Ned Lagin
Encyclopedia
Ned Lagin is an American
avant-garde
keyboardist
.
Lagin is considered a pioneer in the development and use of minicomputers in real-time stage and studio performance. This included running analogue to digital converters and doing digital signal processing to generate music in the era before digital synthesizers appeared on the market. Lagin has attended Berklee School of Music and also holds degrees in the humanities
and molecular biology
at MIT.
bassist Phil Lesh
. During some of the tours of 1974, his synthesizer
performances were featured in a separate set between the Grateful Dead's first and second sets. Drummer Bill Kreutzman and bassist Phil Lesh
often jammed with Ned Lagin during these synthesizer space
interludes, at sometimes Jerry Garcia
played along; with his guitar heavily processed through effects processors. Lagin also appears on the song "Candyman" from the 1970 album American Beauty
.
." He composed this experimental ambient composition over the course of 4 years. It was recorded in just as many studios, mixed at a fifth, and mastered at a sixth-and that's not even counting the additional studios in 1990 where it was mixed and remastered further for CD release. Much of the album consists of traditional instruments (bass, guitar, and voice) and a cadre of synthesizers (the E Modular Synthesizer, or E-mu, various ARPs
, and the Buchla Modular System or Buchla
digital-polyphonic synthesizer.) processed through then-cutting-edge computer technology, with software and interfacing by Lagin. Said computer technology includes such esoterica as the Interdata 7/16 computer with high speed arithmetic logic unit, a bioelectronic microprocessor system, and the Altair 8800
(which had a whopping 256 bytes of RAM
and BASIC
by Bill Gates
and Paul Allen
). The album was one of the first commercially released recordings to feature the use of digital computers. The album was recorded in stereo quadraphonic sound and featured guest performances by members of the Grateful Dead, including Jerry Garcia playing treated guitar and Phil Lesh playing electronic Alembic
bass
. Members of Jefferson Airplane
and CSNY also appear on the album. Seastones was re-released in stereo on CD by Rykodisc
in 1991. The CD version includes the original nine-section "Sea Stones" (42:34) from February 1975, and a live, previously unreleased, six-section version (31:05) from December 1975.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
.
Lagin is considered a pioneer in the development and use of minicomputers in real-time stage and studio performance. This included running analogue to digital converters and doing digital signal processing to generate music in the era before digital synthesizers appeared on the market. Lagin has attended Berklee School of Music and also holds degrees in the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
at MIT.
Performer with the Grateful Dead
Lagin was a friend of Grateful DeadGrateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
bassist Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
. During some of the tours of 1974, his 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...
performances were featured in a separate set between the Grateful Dead's first and second sets. Drummer Bill Kreutzman and bassist Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
often jammed with Ned Lagin during these synthesizer space
Space music
Space music, also called spacemusic, is an umbrella term, synonymous with a segment of New Age Music and Ambient Music, used to describe music that evokes a feeling of contemplative spaciousness. Space music can be found within a wide range of genres. It is particularly associated with ambient, New...
interludes, at sometimes Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
played along; with his guitar heavily processed through effects processors. Lagin also appears on the song "Candyman" from the 1970 album American Beauty
American Beauty (album)
American Beauty is the fifth album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded between August and September 1970 and originally released in November 1970 by Warner Bros. Records...
.
Recording artist
In 1975 Lagin released an album of experimental space music entitled Seastones on Round Records; he described the recording as "Electronic Cybernetic biomusicBiomusic
Biomusic is a form of experimental music which deals with sounds created or performed by non-humans. The definition is also sometimes extended to included sounds made by humans in a directly biological way...
." He composed this experimental ambient composition over the course of 4 years. It was recorded in just as many studios, mixed at a fifth, and mastered at a sixth-and that's not even counting the additional studios in 1990 where it was mixed and remastered further for CD release. Much of the album consists of traditional instruments (bass, guitar, and voice) and a cadre of synthesizers (the E Modular Synthesizer, or E-mu, various ARPs
ARP Instruments, Inc.
ARP Instruments, Inc. was an American manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. Best known for its line of synthesizers that emerged in the early 1970s, ARP closed its doors in 1981 due to financial difficulties...
, and the Buchla Modular System or Buchla
Don Buchla
Don Buchla is a pioneer in the field of sound synthesizers, releasing his first units months after Robert Moog's first synthesizers...
digital-polyphonic synthesizer.) processed through then-cutting-edge computer technology, with software and interfacing by Lagin. Said computer technology includes such esoterica as the Interdata 7/16 computer with high speed arithmetic logic unit, a bioelectronic microprocessor system, and the Altair 8800
Altair 8800
The MITS Altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold by mail order through advertisements in Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics and other hobbyist magazines. The designers hoped to sell only a few hundred build-it-yourself kits to hobbyists, and were...
(which had a whopping 256 bytes of RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
and BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
by Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
and Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
). The album was one of the first commercially released recordings to feature the use of digital computers. The album was recorded in stereo quadraphonic sound and featured guest performances by members of the Grateful Dead, including Jerry Garcia playing treated guitar and Phil Lesh playing electronic Alembic
Alembic Inc
Alembic was founded in 1969 and is a manufacturer of high-end electric basses, guitars and preamps.-History:Ron and Susan Wickersham founded Alembic, Inc. in 1969...
bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. Members of Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
and CSNY also appear on the album. Seastones was re-released in stereo on CD by Rykodisc
Rykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
in 1991. The CD version includes the original nine-section "Sea Stones" (42:34) from February 1975, and a live, previously unreleased, six-section version (31:05) from December 1975.
Side One
- I – 3:30
- II (Vocals) – 4:02
- III A – 4:38
- III B – 5:36
- IV A (Vocals) – 0:18
- IV B (Vocals) – 2:08
- V A – 0:38
Personnel
- Ned Lagin – piano, percussion, computers, synthesizers, keyboards
- Phil LeshPhil LeshPhillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
– bass - Jerry GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
– electric guitar, vocals - David CrosbyDavid CrosbyDavid Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
– vocals, 12-string guitar - Grace SlickGrace SlickGrace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
– vocals - David FreibergDavid FreibergDavid Freiberg is an American musician. He was vocalist and/or bass guitar player with Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.-Career:...
– vocals - Mickey HartMickey HartMickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
– gongs - Spencer DrydenSpencer DrydenSpencer Dryden was an American musician best known as the longest-serving drummer for Jefferson Airplane. He also played with New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Dinosaurs, and The Peanut Butter Conspiracy.-Early life:...
– cymbals