Brian Transeau ‘89 is creating dance, film, and art music that’s a revelation for the rising generation of laptop musicians.

Mash a Kandinsky with a Duchamp, crumple one of Zaha Hadid’s smaller architectural experiments with H.R. Geiger’s eerie organic forms, cram the whole thing into a high-definition television, and you might end up with something like the art of Scott Pagano. Grind down the gritty, industrial detritus of Rotterdam — one of the world’s largest port cities — and process it in a digital audio factory and you may, if you’re lucky, get something that sounds like the mechanized mayhem of Jochem Paap, a.k.a. “Speedy J.” Blend it all together in a high-fidelity digital soup and you get, well, you get something entirely new.

Ben Grossman has been wowing audiences with his electroacoustics vielle a roué, or hurdy-gurdy as it is also called. He’s currently out on the road with BT and Trifon, as well as Thomas Dolby, creating a mesmerizing live performance that combines visuals with live 5.1 surround sound.

In April, Tiesto will release his brand new artist album, “Elements Of Life”. The Dutch-born DJ has been recognized as the worldwide chart topping success that sells out stadium events, performs to billions at the Olympics, uses his muse to battle the AIDS epidemic, and consistently gives his fans what they desire. His career is filled with so many achievements that to say Tiesto is the number one DJ in the world simplifies what has taken over a decade to build, and we wouldn’t sum it up as such.

A recent concert tour by BT and Thomas Dolby featured live performances presented in 5.1 surround sound via a system headed by EAW NT Series two-way powered (biamplified), DSP-controlled loudspeakers.

Most people are going to read this interview because they know it’s about BT – a man that defies introductory clichés. I could sit here and talk of all his achievements, but a quick Google search will give enough information to last … whatever. I’m not here to clog up the bandwidth with any more background. His new album This Binary Universe is now available and it’s essential listening.

To catch up with two electronic music visionaries—one an ‘80s synth-pop innovator, the other a ‘90s trance pioneer—we’re using nothing but the most advanced technology: a crackly speaker phone in a dressing room at Georgia’s 1,000-seat Center Stage Atlanta, where “An Evening With BT and Thomas Dolby” is about to play to a full house.

Folks fortunate enough to chat with electronic-music maestro Brian Transeau, who performs as BT, should keep a dictionary nearby, because they’ll probably need it. For instance, he explains a technique called circuit-bending by noting that “it’s the first time, I think, that electronic musicians are able to work with something that’s completely stochastic. Normally we don’t have access to any kind of aleatoric modalities.”

For these four busy composers, writing music for film and television is a stay-at-home job.

In September, DTS, Genelec and Sonic Solutions partnered for a presentation on surround sound in New York University’s impressive new recording studio, The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, in the facility’s spacious live room, Studio 510.