1999 – data album as Column 3-57
The theme is taken from the novel Solaris by Stanisław Lem. Each of the pieces attempts to capture the emotions that are so well handled in the book (although not well in any of the English language film adaptations).
Musically I composed this in the same manner as series:1:2 with most tracks made in one or two takes and very little sequencing or editing.
Most of the sounds came from a software synthesizer in development called “Dream Satation”. I had started to audition soft synths as I knew they were my future. Early instruments and their developers came and went at an alarming rate, as if in fast forward. Dream Station was a fun instrument.
What I really wanted was “AXS” but it was DOS only and clearly had no future in Widows 98se days. Sad because it sounded so 1978 and was a joy to play. I ended up with Synoptic’s “Probe” that unknown to me was just out of business but I loved that instrument for its versatility and rubbery sound.
This album that didn’t quite see the light of day at the time but has finally gone online after only 13 years. The original recordings were all mono to allow 2 hours to fit onto one CD. There seems little gain in creating artificial stereo.