Space music

Space music, also spelled spacemusic, is an umbrella term used to describe music that evokes a feeling of contemplative spaciousness. "In fact, almost any music with a slow pace and space-creating sound images could be called spacemusic." Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, [http://hos.com/aboutmusic.html "What is spacemusic?"] ] "Any music with a generally slow, relaxing pace and space-creating imagery or atmospherics may be considered Space Music, without conventional rhythmic elements, while drawing from any number of traditional, ethnic, or modern styles." Lloyde Barde, July/August 2004, [http://www.backroadsmusic.com/index.php?p=article2 "Making Sense of the Last 20 Years in New Music"] ] "When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are ancient and diverse. The genre spans historical, ethnic, and contemporary styles. In fact, almost any music with a slow pace and space-creating sound images could be called spacemusic." Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, [http://hos.com/aboutmusic.html "What is spacemusic?"] ] ] subtle trance effects called "spacey", (defined by the "Compact Oxford Dictionary" as "drifting and ethereal")Cite web|url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/spacey?view=uk|title=definition of "Spacey" in Compact Oxford Dictionary|publisher=Oxford Dictionaries|accessdate=2007-10-07] and psychoacoustic spatial perceptions,cite book|title=Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-listening, and Other Moodsong|last= Lanza|first= Joseph|year=2004|publisher=University of Michigan Press|pages=184|isbn= 0472089420|quote=Space music is just as important for its ability to confound our spoon-fed sense of time and place. Its mercurial stirrings create openings between worlds: inner and outer space; ancestral rhythms and ultra-civilized electronics, the clock on the wall and the hallucinatory "psyhonaut" time that drifts in and out of waking life.] cite book|title=Warlocks and Warpdrive: Contemporary Fantasy Entertainments With Interactive and Virtual Environments|last= Lancaster|first= Kurt|coauthor=Brooks McNamara|year= 1999|publisher=McFarland & Company|pages=p29|isbn= 0786406348|quote=Space music presents a virtual fantasy of traveling in outer space.] particularly, sensations of flying, floating, cruising, gliding, or hovering."...Spacemusic ... conjures up either outer "space" or "inner space" " - Lloyd Barde, founder of Backroads Music [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html "Notes on Ambient Music," Hyperreal Music Archive] ] "Space And Travel Music: Celestial, Cosmic, & Terrestrial... This New Age sub-category has the effect of outward psychological expansion. Celestial or cosmic music removes listeners from their ordinary acoustical surroundings by creating stereo sound images of vast, virtually dimensionless spatial environments. In a word — spacey. Rhythmic or tonal movements animate the experience of flying, floating, cruising, gliding, or hovering within the auditory space."Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, in an essay titled [http://hos.com/n_word.html "New Age Music Made Simple"] ]

Space music is used by individuals for both background enhancement and foreground listening, often with headphones, to enable states of relaxation, contemplation, inspiration, and generally peaceful expansive moods; it may promote health through relaxation, atmospherics for bodywork therapies, and effectiveness of meditation. "Restorative powers are often claimed for it, and at its best it can create an effective environment to balance some of the stress, noise, and complexity of everyday life." -- Stephen Hill, Founder, Music from the Hearts of Space [http://hos.com/aboutmusic.html "What is Spacemusic?"] ] Space music appears in many film soundtracks and is commonly played in planetariums. "This was the soundtrack for countless planetarium shows, on massage tables, and as soundtracks to many videos and movies."- Lloyd Barde [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html "Notes on Ambient Music," Hyperreal Music Archive] ]

An eclectic form of music, produced almost exclusively by independent labels, space music occupies a small niche in the marketplace, supported and enjoyed by a relatively small audience of loyal enthusiastic listeners. "Like most people in the independent side of the music business, we inhabited what are called the niche genres.... All niche music regardless of style or content has one thing in common: it's all something that relatively small numbers of people really, truly, love." Stephen Hill, [http://www.ambientvisions.com/poweredbylove.htm "Powered By Love: Niche Music in the New Millennium"] , feature article in "Ambient Visions Magazine", 2002 ]

Music genres

The term "space music" has evolved and changed since it was first used over a half century ago. While there is a general agreement among contemporary Space music radio programmers, music critics, authors, and record producers about the sound and uses of the music, there is little agreement about how to define the term and how space music fits within the continuum of music genres. "I acknowledge both the distaste for categories among many listeners as well as the inherent problems of categorizing music. Categories that are broad enough to include an entire era or dimension of musical style or meaning are often of little descriptive value; on the other hand, those which are too specific give no insight into the overall musical direction of which the particular piece is an example. The situation is further confused by the fact that categories may be organized by historical epochs (Baroque), by musical form (symphonic), by the means of production (electronic), etc." Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, essay titled [http://hos.com/n_word.html "New Age Music Made Simple"] ]

Six referenced commentators do not use the term interchangeably with ambient music, one is ambiguous, and one does so. Nine referenced commentators use the term space music as a subgenre of new age music (separate from ambient music) and do not use it interchangeably, one is ambiguous, four use space music interchangeably with new age music, and four consider space music and new age music completely unrelated. Two referenced commentators refer to space music as a sub-genre of electronic rock."This sub-genre of electronic rock doesn't see that much action, but fans of space music usually can't get enough of it." [http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/ambient-music.html "Definitions of ambient music"] ] cite book | last = Lancaster | first = Kurt | title = Warlocks and Warpdrive: Contemporary Fantasy Entertainments With Interactive and Virtual Environments | year = 1999 | publisher = McFarland & Company | isbn = 0786406348 | pages = 26 | quote = the genre known artistically as space music and commercially labeled New Age. These kinds of musicians design aural landscapes. ...] cite book|title=Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-listening, and Other Moodsong|last= Lanza|first= Joseph|year=2004|publisher=University of Michigan Press|pages=184|isbn= 0472089420|quote=an elusive category many prefer to call "new age" or "space music"]

