Editing Paul Lansky (section)

==Computer music==
Beginning in the mid 1960s Lansky was among the first to experiment with the computer for sound synthesis. Until 2004 this was his predominant focus. Since then he has alternated between instrumental composition and electronic music.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roads |first1=C. |last2=Lansky |first2=Paul |date=1983 |title=Interview with Paul Lansky |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3679590 |journal=Computer Music Journal |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=16–24 |doi=10.2307/3679590 |jstor=3679590 |issn=0148-9267}}</ref>

Sounds originating from "real-world" sources are the predominant focus of Lansky's computer music: traffic, kids in the kitchen, musical instruments, and most of all speech. Electronic synthesis is frequently used but the main sonic resources are transformations of recorded natural sounds. One of his first large pieces, ''Six Fantasies on a Poem by [[Thomas Campion]]'' (1979) set the stage. It is based on a reading by his wife Hannah MacKay of a famous poem. The piece is not so much a setting of the poem as it is a study of the contours of a live reading of the poem. The work uses a technique known as [[linear predictive coding]], LPC, which was developed in the 1960s by scientists as a data-reduction technique meant to economize on the amount of data needed for digital voice transmission and is used today in some cell phone communication. It allows for the separation of pitch and speed and the pitch contours of the speech can be altered independently of the speed. Each of the six movements explores a different aspect of speech. This led to a series of "chatter" pieces, ''Idle Chatter'', etc. that fragment the speech into a percussive rap-like texture. Other projects included folksong settings (''Folk Images''), a portrait of a woman (''Things She Carried''), a contemplation of letters and numbers (''Alphabet Book''), sounds of the highway (''Night Traffic'', ''Ride''), blues harmonica, electric guitar, piano improvisation and casual conversation. The bulk of his approximately 70 electronic compositions are contained on ten solo CDs (see Discography). While there are a few pieces for electronics and live instruments the bulk of Lansky's pieces are recorded "tape" pieces.

Lansky's works have attracted interest in various realms. They have been used by dance companies ([[Bill T. Jones]], [[Eliot Feld]] Ballet, [[New York City Ballet]]). His works frequently have a rhythmic "groove" that is attractive to dancers. In 2000 he was the co-subject (along with Francis Dhomont) of a documentary film made for the European Arte network by [[Uli Aumüller]]<!-- not identical to the Uli Aumüller in the German Wikipedia-->, ''My Cinema for the Ears'' that deals with the use of natural sounds. A four-chord sequence from Lansky's first large computer piece ''Mild und leise'' (1972) was sampled by the English rock band [[Radiohead]] for the track "[[Idioteque]]" on their 2000 ''[[Kid A]]'' album.