Morton Subotnick

An independent documentary film about the phenomenal resurgence of the modular synthesizer — exploring the passions, obsessions and dreams of people who have dedicated part of their lives to this esoteric electronic music machine. Inventors, musicians, and enthusiasts are interviewed about their relationship with the modular synthesizer — for many, it's an all-consuming passion.

Bio-documentary about revered avant-garde music composer, and electronic music pioneer, Morton Subotnick. Through a series of candid interviews and illuminating conversations with key figures from his past and present, "Subotnick" provides an overview of this fascinating composer’s rich life and uncompromising career.

Over two hours of rare performances, interviews, animations, and experimental video. Milton Babbit’s discussion of the difficulties of working with archaic synthesizers in the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the 1950s and ’60s is a firm reminder of just how foreign electronic sounds were to even the academic community only 40 years ago. Likewise, Paul Lansky’s private lesson with theremin inventor Leon Theremin is an example of how non-user friendly electronic musical instruments could be, even to people who should have the best sense of how to approach them.

This documentary film focuses on the rapidly growing modular synthesis movement, the diverse artists creating soundscapes of emotionally charged content, and the developers pushing the boundaries of sonic invention with their community driven creations. Capturing this immediate creative vision and personal process from patch to pulse will be the journey we share.

Part of the larger filmic Four Journeys Into Mystic Time, in this work director Shirley Clarke makes use of a dancer’s body not only as the primary performer, but also as a canvas on which to paint projected images. Further enhanced by editing and effective use of shadows, the film is a transformative experience.

"A character trapped on an ever changing line. This was my first film made while a grad student at New York University's Film School in 1968. The film won the ASIFA award for best student animation east coast." - Jeremy Kagan

Emshwiller introduces this work as a "tapestry of images and sounds suggestive of the hungers that human beings all share for food, love, sex, power, security and so forth." With collaborator Morton Subotnick, the noted electronic composer, and performer Joan La Barbara, Emshwiller weaves together sophisticated electronic and digital technology in conjunction with live performance and music, bringing his distinctive sensibility to a work of contemporary electronic theater.