An orchestra at my fingertips : a history of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble

__A remarkable journey through five decades of synthesizers, software, and weird sounds.__ __An Orchestra at My Fingertips__ is the first study of the history, activities, and legacy of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble. Covering the ensemble’s first fifty years, Alexa Woloshyn features musician biographies as well as analyses of the CEE’s compositions, improvisations, commissions, and performance practice. "When the Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE) began as a group of students at the University of Toronto in 1972, they performed with cumbersome, finicky analogue instruments and DIY logistics, never sure if everything would work as intended. Today’s CEE sound comes from a sophisticated mixture of digital and analogue hardware, laptops, and acoustic instruments. Across a long and ongoing long history of tours, recordings, and performances, countless listeners have heard and appreciated the innovations at the heart of the CEE’s music. An Orchestra at My Fingertips is the first detailed study of the history, music, and legacy of the CEE. Covering the ensemble since its inception and drawing on extensive interviews with group members, Alexa Woloshyn provides unique insight into the musicians that make up the group as well as analyses of the CEE’s compositions, commissions, and improvisation and performance practice. Woloshyn’s account traces the evolution of electronic music technology across the decades-long history of the group, paying close attention to how audiences have perceived the CEE’s artistry as effortless rather than as the careful employment of technologically generated sounds. To appreciate and understand the CEE’s legacies, Woloshyn presents several listening methodologies and includes numerous listening guides to engage all listeners. An Orchestra at My Fingertips speaks to the global development and transformation of live electronic music through the history of a group that has been a consistently innovative voice in Canada and beyond."-- Provided by publisher When the Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE) began as a group of students at the University of Toronto in 1972, they performed with cumbersome, finicky analog instruments and DIY logistics, never sure if everything would work as intended. Today's CEE sound comes from a sophisticated mixture of digital and analog hardware, laptops, and acoustic instruments. Across a long and ongoing history of tours, recordings, and performances, countless listeners have heard and appreciated the innovations at the heart of the CEE's music. An Orchestra at My Fingertips is the first detailed study of the history, music, and legacy of the CEE. Covering the ensemble since its inception and drawing on extensive interviews with group members, Alexa Woloshyn provides unique insight into the musicians that make up the group as well as analyses of the CEE's compositions, commissions, and improvisation and performance practice. Woloshyn's account traces the evolution of electronic music technology across the decades-long history of the group, paying close attention to how audiences have perceived the CEE's artistry as effortless rather than as the careful employment of technologically generated sounds. To foster appreciation and understanding of the CEE's legacies, Woloshyn presents several listening methodologies and includes numerous listening guides to engage all readers. An Orchestra at My Fingertips speaks to the global development and transformation of live electronic music through the history of a group that has been a consistently innovative voice in Canada and beyond.

When the Canadian Electronic Ensemble (CEE) began as a group ofstudents at the University of Toronto in 1972, they performed withcumbersome, finicky analog instruments and DIY logistics, neversure if everything would work as intended. Today's CEE sound comesfrom a sophisticated mixture of digital and analog hardware,laptops, and acoustic instruments. Across a long and ongoinghistory of tours, recordings, and performances, countless listenershave heard and appreciated the innovations at the heart of theCEE's music. An Orchestra at My Fingertips is the firstdetailed study of the history, music, and legacy of the CEE.Covering the ensemble since its inception and drawing on extensiveinterviews with group members, Alexa Woloshyn provides uniqueinsight into the musicians that make up the group as well asanalyses of the CEE's compositions, commissions, and improvisationand performance practice. Woloshyn's account traces the evolutionof electronic music technology across the decades-long history ofthe group, paying close attention to how audiences have perceivedthe CEE's artistry as effortless rather than as the carefulemployment of technologically generated sounds. To fosterappreciation and understanding of the CEE's legacies, Woloshynpresents several listening methodologies and includes numerouslistening guides to engage all readers. An Orchestra at MyFingertips speaks to the global development and transformationof live electronic music through the history of a group that hasbeen a consistently innovative voice in Canada and beyond.

Cover An Orchestra at My Fingertips Title Copyright Contents Figures and Tables Prologue Acknowledgments 1 Electrifying Musical Life in Toronto 2 A CEE Origin Story: Don’t Mistake Us for a Pop Band 3 Sounds like the CEE: A Technological and Aesthetic Community 4 The CEE Live: Virtuosity, Perceptibility, and Improvisation 5 CEE Listening Spaces: Embodied, Embedded, and Virtual Contexts 6 A CEE Musical Network: Supporting Musical Life in Canada and Beyond Epilogue Discography Appendix: Listening Guides Increscents (1972) – David Grimes Fancye (1973) – David Jaeger Consequences for 5 (1977) – Norma Beecroft I Have Come Through (1979) – James Montgomery Quivi sospiri (1979) – David Jaeger Psalm (1985) – Larry Lake Attention Elk! (1994) – CEE Caspin’s Arrival (1998) – CEE Improvisation #4 (2008) – CEE Notes References Index