Eric Siday (1 November 1905 – 26 March 1976) was a British-American composer and musician. While most commonly known for his pioneering work in electroacoustic music, his early career was that of a hot-jazz violinist in the London dance bands in the Roaring ’20s, including Ray Starita's Piccadilly Revels. As a young violinist, his improvised soloing style was advanced for the time. He played with a modern chromatic style, verging on atonal, often incorporating multi-stops, playing up to four notes in harmony on the violin simultaneously using multiple fingers.
In 1939, he emigrated to the United States.
He was the first composer to systematically use electro-acoustic sound potential within the television medium, particularly with his invention of the sound logo and the Musical Rorschach test. His Maxwell House "Percolator" TV commercial was one of these first innovations. He commissioned Robert Moog to create the first percussion synthesizer, which he used extensively in his television work. Among his other contributions to the use of electro-acoustic music in television were numerous station IDs and commercials, including that of the National Educational Television network (the forerunner to PBS), the 1966 CBS "in color" bumper, the news sounder for the ABC Radio Networks, and the 1965–1976 Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures Television logos.
Throughout his life, Siday was an educator, creating many radio broadcasts about the nature of the so-called new music and new sound. In addition to his large commercial repertoire, he composed a number of extended works, both traditional and experimental. In the years before his death, he devoted considerable effort to exploring new ways in which to use electro-acoustic music in the building of special sound environments. Use of new music through practical design concepts was his forte.
Motorsport
In 1931 Siday purchased a Frazer Nash Sports Ulster fitted with a supercharged 1.5 litre Meadows Engine, with registration HX3535 which the car still holds today. He was subsequently invited to join the AFN works team for the 1932 German Grand Prix automobile d'Allemagne held at the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit on 17 July 1932. He drove the car from London and qualified fifth in class. There was interest in how Siday and teammate Archie Fane would perform in the new "blown" ohv cars but the car was withdrawn on lap 12 with a leaking fuel tank. Siday later wrote in this diary later that the leak was due to the appalling roads in Belgium.
The Eric and Edith Siday Charitable Foundation was established in 1998 in memory of the composer Siday and his wife Edith. The Foundation is dedicated, inter alia, to the promotion of musical creativity, among both professionals and gifted, underprivileged youths.
His archives, which included business records, personal papers, music scores, photographs, and tapes, were donated to the New York Public Library.
