 Adams served as musical producer for a number of series for the PBS, including the award-winning series, "The Adams Chronicles" in 1976 and 1977.In 1977, Adams wrote the half-hour-long solo piano piece, "Phrygian Gates", which he later called "my first mature composition, my official 'opus one', as well as its much shorter companion piece, "China Gates".The next year, he finished "Shaker Loops", a string septet based on an earlier, unsuccessful string quartet called "Wavemaker".