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Publication year2025
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Date22 Dec 2025
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Publishing houseOrpheus Instituut
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ClusterMusic, Thought and Technology
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SeriesOrpheus sounds
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SubtypeEpisode
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HostMagno Caliman, Arabella Pare
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GuestJohn Chowning, Juan Parra Cancino
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ThemeMusic and societal change, Music and technological development
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PriceFree
An Orpheus sounds episode
Today we are speaking with John Chowning and Juan Parra Cancino. Without John Chowning’s work on FM Synthesis in the 1970s, music as we know it today would sound very different. Starting with the most well-known (and apparently very heavy) result of his research, the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, our conversation moves through why the sound of the 80s was defined by “the first button you press” and an explanation of sound synthesis based on Magno’s talent for whistling.
Speaking with John Chowning is Juan Parra Cancino, our colleague at Orpheus Instituut. Juan is a musician, composer and performer specialising in live electronic music and vintage materialities.
John Chowning is a composer and researcher, and taught computer-sound synthesis and composition at Stanford University's Department of Music. In 1974, with John Grey, James (Andy) Moorer, Loren Rush and Leland Smith, he founded the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), which remains one of the leading centers for computer music and related research. In 2019, he initiated with an international team, a long-term project to recreate, by computer modeling, the acoustics of the Chauvet Cave in France.
Find out more about Juan's and Johns work:
Orpheus Sounds
Orpheus Sounds is a series of snapshots of Orpheus Instituut, a research center where we explore the making and understanding of music. Here, we are going to invite the researchers, colleagues and guests of Orpheus to come and tell us about why they are so passionate about their work.
You can get in touch with us via podcast@orpheusinstituut.be
