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User:Gardener of Geda/Sandbox

< User:Gardener of Geda
Space music
Stylistic originsAmbient music, 20th century classical music, Electronic art music, Krautrock
Cultural origins1970s, Europe, USA
Typical instrumentsElectronic musical instruments, acoustic/treated natural sounds
Derivative formsNew Age
Subgenres
Dark ambient - Drone music - Lowercase
(complete list)
Fusion genres
Ambient house - Illbient - Psybient - Ambient industrial
Other topics
Ambient music artists

Space Music is a term that is notoriously difficult to quantify (Mike Brown) , (Echoes), as there is an absence of scholarly reference material on the subject. The 3 most common definitions, based on opinions from within the Wikipedia community are :

  1. It is another term for the electronic music pioneered by the 60's/70's Krautrock movement (in particular the beatless ambient forms. [1].
  2. It is a synonymous term for Eno-esque ambient music, which developed out of it. [2]
  3. It is an "umbrella term" used to describe the ambient, new age, world, ethnic, and minimalist (amongst other types) music that is featured in the playlists of radio stations such as Hearts of Space and Echoes.

"Hearts of Space"

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The term "space music" was actually coined, in 1973, by KPFA Berkley, California, radio producers Stephen Hill and Anna Turner, who formed the organization, above. They claim to have been the first to use segue assembly of matching "spacey" instrumental pieces to create a sustained mood.

"H.o.S." is a fee-based internet radio station (1) and a retailer of albums of artists who feature prominently in the shows; "a dream collection of essential ambient and contemplative albums" (2). Note the use of the word "ambient".

The station's website uses many terms for the music that they feature in their shows, often employing a very flowery, "new-age"-style of prose in doing so (3). It should be noted that care should be taken when referencing an organization that has financial interests in the term. However, it could be argued that a sub-section could be created within the Wikipedia Hearts of Space article itself, detailing its connections with space music.

Further, tentative descriptions

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In addition to the above explanations of the term, a further five definitions of "Space music" could be suggested. These range from the most literal explanation of what it means, to the most obscure.

"Space" - literally speaking

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Short conclusion : Space music is primarily the "raw" sounds of space, or music which has a direct and literal connection to space, using sounds originating from celestial objects and processed by astrophysics / Radio astronomy professionals either alone, or in conjunction with musicians / music studio technicians.

Energy sources in the atmosphere, such as lightning, can produce sounds (sferics, tweeks, and whistlers) in the very low frequency (VLF) radio band 4 , 5.

Objects in space - the Sun, planets, stars, quasars, pulsars, galaxies, and active galaxies - all produce signals that, if received (usually through radio astronomy dishes and processed), can be used by a musician as the basis for any kind of composition imaginable. See the HobbySpace article here.

Scientists with an interest in space-based sounds include:

  • Don Gurnett.
  • Stephen P. McGreevy.
  • Alexander Kosovichev, a Stanford scientist whose researches into the sun's oscillations (and who uploaded the sounds to the net) encouraged Stephen Taylor (see below) to create his album.
  • Dr. Fiorella Terenzi has created several works that use sounds derived from celestial radio signals homepage , Space.com entry.
  • NASA produced a CD in 1992 from Voyager 1 & 2 recordings of electromagnetic fields processed with digital sampling techniques - 6 , 7.

Artists/bands who have included such sounds in their works include:

  • Terry Riley, along with the Kronos Quartet, in their album Sun Rings, which used "sounds of the planets recorded by the Voyager mission on its journey to deep space" 8.
  • Stephen Taylor, in the album The Heart of the Sun 9.
  • Robert Schroeder's album Galaxie Cygnus-A used interstellar noise from the distant galaxy in the title 10 , 11 , 12.

Music particularly about space

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Short conclusion : Space music is any kind of music that has a connection with space in some form or other.

Space is a very common theme in all forms of music, particularly of the electronic genre. Some examples are:

Gustav Holst wrote a classical suite called The Planets, between 1914 and 1916.

The Japanese musician Isao Tomita has produced many albums with space-based themes, such as The Planets (1976), his version of Holst's suite; Kosmos (1978); Bermuda Triangle (1979); Dawn Chorus (Canon of the Three Stars) (1984); Space Walk - Impressions Of An Astronaut (compilation, 1984); Mind of the Universe - Live at Linz (1985); Back to the Earth - Live in New York (1988); and Nasca Fantasy (supporting Kodo, 1994).

The Vangelis album Albedo 0.39 (1976) is entirely devoted to space, while a segment of Heaven and Hell (1975) was used as the theme to the PBS television series Cosmos by Carl Sagan. His work "Mythodea: Music for NASA's Mars Odyssey Mission" is reflective of his interest in space exploration 13.

Mike Oldfield's album The Songs of Distant Earth was based on Arthur C. Clarke's SF novel Songs of Distant Earth. He also contributed to the The X-Files movie soundtrack.

Astronomical-observatory music

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Short conclusion : Space music is ambient, new age, minimalist (etc) music that sounds "unusual" and complements observatory visuals and experiences.

Undoubtedly any kind of electronic, or, indeed, any other kind of music could be used in an observatory. A company - Loch Ness productions - have made available a selection of titles specifically intended for them.

Space rock and Filk

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Short conclusion : Space music is simply another name for space rock and/or Filk, albeit of a more instrumental/electronic/"softer" variety.

Space rock is often associated with "heavy" bands like Hawkwind and Gong, therefore it is not unusual that a new name would be needed for its "gentler" side.

Music incidentally about space

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Short conclusion : Space music is anything that has any connection whatsoever with space. Electronic, classical, whatever.

This field would include soundtracks to SF movies and TV & radio series', such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Red Dwarf, etc. It could also include songs, such as Chris de Burgh's "A Spaceman Came Travelling" and the Bonzo Dog Band's "I'm the Urban Spaceman".

See also

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(View the Notable artists sections of the articles, below)

Notable pioneers

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Audio streams

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Podcasts

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Radio Programs/Schedules

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ "The early innovators in electronic "space music" were mostly located around Berlin. The term has come to refer to music in the style of the early and mid 1970s works of Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh and others in that scene. The music is characterized by long compositions, looping sequencer patterns, and improvised lead melody lines". - Stephen Hill. (http://www.echoes.org/de.glossary.html)
  2. ^ "... Originally a 1970s reference to the conjunction of ambient electronics and our expanding visions of cosmic space ... In fact, almost any music with a slow pace and space-creating sound images could be called spacemusic." - Stephen Hill. (http://hos.com/aboutmusic.html)
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