Walter Carlos: Sonic Seasonings (Columbia, 2 LPs, $6.98). When the Roman philosopher Seneca said, "All art is but imitation of nature," he didn't know the half of it. Today's electronic composer no longer bothers to imitate nature the way Vivaldi did in The Four Seasons. Tape recorder in hand, he simply camps at the seashore or in a rain forest, and lets Mother Nature herself compose an accelerando of breaking waves or a pizzicato polka of storm effects. Then he adds electronic sounds—whirrr, ping, eeeeeee, r-r-r-roar—and voila!, the new art of sonic environments,...
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