Stephen Hill, co-founder of "Music from the Hearts of Space" (syndicated nationally in the USA on National Public Radio and XM Satellite Radio), uses the phrase "contemplative music, broadly defined" as an overview to describe the music played on his station, along with the term "spacemusic". "The program has defined its own niche — a mix of ambient, electronic, world, new age, classical and experimental music....Slow-paced, space-creating music from many cultures — ancient bell meditations, classical adagios, creative space jazz, and the latest electronic and acoustic ambient music are woven into a seamless sequence unified by sound, emotion, and spatial imagery." Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, essay titled [http://hos.com/history.html "Contemplative Music, Broadly Defined"] ] He states that the "genre spans historical, ethnic, and contemporary styles", and that it combines elements from many cultures and genres, blended with varieties of acoustic and electronic ambient music, "woven into a seamless sequence unified by sound, emotion, and spatial imagery." In his essay "New age Music made Simple", he referred to space music as a sub-category of New Age.

Hill's partner and co-founder of "Music from the Hearts of Space" Anna Turner (1944-1996) wrote in her 1989 essay entitled "Space Music", that "New Age Space music carries visions in its notes; it is transcendent inner and outer space music that opens, allows and creates space... this music speaks to our present moment, to the great allegory of moving out beyond our boundaries into space, and reflexively, to the unprecedented adventures of the psyche that await within.""New Age Space music carries visions in its notes; it is transcendent inner and outer space music that opens, allows and creates space... Space music moves; the balance between the rhythm track and melody line determines a great deal of the imagery, altitude, and impact of a particular piece... At its best and most essential, this music speaks to our present moment, to the great allegory of moving out beyond our boundaries into space, and reflexively, to the unprecedented adventures of the psyche that await within." "Space Music", by Anna Turner, co-founder of Music from the Hearts of Space, page 134, The New Age Music Guide, P.J.Birosik, 1989 Macmillon Publishing Company, New York]

In her book "The New Age Music Guide", author, editor and music critic P.J.Birosik classifies Space music as a subgenre of New Age music,"Currently no less than fourteen separate subgenres are being called New Age music. These include New Age East/West, Electronic/Computer, Environmental/Nature, Folk, Jazz/Fusion, Meditation, Native American/Indigenous, New Age Pop, New Age Progressive, Solo Instrumental, Sound Health, Space Music, Traditional. New Age, Vocal, and World Music." Preface, page vii, P.J.Birosik, The New Age Music Guide, 1989 Macmillon Publishing Company, New York] as does Dallas Smith, writer, teacher and recording artist in his essay "New Age Jazz/Fusion"."New Age Jazz/Fusion is distinguished from other New Age subgenres, especially space music, by its rhythm and identifiable melodies." "New Age Jazz/Fusion" by Dallas Smith (writer, teacher, recording artist), page 46, The New Age Music Guide, P.J.Birosik, 1989 Macmillon Publishing Company, New York] Steven Halpern, noted recording artist and workshop leader writes that Space music has been considered a synonym for New Age music: " 'Space' is a vital dimension of New Age music; so much so that one of the early appellations for the genre was simply 'space music', referring both to its texture and to the state that it tended to evoke in the listener." " 'Space' is a vital dimension of New Age music; so much so that one of the early appellations for the genre was simply "space music," referring both to its texture and to the state that it tended to evoke in the listener. By "Space" we mean the elecrto-acoustic enhancement of instrumental tones, through reverb and echo; in New Age music such enhancement is not simply a "special effect", but rather an integral part of the music itself." "Notes on New Age Music" by Steven Halpern (recording artist, writer, workshop leader), Introduction, page xix, The New Age Music Guide, P.J.Birosik, 1989 Macmillon Publishing Company, New York]

Music critic Lloyde Barde, founder of Backroads music, has also used a variety of definitions for Space music over time. He has referred to it as a type of Ambient music,Ambient had come to mean music with a rhythmic or trance-like nature, using (generally) electronic keyboards and/or Space Music melodies or themes... (Nu) Ambient music grew into its own genre out of the "chill-out" rooms that became a part of the rave scene, a place to escape the pounding, throbbing techno beats (often in excess of 160-180 beats per minute!), where DJ's mixed together nature sounds, Space Music tracks, and tape loops or other sound samples." - Lloyde Barde, July/August 2004, [http://www.backroadsmusic.com/index.php?p=article2 "Making Sense of the Last 20 Years in New Music"] ] along with the closely related genre New Age music,"Ambient music is a broader term, encompassing (at least) six sub-genres, part of which includes New Age or Spacemusic." - Lloyd Barde, founder of Backroads Music [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html "Notes on Ambient Music", Hyperreal Music Archive] ] and has also stated the opposite; that Space music is a separate genre, with a distinct identity not part of Ambient or Electronic music,"new age, neo-classical, space, electronic, ambient, progressive, jazzy, tribal, world, folk, ensemble, acoustic, meditative, and back to new age... The order and placement is no accident; each comes in and out of the previous, leading into the next, with shades of overlap and crossover visible at every turn. Each 'type' has its own history, its own cornerstones and 'hall of fame' artists and titles. Each has crystallized and grown, achieving greater artistry over time, and becoming more recognizable in the marketplace." - Lloyd Barde, founder of Backroads Music [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html "Notes on Ambient Music", Hyperreal Music Archive] ] "while drawing from any number of traditional, ethnic, or modern styles."

