Suzanne Ciani: a masterclass in modular synthesis 

A great human being and artist. What i really like is her gentle, very reflecting and peaceful speaking - no showoff - combined with her unique skills on the instrument and a lot of musical headroom coming from classical music. A real inspiration for young musicians to find their own expression and go into what they feel for, not what others tell them.

The University of Chicago had a Buchla (a big one, don't know which number)back in the late 70s/early 80s. During school breaks, I'd lock myself into the lab and spend a week or two working out on the Buchla. Fortunately, they had a four-track reel-to-reel, so I could play with that too. I still have the tapes. What an experience! I didn't realize then how privileged I was.

You can tell she loves what she does and is very passionate about it!

Mother Ciani preaching the gospel of the modular synth.

Wow. i received a sheet music book of her's over 30+ years ago from my piano teacher .. I never knew who she was (in the days before internet.) And had totally forgot about the book. So grateful for stumbling across this.

Proof that music keeps you young.

Suzanne Ciani creates a fantastic bed of sound, sometimes soothing and asking to be in the background on it's own terms. For me, it's the type of music that allows contemplation.. invites ease, and turns you upward. She seems to understand the relationship of the musician and the listener better than most. The sum is more than it's parts here, and I can understand how busy self absorbed types can miss the beauty here. Too bad for them. Thank you very much Suzanne Ciani!

I could listen to her for hours and hours..i like people who love what they are talking about.

My Goddess Of Electronic Music

She has such a kind soul.

Great stuff, Suzanne Ciani speaks so well about electronic music and instruments... love that 5!

Great lil documentary - Ciani is still something of an unsung pioneer. Thank you for sharing 👏👏👏

She's mad! I love her and her music! I've always had a thing for electronic music but I've always found too often it all revolves around a 4 on the floor dance beat instead of other more interesting grooves. Suzanne make electronic music that has heart and soul.

Music by an experienced, passionate and articulate musician like Suzanne is truly inspiring to listen and relate to. It makes so much sense that a Buchla modular is involved :)

I love that her brain is on another level.

If she were a teacher back in the highschool i used to go to. ( she'd make a great teacher ) I'd definitely would've wanted to take that class. She has a way of explaining things that not only seems very interesting but also wants you to learn more. Amazing.

Iconic performer, iconic instrument, iconic musical approach.... superb venue (this video), hope to see Suzanna a third time live \0/

That ocean waves patch at the end are the only reason I added a noise module to my eurorack system

I'm so glad she still does things like this. For a while I worried she might have abandoned the synthesizer because she was releasing albums where she was playing acoustic piano along with a classical ensemble backing her up. I really like her work with synthesizers and it's a joy to hear her talk about them and her history in electronic music. She has a very beautiful mind and peaceful spirit. Suzanne is an absolute joy to listen to and learn from. God Bless her!

her performances are an incredible experience. nothing on youtube will help you understand just how good she is. partly because its quadraphonic but also becUse of her innate sense of experience and performance added to her musicality. you gotta see her!

She is amazing.

Like WOW ! Why have I not heard of Suzanne Ciani before this ?! The first clip I heard of her in a studio brought a tear to my eye, so moving is her symbiotic relationship with electronic synthesis.

I was lucky enough to meet her, in her studio in NYC, in the mid 80's, as I had some custom sounds she was interested in.....what an inspiration.....

Great musician! Love her music!

That was lovely. Thank you.

Thank You!

And she's still just as beautiful as ever

absolute legend!!!

What an incredible human being she is.

Thank You

Awesome small documentary. RESPECT!

This gave me goosebumps.

The Velocity of Love 😍

Still beautiful.

Looks like an exciting show.

mesmerizing to watch her work. It's so amazing how much emotion can be conveyed in this seemingly cold, unforgiving format

Amazing!

Super... THANK YOU... an important document...

It’s incredible how she synthesizes natural sounds…the grain of her snow into that rushing water is spectacular, could only hope to emulate using a less complicated patch

beautiful

How fun!

I would love her to teach me everything about music. She is just such a badass!

I watched her perform with this setup last night at the barbican center London. Absoulutly amazing show. She really seemed to get a kick out of taking the buchla to the edge of chaos and then rescuing it at the last second. She was supporting Cortini but she stole the show.

how intelligent and sweet artist !!

dam glad she still plays

Master Ciani🙏🏿

I love your philosophy. We are one with our instrument and launched into the universe on a non-stop flight.............

