Once described by Milton Babbitt as "the first electronic musician," and the man responsible for the Nation Film Board of Canada's animation studio, the late Norman McLaren is being celebrated with a first-ever collection of his soundtrack works aptly titled Rythmetic: The Compositions of Norman McLaren, arriving November 29 via We Are Busy Bodies.
The compilation is curated from hours of archival tapes culled from the NFB vaults, and presents an overview of McLaren's extensive catalogue, highlighting the intersection of his compositional and filmmaking work.
An innovator and pioneer in his respective fields, McLaren developed his own meticulous method of sound-making, cutting and splicing and gluing film tape and measuring its corresponding frequencies until achieving his desired sonic results. "He could have used a synthesizer," wrote long-term assistant, friend and filmmaker of McLaren documentaries, NFB's Don McWilliams, "but he had his own method and he stuck with it."
The collection is previewed today with "Synchromy," which you can hear below. There, you'll also find Rythmetic's tracklist.
Rythmetic: The Compositions of Norman McLaren:
1. Now Is the Time
2. Rhythmetic
3. Neighbours
4. Synchromy
5. Unreleased composition, 1945-1946
6. Dots
7. Loops
8. Mosaic
9. Unreleased composition 1945-1946
10. Unreleased composition, 1945-1948
11. Unreleased composition, 1969
12. Unreleased composition, 1964-1965
13. Opening Speech: Norman McLaren