- Suzanne Ciani
Suzanne Ciani (b.
June 4 ,1946 ) is anItalian American pioneer inelectronic music and one of the few women to blaze a trail in the genre. She received classical music training atWellesley College and obtained her M.A. in music in 1970 atUniversity of California, Berkeley where she met and was influenced by the idiosyncraticsynthesizer designerDon Buchla .In 1974 she formed her own company, Ciani/Musica, and, using a Buchla Analog Modular Synthesizer, began scoring television commercials for
Coca-Cola ,Merrill Lynch ,AT&T andGeneral Electric . Besides music, her specialty was reproducing sound effects on the synthesizer that recording engineers had found difficult to record properly; the sound of a bottle of Coke being opened and poured was one of Ciani's most widely recognized works, and was used in a series of radio and television commercials in the late 1970s. Such was the demand for her services that at one point she was doing up to fifty sessions a week. Her sound effects also appeared in video games (the pinball game Xenon even featured her voice).In 1977, Ciani provided the sound effects for
Meco 's disco version of theStar Wars soundtrack, which was certified platinum. Ciani scored theLily Tomlin movie "The Incredible Shrinking Woman " and a 1986 documentary aboutMother Teresa , as well the TV daytime serial ("soap opera") "One Life to Live ". She also composed theColumbia Pictures andColumbia Pictures Television theme jingles.In 1982 she began to record albums in the
New Age genre, characterized by a mix of electronic and traditional instruments. Five of her albums have been nominated for Grammy awards. She considers herself to be a classical musiccomposer and her more recent albums have emphasized the piano.Discography
* "Seven Waves" - 1982
* "The Velocity Of Love" - 1985
* "Neverland" - 1988 (Grammy nominated)
* "History Of My Heart" - 1989
* "Pianissimo" - 1990
* "Hotel Luna" - 1991 (Grammy nominated)
* "The Private Music Of" - 1992
* "Dream Suite" - 1994 (Grammy nominated)
* "Pianissimo II" - 1996 (Grammy nominated)
* "A Very Green Christmas" - 1997
* "Suzanne Ciani And The Wave Live!" - 1997 (Indie nominated)
* "Turning" - 1999 (Grammy and Indie nominated)
* "Pianissimo III" - 2001
* "Meditations for Dreams, Relaxation, and Sleep" - 2002
* "Pure Romance" - 2003
* "Silver Ship" - 2005 (Indie award winner)DVD Releases
* "Suzanne Ciani and The Wave LIVE! DVD" - 1997
* "Natura Poetica" - Re-released 2008
* "Galapagos: A Musical Odyssey" - 2008External links
* [http://www.sevwave.com/ Suzanne Ciani official site] , includes the famous Coca Cola sound
* [http://www.amazings.com/articles/article0011.html Suzanne Ciani: Dreamy Waves of Music] , a detailed article about Ciani's life and music
* [http://www.gentlesounds.com/suzanne_ciani_interview.htm A Conversation with Suzanne Ciani Podcast Interview] , An in-depth podcast interview featuring Suzanne's life and accomplishments with GentleSounds host.com, Phil Paranicas.
* [http://www.prweb.com/releases/suzanne_ciani/galapagos_dvd/prweb1411934.htm Galapagos: A Musical Odyessey] , Suzanne's latest release: A DVD featuring her music and video of the Galapagos Islands
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