Um Bucholtz "My Little Cow & Me"

this is an 8 track analog tape composition utilizing an Akai S900 sampler that was realized at Carnegie Mellon University's Electronic Music Studio in the College of Fine Arts. it was my final project for my second semester studying electronic music composition with composer Reza Vali. the year was 1989. i was 18 or 19 and pre-Um.

Reza Vali appreciated my "agressiveness with the devices," but he thought i went over the top when i played the piece in public for the first (and only) time at CFA's Alumni Concert Hall. i accompanied my audio with the projection of a video piece i shot and edited (featuring amongst other imagery a toy cow from my childhood and video of my girlfriend at the time with tape over her mouth, egads!) two performer friends of mine sat on either side of the projection screen doing lord knows what (was fire involved?) the last minute improvised maximalism of the whole thing amused me at the time.

this piece incorporates a sample of my grandmother, Fanny Jean Harrell née Flanagan, speaking to me in 1972 ("What about those paints of mine?"), a James Brown horn riff sample (from "I've Got Money"), samples of people answering the phone at randomly-chosen CMU extensions ("This is Mike Snyder", "Mathematics") and my own voice hooting (in tribute to Lee "Scratch" Perry?), moaning and singing bits of "Blue Skies" (composed in 1926 by Irving Berlin, but known to me from Willie Nelson's version from 1978.)

this version comes from a cheapo audio cassette dub i made of the original 2 track 1/4" tape master (now lost, i think.)

there was a very brief audio drop-out at the end of this dub that i removed using Final Cut Pro.

Um Bucholtz "Chord Organ Improvisation"

this is a solo improvisation on a Magnus Chord Organ Model 670 done in a minimalist style. it was recorded in my 3rd floor bedroom on Hobart Street in Pittsburgh in 1990. it was the summer, i think.

i believe i was inspired in part by Steve Reich's Four Organs (1970.) unlike that famous piece, this piece's rasion d'etre seems to be the changing tonal beats heard throughout as the notes change in proximity to each other and to the constant tonal cluster drone.

it has a mediative tone--which is only somewhat disturbed by my finger flub at almost 6 minutes in.

Um Bucholtz "Fish Woman" (stereo disco mix)

this is a solo recording done live in one take in my bedroom in 1991 (or 1990?)

it's my attempt at a punk pop song.

all of the sounds, except my voice, come from vinyl records that i manipulated to make skip. (the only record i recognize is Tommy James and the Shondells.)

soon after i recorded it, i dubbed it to a cart at WRCT 88.3 FM. it received some moderate airplay.

Telecorps "99/33" (video documentation edit)

Telecorps performed "99/33" as the opening act for a concert (organized and promoted by Manny Theiner) featuring The Haters, Caroliner Rainbow Oblivion and The Spo-its on August 13, 1991 at the Birmingham Lofts gallery in the South Side of Pittsburgh.

in this composition, Telecorps performed 99 songs in 33 minutes. the start and stop times of each song were pre-determined using chance operations. no individual song could be longer than 9 seconds. musicians followed a timed score and a clock. (due to the way that the score was composed, individual songs could sometimes overlap and create longer than 9 second periods of sound-making.)

various mics placed around the musicians fed the sounds of each song into a mixing console which was manipulated (per song) by a recording engineer who followed his own timed score (adjusting mic volume input levels, equalization and stereo panning.)

the (manipulated) sounds of each song were recorded to individual numbered cassettes (#1 - 99.) members of a volunteer assembly line packaged each song cassette as it was recorded into manila envelopes and used chance operations (via a program written in the BASIC language for a Commodore 64 home computer), local phone books and a Pittsburgh postal code book to determine mailing addresses in the greater Pittsburgh area for each cassette.

each cassette package also contained a photo-copied page (also selected using chance operations) from Jacques Attali's book "Noise: The Political Economy of Music" with a Telecorps 99/33 song chart on the reverse side.

immediately after the end of the Telecorps performance, 78 completed cassette packages were taken to the U.S. Post Office in the South Side and mailed.

21 of the 99 cassette packages were not completed at the end of the performance and were not mailed.

over the course of the following two years, 10 of the 78 cassette packages were returned due to various postal irregularities.

of the 68 cassette packages that were received at the selected addresses, Telecorps received no replies to the Telecorps P.O. Box return address listed on the packages.

for this performance, Telecorps was:

Edgar Um Bucholtz: voice, Atari 800XL BASIC programming, 99/33 scores, process, audience handout design
Raq. V. B.: bass, bandages
Ray C Ray: drum set
Sam Ward: drum set, clock
Oliver Kollar: electric guitar, fx, clock
Bob Kollar: Commodore 64 BASIC programming, postal address divination
Sarah Wilkes: address divination, addressing
Kate Glicksberg: labeling, packaging
Gary Miklusek: tape deck operator
Marty Miklusek: tape deck operator
Ky Kim: audio engineer
Matt Marcus: asst. audio engineer
Missy Galore: video documentation, costume design for Edgar Um Bucholtz
Jen Saffron: still photographer

this is a 7 minute edit (made on March 28, 2009) of the original 50 minute video documentation master. this edit features approximately 20 songs (of the 99 performed.) the sound for this video was recorded in-camera and thus is not ideal.

the radio music that can be heard in the background during the latter half of this video edit is the result of members of the Spo-its who attempted to sabotage our performance with easy listening AM sounds.



special thanks to Manny Theiner and WRCT.

i plan to photograph and digitize the audio on the unsent and returned cassettes. i'll post it on here when i get to it.

