Subotnick composed the album over 13 months in a small New York studio, working 10 to 12 hours a day on a modular synthesizer.
: The production was painstakingly manual. Subotnick would spend up to 10 hours fine-tuning a single sound, recording it to one of two tape recorders, and then overdubbing it with new layers.
The story of is the story of a revolution in how music is made and consumed. Released in 1967 by Morton Subotnick, it was the first electronic music album ever commissioned by a record label ( Nonesuch Records ). Unlike previous electronic works that were often academic or live recordings, this piece was designed specifically for the LP format, essentially creating the "studio-as-instrument" model that defines modern production. The Creation: 13 Months with the Buchla
: The name comes from W.B. Yeats’s poem, The Song of Wandering Aengus . The Sonic Journey
: A slow, atmospheric exploration of "pitch" and timbre, full of whistles, sirens, and alien-sounding chirps.
Because the album was designed as an intimate "chamber music" experience for home listening, the original vinyl pressings are highly sought after by collectors. In digital music circles, a "Vinyl Rip" of Silver Apples of the Moon is often prized over standard digital remasters because: “Silver Apples of the Moon”--Morton Subotnick (1967)
