THE GENIUS OF RAYMOND SCOTT

Whenever your telephone rings, think of it as Raymond Scott calling from heaven.  He patented the telephone ring and various other electronic noises for a ton of consumer products.  He even created an instrument called the electronium, the first self-composing synthesizer! He was a mad scientist, a pioneer, an inventor and a wonderful composer of both electronic and traditional music.  Bob Moog, inventor of the famous moog-synthesizer, characterized Scott as a major influence.  The thing is, he's an influence to so many people who probably don't even realize it.  

A graduate from the Julliard School of Music, Raymond Scott was a wide believer in composing music by the ear (and "skipping" the eyes.)  He was absolutely a genius and like most geniuses, he went totally against the grain.  Rather than write out sheet music for his musicians, he would simply hum the composed part as a demonstration.  This was a guy who had all the music already in his head and was willing to do wildly unheard of experiments to get out of his brain and onto the wax.  

So, where have you heard his music? Oh boy, you'll love this! I bet you've heard him all the time as a little kid.  I'll give you a couple hints:

That's right, boys and girls. Raymond Scott's music has been adapted into so many of your favorite cartoons: Looney Toons, Ren And Stimpy and The Simpsons, to name a few. Let's listen to some of his tunes (or toons) and I think you'll agree that he is quite the dude.

Is there anything else we need to cover today? Hmmm...I don't know. Don't think so.  I guess that means..