General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

Intensity program

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal casing front with synthetic switches / metal and synthetic electrical components

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

48.2 cm

Width

13.5 cm

Height

18.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Music

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

NRC

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Ottawa

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

circa 1970+

Canada

This intensity program was used at the McGill University Electronic Music Studio, which opened in 1964, the second such facility in Canada. It was a component for the McGill studio's Serial Structure Sound Generator, one of four of SSSGs designed by pioneering Canadian electronic music composer and instrument designer Dr. Hugh Le Caine (1914-1977) of the National Research Council of Canada, and built at NRC's Elmus Lab. The intensity program was donated to CSTM by Alcides Lanza, Director Emeritus of the Electronic Music Studio.

Function

An audio attenuator used to reduce the amplitude of an electrical signal without appreciable distorting its waveform, part of an electronic musical instrument.

Technical

The intensity program was designed by H. Le Caine for the McGill Electronic Music Studio. It is a sequential audio attenuator, with 13 terms and 20 loudness settings for each term. It consists of 13 control inputs and 13 audio inputs, which are parallel and may be used together or separately to attenuate an electronic musical signal. The intensity program appears identical to one installed on the Le Caine Serial Structure Sound Generator 1986.0008. he SSSG applied serial logic to various parameters of electronic musical texture. It was extremely complex and powerful sequencer and was capable of a wider application than later commercial sequencers. The SSSG anticipated developments in the application of computers to sound generation and control. The read, blue and black abstract design on the casing front was created by NRC artist Anne-Lore Thomsen Daniels, with the coloured shapes related to the functions of the different controls of the instrument.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

black lettering on front reads 'INTENSITY PROGRAM/ NRC ELMUS LAB'/ white handwritten '4' on front/ black handwritten 'OK/ NOV/69'

Missing

unknown

Finish

glossy grey casing front/ black synthetic switches/ multicoloured electronic components

Decoration

red and blue angular designs painted on front to represent control functions