Radio programmer John Dilaberto has stated that space music is related to electronic music,, as has Bay Area musician, composer and sound designer Robert Rich, who considers space music to be a combination of Electronic music influences from the 1970s with world music and "modern compositional methods"."I got into space music in the '70s as a teenager and I wanted to play with those clichés again -- the cyclic, repetitive structures of '70s electronic music -- but steer away from the formula by using some of the compositional methods of Steve Reich and Terry Riley, for example. It's a combination of world music, modern compositional methods and '70s schlock." - Bay Area musician, composer and sound designer Robert Rich, quoted in [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/28/PKGKKIV3K81.DTL&type=music "Plugged in to the Joy of Ambient Music", by j. poet] , San Francisco Chronicle, May 28, 2006.] Forest, host of Musical Starstreams refers to Space music as a separate genre along with Ambient music, and others including dub, downtempo, trip hop, and acid jazz in the list of genres he calls "exotic electronica"."Ambient, spacemusic, dub, downtempo, trip hop, acid jazz...artists from all these categories." "Waveform...Starstreams and beyond: Ambient Visions Talks with....Forest", listing styles of music played on Musical Starstreams, from interview in [http://www.ambientvisions.com/forest.htm Ambient Visions Magazine, 2003] ] Similarly, WXPN Radio's Star's End, programming ambient music since 1976, on its website lists Space music as a separate genre, along with Ambient, New Age, and others."The music is presented in a non-stop drifting blend and drawn from a diversity of genres including: electronic, ambient, spacemusic, chillout, avant-garde, low-intensity noise, new age, international, spoken word and classical." [http://www.starsend.org/bkgrnd.html "Star's End Radio" website-background information page] ]

Steve Sande, freelance writer for the San Francisco Chronicle considers space music to be "Anything but New Age," and writes that "spacemusic [is] also known as ambient, chill-out, mellow dub, down-tempo." "spacemusic, also known as ambient, chill-out, mellow dub, down-tempo ....Anything but New Age." Steve Sande, "The sky's the Limit with Ambient Music", [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/11/PKGAA45D9R1.DTL SF Chronicle, Sunday, January 11, 2004] ] In the same article, he describes Stephen Hill's "Hearts of Space" spacemusic program as streaming ambient, electronic, world, New Age and classical music. "Hill's Hearts of Space Web site provides streaming access to an archive of hundreds of hours of spacemusic artfully blended into one-hour programs combining ambient, electronic, world, New Age and classical music." Steve Sande, "The Sky's the Limit with Ambient Music", [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/11/PKGAA45D9R1.DTL SF Chronicle, Sunday, January 11, 2004] ] In contrast to this, according to author and National Endowment for the Arts researcher Judith H. Balfe, "Billboard" editor Jerry Wood describes space music as a one of several "genres within the genre" of new age music.cite book|title=Paying the Piper: Causes and Consequences of Art Patronage |last= Balfe |first= Judith H. |year= 1993 |publisher=University of Illinois Press|pages=p280|isbn= 0252063104] ]

Allmusic, one of the world's largest commercial databases of music-related information, defines Space music as a subgenre of New Age music. [http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=73:117 All Music Guide New Age music page] - includes Space music as subgenre of New Age music.; [http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:780 All Music Guide Space music page - subgenre of New Age music] ; [http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=73:11605 All Music Guide Electronica music page] - does not list Space music as a subgenre; [http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:226 All Music Guide Ambient music page] - does not list Space music as a subgenre.] Similarly, mainstream retailer Barnes & Noble, independent online music retailer CDBaby, and RealNetwork's music download service Rhapsody all classify Space music as a subgenre of New Age music.Barnes & Noble website - Space music is not listed on the [http://music.barnesandnoble.com/styles/browseAllStyle.asp?z=y main music genres page] . Space music is listed as a subgenre of New Age music on the [http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/browseSubStyle.asp?z=y&TYP=P&parent_id=1000105 New Age music genre page] , as is Ambient music. Ambient also appears as a subgenre on the [http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/browseSubStyle.asp?TYP=P&parent_id=1000100&z=y Dance & DJ genre page] , along with Electronic music.] Space music is listed on the Rhapsody Music Service [http://www.rhapsody.com/newage New Age music genre page] as a subgenre of New Age. Space music is not listed on Rhapsody [http://www.rhapsody.com/electronicadance electronica/dance genre page] or Rhapsody [http://www.rhapsody.com/electronicadance/ambient Ambient music subgenre page] .] CD Baby - Space music is listed as a subgenre of New Age music. Both Electronic music and New Age music list Ambient as a subgenre. [http://cdbaby.com/style/electronic Electronic genre page] , [http://cdbaby.com/style/newage New Age genre page] .] Rhapsody's editorial staff writes in their music genre description for Space music (listed as a subgenre of New Age music) that "New Age composers have looked upward for inspiration, creating an abstract notion of the sounds of interstellar music.""Although there is no sound in the vacuum of space, many New Age composers have looked upward for inspiration, creating an abstract notion of the sounds of interstellar music. Space indicates not only a style of composition, but also a certain cosmic consciousness.... Artists like...Space music pioneer Michael Stearns try to evoke peace and unity with their spacescapes, creating compositions that are tranquil, hypnotic and moving." [http://www.rhapsody.com/newage/space/more.html Rhapsody online music service - definition of Space Music on New Age music subgenre page] ]

Musicologist Joseph Lanza relates space music to prior generations of relaxing or environmental music, with a twist, writing, "Space music is easy-listening with amnesia, sounding like the future but retaining unconscious ties to elevator music of the past."cite book|title=Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-listening, and Other Moodsong|last= Lanza|first= Joseph|year=2004|publisher=University of Michigan Press|pages=185|isbn= 0472089420]

Variety

As described by Stephen Hill, the predominant defining element of spacemusic is its contemplative nature. Within that overview, space music includes a wide variety of styles, instrumentation and influences - both acoustic or electronic. For example, the playlist archives of the "Hearts of Space" program lists the following genres as included in their programming: [http://hos.com/choose_by_genre.htm Hearts of Space Playlist - Complete list of genres] ]

