"Touch" is quite literally a Morton Subotnick toccata (which, in Italian, means "touch"), composed especially for Columbia Records' then-emerging SQ quadraphonic system on a four-track Ampex tape recorder. It is a flamboyant, exciting, abstract piece, dramatically paced and structured, with a pair of whopping dramatic crescendos in part one that still produce a powerful effect on the original hotly-cut quadraphonic LP. Well, quad didn't catch on in a big way back then -- though pioneering quad fans got their revenge a couple of decades later with surround sound -- and frankly, it didn't give Subotnick's work that big of a boost. When the quad LP is played on an original SQ quad system (contemporary listeners can use Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound, which operates on the same principle as SQ), you do get some front/back separation, but the sources of the sound are not nearly as distinct as the composer intended. For example, the first sounds you hear should come from the back speakers, but on the quad LP, it is difficult to pinpoint the source. We know this because when the true discrete four-channel DVD-Audio version came out in 2001 on the Mode label, it blew the old quad LP away with its sharp directionality and stunning high-definition sound. "Touch" was also available earlier on a two-channel stereo LP, and there are witty liner notes in the form of letters by Subotnick's erudite colleague at CalArts, Mel Powell. But clearly, the Mode DVD-A (also available on CD) is the medium of choice now. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
