Mbira - Music

Robert Rich Born August 23 1963 Is An Ambient Musician And Composer Based In San Francisco California United States. With A Musical Career Spanning Three Decades And Over 30 Albums Robert Rich Has Helped Define The Genres Of Ambient Music Dark Ambient Tribal Ambient And Trance Yet His Music Remains Hard To Categorize. Part Of His Unique Sound Comes From Using Home-Made Acoustic And Electronic Instruments Microtonal Harmonies Computer-Based Signal Processing Chaotic Systems And Feedback Networks. Rich Began Building His Own Analog Synthesizers In 1976 When He Was 13 Years Old And Later Studied For A Year At Stanford’s Center For Computer Research In Music And Acoustics CCRMA . Rich Released His First Album "Sunyata" In 1982. Most Of His Subsequent Recordings Came Out In Europe Until 1989 When Rich Began A String Of Critically Acclaimed Releases For Fathom/Hearts Of Space Including "Rainforest" 1989 "Gaudí" 1991 "Propagation" 1994 And "Seven Veils" 1998 . His Two Collaborations With Steve Roach "Strata" 1990 And "Soma" 1992 Both Charted For Several Months In Billboard. Other Respected Collaborations Include "Stalker" 1995 With Lustmord "Fissures" 1997 With Alio Die And "Outpost" 2002 With Ian Boddy . Rich's Contributions To Multi-Artist Compilations Have Been Collected On His Solo Albums "A Troubled Resting Place" 1996 And "Below Zero" 1998 . He Also Records With His Group Amoeba Exploring Atmospheric Songcraft On Their CDs "Watchful" 1997 And "Pivot" 2000 . Live Albums Such As "Calling Down The Sky" 2004 And 3-CD "Humidity" 2000 Document The Unique Improvised Flow Of His Recent Performances. Rich Has Performed In Caves Cathedrals Planetaria Art Galleries And Concert Halls Throughout Europe And North America. His All-Night Sleep Concerts First Performed In 1982 Became Legendary In The San Francisco Area. In 1996 He Revived His All-Night Concert Format Playing Sleep Concerts For Live And Radio Audiences Across The US During A Three Month Tour. In 2001 Rich Released The 7 Hour DVD "Somnium" A Studio Distillation Of The Sleep Concert Experience Possibly The Longest Continuous Piece Of Music Ever Released. Rich Has Designed Sounds For Television And Film Scores Including The Films "Pitch Black" "Crazy Beautiful" "Behind Enemy Lines" And Others. His Musical Score Graces Yahia Mehamdi's Documentary On Worker's Compensation "Thank You For Your Patience". Rich Has Worked Closely With Electronic Instrument Manufacturers And His Sound Design Fills The Preset Libraries Of Emu's Proteus 3 And Morpheus Seer Systems' Reality Sampling Disks Things That Go Bump In The Night ACID Loop Library Liquid Planet And The TimewARP2600 Soft-Synth By WayOutWare. Rich Has Written Software For Composers Who Work In Just Intonation And He Helped Develop The MIDI Microtuning Specification Which Was Accepted As An Industry Standard. As Mastering Engineer He Has Applied His Ear To Dozens Of Albums And His Studio Was Featured Twice In Keyboard Magazine. Official Site Http //www.Robertrich.Com read less