Talk:Phrygian Gates

Premiere year
Adams' memoir gives the premiere date as March 1977. Some sources say 1977 and other give 1978. Does anyone have a way to resolve this discrepancy? Squandermania (talk) 13:39, 26 May 2020 (UTC)


 * Perhaps someone could do a newspaper search and find out if there is any mention of a performance before March 1978. 64.46.27.155 (talk) 03:34, 20 December 2022 (UTC)

The term 'gates'
The article claims a 'gate' in electronic music refers to 'rapidly shifting modes'. This is misleading. A gate is a binary electrical signal that is typically used to 'open' an amplifier. In other words, it is a 'note on/off' signal.

The clue to this is in Adams' mention of the piece being constructed like a modulating square wave. In analogue synthesis, there is no technical difference between a gate signal and a modulating square wave: they are exactly the same signal, put to different uses. The point is that the rising phase of the signal is vertical – the change is abrupt, not gradual, just as the modal changes in the piece are. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.17.45.22 (talk) 10:07, 2 August 2020 (UTC)