transcription of a conversation we had last summer. Despite my pleas, he has adamantly refused to shorten it (it’s more than 6,000 words!). I really don’t know if Harry and I were significant albeit unrecognized pioneers; Seth and Harry certainly think so. But the material that Seth has made available is as much a part of my musical self as the essays I write for Broad Street Review.
To read a response, click here.
DAN COREN
Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article for Broad Street Review about the third annual Electro-Music Festival. It was not my best work, and in fact it has, with some justification, been ridiculed (along with the rest of Broad Street Review) by an anonymous Philadelphia Weekly blogger. (Follow the link search for “Coren.”)
In terms of my own personal gain, however, it was by far my most productive article. Seth Brown, whom I mentioned in the article, is the curator of this unique and marvelous website, “Evolution of Sound.”
Shortly after my article appeared, Brown contacted me, and, long story short, he more or less compelled me to reunite, by e-mail at least, with my former student and business partner, Harry Mendell, an amazingly creative thinker to whom I owe my professional career. I have also had the great pleasure of getting to know Brown, who maintains his site with the same sort of devotion and fervor that seems to drive BSR contributors.
I mention all this because just the other day— very fittingly, just after I’d finished my review of Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise —Seth, nearly a year late, finally posted his two separate interviews of Harry and me. Aside from his site itself, which offers a perspective on the history of musical technology you’ll find nowhere else, I highly recommend the interview with Harry Mendell, (Follow the time line at the bottom of Seth’s home page to 1975 and read the article on the digital sampler. Then follow the “People and Events” link at the bottom of Seth’s homepage and follow the timeline to 1974 for the interview.)
Seth’s interview with me is a verbatim transcription of a conversation we had last summer. Despite my pleas, he has adamantly refused to shorten it (it’s more than 6,000 words!). I really don’t know if Harry and I were significant albeit unrecognized pioneers; Seth and Harry certainly think so. But the material that Seth has made available is as much a part of my musical self as the essays I write for Broad Street Review.
To read a response, click here.
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