Fuck Um Bucholtz "Tempelcorps Ass Rash 93" (rough edit)

Fuck Um Bucholtz "Tempelcorps Ass Rash 93" a.k.a. "(P)(r)(E)(A)(Z)(A)(N)(S)(e)" (2009 rough edit)

this is a 2009 rough edit of a live Edgar Um Bucholtz solo electronics performance on WRCT 88.3 FM in the wee hours of the morning of an unknown day of 1993.

instruments used: Casio CZ-101 (in system mode), voice, analog and digital delays, parametric equalizers, feedback, tape loops and misc. other FX boxes.

this performance was inspired by sounds on the "Kosmische Musik" compilation released in 1972 on the Ohr label of Germany.
thanks to Dave Shim for turning me on to this compilation.

this recording is a cross between screeching power electronics and slowly-evolving Kosmische Musik. the original master is approximately 60 minutes. i edited out many of the transitional sections. i would like to cut it down more at some point.

listen to this the way it was created: at VERY LOUD VOLUME.

notes from the original cassette master (shown below):

"LIVE UP-UM SYNTH THESIS 1993 (NOSIED)"

"Cosmo Synth Musick (Please to Destroy)"



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April 27, 2009 update:

i re-uploaded this track. it should now be in stereo.

Fuck Telecorps "Who Shit (Inverse Redux)"

this is dub of a rough 2-track mixdown of a 4-track tape composition by Edgar Um Bucholtz from 1993. it is named "Who Shit" because the master was recorded over someone's homemade cassette of The Who. the tape i found this mixdown on is pictured below.

it was mixed down to stereo by Edgar Um Bucholtz from a Tascam 4-track in Bob Kollar's house on Chesterfield Street in Oakland on August 13, 1993.

it was digitized and converted to mp3 on March 25, 2009.

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April 23, 2009 update:

i realized yesterday that i mistakenly uploaded this in mono. it should be in hard stereo.

it should now be fixed.

Telecorps live on New Year's Eve 1992 (rough edit)

this is a two camera edit of a live performance by Telecorps in the basement of the Turmoil Room in Wilkinsburg/Pittsburgh on New Year's Eve 1992.

a projected film-loop by MIchael Johnsen accompanied the performance.

on this occasion Telecorps was:

Edgar Um Bucholtz - voice, cornet, orders, timing clock, jumping about
Missy Galore - voice, tinsel
Raq V.B. - voice, ass cheeks, candle-phallus
Ray C. Ray - drums, skree-tar, fx
Sharyn Frederick - bass, hair
Buffy Um Kollar - bowed dulcimer, dominatrix outfit
Ian Williams - guitar, thrashing about, drums
Jen Saffron - violin
Catherine Randecker - electric blinking bug alien
Gary Miklusek - rhythm guitar, hat flaps
Michael Johnsen - film-loop

plus

taunting by Damon Che

video by Gern and a tripod assisted by Michael Johnsen(?)

The Feral Family play in the background at the beginning when Michael is speaking.

This video documents the only time Telecorps rocked in a live setting. It was an accident.

Ray C. Ray plays drums on the first half with Ian Williams on guitar. For the second half, they switch.

Thanks to Brian Dean Richmond for asking us to play this gig.

"Super Duck Window Burn Iconotrashi 96" by Um Bucholtz

electronic sounds and video edit by Um Bucholtz 1993-2008

sounds improvised on a Casio CZ-100, a Sequential Circuits Prophet 600 and various (somewhat busted) FX. recorded to 4-track in 1993.

mixed down and edited to found video in 1996 as part of an Um Bucholtz (with Dave Shim) audio/video VHS compilation entitled "Reclaim (Electrosonic PicBlocs)."

video and sound re-edited in December 2008.

special thanks to Peter Vogt and Associates and VID-COM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAUSA

Fuck Telecorps "Ball Display Shrubbery Servent"

this is second of two parts of a Fuck Telecorps live performance on November 30th 2008 at 3634 Penn Ave. in Pittsburgh.

Fuck Telecorps was Steve Boyle (percussive objects, bow, items), Edgar Um Bucholtz (cornet, words, etc.) and Matt Wellins (home-built electronics) with special guest Dave Bernabo on guitar.

the babbling at the beginning is by Edgar, Steve and Michael Johnsen.