Scott Johnson, the American composer and guitarist known for his innovative use of recorded speech, has died in New York City. He was 70 years old.

Born, raised and educated in Wisconsin, Johnson graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, majoring in visual arts.

After a year driving a taxi, he moved to New York City in 1975 and became active in the downtown art scene. Initially focusing on sculpture, performance and installation art, he began to play electric guitar in other people’s projects, collaborating with artists including Laurie Anderson, Arthur Russell and Rhys Chatham.

Johnson’s increasing use of manipulated audiotape in his performance and installation work eventually led to him performing his own compositions at performance art venues including The Kitchen.

His 1982 work John Somebody, for electric guitar and tape player, brought him to wider attention.

“To these ears, the music mirrors the subterranean rumble, the welter of voices and other overlaid sounds of the city, with the cries of superamplified guitars hovering like angels above the fray,” wrote music critic Robert Palmer in The New York Times. “It’s a compelling marriage of rock elements and classical formalism that doesn’t shortchange either.”