Morton Subotnick

Think of early electronic music and you’ll likely see men pushing buttons, knobs, and boundaries. While electronic music is often perceived as a boys' club, the truth is that from the very beginning women have been integral in inventing the devices, techniques and tropes that would define the shape of sound for years to come.

This documentary film focuses on the rapidly growing modular synthesis movement, the diverse artists creating soundscapes of emotionally charged content, and the developers pushing the boundaries of sonic invention with their community driven creations. Capturing this immediate creative vision and personal process from patch to pulse will be the journey we share.

An independent documentary film about the phenomenal resurgence of the modular synthesizer — exploring the passions, obsessions and dreams of people who have dedicated part of their lives to this esoteric electronic music machine. Inventors, musicians, and enthusiasts are interviewed about their relationship with the modular synthesizer — for many, it's an all-consuming passion.

Drawing on rare performances, interviews, animations, and experimental film, this documentary surveys the formative years of electronic music from 1948 to 1980. Featuring pioneering composers and inventors—including Milton Babbitt and Leon Theremin—the film explores the experimental technologies, academic laboratories, and creative struggles that shaped the early evolution of electronic sound.

Emshwiller introduces this work as a "tapestry of images and sounds suggestive of the hungers that human beings all share for food, love, sex, power, security and so forth." With collaborator Morton Subotnick, the noted electronic composer, and performer Joan La Barbara, Emshwiller weaves together sophisticated electronic and digital technology in conjunction with live performance and music, bringing his distinctive sensibility to a work of contemporary electronic theater.

Bio-documentary about revered avant-garde music composer, and electronic music pioneer, Morton Subotnick. Through a series of candid interviews and illuminating conversations with key figures from his past and present, "Subotnick" provides an overview of this fascinating composer’s rich life and uncompromising career.

Emshwiller introduces this work as a "tapestry of images and sounds suggestive of the hungers that human beings all share for food, love, sex, power, security and so forth." With collaborator Morton Subotnick, the noted electronic composer, and performer Joan La Barbara, Emshwiller weaves together sophisticated electronic and digital technology in conjunction with live performance and music, bringing his distinctive sensibility to a work of contemporary electronic theater.