...WHITENOISE.
.. (DAVID VORHAUS)



White Noise at Alfa Centauri (Holland) - pic by Ed In Den Bosch

History..Albums..CompilationAlbums..CustomEquipment..Concerts..OrderingAlbums

WHITE NOISE "AN ELECTRICSTORM" CONCERT PARIS SATURDAY JUNE 14th 2008 TICKETS AVAILABLENOW!!! GO TO -
http://www.myspace.com/whiteunderscorenoise
http://www.pingpong.fr

HISTORY

White Noise - originally a bandproject, but for 20 years the solo concern of American-born DavidVorhaus - has been one of the premier names in innovative electronicmusic since the late 1960's.

Vorhaus studied both classicalmusic(as a bassist) and electronics, and became interested in developingnew styles of music while in London in the 1960's. Influenced by theclassical avant-garde but also wishing to incorporate elements of popmusic, he collaborated with several other musicians to create thefirst White Noise album (in fact credited to The White Noise) in1968.

On subsequent albums, as technologydeveloped, Vorhaus was able to continue the project as a solo act,also developing a busy career in library music and TV themes. WhiteNoise tracks with their quirky use of electronics, sound samples andsequences are heard constantly around the world on TV documentaries,links and advertising, but the long form album projects "White Noise2 - Concerto for Synthesizer", "White Noise 3 - Re-Entry", "WhiteNoise 4 - Inferno" and "White Noise 5 - Sound Mind" extend thetechniques and textures used to the maximum.

ALBUMS

White Noise - AnElectric Storm"

Originally released by IslandRecordsin 1969, the debut White Noise album featured Delia Derbyshire andBrian Hodgson, who had worked for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, andDavid Vorhaus, who had studied classical orchestral bass playing andelectronics.

Tne instrumentation consisted ofearly electronic instruments and a huge amount of tape manipulation,the standard techniques of the Workshop in those days. The album onlyemerged on CD - in a "matrix mixed" format - as late as 1996, againon Island, but was rapidly deleted. NOW RE-RELEASED BY UNIVERSAL

"White Noise 2 -Concerto For Synthesizer"

Originally released by VirginRecordsin 1974, the second White Noise album was recorded by David Vorhausalone following his establishment of an all-electronic studio inCamden, North London.

The instrumentation comprised EMSVCS3 synthesizers - including one of the prototype models, stillowned by Dave Vorhaus - plus a custom-built sequencer. Apart fromsome drums, the album features all-analog electronic sounds, instyles ranging from highly abstract to rock and semi-classical. Inone section the interfaced synthesizers randomly compose their ownmusic, gradually speeding up into a frenzy of electronics. The albumhas been issued on CD by Virgin but is usually out of print.

"White Noise III-Re-Entry"
AMP Records AMP-CD031 (1996) AVAILABLE!!!

Originally released by PulseRecordsin 1988, "White Noise III" is a space fantasy running almostcontinuously and recorded independently from David Vorhaus'documentary and advertising work of the period.

Featured instruments include theSequential Prophet 5 synthesizer as well as the EMS VCS3's, anOberheim SEM module, the MANIAC sequencer and matching drum machinebuilt by Vorhaus, and the Kaleidophon synthesizer controller (seebelow). "White Noise 3" includes some wonderful multi-sequencerpassages and will appeal to all fans of analog electronics. This CDversion adds some contemporary library music tracks not on theoriginal LP.

"White Noise IV -Inferno" AVAILABLE!!!
AMP Records AMP-CD010 (1990)

An original release from AMPRecords,including some material from several Vorhaus commercial music libraryalbums (with tracks published by KPM) recorded around that time.Instrumentation concentrates more on sound sampling using theFairlight CMI, plus Yamaha DX FM synthesizers and hybridanalog/digital sounds using the PPG Wave 2.2.

"White Noise 4" dates from aroundthestart of the UK's Channel 4 and includes several pieces heard aslinks on that TV station. The album includes some great atmosphericpieces, powerful orchestrally influenced tracks and innovativesampling techniques.

David Vorhaus was the firstFairlightCMI computer musical instrument user outside Australia, and createdmany of the library sound samples for the machine. Most striking ofthese was the notorious "Orch 5" which invented the concept of thesampled "orchestral hit" and was widely used, among others by KlausSchulze.

"WhiteNoise V - Sound Mind" AVAILABLE!!!
AMP Records AMP-CD040 (2000)

This is the incredible albummarking the new phase of WhiteNoise, getting back to the electronic roots of the project butcontinuing to innovate with new technology and techniques.

Analog loops underpin slowlydeveloping digital sounds, drum loops are processed and filtered, andsampled voices and unidentifiable sounds spin and pan across theaudio spectrum. "White Noise V" is the latest expression of a 30-yearodyssey to the furthest reaches of electronic music and beyond...

For professional users, a librarymusic version is published by Music House.

A limited edition 40 minute CD-R"White Noise 5.5 - White Label" of unreleased material is alsoavailable in extremely limited quantties.

