Suzanne Ciani is an electronic musician in the post-musique concrète generation. She has won five Grammys for her work. The documentary A Life in Waves traces her exceptional career, including pioneering electronic sound logos.
Her work as an early musician using modular synths is particularly relevant in Portland now. There is a resurgence in modular synths, a synth store, a synth library and synth music classes. There are a large number of women synth musicians and synth classes focused on women at S1. Internationally and historically trans musician Wendy Carlos was a pioneering analog synth artist. Bebe Barron is known for the first electronic score for a studio film. It's a diverse field.
The early electronic musicians had large cluttered studios like electronics labs. Modular synths, based on modular analog computers were introduced in 1963 by makers Moog and Buchla. They packed a large modular library into a small, even transportable chassis, which could be endlessly configured into the musician's own instrument.
There will be a performance on a Buchla (Ciani on Buchla) modular synth before the film.
At Clinton St Theater cstpdx.com/show/life-waves 2522 SE Clinton. Doors 6PM $8 advance, $10 door
