Podcast 372: Cameron Warner Jones

Art + Music + Technology

Cameron Warner Jones is the kind of person that, once you’ve heard of him, you just want to get to know him. Imagine a person that gets his start in the dark halls of Dartmouth’s Computer Music halls, designs and implements the complex musical system used by everyone at the time, then carries on the work through the years. You know there are stories there, right?

Especially when the ‘musical system’ at hand is the Synclavier Digital Music System, which was used by everyone from Laurie Anderson through Frank Zappa. This system influenced everything that came later, and much of it was driven by Cameron’s efforts.

In this discussion, we cover his background, his work at Dartmouth, his work with Sydney Alonso on the development of NED (New England Digital) as a business, and the Synclavier as a product. We also talk about some of the technical details that were required to bring it home, and how those details have been maintained through the years as the technology has matured and morphed among hardware hosts.

Longer than usual, this podcast required time to come together – but is worth every second. Enjoy!

Transcription available at http://www.darwingrosse.com/AMT/transcript-0372.html

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