Cambridge Street Records was created in 1985 by Barry Truax as an alternative to commercial publication that specializes in computer and electroacoustic music. Each Cambridge Street Records production is personally supervised, both artistically and technically, by the composer and features the musical use of new audio technology such as digital sound synthesis, multi-track recording and digital signal processing.The first two releases in 1985 were an LP entitled Sequence of Earlier Heaven with four of Truax's own works and an LP entitled Aurora of electronic and computer music by Queen's University composer David Keane. Each disc was accompanied by a Teacher's Guide prepared by the composer in order to make it more accessible for use in schools. These were followed in 1987 by Digital Soundscapes, which was probably the first independently produced CD of electroacoustic music in Canada, in 1991 by Pacific Rim, in 1994 by Song of Songs, and in 1996 by Inside. The year 2001 saw the release of two new CDs, Islands (soundscape compositions) and Twin Souls (text-based pieces) accompanied by a dance/music video of one of the works, Androgyne, Mon Amour.
Digital Soundscapes features the first work entirely realized with real-time granular synthesis, Riverrun (1986), which was awarded the Magisterium at the 1991 International Competition for Electroacoustic Music in Bourges, France. Pacific Rim includes some of the first works realized with real-time granulation of sampled environmental sound, The Wings of Nike (1987) and Pacific (1990). Song of Songs extended the use of granulation in time-stretching and harmonizing voices, Pacific Rim percussion, and environmental sounds in several major new works. Inside includes an electroacoustic music theatre work Powers of Two: The Artist, as well as several works for bass oboe, English horn, oboe d'amore and Asian instruments.
More recently, Truax's text-based works are featured on Twin Souls, and his soundscape compositions on Island. His electroacoustic opera, Powers of Two, has also been released on a two-CD set with .pdf files of the libretto and production photos. SFU40, released in 2005, is a historical retrospective of works realized by composers at SFU over the 40 year history of its studios, none of which have been released on CD before. A recent CD is a cross-cultural odyssey, Spirit Journies, followed by the recent set of soundscape compositions, The Elements and Beyond.
Cambridge Street Publishing continues to break new ground with its CD-ROM of Truax's Handbook for Acoustic Ecology, published in 1999, a DVD of his video works including Androgyne, Mon Amour, and the collaborations with computer graphic artist Theo Goldberg.
The launch of Cambridge Street Records, 1985, with "Bailey"
Here's our current catalogue ...
