David A. Jaffe (born April 29, 1955) is an American composer, performer, and audio-technology architect known for pioneering work at the intersection of computer music, spatial acoustic design, and instrument-human interface research. His catalog spans orchestral, choral, chamber, electroacoustic, and purely electronic works; signature projects include the quadraphonic classic Silicon Valley Breakdown and large-scale concert pieces that integrate the Radiodrum controller with robotic and acoustic instruments.
Early life and education
Raised in New Jersey, David A. Jaffe studied violin performance and composition at Ithaca College and completed advanced composition study with Pulitzer Prize winner Karel Husa. He later worked with Henry Brant (orchestration, spatial music) and Joel Chadabe (electronic music) at Bennington College before moving to Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) for graduate work in computer music.
Musical approach
Jaffe’s music blends American experimentalism with vernacular traditions and rigorous signal-processing research. He frequently explores spatial deployment of instruments, algorithmic structures, and cross-pollination between folk idioms
(bluegrass/charanga/klezmer) and contemporary techniques, resulting in a vivid “maximalist” palette. Works often fuse live performers with physically modeled or sample-driven textures realized in custom software environments.
Landmark works and projects
Silicon Valley Breakdown (1982)
Composed entirely for computer-generated sound, this four-channel (commonly performed in stereo) tour of “imaginary plucked stringed instruments” became a touchstone of early digital synthesis. It extended research into plucked-string modeling that Jaffe and colleagues were refining at CCRMA.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
A 70-minute concerto in which a percussionist performs on the Radiodrum to “play” a concert grand (Yamaha Disklavier) and trigger/shape an ensemble of plucked strings and percussion. Premiered and recorded with soloist Andrew Schloss, the work reframed the piano concerto as gestural percussion theater.
Impossible Animals
A family of pieces (choral, solo strings, winds) that morph field-recorded birdsong into human-like voices using analysis–resynthesis techniques. The series demonstrates Jaffe’s long-running interest in biological sound patterns as compositional DNA.
The Space Between Us
A tribute to mentor Henry Brant, realized with robotic chimes, Disklavier, and spatially deployed percussion. The project extends Brant’s spatial orchestration ideas into the age of actuated instruments and real-time control.
Additional concert pieces
Other works include Terra Non Firma (for Radio Baton and celli, reflecting on the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake), vocal cycles such as Songs of California, and politically engaged compositions like No Trumpets, No Drums, which stage spatial dialogue as musical form.
Instruments, interfaces, and collaboration
Jaffe is a central figure in the performance ecology around the Radiodrum (Mathews/Boie/Schloss): a 3-D electromagnetic controller that captures mallet position and gesture with millisecond precision. With Andrew Schloss he developed idioms for using the controller to perform acoustic instruments (e.g., Disklavier) and to conduct distributed ensembles and robotic percussion.
Recordings and releases
His discography includes the album XXIst Century Mandolin (featuring Silicon Valley Breakdown) and the full recording of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World on Well-Tempered Productions, among other releases with chamber groups and new-music ensembles.
Teaching and mentorship
Jaffe has taught composition and computer music at institutions including Stanford University (CCRMA), UC San Diego, Princeton University, and the University of Melbourne (as MacGeorge Fellow), mentoring composers in orchestration, algorithmic design, and performer–technology collaboration.
Technology and industry work
Parallel to his concert output, David A. Jaffe has been a key contributor to audio-technology platforms:
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NeXT Music Kit (1986–91): personally recruited—along with Julius O. Smith—by Steve Jobs to architect the object-oriented Music Kit for the DSP-equipped NeXT Computer, one of the first general-purpose machines to ship with real-time sound synthesis capability.
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Staccato Systems / Analog Devices: co-founded Staccato Systems and designed the SynthCore engine; later led work that became SoundMAX, deployed across tens of millions of PCs.
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Universal Audio: long-time Senior Scientist/Engineer and principal architect contributing to embedded systems and signal-processing frameworks powering UAD-2 hardware, Apollo interfaces, and related platforms.
This dual career—instruments on stage and algorithms under the hood—feeds back into his compositional practice, where new sounds often originate in research prototypes before becoming concert repertoire.
Honors, commissions, and performances
Jaffe’s music has been commissioned by ensembles such as Chanticleer, Kronos Quartet, the Lafayette String Quartet, and the Russian National Orchestra; it has been performed by orchestras and contemporary-music groups across North America and Europe and featured at festivals including Warsaw Autumn and the Venice Biennale. He has been recognized with National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and other awards.
Selected works (highlights)
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Silicon Valley Breakdown — electronic work for quadraphonic tape (1982).
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The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — concerto for Radiodrum-performed piano (Disklavier) and ensemble.
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Impossible Animals — versions for chorus/soloists/violin/winds with computer-generated voices derived from birdsong.
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Terra Non Firma — for Radio Baton and cellos; a reflection on seismic instability.
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The Space Between Us — robotic chimes/Disklavier/ensemble in spatial deployment, dedicated to Henry Brant.
Writing and thought
Jaffe’s essays and interviews trace a composer’s view of technological change—from time-map composition to physical modeling and “hybrid” aesthetics where biological signals (like birdsong) seed human musical structures. His writings appear in venues such as Perspectives of New Music and in lectures delivered at universities and festivals.