The group name for the pioneering electronic music duo of Paul Beaver (1926-1975) and Bernie Krause (1938-). The two first met in a session for Electra Records in 1967. Beaver at that point was already a sound effects veteran, specializing in adding atmospheric noises to Hollywood movies. The two formed a collaboration and purchased a modular synthesizer from Moog Music, reasoning that they could make money doing session work with the synth to finance their own recordings. Electra signed the duo to a subsidiary label, Nonesuch Records, and the duo released their first album, The Nonesuch Guide to Electronic Music, that year.