Suzanne Ciani
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Suzanne Ciani (b. June 4, 1946) is an Italian American pioneer in electronic music and one of the few women to blaze a trail in the genre. She received classical music training at Wellesley College and obtained her M.A. in music in 1970 at University of California, Berkeley where she met and was influenced by the idiosyncratic synthesizer designer Don 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 and General 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 the Star Wars soundtrack, which was certified platinum. Ciani scored the Lily Tomlin movie The Incredible Shrinking Woman and a 1986 documentary about Mother Teresa, as well the TV daytime serial ("soap opera") One Life to Live. She also composed the Columbia Pictures and Columbia 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 music composer and her more recent albums have emphasized the piano.
[edit] 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)
[edit] External links
- Suzanne Ciani official site, includes the famous Coca Cola sound
- Suzanne Ciani: Dreamy Waves of Music, a detailed article about Ciani's life and music