#Electronic space music: Electronic Space, Ambient/Downtempo, Ethno/Ambient
#Acoustic or partially acoustic space music - Regional or national: African/Sub-Saharan, Celtic, Japanese, Scandinavian/Arctic, Central Asian, Latin American, Southeast Asian/Indonesian, Chinese, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern/North African, Spanish/Moorish, Tibetan, Native American, World Fusion, East Indian
#Acoustic or partially acoustic space music - Western:Contemporary Instrumental, New Vocal, Holiday, Miscellaneous/Eclectic, Space Jazz, Sacred/Choral, Guitar, Piano, Orchestral/Chamber

While many space music recording artists specialize in electronic forms, evolving out of the traditional Kosmische musik of the Berlin School (also known as Krautrock), cite web |url=http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2001/592/pdf/p010004.pdf |title=Space, Mysticism, Romantic Music, Sequencing, and the Widening of Form in German "Krautrock" during the 70's |author=Dr. Ulrich D. Einbrodt |year= 2001 |format=PDF |publisher= Justus Liebig University, Giessener Electronic Library ] examples of recording artists who create the contemplative experience of space music using acoustic instruments and influences of cutlures from around the world are plentiful: Andreas Vollenweider (harp), George Winston (piano), Carlos Nakai and Coyote Oldman (Native American flutes),cite book | last = Nidel | first = Richard | title =World Music: The Basics | year = 2005 | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 0415968011 | pages = 310 ] David Darling (cello), Paul Horn (woodwinds), Paul Winter (saxophone), and more. Examples of Space music artists using combinations of acoustic and electronic instruments are Deuter (flute and other esoteric instruments), Kitaro (Japanese drums and synthesizers), Laraaji (acoustic zither with electronic processing), Constance Demby (hammered dulcimer, cello, vocals, custom acoustic instruments and synthesizers), Oregon (world music influenced jazz), Mychael Danna (ethnic instruments and orchestra with electronic minimalism), and others.

Author and classical music critic David Hurwitz describes Joseph Haydn's choral and chamber orchestra piece, "The Creation", composed in 1798, as space music, both in the sense of the sound of the music, ("a genuine piece of 'space music' featuring softly pulsating high violins and winds above low cellos and basses, with nothing at all in the middle ... The space music gradually drifts towards a return to the movement's opening gesture ... "); and in the manner of its composition, relating that Haydn conceived "The Creation" after discussing music and astronomy with William Herschel, oboist and astronomer (discoverer of the planet Uranus).

History

In 1928, the German composer Robert Beyer published a paper about "Raummusik" (spatial music), [Robert Beyer, "Das Problem der ‘kommenden Musik,'" "Die Musik" 20, no. 12 (1928): 861–66. See also p. 36 in Lowell Cross, "Electronic Music, 1948–1953", "Perspectives of New Music" (Autumn-Winter 1968): 32–65, and p. 7 of David Dunn, " [http://www.scribd.com/doc/22877/David-Dunn-A-History-Of-Electronic-Music-Pioneers A History of Electronic Music Pioneers] ", from the catalog of the exhibition Eigenwelt der Apparatewelt: Pioneers of Electronic Art, presented as part of Ars Electronica 1992, in Linz, Austria.] which is an entirely different sense of the term. Karlheinz Stockhausen, who became a colleague of Beyer in Cologne in 1953, used the expression "space music" in this sense when describing his early development as a composer: "The first revolution occurred from 1952/53 as musique concrète, electronic tape music, and space music, entailing composition with transformers, generators, modulators, magnetophones, etc, the integration of all concrete and abstract (synthetic) possibilities within sound (also all noises) and the controlled projection of sound in space."cite book | | last = Schwartz | first = Elliott | coauthors = Barney Childs | title = Contemporary Composers on Contemporary Music | year = 1998 | publisher = Da Capo Press | isbn = 0306808196 | pages = 380 ] In the sense meant here, he stated in 1967, "Several have commented that my electronic music sounds 'like on a different star,' or 'like in outer space.' Many have said that when hearing this music, they have sensations as if flying at an infinitely high speed, and then again, as if immobile in an immense space." "In 1967, just following the world premier of "Hymnen", Stockhausen said this about the electronic music experience: '... Many listeners have projected that strange new music which they experienced—especially in the realm of electronic music—into extraterrestrial space. Even though they are not familiar with it through human experience, they identify it with the fantastic dream world. Several have commented that my electronic music sounds "like on a different star," or "like in outer space." Many have said that when hearing this music, they have sensations as if flying at an infinitely high speed, and then again, as if immobile in an immense space. Thus, extreme words are employed to describe such experience, which are not "objectively" communicable in the sense of an object description, but rather which exist in the subjective fantasy and which are projected into the extraterrestrial space.' " Page 145, "Electronic and Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology and Composition", Thomas B. Holmes, Routledge Music/Songbooks, 2002, ISBN 0415936438]

Noted music historian Joseph Lanza described the emerging light music style during the early 1950s as a precursor to modern space music. He wrote that orchestra conductor Mantovani used new studio technologies to "create sound tapestries with innumerable strings" and in particular, "the sustained hum of Mantovani's reverberated violins produced a sonic vaporizor foreshadowing the synthesizer harmonics of space music." cite book|title=Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-listening, and Other Moodsong|last= Lanza|first= Joseph|year=2004|publisher=University of Michigan Press|pages=80|isbn= 0472089420]

