More Celebration

From time to time I mention Mr. SpaceMusic. While he does a LOT more than space music (show production and bookkeeping, to name a few other tasks he’s good at), he’s been a space music composer for lo these many years. In fact, he’s been doing it since we were both in college back in the Dark Ages. And so it seems that every few years he produces a new album of music of the genre that I’m referring to as “space” but used to be better known as “that stuff you play in the planetarium” and then morphed into “ambient” and “new age” and “spa music” and who knows what it’ll be called next. Whatever it is, it’s really, really nice.
Well, today Mr. SpaceMusic and I are celebrating the release of his 8th Geodesium album of music, called A Gentle Rain of Starlight. You can hop on over to his website and listen to samples, plus a full version of the title cut.

These albums usually come together after Mr. SpaceMusic has done a soundtrack for a project. This one is no different. It is the music from our just-released set of shows called Seasonal Stargazing. After he finished the soundtrack mixes, we started work on the “listening mixes,” which allow him to bring some of the lovelier bits and pieces “front and center” for the listener. These may or may not be obvious in the actual soundtracks, since (in theory) you’re supposed to be paying a wee bit more attention to the actual narrations, along with the music. But, for the purist, the music can stand on its own, too.

It was my job to listen critically and make suggestions about what tracks should be brought up louder, or quieted down, or whatever they needed. We went through a few versions of what we jokingly call “peer review” (it’s a pun) before the final mix emerged. It’s a nice break from writing (I also wrote the liner notes and a lot of the online material about the album), and I think the whole project turned out really well. I hope other folks enjoy it, too. If you’re a fan of the genre (whatever it’s called these days), go check it out!