The Age Of Electronicus - Dick Hyman

Give It Up Or Turn It Loose

The Age Of Electronicus
Synthesized On The Moog By Dick Hyman

Arranged and Produced by Dick Hyman

Programming by Walter Sear

Mixing: Fred Christie/Fine Recording

Mastering: Lee Hulco/Sterling Sound

Cover/Liner Design: Byron Goto/Henry Epstein

Photos: Roger Pola/Eric Goto
Command ABC - 946-S
1969

From the inside (gatefold) jacket: Working With The Moog Synthesizer by Dick Hyman

It is a lot of work; it is painstaking, repetitive, and even frustrating work. And yet the results, when they come off, are a kind of music, very much worth all that effort. I began working with the Moog Synthesizer when Joe Carlton, the head of Command Records assigned me to produce the album prior to this one. "Electric Eclectics". Walter Sear, the expert programmer with whom I work, initiated me into the electronic intricacies of Synthesizer sound, and gradually I learned some of the things that the Synthesizer can do.

The Moog Synthesizer is a new instrument and, like many new things, it is somewhat misunderstood. I think of it as a super-organ which offers the player vast new possibilities in town production, and which at the same time requires him to organized his thoughts in a serial way, as opposed to creating an entire performance at one sitting. In other words, it is not all done at once. Successive lines of tones are recorded in conjunction with a multi-track recorder. The Synthesizer is not analogous to the player piano, nor will it make up its own arrangements. It is very much a played device, and the programming which is involved relates to the production of individual tones (their timber, duration, attack, decay, etc.) It is the arranger-composer, not the Synthesizer, who groups these tones into the desired musical organization exactly as he would do if her were playing a conventional instrument or writing a score.

Another common misunderstanding about the Synthesizer is the notion that it is a perfect substitute for all instruments and types of orchestras which have preceded it in musical history. The Synthesizer is not about to replace any of these instruments or orchestras. It is not nearly as efficient, although it can do some pretty imitations. An orchestra sounds more like an orchestra than a Synthesizer can, and a lot more quickly and economically too. But when the Synthesizer is used to create its own thing, the new aural events are remarkable for both the payer-arranger and the listener. The new sounds (unlike this which any orchestra instrument can produce) the unexpected alterations of the old sounds, the convenience of being able to play them on a keyboard and have them recorded directly on a multi-track recorder – these are the factors which encouraged an imaginative and programmatic approach to the arrangements in the present album.

From Billboard - August 23, 1969: His initial electronic project "Moog" proved a sales and chart giant. This follow-up package has all of that sales appeal and more. Highlights include the current single "Aquarius," plus a fascinating revival of Booker T's "Green Onions," and an intriguing "Alfie." Brilliant performances and compelling sounds.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Give It Up Or Turn It Loose
Blackbird
Aquarius
Green Onions
Kolumbo
Time Is Tight
Alfie
Both Sides Now