Chapter 9: ONCE AND FUTURE INNOVATORS: ROBERT ASHLEY AND GORDON MUMMA.

This chapter discusses the contributions of U.S. composers Gordon Mumma and Robert Ashley to electronic music. In 1957, Mumma and Ashley were asked by sculptor Milton Cohen to produce electronic music for multimedia performances at his Space Theater. At the theater, every piece was conceived with an electronic music component and every performance was live. The only commercially available recording of music composed for the Space Theater is one by Mumma. The composers also collaborated with the Dramatic Arts Center to produce the first ONCE contemporary music festival. The programs of ONCE festivals featured the latest live and taped electronic music. In 1966, Ashley and Mumma formed the Sonic Arts Union with other composers. The group toured North America and Europe into the early 1970s. In April 1968, Ashley decided to stop composing due to various reasons but returned after five years. Meanwhile, Mumma extended the use of tapes and the amplification of small sounds to the real-time, adaptive electronic processing of sounds using acoustic and electronic sources. Aside from Ashley and Mumma, the San Francisco Tape Music Center in California also contributed to the growth of electronic music. The center had a limited supply of equipment so participating composers had to develop some novel approaches to making electronic music.