"Deconstructing Dad" Recalls Raymond Scott, Musical Inventor "Deconstructing Dad: The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott" is Stan Warnow's heartfelt documentary about the life and legacy of his emotionally remote father, an eccentric techno-music pioneer. In Scott's single-minded pursuit of an offbeat musical vision, he has been compared to Frank Zappa; one talking head describes him as "an audio version of Andy Warhol." Like "My Architect," Nathaniel Kahn's film about his father, Louis I. Kahn, this documentary is a son's attempt to forge a posthumous bond with an elusive parent. Scott, who died in 1994, belonged to that breed of obsessed genius-inventors who focus so intensely on their work that fame and riches are almost incidental. Shy and secretive, he preferred to remain in the background even after achieving some renown. When shown in front of the camera, he is visibly uncomfortable. Born in Brooklyn in 1908 (he legally changed his name from Harry Warnow), Scott enjoyed hits in the late 1930s as the leader, composer and arranger of the Raymond Scott Quintette, a progressive swing ensemble whose peppy, hyper-agitated instrumentals included "Twilight in Turkey" and "The Toy Trumpet." The music sounded like jazz but wasn't, because no element was left to chance. After Scott's catalog was bought in the 1940s by Warner Brothers under Carl Stalling, its musical director of cartoons, his music became ubiquitous in animated Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig films, especially the composition "Powerhouse," which has even been used in "The Simpsons." Stalling is credited in the film for keeping Scott's music alive. Another unsung accomplishment was Scott's creation of the first racially integrated radio orchestra as the musical director of CBS. Musicians as diverse as the composer and conductor John Williams, whose father was a drummer in Quintette; Mark Mothersbaugh, a co-founder of Devo; and Paul D. Miller, a k a DJ Spooky, call Scott a significant influence on contemporary music. One talking head cites his early "60s album "Soothing Sounds for Baby" as a precursor to the work of Brian Eno and Philip Glass. In the 1950s Scott achieved some fame as the musical director of "Your Hit Parade," but the job was a moneymaking sideline to his real passion, which was controlling and manipulating sound, a lifelong fascination with mechanized music that began in childhood with his discovery of the player piano. His need for absolute control extended to people. Under his tutelage Dorothy Collins, a "Hit Parade" star whom he had groomed from the age of 12 when she joined the family as his live-in protégée, endured rigorous training. When they married in 1952, she became the second of his three wives. They divorced in 1965. This well-made film argues that Scott's most significant achievements were his inventions of electronic instruments like the Clavivox, an early synthesizer, and the Electronium, a machine for electronic composition that attracted the backing of the Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., who eventually lost interest. Scott's fascination with the human-machine interface deepened as he aged. He envisioned the Electronium as a music machine ("Beethoven in a box") that generated original compositions. His ultimate dream was the harnessing of brain waves so that music could be transmitted telepathically. As computer technology advances, that dream is not as crazy-sounding as it might have seemed even a few years ago. Deconstructing Dad The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott Produced, directed and edited by Stan Warnow; director of photography, Mr. Warnow; released by Cavu Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes.