NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT - A Nation of Tinkerers: A History of Electronic Music in Canada from 1945 to 1985

From university labs to home-built studios, A Nation of Tinkerers charts the evolution of Canadian electronic music as a story of invention, collaboration, and creative risk. For decades, the history of Canadian electronic music has existed in fragments— footnotes, anecdotes, and half-remembered stories preserved by enthusiasts and archivists. Between 1945 and 1985, Canada produced some of the world’s earliest breakthroughs in sound synthesis and recording technology. With this book I thread together a history of engineers, composers, DJs, and scene-makers, showing how the interplay between imagination and technology led to the sonic world we now inhabit.

There’s a pervading belief within this country, but also internationally, that Canadians arrive at popular musical styles belatedly. That sentiment comes from our lack of a relationship with, and understanding of, our own history. This book aims to correct that by focusing on major musical and technical innovations that oftentimes anticipated, or happened in league with, what was developing around the world. Beyond documenting the history itself, I also grapple with why this history has been overlooked for so long.

Some of the figures I focus on in the book include Norman McLaren, Hugh Le Caine, Norma Beecroft, Marcelle Deschênes, Intersystems, Peloquin/Sauvageau, Bruce Haack, Mort Garson, Jackie Mittoo, Lime, and Gino Soccio to name a few.