The Raymond Scott Archives

Online Exhibit

Raymond Scott's Early Work in Electronic Music

In the period from the late 1940s through the early 1950s Scott began to concentrate more on electronic music, exploring new designs and devices. He meets a young Bob Moog who supplies him with a theremin that he transforms into a keyboard synth he calls the Clavivox.

Online Exhibit

Later 1950s and Early 1960s

Raymond Scott begins to concentrate more on electronic music for commercials, starts working on the Electronium, which will be the magnum opus of his career, and creates a pioneering album of music for babies that prefigures ambient music.

Online Exhibit

The Electronium—A Cockpit of Dreams

The Electronium, conceived as a collaboration between man and machine, could instantaneously compose and perform music automatically using algorithms that were precursors of artificial intelligence. It is undoubtedly the magnum opus of Scott's electronic music career.

Online Exhibit

But When Did He Sleep?

The scope of Raymond Scott's inventions goes far beyond electronic music. The wheels were always turning, and he created musically related designs and devices, and others, like a fax machine, that were intended for general use.