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** VISIT BRUCE HAACK KING OF TECHNO MOVIE SITE! **
Heather
Phares, All-Music com Bruce
Haack (b. 1931) - d. 1988) was one of the most musically and lyrically
inventive children's songwriters of the '60s and '70s. Despite
— or perhaps because of — his intended audience, his music was
unusually expressive, combining homemade analog synths, classical,
country, pop and rock elements and surreal, idealistic lyrics.
Haack's innovations and desire to teach still sound fresh, making
his music a favorite with fans of analog synths and esoteric
recordings. Contemporaries like Raymond
Scott and
followers like Luke Vibert and Add N to X championed his unique
musical vision, which embraced concepts like "Powerlove" and
turned household appliances into synthesizers and modulators.
This musical
vision appeared at age 4, when Haack started picking out melodies
on his family's piano, and expanded; by age 12, he gave piano
lessons and played in country & western bands as a teen. His
upbringing in the isolated mining town of Rocky Mountain House
in Alberta, Canada gave Haack plenty of time to develop his
musical gifts. Seeking formal training to hone his ability,
Haack applied to the University of Alberta's music program.
Though that school rejected him because of his poor notation
skills, at Edmonton University he wrote and recorded music for
campus theater productions, hosted a radio show and played in
a band. He received a degree in psychology from the university;
this influence was felt later on in songs that dealt with body
language and the computer-like ways children absorb information.
On the merits of one of his theatrical scores, New York City's
Julliard School offered Haack the opportunity to study with
composer
Vincent Persichetti; thanks to a scholarship from the Canadian
government, he...
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