The basic idea behind of what has become to be known as the Secret Life of Semiconductors began over 25 years ago. Originally entitled X, I had been toying with completing this abandoned work for some time, although it wasn't until the turn of the 21st century that I had an opportunity to do just that.

in July of 2003 I received a letter from an individual who had heard my music at the SEAMUS National Conference, who presented a commission to compose a series of pieces for his dance company. As he outlined the project I was struck by it's similarities to TSLOS's original sketches and this work was unearthed in earnest in 2003 for the Odin Dance Company. The material included in those performances consisted of Part 1, Transition I, Part 4 and the Coda. The balance of TSLOS, Parts 2 and 3 and Transitions II and III were composed after that run.

None of the original tracks (recorded at in the summer of 1978 on my Serge system), still exist in a state suitable for presentation. I have attempted to transfer some of those source tapes to digital, but many years of bad storage has taken its tole on fidelity. Loosing this material was of little consequence to me as I felt it impossible to recreate that specific energy, not to mention the fact that I've grown as both an indivdual and composer since. That being said, the concept and basic timbres of the original work remaiin viable. The work as it exists today is from all new material, with Parts 1 and 4 and Transitions I and II coming mostly from my original notes .

The Secret Life of Semiconductors was begun in the fall of 2003 and completed in the fall of 2009, although it's composition was interrupted during the course. In fact, The Ascent Into Light was composed from start to finish ( I should say from end to beginning) while TSLOS was still in the works.

Technical Notes

Outside of an Eventide 2016 digital reverb, TSLOS is analog and composed entirely on instruments of my own design (Plan B), outside of an Analogue Systems RS-200 used for the CV to Midi converstion of the pulse strings. The parent rhythmic information which drives portions the piece were produced by a series of analog sources including sequencer's and a Plan B Model 28 Tap Clock which were archived digitally via a CV to Midi converter. There were two noteworthy applications which utilized this process: the glassy-sounding glissando's at the end of Transition I and the Xylophone timbres in Part 4. The polypnony was created by breaking down the parent analog/midi tracks which in Transition I were generated by the smooth output of the Plan B Model 24 and in Part 4 an analog ribbon controller. The resulting gates were then broken down into four individual parts via an analog sequential switch with the first, second, third and forth events and each consectutive four after that recorded on separate passes and tracks. When mixed, the decay of each rings as an overlap which distinguishes their basic timbre.

I have archived many of the patch sheets used on SLOC here.

Theory Notes

The Secret Life of Semiconductors utilizes what I refer to as Dovetailed Theme and Variations form, in which two contrasting motifs are alternately presented, each developing independently of the other. Specific to TSLOS, the A material consists of a relatiively gasseous, formless drone -- the B material in contrast being more acute and percussive. True to classic Theme and Variation methodolgy, the A material takes the prominant role with the B material serving as more of a compliment - that's the T and V part. The Dovetail comes into play by the shift of prominence between the two motifs, presented as follows:

As the piece progresses, the A material -- initially the foreground theme -- takes a secondary role to the B material. First presented as unpitched and chaotic, the B theme percussive events are developed rhythmically, then become pitched, then organized into a tonal set (E maj). It's at the close of Part 4 where both horizontal (pitch) and vertical (rhythmic) information is unified as it folds into a standard fifth species counterpoint progression. Further incoporation of Theme and Variations is evidenced by the fact that Part2 and Part 4 use the indentical visual score.

Each of the four main parts have been designed to stand on their own - structured within themselves such that they can be considered indepentant pieces while also completing their portion of the overall work's developmental progression. The three transitions were not presented in this fashion. While in some cases they do contrbute to the work's development, unlike the main sections they introduce new motif's which do not carry through further into the work.

Performances:

As a performance piece, X premiered at the Electronic Explorations concert in Los Angeles in 1978. It received a horrid review by Doug Lynner in Synapse Magazine and two glowing reviews by Joan LaBarbara for the Los Angeles Times and High Fidelity Magazine. A shortened 10 minute performance mix of The Secret Life of Semiconductors premiered in 2006 at Stony Brooke University and again in 2008 at the Sonic Odyssey Festival in Los Angeles. Part 4 and the Coda were performed live at Disney Hall's REDCAT Theater in Los Angeles on 11/16/07 by an ensemble consisting of composers Gary Chang, Alessandro Cortini, Richard Devine, Thighpaulsandra and myself. Images from that performance can be viewed here.. The live performance form that show can be downloaded hereLIke

Because of the nature of speaker response and the hard trancients in this piece, it recommended that listening be done via loudspeakers rather than headphones. TSLOS exists as an homage to one of the most influential pieces in my personal history - Subotnick's Until Spring. The Secret Life of Semiconductors is an homage to Subotnick's