Strange’s Book on Electronic Music getting another Reprint
Dr. Jason Nolan has announced a Kickstarter project to fund a second printing of a classic book on electronic music, Electronic Music: System, Techniques and Controls, by Allen Strange.
The book was unobtanium for decades, until Nolan published a new edition in 2022.
What Nolan say about the new edition:
“Republishing Allen Strange’s Electronic Music: System, Techniques and Controls, has been a four-year project since its inception. The goal, from the beginning, has been to bring this important work back into the hands of fans of the original, students and teachers of the history of electronic music, musicians and electronic music practitioners, and designers of electronic music systems.
We have permission to make Allen’s work available in print and electronic form from Pat Strange who holds the copyright, and Pat has been actively guiding our efforts through much of the project. At present, Allen Strange’s Electronic Music: System, Techniques and Controls, will only be available through this Kickstarter.
In Pat’s own words (from the preface): “Since it’s first edition in 1972, Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques and Controls has been acknowledged as the definitive text on modular synthesis. In today’s musical community analogue techniques have made a resurgence among many musicians and composers. The idea of a republication has been in the works for many years and the timing of doing it now just made sense. I am very grateful to Jason Nolan, Ann Ludbrook and the team at Toronto Metropolitan University who saw the importance of this endeavor as well as taking on the task of bring this book back to life. I am so appreciative of their attention to preserving the quality of the book and respecting its content. I know that this project would have meant a lot to Allen, specifically in knowing that his techniques and teachings are continuing to influence the future of electronic music.”
This is a non-profit project. Costs involved are royalties, production, logistics and shipping costs. Any residual funds will be donated to community music initiatives focusing on electronic music and electronic music learning.”
Walker Farrell from Make Noise sharing his take on the book:
The printing of Electronic Music: System, Techniques and Controls is being done via a Kickstarter project, and the book is available to backers starting at about $30 for the softcover edition. The project has already met its funding goal.
*Note that crowd-funded projects can involve risk, which is detailed at the project website.
Image: System80
