Peter Mauzey
Encyclopedia
Peter Mauzey is an electrical engineer associated with the development of electronic music
in the 1950s and 1960s at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. He served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University
while employed as an engineer at Bell Labs
(now Lucent Technologies
) in New Jersey
.
Mauzey began working with electronic music pioneer Vladimir Ussachevsky
while still a student at Columbia in 1951.,, He worked at the university radio station WKCR
, and introduced Ussachevsky to the use of magnetic tape
feedback as a source and modifier of sound effects which could be incorporated into music.
He helped build the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer
and became the first director of engineering at the new center in 1959. According to Thom Holmes' Electronic and experimental music: technology, music, and culture he was "the lead engineer of the center". By Mauzey and his staff developed a large variety of customized equipment designed to solve the needs of the composers working at the center. These include early prototypes of tape delay machines, quadraphonic mixing consoles, and analog triggers designed to facilitate interoperability between other (often custom-made) synthesizer equipment.
Robert Moog
, who developed the music synthesizer into a practical instrument, learned his trade from Mauzey as a Columbia student in the early 1960s.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
in the 1950s and 1960s at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. He served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
while employed as an engineer at Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
(now Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies
Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...
) in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Mauzey began working with electronic music pioneer Vladimir Ussachevsky
Vladimir Ussachevsky
Vladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
while still a student at Columbia in 1951.,, He worked at the university radio station WKCR
WKCR
WKCR-FM is a radio station. Licensed to New York, New York, USA, it serves the New York area. The station is currently owned by Trustees of Columbia University in New York.-History:...
, and introduced Ussachevsky to the use of magnetic tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
feedback as a source and modifier of sound effects which could be incorporated into music.
He helped build the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer
RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer
The RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer was the first programmable electronic music synthesizer and the flagship piece of equipment at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Designed by Herbert Belar and Harry Olson at RCA, it was installed at Columbia University in 1957...
and became the first director of engineering at the new center in 1959. According to Thom Holmes' Electronic and experimental music: technology, music, and culture he was "the lead engineer of the center". By Mauzey and his staff developed a large variety of customized equipment designed to solve the needs of the composers working at the center. These include early prototypes of tape delay machines, quadraphonic mixing consoles, and analog triggers designed to facilitate interoperability between other (often custom-made) synthesizer equipment.
Robert Moog
Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
, who developed the music synthesizer into a practical instrument, learned his trade from Mauzey as a Columbia student in the early 1960s.