The result of a pair of residencies at Harvard University's Studio for Electro-Acoustic Composition & MIT Media Lab “Machine Listening” studio, Multiples (2005) is a suite of pieces hinging on my love of later (70s & 80s) Minimalism & Early Electronic Music, as issued on CD by kranky on May 16th, 2005.
Starting with a “Stereo” piece for close-mic’ed hi-hats (to the label’s credit; the opening 10-minute sequence is easily one of the most challenging of anything I've released, entirely avoiding tonality, and was never questioned) & ending with a “Stereo” patch made on the original Buchla Music Box 100 system from the San Francisco Tape Music Center (the same used by Pauline Oliveros et.al) this album was one of the more rigid & complex recording projects I’ve attempted (and was incidentally the last time I used Pro Tools to record & mix).
You can hear the album on all of the streaming apps & platforms (there’s a YouTube™ playlist to your right/below) but I recommend tracking down the original 2005 CD edition, if only for the glossy booklet a tons of great photographs laid out in the familiar “Gridwork” style.
Trivia: Most don't realize that I actually avoided using synthesizers for the majority of my early career, but once I was sitting in the HUSEAC in front Serge Tcherepnin's original “Cloverleaf” '73 paperface, it was all over; the “Stereo” designations refer to the largely monophonic nature of these instruments (stereo was seen as a luxury/commodity at the time; much like “Quad” is today). To this day, this is probably the sole record that I designed myself that I'm happy with; of course realizing my limitations in this area. After a long email exchange & a trading of releases, Tod Dockstader said some very nice words about both the layout & the music, which meant everything. A subtly reconfigured version of “Stereo Music For Serge Modular Prototype [Part Two]” was issued prior to the kranky disc on Sub Rosa’s “An Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music • Third A-Chronology 1952-2004” which was later reissued on a lavish triple-LP set in 2006; to this day the only appearance of this music on vinyl.
Multiples was recorded at the Harvard University studios, where a stash of vintage synthesizers and electronics was made available to Keith Fullerton Whitman during his time as a lecturer there. The eight tracks on Multiples flow through hit hat shimmer to skull-scraping electronic tones to interlocking clusters of repetition. This is Whitman's most inclusive and developed album yet. The limited edition Antithesis and Schöner Flußengel LPs released in 2004 showed the range of Whitman's interests, Multiples integrates them into a complete work.
Keith Fullerton Whitman has described himself as being enamored of "hyper-programmed rhythms & concrète sounds, bleeding freakout guitar, beach-boys style sweet harmony, eastern euro-prog, vintage synth burbles, classic-era minimalism, early mainframe computer music, fluxus-lineage borderline nonsense, complete and utter chaos, doomy chamber pop, and quiet melancholy." His solo work for kranky has expanded from the processed guitar drones of Playthroughs to the tribal psych ritual of "Schnee" on the Antithesis LP and on to the ominous miasma of Schöner Flußengel. Multiples is a fusing of these strains of interest and ability into an effective whole.
Tracklisting:
Stereo Music For Hi-Hat (2:49)
Stereo Music For Serge Modular Prototype [Part One] (3:36)
Stereo Music For Serge Modular Prototype [Part Two] (5:39)
Stereo Music For Serge Modular Prototype [Part Three] (1:54)
Stereo Music For Yamaha Disklavier Prototype, Electric Guitar And Computer (10:08)
Stereo Music For Farfisa Compact Duo Deluxe, Drum Kit (6:47)
Stereo Music For Acoustic Guitar, Buchla Music Box 100, Hewlett Packard Model 236 Oscillator, Electric Guitar And Computer [Part One] (5:29)
Stereo Music For Acoustic Guitar, Buchla Music Box 100, Hewlett Packard Model 236 Oscillator, Electric Guitar And Computer [Part Two] (10:32)
Press & Further Reading:
Kranky release page
Pitchfork (June 2005)
Tiny Mix Tapes