Jazz artist Sun Ra used the term to describe his music in 1956, when he stated that the music allowed him to translate his experience of the void of space into a language people could enjoy and understand. According to Author Norman Mailer in 1956, quoted on page 154: "a friend took me to hear a jazz musician named Sun Ra who played 'space music.' " and according to Sun Ra himself, also in 1956, quoted on page 384: "When I say space music, I'm dealing with the void, because that is of space too... So I leave the word space open, like space is supposed to be." and on page 247, in an interview, Sun Ra states: "sometimes when I'm playing for a band, playing space music... I'm using ordinary instruments, but actually I'm using them in a manner... transforming certain ideas over into a language which the world can understand." -- [http://books.google.com/books?id=FC52qh7YQVgC&printsec=toc&dq=%22space+music%22&as_brr=3#PPA154,M1 "Space is the Place" By John F. Szwed, 1998, Da Capo Press] ]

Physicist Werner Meyer-Eppler had been inspired by Homer Dudley's 1948 invention of the Vocoder and began in 1951 to work with a device known as a Melochord, in conjunction with magnetic tape recorders, leading to a decade of working at the Cologne school specializing in "elektronische Musik" using magnetic tape recorders, sine wave generators and serial composition techniques. ["A History of Electronic Music Pioneers" by David Dunn, in the catalog of the exhibition: Eigenwelt der Apparatewelt: Pioneers of Electronic Art, presented as part of Ars Electronica 1992, in Linz, Austria.]

In 1969, Miles Davis was introduced to the music of Stockhausen by young arranger and cellist, and later Grammy award winner, Paul Buckmaster, leading to a period of new creative exploration for Davis. Biographer J.K.Chambers wrote that "The effect of Davis's study of Stockhausen could not be repressed for long. ... Davis's own 'space music,' shows Stockhausen's influence compositionally."cite book | last = Chambers | first = J. K. | title = Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis | year = 1998 | publisher = Da Capo Press | isbn = 0306808498 | pages = 246.] His recordings and performances during this period were described as "space music" by fans, by music critic Leonard Feather, and by Buckmaster who stated: "a lot of mood changes - heavy, dark, intense - definitely space music." cite book | last = Carr | first = Ian | title = Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography | year = 1998 | publisher = Thunder's Mouth Press | isbn = 1560252413 | pages = 284, 303, 304, 306]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Grateful Dead developed a new form of improvisational space music in their extended formless jam sessions during live concerts (which their fans referred to as "Space" though the band did not formally assign that title), and their experimental space music albums such as Aoxomoxoa, and later in the 1980s, Infrared Roses, and Grayfolded."purveyors of freely improvised space music," -- [http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=932 Blender Magazine, May 2003] ] ""Dark Star," both in its title and in its structure (designed to incorporate improvisational exploration), is the perfect example of the kind of "space music" that the Dead are famous for. Oswald's titular pun "Grayfolded" adds the concept of folding to the idea of space, and rightly so when considering the way he uses sampling to fold the Dead's musical evolution in on itself." -- Islands of Order, Part 2,by Randolph Jordan, in [http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/islands_part2.html Offscreen Journal] , edited by Donato Totaro, Ph. D, film studies lecturer at Concordia University since 1990.] Band member Phil Lesh released experimental space music recording Seastones with computer music pioneer Ned Lagin in 1975, one of the first albums to be issued in the innovative but commercially unsuccessful format SQ-Quadwith. Lagin used in real-time stage and studio performance of minicomputers driving real time digital to analog converters, prior to the time digital synthesizers became commercially available in the early 1980s.

Beginning in the early 1970's, the term "space music" was applied to some of the output of such artists as Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, due to the transcendent cosmic feelings of space evoked by the sound of the music and enhanced by the use of the emerging new instrument, the synthesizer, "a quartet of albums, Phaedra, Rubycon, Ricochet and Stratosfear, established the Dream's modus operandi with throbbing, cosmic rubber band rhythms thrumming like galactic space basses through floating mellotron pads, ghost flutes and electronic effects whirling by at hyperspeed. This was the soundtrack for countless planetarium shows... the first electronic music to shed the synthesizers reputation as cold and unfeeling... beyond emotion, into the sensual and the transcendent. It was as if the universe were wrapping you up in a warm velvet glove and showing you the wonders of existence." [http://www.echoes.org/TimeWarped.html "Time Warped in Space" by Echoes Radio producer and host, John Diliberto] .] "At its most abstract - solo albums by Klaus Schulze and by Tangerine Dream's leader Edgar Froese - these were clouds of sounds to lose yourself in, a Rorschach mindscreen for projecting fantasies onto." [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329781701-111639,00.html Reynolds, Simon. "Kings of the cosmos", in "The Guardian", April 22 2007, retrieved May 13 2007] ] cite book | coauthors = Detlef Junker, Philipp Gassert, Wilfried Mausbac David Brian Morris | title = The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945-1990: A Handbook | year = 2004 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 0306808498 | pages = 342] and also in part to the "outer space" themes that are apparent in some of their works. These space music explorations diverged from traditional pop-song formats into longer less structured compositions. [cite book |title=The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945-1990: A Handbook |last= Junker |first= Detlef |coauthors=Philipp Gassert, Wilfried Mausbach, David Brian Morris|year=2004 |pages=p342|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn= 0521834201] Following their early influence on the development of space music, Tangerine Dream later produced increasingly rock-influenced works that are not generally described as space music."The Dream's sound started getting a lot more rock 'n' roll in the 1980s, especially once the dreaded Private Music years set in. They'd record good music after that, but it never had the impact, cultural resonance or lasting import of their 1970s output." [http://www.echoes.org/TimeWarped.html "Time Warped in Space" by Echoes Radio producer and host, John Diliberto] .]

