Tonto's Expanding Head Band
Tonto's Expanding Head Band was an electronic music duo consisting of Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. Despite releasing only two albums in the early 1970s, the duo were (and still remain) hugely influential because of their voluminous session work for other musicians (most notably Stevie Wonder), extensive commercial advertising work and the unique warmth and personality of their work.
Tonto is an acronym for "The Original New Timbral Orchestra," the world's first (and still the largest) multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer, designed and constructed by Malcolm Cecil. Tonto started as a Moog modular synthesizer Series III owned by record producer Margouleff. Later a second Moog III was added, then four Oberheim SEMs, two ARP 2600s, modules from Serge with Moog-like panels, EMS, Roland, Yamaha, etc.[3] plus several custom modules designed by Serge Tcherepnin and Cecil (who has an electrical engineering background). Later, digital sound-generation circuitry and a collection of sequencers were added, along with MIDI control. The modules are all mounted in an instantly recognizable semicircle of huge curving wooden cabinets, twenty feet in diameter and six feet high.
What possessed him to assemble such a monstrous system?
"I wanted to create an instrument that would be the first multitimbral polyphonic synthesizer. Multitimbral polyphony is different than the type of polyphony provided by most of today's synthesizers, on which you turn to a string patch and everything under your fingers is strings. In my book 'multitimbral' means each note you play has a different tone quality, as if the notes come from separate instruments. I wanted to be able to play live multitimbral polyphonic music using as many fingers and feet as I had."
Tonto has been solely owned by Malcolm Cecil since he acquired Robert Margouleff's share in 1975. In the mid-1990s Tonto was moved to Mutato Muzika studios, the headquarters of Mark Mothersbaugh and Devo, leading to widespread rumors that Mark had purchased Tonto but this was not true. Currently Tonto is located in its own studio in upstate New York close to Woodstock.
Tonto's Expanding Head Band's first album, Zero Time, was released in 1971 on the U.S. Embryo label (distributed by Atlantic Records) and attracted a lot of attention for its unique, warm, musical sounds. Stevie Wonder in particular was impressed enough to subsequently feature Tonto in his albums starting with Music of My Mind and continuing through Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Jungle Fever; all projects which listed Margouleff and Cecil as associate producers, engineers and programmers (and winning them an engineering Grammy for Talking Book). Writing in Keyboard Magazine in 1984, John Diliberto asserted that:
"... this collaboration changed the perspectives of black pop music as much as The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper altered the concept of white rock".
Indeed, the remainder of the 70s and 80s saw Tonto featured on albums from Quincy Jones, Bobby Womack, The Isley Brothers, Gil Scott-Heron and Weather Report, as well as releases from Stephen Stills, The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, Little Feat, Joan Baez, Steve Hillage, and others. The Tonto synthesizer was also used in Brian De Palma's 1974 movie "Phantom of the Paradise".
A second Tonto album, It's About Time was released in 1972.
In 1996 a CD "Tonto Rides Again" was released, which features all of the original tracks from "Zero Time" plus the tracks from "It's About Time" (which have been mysteriously re-titled, apparently for legal reasons). In the liner notes to the re-release, Mark Mothersbaugh wrote:
"Once upon a time, Tonto represented the cutting edge of artificial intelligence in the world of music - Robert and Malcolm are the mad chefs of aural cuisine with beefy tones and cheesy timbres, making brain chili for those brave enough and hungry enough. Consequently, back in the cultural wasteland of the Midwest, the release of Tonto's Expanding Head Band was an inspirational indicator for starving Spudboys who had grown tired of the soup du jour. It was official - noise was now Muzak, and Muzak was now noise. So with Tonto "riding again" and the orb-of-sound resurrected, expect a healing. The masses are asses who need Tonto's glasses. Lookout, here comes Tonto!"
Also, Stevie Wonder said:
"How great it is at a time when technology and the science of music is at its highest point of evolution, to have the reintroduction of two of the most prominent forefathers in this music be heard again. It can be said of this work that it parallels with good wine. As it ages it only gets better with time. A toast to greatness... a toast to Zero Time... forever."
Malcom Cecil and his son, DJ Moonpup, brought Tonto's Expanding Head Band to the live arena performing at the Big Chill Festival on August 5, 2006. The festival was a 3 day affair held at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, about 2 1/2 hrs drive northwest of London. Tonto was not actually there - it's way too big and expensive to ship for a one hour performance - Malcolm Cecil created a "Virtual Tonto" and played live over pre-recorded backing tracks with a specially prepared visual show with hundreds of pictures of Tonto and Poli Cecil's art pieces. The performance was enthusiastically received by an audience of over 3,000 fans. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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