Stephen Ruppenthal & Gary R Weisberg - Strange Times (2024)

Strange Times is a virtuosic realization of contemporary
electroacoustic soundscapes composed and performed by Stephen
Ruppenthal and Gary R. Weisberg. With masterful employment of electro-
acoustic techniques and tools, including the original 70's Buchla
Music Easel Ruppenthal used in the Electric Weasel Ensemble, these two
artist create an essential, psychedelic, electro-acoustic experience.

Strange Times is a hallucinatory journey into our epidemic-ridden
times through a collection of startling sonic landscapes. From epic
acoustic journeys into re-imagining myth to the phantasmal soundscape
world of the Bardo, Strange Times is not for the innocent or delicate
listener. Time turns elastic, and folds in on itself; you are
approaching the event horizon of a black hole. The only way to make
sense of any of it is to mentally rewind; speed up or slow down the
voices in your head in random attempts to find your way through this
electroacoustic aether. Strange Times explores the ability of sound to
alter consciousness, creating sonic environments, mental and physical
states where one can allow the experience of listening to become
transformative.

Stephen Ruppenthal (Berkeley, 1949) San Francisco Bay Area new music
trumpeter, electroacoustic and text-sound composer, Stephen studied
electronic music and composition with composer Allen Strange, and
ethnomusicology with Lou Harrison, and holds a Masters of Arts Degree
in Contemporary Musicology, writing the first comprehensive treatise
in English of Sound Poetry, “History of the Development and Techniques
of Sound Poetry in the Twentieth Century in Western Cultures.” Stephen
was a founding member, along with Don Buchla and Allen & Pat Strange,
of the Electric Weasel Ensemble, and more recently, with Brian Belet
and Pat Strange, of SoundProof, and is known internationally for his
live electroacoustic performances, and writings on text-sound
composition. Stephen has been composing and performing electroacoustic works for Buchla instruments since 1971. Flamethrower, a 2017 CD of electroacoustic works for trumpet and flugelhorn, by Allen Strange, Brian Belet, Bruno Liberda, and Elainie Lillios, and performed by
Stephen is currently available from Ravello Records.

Gary R. Weisberg, composer-sound designer-digital audio artist was
born 1951 in Brooklyn, NY. At age 2, Gary was exposed by his mother to
the music of Brahms, Khatchaturian and Rimsky-Korsakov. He also had a
fascination with dinosaurs. He first picked up a musical instrument in
1972, playing free- jazz improvisation on flute and alto sax. Gary
moved to San Francisco in 1976 and was involved in a loosely knit
collective of jazz and experimental musicians and artists, operating a
small performance space called The Blue Dolphin. He studied music,
computer programming and electronics at San Francisco State
University, graduating with a degree in Electronic Music Composition.
He spent two years building a modular analog synthesizer, and began
composing electronic music and text-sound compositions for art/
photography gallery openings. From 1986-1994, Gary maintained a MIDI
project studio for the production of his own music, as well as sound
and music for TV/Film/Video productions. Since 1994, Gary has been
composing PC-based experimental electronic music, as well as pieces
for electronic and acoustic instruments, occasionally performing with
other composers and collaborating with visual artists. He currently
resides in New York's Mid-Hudson Valley.