Raymond Scott should have been as famous as Dolby or Moog or even Stockhausen; instead he's unfairly pigeonholed as accompanist to Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig.
Just watched the trailer -definitely want to buy it.
Mike Matthews at EHX ( maker of many many great pedals) must have heard of Scott in the past. Some of his pedals are exactly what you described that Scott created or worked on.
As a Raymond Scott obsessive who once got to meet him, late in his life, and shake his hand, but sadly not converse, I'm always delighted when he gets some fresh attention, especially from a knowledgeable scholar and critic like you, Ted. Thanks for doing this. Have you seen “Deconstructing Dad” the documentary about him by his son Stan Warnow? Details here: https://scottdoc.com/
Thanks for writing this. This essay and your piece on Thomas Edison have made me think about the intersection of music & technology. Such an interesting topic!
Excellent piece. My introduction to Raymond Scott came from Don Byron's mid-1990's Bug Music album which performs/interprets several of his pieces Stalling used for the Warner Bros cartoons (it's a great album and I was a bit surprised to see no nod to it in your piece, if not a video of Byron's performance of Powerhouse, or, say, the Penguin or Siberian Sleighride). But I never looked into Scott further (no quick reference wikipedia article or google searches possible in ~1996). I had _no idea_ about his groundbreaking electronic music instruments and technological developments, years ahead of its time. Not to mention his employment of Bob Moog and work w/ Gordy at Motown. Thanks for this.
PS -
Just watched the trailer -definitely want to buy it.
Mike Matthews at EHX ( maker of many many great pedals) must have heard of Scott in the past. Some of his pedals are exactly what you described that Scott created or worked on.
Choices, choices, choices. The weird & sometimes totally wrong choices creative folks sometimes make. And sometimes dooms them to obscurity
As a Raymond Scott obsessive who once got to meet him, late in his life, and shake his hand, but sadly not converse, I'm always delighted when he gets some fresh attention, especially from a knowledgeable scholar and critic like you, Ted. Thanks for doing this. Have you seen “Deconstructing Dad” the documentary about him by his son Stan Warnow? Details here: https://scottdoc.com/
Thanks for writing this. This essay and your piece on Thomas Edison have made me think about the intersection of music & technology. Such an interesting topic!
Excellent piece. My introduction to Raymond Scott came from Don Byron's mid-1990's Bug Music album which performs/interprets several of his pieces Stalling used for the Warner Bros cartoons (it's a great album and I was a bit surprised to see no nod to it in your piece, if not a video of Byron's performance of Powerhouse, or, say, the Penguin or Siberian Sleighride). But I never looked into Scott further (no quick reference wikipedia article or google searches possible in ~1996). I had _no idea_ about his groundbreaking electronic music instruments and technological developments, years ahead of its time. Not to mention his employment of Bob Moog and work w/ Gordy at Motown. Thanks for this.
Ted, this was just magnificent! Thank you.
I knew, but I didn't KNOW. Thanks for this, Ted!
Fascinating read, Ted. The timing and fate of a creative genius.