In 1971-72, Sun Ra brought his "space music" philosophy to UC Berkeley where he taught as artist-in-residence for the school year, creating notoriety among the students by devoting the second half-hour of each class to solo or band performances. In 1972, San Francisco public TV station KQED producer John Coney, producer Jim Newman, and screen writer Joshua Smith worked with Sun Ra to produce a 30 minute documentary film, expanded into a feature film released in 1974, entitled "Space is the Place", featuring Sun Ra's Arkestra and filmed in Golden Gate Park. [http://www.outerspacewaysinc.com/index.htm official website for "Space is the Place"] , documentary film about Sun Ra's Arkestra, filmed in 1972]

In 1973 KPFA Berkeley, California radio producers Anna Turner and Stephen Hill used the phrase in the title of their local public radio show Music from the Hearts of Space. They developed an innovative segue music assembly technique, cross-mixing "spacey" instrumental pieces to create a sustained mood. The term began to be used more widely when the show was syndicated nationally in 1983. ["Hill began the program as a volunteer at KPFA-FM, Berkeley, in 1973, and worked with Anna Turner as co-producer. Ten years later--Jan. 8, 1983--the program went national." "Hearts of Space: a mellow carriage leader after a decade on the public radio satellite" -- published Feb. 1, 1993 in [http://www.current.org/rad/rad302h.html Current, "the newspaper about public television and radio in the United States"] ] Other US-based radio programmers adopted the term as well, among them, John Diliberto, Steve Pross, and Gino Wong with Star's End, launched in 1976, F. J. Forest (a.k.a. “Forest”) with Musical Starstreams, launched in 1981 and nationally syndicated in 1983, and John Diliberto again with Echoes, launched in 1989.

Niche market

While Space music aficionados are enthusiastic about the music, it occupies a small, specialized niche in both the retail marketplace and radio programming.

Of the many major online retailers of music CDs or downloads, mention of space music as a genre is rare. The music is available, but is found listed under other genres, mostly New Age, or Ambient music, or both. Even the wider genre of Electronic music is limited in market presence as a separate genre, with most online retailers generally including it as part of the Dance/DJ genre. The Grammy awards have a stand-alone category for New Age music, but include Electronic/Dance music as a sub-category of Dance music and do not offer a category for Space music [http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/49th_Show/list.aspx#02 Grammy Awards complete category list] ] . Often Ambient music is classified under both New Age and Dance/DJ simulataneously. Some of the major online retailers that do not mention space music as either a genre or sub-genre in their catalogs include Amazon.com, Sam Goody, Tower Records, eMusic, Microsoft/Zune, FYE/Transworld Entertainment, and iTunes. Amazon.com (also includes Borders and Virgin Megastores websites) - no listing for Space music. Ambient appears as subgenre of both Electronic and New Age, with the links redirecting to the same page, a low level page with no subgenres. [http://amazon.com/b?node=7&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r=14789GSAN7D7TDSFD55D&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=296771401&pf_rd_i=5174 Amazon dance & dj includes subgenres Ambient & Electronica] , [http://amazon.com/b?node=36&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r=14789GSAN7D7TDSFD55D&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=296771401&pf_rd_i=5174 Amazon New Age includes subgenre Ambient] , [http://amazon.com/Ambient-Dance-DJ-Music/b?node=63703&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r=1BSZAVDFBVQM05R26B6V&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=236934801&pf_rd_i=7 Amazon Ambient list does not include subgenres] ] Sam Goody - no listing for Space music: [http://www.samgoody.com/Dance---Electronic_stcVVcatId458535VVviewcat.htm Dance & Electronic genre page at Sam Goody] , [http://www.samgoody.com/New-Age_stcVVcatId459155VVviewcat.htm New Age genre page at Sam Goody] ] Tower Records - no listing for Space music: [http://www.tower.com/explore/2.htm tower.com main genre page] , [http://www.tower.com/explore/music/83.htm tower.com New Age genre page] , [http://www.tower.com/explore/music/63.htm tower.com electronic genre page] ] eMusic - no listing for Space music: [http://www.emusic.com/browse/all.html eMusic main genre listing] , [http://www.emusic.com/genre/281.html eMusic Electronic Ambient genre page] , [http://www.emusic.com/genre/287.html eMusic New Age Ambient genre page] ] Microsoft Network - no listing for Space music: [http://music.msn.com/genre/default.aspx?genre=29440837&stab=4 MSN New Age genre page] , [http://music.msn.com/genre/default.aspx?genre=29442413&stab=4 MSN Electronica genre page] ] FYE/Transworld - no listing for Space music: [http://www.fye.com/Music_stcVVcatId458211VVviewcat.htm main category list at FYE] , [http://www.fye.com/New-Age_stcVVcatId459155VVviewcat.htm New Age genre at FYE] , [http://www.fye.com/Dance---Electronic_stcVVcatId458535VVviewcat.htm Dance genre at FYE] , [http://www.fye.com/Ambient_stcVVcatId458536VVviewcat.htm Ambient genre at FYE] ]

In brick and mortar chain stores in the United States, a similar situation prevails - Electronic music is usually found in the Dance/DJ section, and the New Age music section is usually where the Ambient and Space music releases are displayed, as can be found for example at Barnes and Noble, Borders Books and Music, Sam Goody, and FYE/Transworld Entertainment.

