University of Wisconsin—Extension

[a8detective]

     US label (stylized "UW-Extension") funded by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio for exclusive use by public (non-commercial) radio and television stations.

     Twenty-six records were released from 1972 to 1980, mostly under the series titles OSCILLATIONS, FOUR NOTES IN SEARCH OF A TUNE, and INSTANT PRODUCTION MUSIC. All were produced by Don Voegeli from his "Electrosonic Studio" on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

     Voegeli composed/arranged the majority of the LPs, with the rest being written and played by Mid-Western musicians including Dr. Frank Bencriscutto, Lonnie Knight, Ron Steele, Dave Karr, James Christensen, Steve Barnett, and Herb Pilhofer. A lot of the production and recording was done at Pilhofer's Sound 80, the legendary Minneapolis studio that recorded parts of Bob Dylan's "Blood On The Tracks" as well as Prince's earliest demos.


B4RS-2700/01 - No Artist - Sound Beds 1, 1972
B4RS-2704/05 - Don Voegeli - Oscillations, 1972
DV/02-7302 - Don Voegeli - Oscillations 2, 1973
S80-597-3201S - Don Voegeli - Four Notes In Search Of A Tune, 1973
S80-655-3279S - Don Voegeli - Oscillations Three, 1974
S80-779-3681S - Don Voegeli - Four Notes In Search Of A Tune, Volume 2, 1974
S80-929-4006S - Don Voegeli - Oscillations 4, 1975
S80-1079S - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 1: Theme With Production Variations, 1975
S80-1150S - University Of Minnesota Concert Band - Instant Production Music, Volume 2: Bicentennial Production Aids, 1976
S80-1180S - Herb Pilhofer - Instant Production Music, Volume 3, 1976
S80-1195S - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 4: News And Public Affairs, 1976
S80-1357S - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 5: Classical Beds, 1976
S80-1439S - Don Voegeli - Oscillations, Volume 5: "Non-Electronic" Electronic Music, 1977
S80-1440S - Herb Pilhofer - Instant Production Music, Volume 6: Music From "Earplay", 1977
S80-1456 - Lonnie Knight - Instant Production Music, Volume 7: Guitar, 1977
S80-1530 - Ron Steele - Instant Production Music, Volume 8: Guitar, 1978
S80-1524 - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 9: Holiday & Seasonal Music, 1977
S80-1548 - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 10: Shorties, 1978
S80-1602 - Lonnie Knight And Friends - Instant Production Music, Volume 11: Guitar, 1978
S80-1610 - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 12: Untitled, 1979
S80-1619 - Dave Karr - Instant Production Music, Volume 13: Mostly Jazz, 1979
E-237 - Don Voegeli - Considerations, 1980
E-493 - James Christensen - Instant Production Music, Volume 14: Variable Winds, 1979
E-516 - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 15: Shorties II, 1979
E-517 - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 16: Pianofills, 1980
E-657 - Steve Barnett - Instant Production Music, Volume 17: Suite For Six Players, 1980
E-658 - Don Voegeli - Instant Production Music, Volume 18: Fine, 1980

[stackjackson]

Thanks for adding this label to the thread, detective. I have rips of many of these, but never had the catalogue numbers!

[Mr]

Nice one!
I'm having a bit of trouble making sense of the catalogue numbers, but I take it S80 = Sound 80, and E = Electrosonic Studio, right?

There's also an "Oscillations" box set.

[a8detective]

I take it S80 = Sound 80, and E = Electrosonic Studio, right?

     That's what I was thinking. The "S80" numbers fit in with other Sound 80 records. But why the switch to "E-"?

     Also, I added "Sound Beds 1" to the chronology. On the sleeve notes for the final LP, "Fine" (shown above), Voegeli says there were 26 records. However, there are only 25 between the three series. I thought "Considerations" was the 26th, but it may be "Sound Beds 1." And, judging by the catalogue numbers, there may be "Sound Beds 2" between the first one and "Oscillations 1." I'm confused.

[stackjackson]

In the past, I just catalogued these Voegeli LPs as "[Electrosonic Studio]" since they all seem to have been recorded there. Isn't that correct?

[a8detective]

     Only the Voegeli electronic LPs were recorded at his "Electrosonic Studio" in Wisconsin. Almost everything else was recorded at Sound 80 in Minneapolis. Ron Steele's album was recorded in Chicago, where he is from. All of the records were mastered at Sound 80.

[stackjackson]

Good deal, detective. Thanks for this clarification. I suppose now I need to go through and change my files to "[Sound 80 Studio]"

[Mr]

[University of Wisconsin—Extension] would be more correct though, wouldn't it? Heh

[stackjackson]

I guess you could use the University name in place of a label ID, though I think using the studio name might be more in line with typical library conventions, ya think?
I don't know... preferences

[a8detective]

But why the switch to "E-"?

     It looks like the "E" stands for Encore Productions, another Minneapolis-based production company. It was created by Mike Wolsted who is credited on Instant Production Music, Volume 2 as "Sessions Coordinator."

     For some reason, production switched from Sound 80 to Encore in 1980, but Bob Berglund continued to do the mastering. The pressing facility also switched from Wakefield Manufacturing to KM Records.

     Apparently, the University of Wisconsin—Extension didn't have official catalogue numbers. They were assigned by the mastering facility and only appear on the disc labels.

[Mr]

Nice work!

     Apparently, the University of Wisconsin—Extension didn't have official catalogue numbers. They were assigned by the mastering facility and only appear on the disc labels.

That makes sense - so we should really just disregard the catalogue numbers here and stick by the volume nos. in the titles.

[furrball]

Since 2016, UW-Madison, thanks to an effort spearheaded by Don's son Jim Voegeli, has been digitally restoring Don's work on CD (the 4-CD career overview, "Beautiful and Lovely: The Music of Don Voegeli", which among its many tracks includes the complete "PianoFills" album!; "Remembering [and other early electronic music pieces]" (2017); "Buttons and Bridges" (also 2017); and to what is my knowledge, the first straight reissue of an Instant Production Music album, "Classical Beds (IMP 5).) There is also a collection online of Don's early versions of the first All Things Considered theme and buttons (as well as the previously mentioned Beginnings and Buttons and Bridges albums on the PRX website under the umbrella title, "The Works of Don Voegeli" (exchange.prx.org). Thought all you Voegeli fans ought to know!