Role

:

Composer Performer

Country

:

United States of America

Birth

:

March 20, 1932 in St. Paul, MN

Death

:

February 27, 2015 in Arlington, MA

Genre

:

Avant-Garde

 

 

Chamber

 

Tod Dockstader was an American composer of electronic music, born on March 20, 1932, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He grew up in a musical family, with his mother being a pianist and his father a violinist. Dockstader started playing the piano at a young age and later learned to play the trumpet and the French horn. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he studied music composition and theory. After completing his studies, Dockstader moved to New York City in the late 1950s, where he worked as a sound engineer for Gotham Recording Corporation. During this time, he became interested in electronic music and began experimenting with tape recorders and other electronic equipment. He created his first electronic music piece, "Four Telemetry Tapes," in 1960, which was a collection of manipulated sounds recorded from radio and television broadcasts. Dockstader's early works were heavily influenced by musique concrète, a form of electronic music that uses recorded sounds as its primary source material. He continued to experiment with tape manipulation and sound collage techniques, creating a series of works that were released on the Folkways Records label. These works included "Apocalypse" (1961), "Quatermass" (1963), and "Traveling Music" (1964). In 1966, Dockstader released his most ambitious work to date, "Eight Electronic Pieces," which was a collection of eight compositions that showcased his mastery of electronic music. The pieces were created using a combination of tape manipulation, synthesizers, and other electronic equipment. The album received critical acclaim and established Dockstader as one of the leading figures in electronic music. Dockstader continued to create electronic music throughout the 1970s, but his output slowed down as he became increasingly disillusioned with the music industry. He worked as a sound designer for films and television shows, including the popular children's show "Sesame Street." He also taught music composition at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. In the 1990s, Dockstader's music began to receive renewed interest from a new generation of electronic music enthusiasts. His early works were reissued on CD by the Starkland label, and he began to perform live shows, including a performance at the 1999 Ars Electronica festival in Austria. Dockstader's music is characterized by its use of manipulated sounds and its emphasis on texture and timbre. He was a pioneer in the use of electronic equipment to create music, and his work has influenced generations of electronic musicians. His compositions are often described as otherworldly and surreal, with a sense of mystery and wonder. Dockstader passed away on February 27, 2015, at the age of 82. His legacy as a composer of electronic music continues to inspire and influence musicians around the world.

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