Monthly Archives: November 2011

geodesium, Loch Ness Productions, space music

Space Music Takes You Places in the Cosmos

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Come Along for the Ride

Astute readers of this blog may recall that I’m married to one of the premier space music composers on the planet. No, really, it’s true. Working under the nom-de-plume Geodesium, Mark C. Petersen (also my business partner at Loch Ness Productions), has been composing planetarium space music for more than 35 years and he’s built up quite a specialized fan base for his music.

cover for Geodesium 11th album: Arcturian Archives
The 11th in a series of well-respected Geodesium albums.

Yesterday, 11/11/11 was more than numerological curiosity. It marked the day we released his 11th album of space music, called Arcturian Archives. It’s really an aural journey through a fascinating period in our lives and in planetarium technological history. In 1980s and 1990s, Mark created custom Geodesium music for some special planetarium shows — part system demo and part cosmic journey. The resulting soundtracks influenced his musical stylings in seminal ways, cementing in the minds of many his place as one of the top space music composers for domed theater shows.

This album captures the musical tenor of those times. Beginning in the 1980s, planetarium hardware companies were creating new ways to present content on the dome, and in the keyboard world, new digital synthesizers were coming out that had many musicians (Mark included) panting to get their hands on them.  The result of these technological changes shows up in this music.

Many of these tracks have never been heard before, outside of the few planetarium performances for which they were commissioned. And, here are three elaborate renditions of popular orchestral works:  Pachelbel’s Kanon in D, Resphigi’s Pines of the Appian Way, and (to my mind) a driven and thrilling version of Holst’s “Mars, the Bringer of War” from The Planets.

Aside from being Mark’s chief critic (and believe me, he returns the favor when I need somebody to give my writing a critical eye), I also wrote up his album liner notes and talked with him at great length in a piece called “Interview with the Artist” that is featured on the album’s Web page.  Some of the music accompanied some of the first “outside” planetarium show scripts I wrote for clients such as the St. Louis Science Center (mentioned prominently in Mark’s interview).  At the time, I had yet to go back to grad school, and I was working my way from science writing for newspapers to creating touching and engaging shows for the domed theater. And, Mark has always been right there, providing the soundtrack for my—and other people’s—flights of exploration into the cosmos. So, it’s my turn to give him the recognition he deserves for his music and his services to the domed theater community over the years. I look forward to more albums and more great shows!

If you’re interested in buying the album, check out our Website at Loch Ness Productions. It’s also available through the usual places: Amazon.com, iTunes, CDBaby, and other sources. You can preview the music below.

astronomy

Freedom to do Astronomy

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Stars and Veterans

Poppies for Armistice Day

My dad is a military veteran. He fought in the U.S. Army in the Korean War and was one of the lucky ones to come back alive. He was also the person who first got me started in astronomy, taking me out to look at the stars when I was probably just barely old enough to know what those lights in the sky were. He’s always been fascinated with space and astronomy and has a couple of telescopes and I don’t know how many books about the subjects. I can proudly say that if it wasn’t for him, as well as my mom’s push for me to get good grades (which I didn’t always do) and be a reader (which I DID do), my own interest in astronomy might never have bloomed.

Stars for Veterans Day
Stars for Veterans Day

So, this one’s for you, Daddy, on Veteran’s Day—for coming home and making sure that I got bit by the star bug, and for being such a star-hopper yourself!

Veteran’s Day is the U.S. variant on celebrations like Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other countries. It’s a time to thank the men and women who are in the armed services who have served their countries in times of peace AND war. Regardless of how you feel about war, soldiers (whether your own country’s or those of other countries), the day is there to remember their service and sacrifices. It’s a very human holiday and I can’t think of any country in the world that doesn’t owe at least some measure of thanks to those who served.

There’s an interesting connection between war and astronomy. In the really olden days, war planners consulted the stars for propitious times to do battle. Why, they even had Mars—their very own god of war. Later on, the development of the telescope (while not strictly a military invention) allowed ship captains to spy out their adversaries at sea, and land-bound armies to see their enemies coming long before battle.

Today’s astronomers (vet and non-vet alike) benefit from instruments that were developed for military use. These days, such things as adaptive optics and remote sensing are giving us unprecedented views of the cosmos. Those technologies were largely developed for military use (either during wartime or for “intelligence” purposes).

I kind of like to think that these technologies are transcending their warlike roots. At first they’re used by people who are awarded stars for bravery and valor. Now, they’re delivering the stars to everyone, a graceful and wonderful Veteran’s Day/Remembrance Day gift.

Daddy, Pete Petersen,  Grandpa Collins, Rollie, Tony and all the others who served — THANK YOU!