Ramon Sender
Encyclopedia
Ramon Sender Barayón (born October 29, 1934 in Madrid
, Spain
) is a composer
, writer
and the co-founder, with Morton Subotnick
, of the San Francisco Tape Music Center
in 1961. He studied with George Copeland
, Elliott Carter
, and Robert Erickson
.
At the Center Sender worked with composers Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros
, Tony Martin
, Joseph Byrd
,and Terry Riley
. Later Sender was an early resident of Lou Gottlieb
's Morning Star Ranch
open land commune, and then Wheeler (Ahimsa) Ranch. Later, he founded the Peregrine Foundation (for people "living in or exiting from experimental social groups").
Sender was co-designer of the Buchla Box
, the first synthesizer built on the West Coast. With Alicia Bay Laurel
, writer and musician and creator of the 1970 best selling how-to guide, "Living on the Earth," who he met at Wheeler Ranch, he co-authored a book, Being of the Sun, containing information about homemade music, including drones, modes and open tunings, as a means of spiritual growth, as well as suggestions about meditation, yoga, creating ritual, forming intentional community, and incorporating rhythms into daily life.
His writings include a novel
, Zero Weather, and short stories available on his web site. In 1989, Sender published Death in Zamora, a book investigating the execution of his mother by Franco's
forces during the Spanish Civil War
. Most recently, he has published an anthology of his short stores and essays, ttled "A Planetary Sojourn" Sender uses the Spanish-style name "Ramón Sender Barayón" both to differentiate himself from prior works by his novelist father, Ramón J. Sender, and to honor Amparo Barayón, his mother.
His albums include Worldfood (2004, Locust 55) and Desert Ambulance (2005, Locust 70).
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) is a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and the co-founder, with Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch...
, of the San Francisco Tape Music Center
San Francisco Tape Music Center
The San Francisco Tape Music Center was founded in 1962 by composers Morton Subotnick and Ramon Sender as a "nonprofit cultural and educational corporation, the aim of which was to present concerts and offer a place to learn about work within the tape music medium"...
in 1961. He studied with George Copeland
George Copeland
George Copeland was an American classical pianist known primarily for his championship of the French composer Claude Debussy in the early 20th century and his interpretations of modern Spanish piano works.-Career:...
, Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
, and Robert Erickson
Robert Erickson
Robert Erickson was an American composer.He studied with Ernst Krenek from 1936-1947: "I had already studied—and abandoned—the twelve tone system before most other Americans had taken it up." He influenced notable students Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and Paul Dresher...
.
At the Center Sender worked with composers Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Tony Martin
Tony Martin
Anthony or Tony Martin may refer to:Education*Tony Martin , professor at Wellesley College known for racial controversies in the early 1990s.*Donald A...
, Joseph Byrd
Joseph Byrd
Joseph Byrd was the leader of The United States of America, a notable rock band from the 1960s, as well as the psychedelic group Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies, of cult fame through their release The American Metaphysical Circus...
,and Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
. Later Sender was an early resident of Lou Gottlieb
Louis Gottlieb
Dr. Louis Gottlieb was bassist and lofty comic spokesman for The Limeliters. He was considered one of the so-called "new comedy" performers such as Mort Sahl, Nichols and May, and Lenny Bruce: a new generation of unabashed intellectuals.Lou's special trademark on stage was a delightful burlesquing...
's Morning Star Ranch
Morningstar commune
Morningstar Commune was an active open land counterculture commune in Sebastopol near San Francisco. Morningstar was part of the changing society of young adults in the 1960s that traveled back and forth between the Haight-Ashbury district and Sebastopol...
open land commune, and then Wheeler (Ahimsa) Ranch. Later, he founded the Peregrine Foundation (for people "living in or exiting from experimental social groups").
Sender was co-designer of the Buchla Box
Buchla
Buchla & Associates, Inc. is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, notably synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The 200e Electric Music Box and Lightning III are currently in production.-Buchla Music Box :...
, the first synthesizer built on the West Coast. With Alicia Bay Laurel
Alicia Bay Laurel
Alicia Bay Laurel is an American artist, author, and musician. Laurel is best known for her 1970 book "Living On The Earth", a notable guide for participants in the American back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s.Laurel grew up exposed to the arts, intellectual ideas and political activism...
, writer and musician and creator of the 1970 best selling how-to guide, "Living on the Earth," who he met at Wheeler Ranch, he co-authored a book, Being of the Sun, containing information about homemade music, including drones, modes and open tunings, as a means of spiritual growth, as well as suggestions about meditation, yoga, creating ritual, forming intentional community, and incorporating rhythms into daily life.
His writings include a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Zero Weather, and short stories available on his web site. In 1989, Sender published Death in Zamora, a book investigating the execution of his mother by Franco's
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
forces during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Most recently, he has published an anthology of his short stores and essays, ttled "A Planetary Sojourn" Sender uses the Spanish-style name "Ramón Sender Barayón" both to differentiate himself from prior works by his novelist father, Ramón J. Sender, and to honor Amparo Barayón, his mother.
His albums include Worldfood (2004, Locust 55) and Desert Ambulance (2005, Locust 70).