From noiro.acs.uci.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!mips!ultra!jimh Fri May 22 14:02:42 PDT 1992 Article: 34637 of rec.music.synth Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Path: noiro.acs.uci.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!mips!ultra!jimh From: jimh@ultra.com (Jim Hurley) Subject: Re: Rumbly noises (was Re: onboard vs offboard devices (discussion)) Message-ID: <1992May19.000342.2810@ultra.com> Organization: Ultra Network Technologies References: <206298@unix.cis.pitt.edu> <206419@unix.cis.pitt.edu> Date: Tue, 19 May 92 00:03:42 GMT Lines: 19 In <206419@unix.cis.pitt.edu> metlay@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu (metlay) writes: [deleted] >The original sound she is referring to, which was the signature SFX for >V'ger, the alien spacecraft, was made by Craig Huxley (child actor from >STTOS who became a New Age and movie soundtrack musician) on an acoustic >instrument called the Blaster Beam, a seventeen-foot metal bar strung >with bridge cables. (For those who are curious, it was the Beam that >reportedly caused women in the audience at a free concert he gave in >Central Park to have spontaneous orgasms.) Is this the same device as the 'Lyra Sound Constellation'? I think that's the correct name of a similar gizmo, this was constructed by tieing together a floor and ceiling with variable length cables. I have an old LP of that name. -- Jim Hurley --> jimh@ultra.com ...!ames!ultra!jimh (408) 922-0100 Ultra Network Technologies / 101 Daggett Drive / San Jose CA 95134 From noiro.acs.uci.edu!network.ucsd.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!dsinc!pitt.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!minerva!metlay Fri May 22 14:03:18 PDT 1992 Article: 34670 of rec.music.synth Path: noiro.acs.uci.edu!network.ucsd.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!dsinc!pitt.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!minerva!metlay From: metlay@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu (metlay) Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Subject: Re: Rumbly noises (was Re: onboard vs offboard devices (discussion)) Summary: The Lyra vs. the Beam Message-ID: <206475@unix.cis.pitt.edu> Date: 19 May 92 17:06:37 GMT References: <206419@unix.cis.pitt.edu> <1992May19.000342.2810@ultra.com> Sender: news@unix.cis.pitt.edu Organization: Atomic City Lines: 22 In article <1992May19.000342.2810@ultra.com> jimh@ultra.com (Jim Hurley) writes: >Is this the same device as the 'Lyra Sound Constellation'? >I think that's the correct name of a similar gizmo, this was >constructed by tieing together a floor and ceiling >with variable length cables. I have an old LP of that name. No, Jim, the Blaster Beam and the Lyra Sound Constellation were both used by Huxley in his work, but they're different beasts. The Beam is actually portable, and I believe that more than one exists: Michael Stearns loves it, and uses it on every album. It can be played with mallets or a spent mortar shell (used as a guitar slide), but *I'd* like to try it with an E-Bow.... |-> Anyone here ever see a copy of "Bitter Suites" by Robert Rutman and the United States Steel Cello Ensemble? Similar machines to the Beam, but a lot smaller and more handy to play. -- What shreds your cones, makes wonderful drones, leaves digitoids in a fog? _______________ What weighs a ton and is oodles of fun? It's A-- na-- LOG! metlay@minerva.| It's Ana-LOG, it's Ana-LOG, it squashes your neighbor's cat; phyast.pitt.edu| It's Ana-LOG, It's Ana-LOG, it's better than thin, it's FAT! From noiro.acs.uci.edu!ucivax!news.claremont.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!mips!ultra!jimh Fri May 22 14:04:19 PDT 1992 Article: 34699 of rec.music.synth Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Path: noiro.acs.uci.edu!ucivax!news.claremont.