Space music is generally not mentioned in mainstream music publications. In particular, Billboard magazine does not list space music in any of its genre charts; the Billboard Electronic music chart is cataegorized as part of the Dance music chart segment and includes only Dance-related forms of Electronic music. [http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/index.jsp Billboard 2006 year-end complete chart index] ] . However Billboard does include on its New Age music chart recording artists considered by some to be space music artists and who appear in playlists on Music of the Hearts of Space; for example Andreas Vollenweider and Kitaro are listed on Billboard's Top New Age albums for 2006. [http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/chart_display.jsp?f=Top+New+Age+Artists&g=Year-end+Top+Artists Billboard 2006 top New Age albums] ]

In major music industry market reports in the USA, Space music does not appear at all as a genre. The 1999 National Association of Recording Merchandisers annual survey lists the market share of Space music-related genre New Age music at only 0.5%. Electronic music is not listed separately, but is included as part of the "other" category, along with 13 additional genres, totalling a 6.7% market share.1999 NARM annual survey, Published by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, reports market share as New Age 0.5%, and Other 6.7%. “Other” is defined as including: Ethnic, Standards, Big Band, Swing, Latin, Electronic, Instrumental, Comedy, Humor, Spoken Word, Exercise, Language, Folk, and Holiday Music.] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reported similar results for the years 1994-2003, with no mention of Space music; in 2003 reporting New Age music at 0.5%, and the "other" category (including Electronic music along with multiple other genres), bringing in 7.6% market share. Recording Industry Association of America, 2005, quoted by the Northwestern University Media Management Center: [http://www.mediainfocenter.org/music/content_music/genre.asp Music purchases by genre 1994-2003] ] In the Arbitron commercial radio listenership by formats reports for 2004, the genres of Space music, New Age music, and Ambient music are not mentioned, all of them falling into the catch-all "remaining formats" category, with a listenership share of 0.1%. Arbitron Format Trends Report, Fall 2004, quoted by the Northwestern University Media Management Center: [http://www.mediainfocenter.org/music/radio_content_measures/format_age.asp Radio Formats Listened to by Age] and [http://www.mediainfocenter.org/music/radio_content_measures/format_l.asp Radio Listenership by Formats] ]

In film and television soundtracks

Space music has been effective for creating moods and soundscapes in film and TV soundtracks; in particular, electronic forms of space music have been used to convey an auditory metaphor for non-ordinary consciousness.cite book|title=Sounding Art: Eight Literary Excursions Through Electronic Music |last= Norman |first= Katharine |year= 2004 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |pages=p32|isbn= 0754604268] Examples of space music in film soundtracks include the Vangelis score to "Blade Runner", "...includes music in his 'classic' style, ethnically influenced e-music, deep sequences, symphonic synths, and sci-fi space music." "Blade Runner soundtrack album review" (Mutli-CD extended version), Jim Brenholts, [http://www.windowsmedia.com/MediaGuide/Templates/AlbumInfo.aspx?a_id=R%20%20%20313657 Windows Media Guide, from All Music Guide] ] "Vangelis...composes and performs mainly instrumental music and film scores. ...he has flirted with many genres and has proved to be very hard to categorize. His music has been filed as 'synthesizer music', 'new age', 'progressive rock', 'Symphonic rock', 'Space music', 'electronic music', etc" "Vangelis Papathanassiou Biography", [http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/vangelis_papathanassiou/ Newsfinder, A literary favour to world culture] , Gus Leous, July 2003]
Tangerine Dream's moody soundtracks for "Legend" and "Risky Business","The terms" New Age" and "Space Music" have been aptly applied to the ethereal improvisational electronic work of Tangerine Dream.... Tangerine Dream lends itself to movie soundtracks; their music graces dozens of popular motion pictures." "Tangerine Dream Biography" [http://arts.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/tangerine-dream-biography Contemporary Musicians, Ed. Suzanne M. Bourgoin. Vol. 12.] Thomson Gale, 1994. eNotes.com. 2006] " In 1983 the group made a substantial contribution to the soundtrack for the film "Risky Business", .... the title piece, also known as "Love On A Real Train" involved repetitive elements that were close to the minimalism of Steve Reich... 'we stumbled upon a minimal kind of thing, like Steve Reich or Philip Glass. It was a new way of drawing a romantic theme, which we still get credit for today.' " "Tangerine Dream - Their Changing Use Of Technology Part 2: 1977-1994", [http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/jan95/tangerinedream2.html Sound on Sound Magazine, January 1995] ]
Jonn Serrie's surround-sound score for the IMAX short film, "Hubble: Galaxies Across Space and Time", "the award-winning IMAX short film, Hubble: Galaxies Across Space and Time, ... transforms images and data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope into a voyage that sweeps viewers across the cosmos. .... space music composer Jonn Serrie wrote the surround-sound score." Hubble IMAX Film Takes Viewers on Ride Through Space and Time [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/16/text/ Hubble Telescope News Release] , June 24, 2004] Brian Eno's score for the 1989 film "For All Mankind", [cite book |title=History of the American Cinema |last= Harpole|first= Charles |coauthors=Charles Musser, Eileen Bowser, Richard Koszarski, Donald Crafton, Tino Balio, Thomas Schatz, Stephen Prince, David A. Cook, Paul Monaco, Peter Lev|year=2004 |pages=p385|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn= 068480493X] and Michael Stearns' soundtrack for the 1985 IMAX film, Chronos, broadcast on Stephen Hill's "Hearts of Space" radio, on the film's opening night." [Michael Stearns] scored the IMAX film Chronos for Ron Fricke... Chronos opened in May of 1985 and on opening night the soundtrack was beamed via satellite to over 200 radio stations nationwide on Stephen Hill's program Music From the Hearts of Space." from Stearns' bio on the [http://www.michaelstearns.com/past_bio.html Michael Sterns official website] ]

Television science-fiction series "Babylon 5" features a score by former Tangerine Dream member Christopher Franke, also released on CD in 1996 on Franke's independent label Sonic Images. "don't get confused and start thinking that classically crafted space music is a thing of the past. We recently received several releases from Sonic Images, an independent Los Angeles label operated by synthesist Christopher Franke, who played with Tangerine Dream for 17 years during the apex of the German group's popularity. Franke, who now resides in L.A., is represented on the label by two recent albums: a compilation of soundtrack music for the sci-fi TV series "Babylon 5" and "Klemania"," "DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENTS", [http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=753498 Billboard Magazine, January 27, 1996] ] In 1994, the German TV station Bayerischer Rundfunk launched the television program Space Night, [http://www.br-online.de/wissen-bildung/spacenight/ Space night official website] ] , featuring a constant flow of satellite and space images accompanied by space music programmed by European chill-out-DJ Alex Azary.

