Charles Cohen
Encyclopedia
Charles Cohen is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
area-based free jazz
musician and composer. Creating music since 1971, his music is entirely improvisation
al and produced solely on a vintage Buchla Music Easel
synthesizer, an extremely rare integrated analog
performance instrument made by synthesizer
pioneer Don Buchla
. He has been increasingly recognized for his artistry performing internationally and is one of a handful of musicians who has mastered the Buchla Music Easel, an extremely rare instrument. Only twenty-five of the instruments were produced in the early 1970s and only a few have survived. He is also considered a pioneer in synthesizers and performance music.
He was inspired by free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor
. An avid collaborator, Cohen worked for many years with musician Jeff Cain in their group The Ghostwriters. From Baltimore
to Philadelphia and New York City
, he collaborates with many media artists in improvisational settings as varied as the Red Room, Knitting Factory
and Tonic. With few recorded or commercially available works to his credit, Cohen prefers to concentrate on creating electronic music in the setting of the live performance space. His music ranges from completely abstract and challenging to pleasantly rhythmic and infectious. His present main performance offering is Color Is Luxury, a purely improvisational, all electronic duo with another Philadelphia musician, hair_loss. He is openly gay and has performed in LGBT-specific performances, events and venues.
's instruments, such as the Music Easel (pictured), use a different method of timbre
generation than Moog synthesizer
s. Moog units use oscillators with basic function generator
type waveshapes and rely heavily on filtering with 24dB resonant low-pass filters, while Buchlas are geared toward complex oscillators using frequency modulation
, amplitude modulation
, and dynamic waveshaping to produce other forms of timbre modulation. Many of Don Buchla's designs, including the Low-Pass Gates (later called Dynamic Managers) contain vactrols (photoresistive opto-isolator
s used as voltage-controlled potentiometer
s) that contributed to a very "natural" perception of Buchla sound.
Instrument design is key to the artist's creative technique:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
area-based free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
musician and composer. Creating music since 1971, his music is entirely improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
al and produced solely on a vintage Buchla Music Easel
Buchla
Buchla & Associates, Inc. is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, notably synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The 200e Electric Music Box and Lightning III are currently in production.-Buchla Music Box :...
synthesizer, an extremely rare integrated analog
Analogue electronics
Analogue electronics are electronic systems with a continuously variable signal, in contrast to digital electronics where signals usually take only two different levels. The term "analogue" describes the proportional relationship between a signal and a voltage or current that represents the signal...
performance instrument made by synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
pioneer Don Buchla
Buchla
Buchla & Associates, Inc. is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, notably synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The 200e Electric Music Box and Lightning III are currently in production.-Buchla Music Box :...
. He has been increasingly recognized for his artistry performing internationally and is one of a handful of musicians who has mastered the Buchla Music Easel, an extremely rare instrument. Only twenty-five of the instruments were produced in the early 1970s and only a few have survived. He is also considered a pioneer in synthesizers and performance music.
He was inspired by free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
. An avid collaborator, Cohen worked for many years with musician Jeff Cain in their group The Ghostwriters. From Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
to Philadelphia and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he collaborates with many media artists in improvisational settings as varied as the Red Room, Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
and Tonic. With few recorded or commercially available works to his credit, Cohen prefers to concentrate on creating electronic music in the setting of the live performance space. His music ranges from completely abstract and challenging to pleasantly rhythmic and infectious. His present main performance offering is Color Is Luxury, a purely improvisational, all electronic duo with another Philadelphia musician, hair_loss. He is openly gay and has performed in LGBT-specific performances, events and venues.
Methods
BuchlaBuchla
Buchla & Associates, Inc. is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, notably synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The 200e Electric Music Box and Lightning III are currently in production.-Buchla Music Box :...
's instruments, such as the Music Easel (pictured), use a different method of timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
generation than Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
s. Moog units use oscillators with basic function generator
Function generator
A function generator is a piece of electronic test equipment or software used to generate different types of electrical waveforms over a wide range of frequencies. These waveforms can be either repetitive or single-shot, in which case some kind of triggering source is required...
type waveshapes and rely heavily on filtering with 24dB resonant low-pass filters, while Buchlas are geared toward complex oscillators using frequency modulation
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
, amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
, and dynamic waveshaping to produce other forms of timbre modulation. Many of Don Buchla's designs, including the Low-Pass Gates (later called Dynamic Managers) contain vactrols (photoresistive opto-isolator
Opto-isolator
In electronics, an opto-isolator, also called an optocoupler, photocoupler, or optical isolator, is "an electronic device designed to transfer electrical signals by utilizing light waves to provide coupling with electrical isolation between its input and output"...
s used as voltage-controlled potentiometer
Potentiometer
A potentiometer , informally, a pot, is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used , it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. Potentiometers are commonly used to control electrical devices such as volume controls on...
s) that contributed to a very "natural" perception of Buchla sound.
Instrument design is key to the artist's creative technique:
In improvisation I try to think less and experience more. The primary experience for me is listening. Then, I want to respond quickly, honestly, playfully, and intuitively. I have no time or inclination in such a moment to squint at monitors, peck through menu trees, or decipher a panel of look-alike knobs.
I've been playing the Buchla Music EaselBuchlaBuchla & Associates, Inc. is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, notably synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The 200e Electric Music Box and Lightning III are currently in production.-Buchla Music Box :...
since 1976. With its color-coded slide pots, its musically logical panel layout, and its almost sculptural patching system, I can comprehend the state of the instrument with a fleeting glance. The touch-sensitive, capacitance-activated keyboard responds smoothly at the speed of light to the slightest skin contact, and its assorted control voltage outputs can be directed to sonic and structural parameters very quickly. The potential to supplely flow into and amongst all the basic electronic sound forms is literally at my fingertips. I am happy when I'm playing this instrument.
The Ghostwriters
- Objects in Mirrors Are Closer Than They Appear (US: Red Music, 1981, 001)
- Remote Dreaming (US: Mu Psych, 1986, MP-6002C)