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!mips!ultra!jimh From: jimh@ultra.com (Jim Hurley) Subject: Re: Rumbly noises (was Re: onboard vs offboard devices (discussion)) Message-ID: <1992May19.212313.3383@ultra.com> Organization: Ultra Network Technologies References: <206298@unix.cis.pitt.edu> <206419@unix.cis.pitt.edu> <1992May19.000342.2810@ultra.com> Date: Tue, 19 May 92 21:23:13 GMT Lines: 50 In <1992May19.000342.2810@ultra.com> jimh@ultra.com (Jim Hurley) writes: >In <206419@unix.cis.pitt.edu> metlay@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu (metlay) writes: >[deleted] >>The original sound she is referring to, which was the signature SFX for >>V'ger, the alien spacecraft, was made by Craig Huxley (child actor from >>STTOS who became a New Age and movie soundtrack musician) on an acoustic >>instrument called the Blaster Beam, a seventeen-foot metal bar strung >>with bridge cables. (For those who are curious, it was the Beam that >>reportedly caused women in the audience at a free concert he gave in >>Central Park to have spontaneous orgasms.) >Is this the same device as the 'Lyra Sound Constellation'? >I think that's the correct name of a similar gizmo, this was >constructed by tieing together a floor and ceiling >with variable length cables. I have an old LP of that name. >-- >Jim Hurley --> jimh@ultra.com ...!ames!ultra!jimh (408) 922-0100 >Ultra Network Technologies / 101 Daggett Drive / San Jose CA 95134 I'll answer my own question with a few trivia. I had a rather odd case of insomnia last night and I remembered this thread while lying awake. Since I couldn't sleep I went rambling through my LP/CD collection and came up with this (my memory may be a bit faulty this morning, if this is important to anyone, email me and I'll double-check the facts): The Lyra Sound Constellation was built by George Landry. It consists of about 150 steel cables connecting floor and ceiling of a special room. There's a picture of it on the LP entitled 'The Lyra Sound Constellation', with Landry and Michael Sterns (who is the featured performer/improviser). This album has an odd phrase on the jacket about assistance from a 'Craig Hundley' being appreciated. I have two albums by Craig Huxley that show his Beam Blaster. The Beam Blaster is not even remotely similar, nor does it have the intensity of the Lyra. Again, oddly enough, George Landry helped on Huxley's albums. I presume that the Craig Hundley on Landry's album is actually a misspelling of Craig Huxley, and they collaborated on many designs together. Landry is listed as building some of the equipment in Craig's albums. Perhaps he built the Beam Blaster after the Lyra. The earliest album I have from Craig is from about 1983, and the Lyra album is before that (1982, I think). -- Jim Hurley --> jimh@ultra.com ...!ames!ultra!jimh (408) 922-0100 Ultra Network Technologies / 101 Daggett Drive / San Jose CA 95134 From noiro.acs.uci.edu!ucivax!news.claremont.edu!uunet!gatech!pitt.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!minerva!metlay Fri May 22 14:06:33 PDT 1992 Article: 34706 of rec.music.synth Path: noiro.acs.uci.edu!ucivax!news.claremont.edu!uunet!gatech!pitt.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!minerva!metlay From: metlay@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu (metlay) Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Subject: Re: Rumbly noises (was Re: onboard vs offboard devices (discussion)) Summary: Huxley = Hundley Message-ID: <206488@unix.cis.pitt.edu> Date: 20 May 92 01:01:03 GMT References: <206419@unix.cis.pitt.edu> <1992May19.000342.2810@ultra.com> <1992May19.212313.3383@ultra.com> Sender: news@unix.cis.pitt.edu Organization: Atomic City Lines: 58 In article <1992May19.212313.3383@ultra.com> jimh@ultra.com (Jim Hurley) writes: >The Lyra Sound Constellation was built by George Landry. It consists of >about 150 steel cables connecting floor and ceiling of a special room. >There's a picture of it on the LP entitled 'The Lyra Sound >Constellation', with Landry and Michael Sterns (who is the featured >performer/improviser). This album has an odd phrase on the jacket >about assistance from a 'Craig Hundley' being appreciated. >I have two albums by Craig Huxley that show his Beam Blaster. The Beam >Blaster is not even remotely similar, nor does it have the intensity of >the Lyra. Again, oddly enough, George Landry helped on Huxley's albums. >I presume that the Craig Hundley on Landry's album is actually a >misspelling of Craig Huxley, and they collaborated on many designs >together. Landry is listed as building some of the equipment in >Craig's albums. Perhaps he built the Beam Blaster after the Lyra. The >earliest album I have from Craig is from about 1983, and the Lyra album >is before that (1982, I think). Ahem. OK, Jim, you cough up trivia, I cough up more trivia