L E G E N D

her voice is MUSIC

She is so cool.

it's dumb, but I just found out about her and 'Seven Waves.' It was released the year of my birth and at the time she was the same age I am now. Odd coincidence, but happy I stumbled onto her work.

Reverb with electronic sounds 👌🏿👌🏻👌🏿👌🏻

Love ya!

Epic.

Aplause! Aplause! Aplause! Aplause! Aplause!

I bet it sounded amazing in that hall.

Suzanne is a perfect example (together with Laurie Spiegel and of course Delia Derbyshire) that women should not be shy away from embracing electronic sound creation devices but instead should let their passion and creativity shine and show. The musical Landscape would seriously miss a LOT without the works of Ciani, Spiegel or Derbyshire. It would not be the same without them. So dear ladies, don't hesitate to try it out. There's nothing to lose, only to gain. For all of us :)

dios, la amo

queen

I find the fascinating point is that she comes from a classical background! This interaction is sort of a clash nearly oxi moronic but the ocean is important which is sort of a force of elements! I myself see music as a dimension of reality I wonder if we exist at a different point in time!

OG

👏👏👏💕

I find it curious that she performs with her back turned to the audience. I feel that it is a statement, that she is more a driver taking them on a journey than an artist performing a piece to listeners.

💕

1:22 The inscription above the archway, translated from German: "Christ said: I am the way, the truth, and the light" But translated from Synthian: "Buchla said: I am the current, the patch, and the sound"

I saw her on the TPain episode about Pop on Netflix. 🤔

Finally, a female musician playing synthesizers. Up until now I've only seen men. I'm a keyboardist and I'm fascinated by this music.

my g

Sound design as a art form

She could out dj the best of the best!

Sadis mantap banget

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Fucking awesomeness

Can someone explain double gating?

she is a fucking master

it´s nice to see that she is doing performance in church. Here in Finland church says no to Wimme Saari who would like to perform in a church. But here like everywhere the original culture is burned down.

In welche Kirche wurde das Video gedreht wenn ich fragen darf?

What is she programming at 1:00?

Suzanne Ciani you are very sweet and lovely. God bless you.

I get REALLY tired of people saying other synthesizers are keyboard-based and limited therefore; some models are (including buchla circa 1972) but these critics never find that the repetitive looping-lockstep-rhythm-sequencer music they make is also a cliche'd traditional musical form. Note how the sequencer usually is used to control pitch - another limitation that is not necessary. A fixed sequencer rhythm is just as limited as any keyboard-scale; a creative mind knows you can change the rhythm of a sequencer, and the same mind knows that "keys" can control anything with voltage, not just pitches. The world has changed since the old days; yes, keyboards are still one controller, and sequencers another - we have options and most people know how to use them. They are NOT limitations at all.

thanks for correcting me - all these years I've been pronouncing your name Chee-ani

lovely, you pleasure my heart

Who wants to see Suzanne and Imogen Heap jam?

Surely it would have been better to perform at night-time to give the performance a more atmospheric feel

Is this the church from the movie "The White Ribbon"

nice to at least somewhat of a subwoofer in that churchy space!

Not saying that Daft Punk did a bad job, quite the opposite. But, it sure would have been interesting to have Suzanne do the soundtrack to Tron Legacy

Miss uplifting lioness you get an A* for watching this

She's vangelis!

And yet the main melody she was improvising on an ipad app (Animoog), not the modular.

LSD has had some influence here.

Hi Suzanne

The sound coming out of this synth is monophonic, I'd run the sound through a delay and reverb unit to give it a stereo effect.😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

I must be missing some basic concept: if you want to perform a melody, you need some sort of input device that allows you to play specific intervals. If a keyboard or fretboard are too un-cool and limiting, fine, but you need their functional equivalent, which is why most manufacturers include or assume the use of a keyboard interface. Making your input device look like a World of Warcraft rune is fun aesthetically, but I don't see how it is very different functionally.

The Quote at the top during the wide-angle-view is John 14:6 "Jesus answered, I am the way & the truth & the life." No one comes to the Father except through me. (I'm an atheist so I probably didn't do that quotation right, but in case you're interested - I thought I'd use my german Have a nice day)

Is this Colin Benders mom?

You Look so good!

*Stares in Andrew Huang*