Raymond Scott

Raymond Scott made his money as an easy listening musician and composer, writing amongst other things Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals which, like many other of his compositions was adapted by Carl Stalling for use in Warner Bros cartoons.

He used the financial freedom he gained from this to pursue his first love - electronic music and inventing. He was a prolific inventor, patenting many devices -nearly all of which involved the electronic production of sound. These ranged form the whimsical - items such as the psychedelic doorbell and the electronic cocktail glass (it played a tune when lifted up) to the heavyweight. He is credited with building and inventing the first sequencer one of many music making devices he made - the highpoint ,culminating in the Electronium (sp?) - a device which not only played music, but composed it as well. This was developed over many years, and like many of his works was constantly being rebuilt. Eventually he sold one to Berry Gordy, head of Motown, and ended up working for him in California. These devices were built in Scott's workshop , which occupied an entire floor of his large house, and was filled with every sort of tool and machine he might need. In pictures it resemble a sci-fi paradise full of his own inventions, most of which were huge by today's standard - often built with electric relays and telephone switches where transistors and I.C.s might be used today. Though he boult many things he did not exploit them commercially (except to produce his own music) and his work was not widely known about - largely due to his excessive, if nor paranoid, secrecy and refusal to publish.

As well as making machines to make music on, he was also a prolific producer of electronic music using his own creations. His music varied varied form electronic covers of easy listening to musique concrete and often sounds way ahead of its time - some of it could be easily mistaken for something from the wilder shores of electronica - the Aphex Twin say. In particular he was interested in making music for adverts and jingles - often going to the lengths of creating soundtracks for adverts for companies that never asked for them in the first place. (one of these contained the hilarious catch line Don't Beat your Wife Every Night, Chew Wrigley's! ). In addition he produced soundtracks for films and the Futurama a ride at the 1958(?) World Fair. One of his ideas, which he was especially keen on promoting was what he called the Electronic Audio Logo - a distinctive sound that would be associated with a manufacturers name in adverts (think of that three note rising chord used by Intel).

His electronic music has been re-issued in two collections Soothing Sounds for Baby and Manhattan Research Inc. The latter contains examples of his adverts and jingles as well music written for its own sake. It also has a book with pictures and interview with his collaborators - these included Jim Henson and Robert Moog (see also moog).