COMPILATIONALBUMS

VARIOUS ARTISTS AMP RECORDS AMP-CD001"A Future Age Of Music"
A budget priceintroductory album for the AMP Records label featuring an otherwiseunavailable Tangerine Dream edit, Keith Emerson, White Noise, SteveJolliffe, Mark Jenkins, an Alquimia remix, Richard Pinhas, PaulNagle, Daevid Allen, Daniel Biry and Martin Atkey. Almost 70 minutesof music ranging from relaxation to driving rock. The White Noisetrack is taken from "White Noise IV - Inferno".

VARIOUS ARTISTS AMP RECORDSAMP-CD036 "The Spirit of Christmas"

Fantastic Christmas music includingrare and unreleased tracks from the world's greatest instrumentalcomposers!

The WhiteNoise track is "Peace OnEarth", otherwiseunavailable, a gentle and melodic sequenced track composed by DaveVorhaus and JudeAllen with lyrics and vocalperformance by Alquimia.

Also on the CD; Kitaro, RickWakeman, KeithEmerson, SallyOldfield, DavidBedford, Zyklus, MarkJenkins, Alquimia, MCRussell and more...

The tracks run almost continuously, and there's an eye-catchinghigh-tech sleeve with pics of all the artists.

VARIOUS ARTISTS AMP Records AMP-CD039"Music for the 3rd Millennium"
This limited editioncompilation contains unreleased tracks from Keith Emerson, RickWakeman, Larry Fast (Synergy), Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk), Isao Tomitaand many others. The White Noise track is "I Need Space", now on"White Noise V".

CUSTOMINSTRUMENTS

As an electronics engineer, DaveVorhaus was able to design, develop and modify new instruments andcontrollers for his analog synthesizers, starting with the buildingof a 16-track tape machine for the recording of "White Noise2".

Later he built the M.A.N.I.A.C. - aMultiphasic Analog sequencer - which could simultaneoulsy runmultiple sequences, transpose them, reverse them, add and skip notesor play notes in random orders. This was much more powerful than thecommercial analog sequencers of the time, and allowed Vorhaus tocreate music which flowed and developed much more smoothly than thatof most contemporary electronic composers.

Accompanying the M.A.N.I.A.C. was asound bank for analog drum sounds, and later the Kaleidophon, anelectronic controller inspired by Vorhaus' bass playing. Theprototype used a length of plastic drainpipe with conductive plasticstrings and various switches, sliding controllers and a joystick. TheKaleidophon sent control voltages to play Vorhaus' Oberheim SEMsynthesizers and the EMS VCS3's, which were modified with additionalthumb triggers on the joystick to compensate for the player having todevote one hand to playing the Kaleidophon.

Pre-production Kaleidophons werebuilt, but the instrument never went into full production, andrecently Vorhaus has been using a Syco Logic AMI Analog-to-MIDIinterface to play MIDI instruments from the Kaleidophon (see photo attop).

David has also used the Zyklussequencer,a rare Britiish-built hardware device also used by the band Zyklusand by Vangelis (who had an expanded custom version, the DirectMachine). Recently he has been using a PC running Reaktor, a complexsoftware package allowing the user to define synthesizer, sequencerand sampler instruments in a personalised setup, and has created a newMIDI version of Kaleidophon controller.

DavidVorhaus and the Kaleidophon

CONCERTS

London Logan Hall1987 - "White Noise IV -Inferno"
Solo concert with closely synchronised video backing to launch "WhiteNoise IV".

London Conway Hall1996 - unreleased material
7-piece band performance featuring new material being developed forWhite Noise and/or for a band release.

London The Spitz 1998 - unreleased material
More abstract and experimental material, being developed for "WhiteNoise V".

London Union Chapel2000 - "White Noise V - SoundMind"
Debut of White Noise V performed with special guest Alex Paterson ofThe Orb.

Holland Alfa Centauri2001 - "White Noise 5/White Noise5.5"
A rare overseas solo appearance with computer graphic video backing

London St.Cyprian's May 2003 - "White Noise 5.5"
On a bill with Geoff Downes (Asia), duo concert of new improvisedmaterial

London The Spitz October 2004 - "White Noise 5.5"
Band concert with Damo Suzuki of Can on vocals

London The Spitz May 2005 - "White Noise 5.5"
Duo concert of new material

London The Swiss Church
forthcoming October 2007

White Noise at Alfa Centauri (Holland) - pic by Ed In DenBosch

ALBUMAVAILABILITY

"White Noise - An Electric Storm" is nowre-issued by Universal. "White Noise 2 - Concerto For Synthesizer" onVirgin currently deleted.

ALL OTHERS listed below are availableNOW from AMP Records and its international distributors.

To order any of these CD's directly (at£10 each including postage anyhere in the world - non-UK copiesare sent packed flat) just copy then E-mailthis form;

Number ofcopies;....."WhiteNoise III - Re-Entry"
Number of copies;..... "White Noise IV - Inferno"
Number ofcopies;....."White Noise V - Sound Mind"
Number ofcopies:......"WhiteNoise 5.5 - Limited Edition CD-R"

Number ofcopies;....."AFuture Age Of Music"
Number ofcopies;....."The Spirit Of Christmas"
Number ofcopies;....."Music for the 3rd Millennium"

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You can also E-Mailfor any more White Noise information or orders...

GOTO AMP RECORDS INDEX