David Wessel—The Michigan State years

After finishing his Ph.D. work with Estes at Stanford, David Wessel came to Michigan State as an assistant professor of psychology. Dave arrived with a strong background in mathematical psychology and with an intense passion for making music with computers. In the 1970s, Dave and I presented two electronic music concerts to standing-room-only audiences. The division of our labors was straightforward. I provided the venue and audio system. Dave provided all the music, which he was able to do because of his many connections with electronic musicians around the world. Dave also organized the first computer music conference, held in East Lansing during one of the worst snow storms of the year. This talk will also describe Dave's initial studies of musical timbre and his early years at IRCAM, as I observed them from East Lansing and in Paris.