This page uses content from the Bruce Haack biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Bruce Clinton Haack (1931-1988) was a musician and composer, and a pioneer within the realm of electronic music. He was born in Alberta, Canada.

Haack had a notoriously disturbed childhood, growing up in a dysfunctional rural Alberta home. He received a degree in psychology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Later, he attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York on a scholarship, where he made many friendships that would prove important to his career. However, he ultimately dropped out after 8 months.

Haack worked extensively on children's music, releasing more music and seeing more success in this field of music than in any other. For these children records he worked together with Esther Nelson, a dance teacher. His most important records (for adults) were "Electric Lucifer" 1 & 2; the first of which was made largely on modified synthesizers. This attachment is explained in the film Haack: The King of Techno despite the fact that Bruce Haack's influence on techno was minimal at best as an outsider musician.

In 1988, Haack died of heart failure. Most of the Haack/Nelson albums remain unreleased in the United States, though they are available through Japanese imports and via peer-to-peer file-sharing programs.

Despite not having any formal knowledge in electronics, Haack built his own musical instruments, like "The Magic Wand," "The Dermatron" (a synthesizer that was played by leading an electrical current through physical contact with another person) and the "People-odion." He also composed music under the artist names of "Jackpine Savage" and "Jacques Trapp."

Discography

Albums

Singles

• Les Etapes (1955)
• Lullaby for a Cat (1956)
• Party Machine (1983)

Compilations

• Hush Little Robot - QDK Media (1998)
• Listen Compute Rock Home - Emperor Norton Records (1999)
• Dimension Mix: A Tribute to Dimension 5 Records - Eenie Meenie Records (2005)

Film/Television

• I've Got a Secret (1958)
• The Mike Douglas Show (1965)
• The Tonight Show - Johnny Carson (1965)
• Mister Rogers Neighborhood (1968)

See also

• Leon Theremin
• Raymond Scott
• Robert Moog
• Jim Copp

External links

• Bruce Haack Web
• IMDb - Bruce Haack: The King of Techno - documentary on the life and work of Bruce Haack

  Documentary at Google Video

• Bruce Haack on the Notable Names Database

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