to correct the inconsistencies in YOUR trivia. We proceed in this manner until we are sucked into the black hole foam and spend the rest of eternity on the Mountain of Missing Left Socks.... George Landry was the inventor of both the Lyra Sound Constellation, which was of limited handiness due to the fact that the instrument WAS the room, AND of the Blaster Beam, or "Beam" for short (NOT "Beam Blaster," which sounds like something out of Star Wars, as opposed to "Blaster Beam," which naturally sounds completely scientific and down to earth, NOT), which was not only sonically more interesting than the Lyra (deeper bass and subsonics) but also had the advantage that it could be moved and shared by various folx, most usually Mike Stearns on various albums (such as M'Ocean, Plunge, Chronos, and a few others), and Craig Huxley. Craig Huxley was born and raised, and played the ringleader of Gorgan's brat-pack on the Star Trek episode "And The Children Shall Lead", my personal vote for the all-time Strch Prst Skrz Krk Award (*), under the name Craig Hundley. He changed it to Huxley AFTER the start of his musical career in 1983, leading to the inevitable confusion of people trying to trace his career. He is currently signed to the totally granolaheaded Sonic Atmospheres label, and also produces a long string of almost famous musicians in the LA area. The only magazine I know of that was desperate enough for copy to actually bother interviewing him was Roland Users Group, a LONG time ago.... * FOOTNOTE: "Strch prst skrz krk" holds a place in the Guiness Book of World Records as the only complete and grammatically correct Indo- European sentence that contains no vowels. It is from the Czech tongue, and it means "Stick a finger in the throat." The gesture was first popularized by Joan Rivers, a popular comedienne and talk show hostess in the USA. It is not known if Ms. Rivers speaks Czech. (PS> I'm not kidding! Look it up, it's under "Tongue Twisters.") -- What shreds your cones, makes wonderful drones, leaves digitoids in a fog? _______________ What weighs a ton and is oodles of fun? It's A-- na-- LOG! metlay@minerva.| It's Ana-LOG, it's Ana-LOG, it squashes your neighbor's cat; phyast.pitt.edu| It's Ana-LOG, It's Ana-LOG, it's better than thin, it's FAT! From noiro.acs.uci.edu!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!spool.mu.edu!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!eagle!sundagger.lerc.nasa.gov!bgood Fri May 22 14:07:29 PDT 1992 Article: 34747 of rec.music.synth Path: noiro.acs.uci.edu!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!spool.mu.edu!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!eagle!sundagger.lerc.nasa.gov!bgood From: bgood@sundagger.lerc.nasa.gov Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Subject: Re: Rumbly noises (was Re: onboard vs offboard devices (discussion)) Message-ID: <1992May20.165448.6326@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> Date: 20 May 92 16:54:48 GMT Article-I.D.: eagle.1992May20.165448.6326 References: <1992May19.000342.2810@ultra.com> <1992May19.212313.3383@ultra.com> <206488@unix.cis.pitt.edu> Sender: news@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center Lines: 29 > >Ahem. OK, Jim, you cough up trivia, I cough up more trivia to correct the >inconsistencies in YOUR trivia. ...and I cough up trivia on both of you. Go clean your shoes. >We proceed in this manner until we are >sucked into the black hole foam and spend the rest of eternity on the >Mountain of Missing Left Socks.... Not me. *I've* got a whole pocketful of change. >Craig Huxley was born and raised, and played the ringleader of >Gorgan's brat-pack on the Star Trek episode "And The Children Shall >Lead", my personal vote for the all-time Strch Prst Skrz Krk Award >(*), under the name Craig Hundley. He changed it to Huxley AFTER the >start of his musical career in 1983, leading to the inevitable >confusion of people trying to trace his career. Actually, his musical career started much earlier than 1983. He was momentarily famous in the late sixties (as Craig Hundley) as a kind of teenage light-jazz piano quasiprodigy. I remember getting into a screaming argument with a high school classmate who felt strongly that Craig's trio was better than Miles Davis's quintet. bgood Department of Redundancy Department NASA Lewis Research Center