ARCHIVE
Modulisme: Ravenstine 20260921 (Audio)
https://modular-station.com/modulisme/session/100/
Allen Ravenstine was a key figure in the developing art and music scene in Cleveland in the early 70s. Working alone with an early analogue synthesizer, sans keyboard, and a four track tape recorder, he made a series of compositions.
In 1975, one of those compositions titled Terminal Drive got him invited to join a group that was forming called Pere Ubu. That group’s membership changed over the years and eventually included Mayo Thompson who had founded the group Red Crayola in Texas in the 1960’s. During one of Ubu’s breakups, Ravenstine worked for a time in a reformation of Red Crayola both recording and touring. In 1991 he recorded his last album with Ubu and then left music to become an airline pilot.
In 2013, an invitation to contribute to “I Dream of Wires: The Modular Synthesizer Documentary” led to the recording of an impromptu duo performance on the EML-101 and 200 synthesizers, with Robert Wheeler who had replaced him in Pere Ubu. Culled from that session were a pair of albums entitled “City Desk” and “Farm Report”, which were self-released in 2013. The producer of those records, William Blakeney, closely associated with the Electronic Music Foundation, encouraged Ravenstine to return to composing. About a year later, Blakeney produced “The Pharaoh’s Bee”: Ravenstine’s first solo project since the work he had done in the early ‘70s.
On June 29, 2018, Ravenstine released “Waiting for the Bomb” and he and Blakeney have worked together on a series of albums since that time.
The analog abstraction for which Ravenstine became known remains a significant part of his current sound palette, but recent years have seen him turn increasingly toward outlandish eclecticism as his foundation.
"Modulisme," formerly "Early ElectroMIX," is a platform that aims to support original composing for analog modular systems but not only… A radio program airing music made using modular systems… Each program lasts one hour and is especially dedicated to one composer and features some exclusive music made for us.