David First
Illustration — David First. David First (born David Hirsch, August 20, 1953) is an American composer and guitarist. His music most often deals with drones and interference beats, the latter aligning his music with that of Alvin Lucier.
David First
- Born
- 1953 · Philadelphia.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- composer · musician
In this article
Career
He has led the World Casio Quartet, Joy Buzzers, and The Notekillers which originally existed from 1977–81 and reformed in 2004. He is also a member of Matter Waves, which includes Kid Millions on drums and Bernard Gann on bass, and the music collective New Party Systems.
David First played with Cecil Taylor at Carnegie Hall. He studied guitar & jazz theory with Dennis Sandole. He also audited analog & computer synthesis classes at Princeton University. He befriended a grad-student there who allowed him unlimited access to the largely abandoned electronic music studio. He composed his first works in the medium there in after-hours sessions.
His albums include 1991's Resolver, instrumental pieces influenced by minimalism and 2002's relatively pop-oriented Universary, which consists of "songs and drones". More recent releases include 2010's We're Here to Help (Prophase Records) by The Notekillers and Privacy Issues, a 3-CD set of droneworks on the XI label.
In 1995 First, along with visual artist Patricia Smith created an opera, The Manhattan Book of the Dead, which was presented at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club's Annex Theater in 1995 and The Washaus in Potsdam, Germany in 1996.
First received a 2001 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.
In January 2012, the music collective, New Party Systems, an ensemble containing First, released a song First wrote (C2011 Silent Graph Music ASCAP), "We Are" –– an anthem for the 99%, with a video by director, Toni Comas.
New Party System
• "Listen/Watch: Members of TVOTR, Liturgy Record an Occupy Wall Street Anthem", PitchFork.com.
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article David First, revision 1350822432 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record.
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
41,276 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- David FarquharPerson
- David FaustinoPerson
- David FelderPerson
- David FenechPerson
- David FirthPerson
- David FisherPerson
- David FiuczynskiPerson
- David FlynnPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by David First?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.