{"id":5154,"date":"2026-07-22T14:40:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5154"},"modified":"2026-07-22T14:40:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:40:51","slug":"the-east-bay-gets-a-groovy-sonic-sculpture-inspired-by-an-electronic-musician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5154","title":{"rendered":"The East Bay gets a groovy, sonic sculpture inspired by an electronic musician"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Don Lewis was a pioneering musician and Pleasanton resident who, among other accomplishments, invented the Live Electronic Orchestra \u2013 an integrated sound controller for analog synthesizers. Looking like the captain\u2019s console on a spaceship, the LEO allowed him to play many different electronic instruments at once, anticipating what MIDI tech would do a full decade later.<\/p>\n

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When Lewis died in 2022, his adopted hometown got to work on a suitably groovy tribute, which went up this June in Delucchi Park. It\u2019s a sonic artwork called the \u201cDon Lewis Harmonic Symphony,\u201d incorporating a 600-pound abstract sculpture plus six musical instruments that depend on public participation to emit sounds \u2013 a harp, metallophone, pagoda bells, lilypad cymbals and contrabass and manta-ray chimes.<\/p>\n