Sound Design: Raymond Scott - Soothing Sounds for baby (1963)

Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow, 10 September 1908 — 8 February 1994),was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor. He was born in Brooklyn to a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants. His older brother, Mark Warnow, a conductor, violinist, and musical director for the CBS radio program Your Hit Parade, encouraged his musical career. Though Scott never scored cartoon soundtracks, his music is familiar to millions because of its adaptation by Carl Stalling in over 120 classic Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and other Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated features. Scott's melodies have also been heard in twelve Ren & Stimpy episodes (which used the original Scott recordings), while making cameos in The Simpsons, Duckman, Animaniacs, The Oblongs, and Batfink. The only music Scott actually composed to accompany animation were three 20-second electronic commercial jingles for County Fair Bread in 1962.

Despite its title, Soothing Sounds for Baby isn't just for infants. When it was recorded, it was intended for babies -- but history has endowed this deceptively simple work with a broader significance. Had Scott known that this elemental music's appeal would continue as its target audience grew up, he might have entitled the series Sophisticated Sounds for Baby...


- - Released on three long-playing records in conjunction with the Gesell Institute of Child Development, Inc., Soothing Sounds... was intended to serve as an "aural toy" during the "feeding, teething, play, sleep and fretful periods" of infants in three distinct age groups. The original album notes stressed that a young child's sense of hearing is better developed than many people realize. Besides soothing infants, these recordings were intended to be "pleasantly stimulating." Babies like "new sights and new sounds," explained a booklet slipped inside the LPs. Music consists of vibrations, which babies also like -- "just vibrate baby's bed gently," the booklet noted, and "crying often stops." By approximating "the rhythmic tinkle of a music box" and "a ticking watch held close to [the] ear," Soothing Sounds for Baby provided a "quieting" atmosphere of relaxation, warmth, and contentment. 

(1963) Soothing Sounds For Baby Vol. 1 (0 - 6 Months)

(1963) Soothing Sounds For Baby Vol. 2 (6 - 12 Months)

(1963) Soothing Sounds For Baby Vol. 3 (12 - 18 Months)

So Relax. Listen closely, as a baby Or don't. In a world fraught with tension and insecurity, we trust you'll find Raymond Scott's gentle melodies and childlike rhythms to be soothing companions.

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