Ron Hays, video synthesizers, and Earth, Wind & Fire

In 1966, pioneering video artist Nam June Paik was an artist in residence at Boston's public broadcasting station WGBH. Paik and engineer Shuya Abe created the Paik-Abe video synthesizer, a fantastic device that generated triply visuals with a colorizer and modulators. In the years that followed, WGBH formed the New Television Workshop to support the "creation and broadcast of experimental works by artists." One of those artists who produced work with the Paik-Abe synthesizer was Ron Hays, who made the lovely piece Genesis (1981) above (music by Ragnar Grippe), recently featured on the MOP Radionic Workshop. Hays went on to commercial success with his music video for Earth, Wind & Fire's "Let's Groove" (1981), seen below. The effects Hays made for that video, using the analog Scanimate video synthesizer, were truly cutting edge. For the time, people. For the time.

• [Mark Lakata]

  The link to the Paik Abe synth says that the system uses a camera internally, so its not quite true there is no camera input.  Although I’m guessing  that the camera  is only filming or encoding input from an internal oscilloscope-type image.

  • [David Pescovitz]

    Interesting! Thanks, I tweaked the post.

• [BDiamond]

  Did Laurie Anderson use this same technology during her “United States I-IV” performances?

• [Mark Celsor]

  Sure David, Paik/Abe synthesizer… whatever. We all know you were just looking for any excuse to post the video for “Let’s Groove”. :)

  • [David Pescovitz]

    Perhaps so.  I am an unabashed fan of classic soul.

  • [mindfu]

     The video is  thoroughly psychedelicious.

• [Incipient Madness]

  Disco was sometimes quite innovative. Alas,  disco killed itself with its own popularity. Too much crap released too fast.

• [kringlebertfistyebuns]

  The effects Hays made for that video, using the analog Scanimate video synthesizer, were truly cutting edge. For the time, people. For the time.

  The song, however, is truly awesome for ALL time.  Book it. Done.

  Oh, and just for good measure…September.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bF9X7qnWro&feature=related

• [JhmL]

  For the geoblocked: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ewc_earth-wind-fire-lets-groove_music

• [Anon_Mahna]

  First video reminds me of the early early synth music cassettes my dad had.   I used to listen to those tapes + ZBS Media radio serials a lot when I couldn’t sleep.

• [seriouscyrus]

   If anyone has a mac and Quartz Composer, they can play with an emulator of the Rutt Etra Video Synthersizer, some technical skills required from what I remember.

  http://v002.info/plugins/v002-rutt-etra/
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZQiHuTbnes
  http://www.audiovisualizers.com/toolshak/vidsynth/ruttetra/ruttetra.htm

• [noah django]

  reminds me of this
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NIZdTKV7F0&feature=related

• [Editz]

  And of course everybody knows the Earth, Wind and Fire concept made it all the way to the 25th Century.

  http://youtu.be/VmxXIS2ot8w