Notable artists

This list includes notable artists who have created works of space music:

"Alphabetized by last person name including single name, or first group name"

* David Arkenstone - "Robot Wars, Another Star in the Sky"
* Asyrah
* Kevin Braheny - "Galaxies"
* Thom Brennan - "Strange Paradise, Beneath Clouds, Signals in Moonlight"
* Carbon Based Lifeforms - "Hydroponic Garden", "World of Sleepers" (albums)
* Wendy Carlos - "Tron, Digital Moonscapes"
* Cluster
* Mychael Danna - "Aurora Borealis"
* David Darling - "Until the End of the World"
* Constance Demby - "Sacred Space Music"
* Deuter - "Sun Spirit"
* Enigma - "MCMXC a.D."cite web|url=http://hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0263|title=RIVERS OF BELIEF-an ENIGMAtic mix of the spiritual & the seductive|publisher=Hearts of Space |date=24-May-1991]
* Brian Eno - "Apollo", 'Music for Airports"
* Les Fradkin - "Telstar"
* Edgar Froese
* Geodesium [ [http://www.geodesium.com Planetarium Music] ] - "A Gentle Rain of Starlight, Fourth Universe, West of the Galaxy, Double Eclipse"
* Michael Garrison - "Escape, In the Regions of Sunreturn, Eclipse, Point of Impact, Aurora Dawn, An Earth-Star Trilogy"
* Lisa Gerrard - "The Mirror Pool" [ [http://www.hos.com/php/search.php?searchText=Lisa%20Gerrard Hearts of Space playlist] ] cite news|title=The sky's the limit with ambient music|author=Steve Sande |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/11/PKGAA45D9R1.DTL |publisher=SF Chronicle|date=Sunday, January 11, 2004|quote=10 essential spacemusic CDs, Selected by Stephen Hill of Hearts of Space]
* Tom Heasley - "Where the Earth Meets the Sky"
* Michael Hedges [ [http://www.hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0660 Hearts of Space playlist] ]
* Paul Horn - "Inside the Taj Mahal"
* David Hykes - "Hearing Solar Winds"
* Ishq - "Orchid"
* Jean Michel Jarre"Pioneered by Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Walter Carlos, then popularised by Tomita, Jean Michel Jarre, and Vangelis, this genre - space music, some call it..." [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329781701-111639,00.html Reynolds, Simon. "Kings of the cosmos", in "The Guardian", April 22 2007, retrieved May 13 2007] ] Listed in "A Classic Space Music Countdown to Liftoff: 10 Essential classic space music albums, counting down from 10 to 1" [http://www.echoes.org/TimeWarped.html "Time Warped in Space" by Echoes Radio producer and host, John Diliberto] .] - "Oxygene, Equinoxe, Magnetic Fields, Rendez-Vous, Revolutions"
* Al Gromer Khan
* Laraaji - "Celestial Vibration, Celestial Realms, Essence/Universe, Flow Goes the Universe"
* Ray Lynch [ Patti Jean Birosik, "The New Age Music Guide: Profiles and Recordings of 500 Top New Age Musicians", , p113, 1989, Collier MacMillan, ISBN 0020416407, "Deep Breakfast...one of the best-selling New Age Space music albums ever"] [ [http://www.theaffirmationspot.com/raylynch.html Affirmation Spot] "Ray Lynch...one of the luminaries of the "space music" genre"]
* Carlos Nakai [ [http://www.insound.com/R._Carlos_Nakai/artistmain/artist/P+++++2703/ Insound Review of R. Carlos Nakai, "Cycles, Vol. 2 (1985)"] "This is a set of heavenly space music compositions with their bases firmly in the Northern plains and Southwestern deserts. "] [ [http://www.mp3.com/albums/63402/reviews.html Jim Brenholts, All Music Guide, "Sundance Season", R. Carlos Nakai] "Nakai is one of the leading practitioners of this style. In his hands, the flute takes on space music qualities."] - "Cycles Volume 2"
* Patrick O'Hearn - "Ancient Dreams, Between Two Worlds"
* Mike Oldfield [ [http://www.hos.com/php/showProgram.php?program=0035 Hearts of Space playlist] ] - "The Songs of Distant Earth"
* Oregon ["As in previous Spacejazz excursions, we favor the more melodic or space creating players over the instrumental technicians. We'll be hearing from the group OREGON with music from 45th PARALLEL;" -- Music from the Hearts of Space, Program 260 : "Spacejazz 6 Animato" ]
* David Parsons - "Sounds of the Mothership, Atmanaut"
* Jeff Pearce - "To the Shores of Heaven"
* Popol Vuh
* Giles Reaves - "Wunjo", "Nothing Is Lost", "Sea of Glass", [ [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difrxqq5ldde~T5 Billboard Chart 1992] cited in "All Music Guide"] "Kaleida Visions", "Sacred Space"
* Robert Rich - "Night Sky Replies, Music from Atlas Dei "
* Steve Roach - "Structures From Silence"
* Roedelius
* Conrad Schnitzler - "Constellations, Moon Mummy"
* Klaus Schulze - "Moondawn, Cyborg"
* Jonn Serrie - "Midsummer Century, Ixlandia"
* Michael Stearns - "Desert Moon Walk, Planetary Unfolding, Lyra Sound Constellation, Encounter"
* Tangerine Dream ["Among the first, and arguably the best to bring that psychedelic ethos into the electronic age was Tangerine Dream. While their 1970 debut, Electronic Meditation, sounded like Karlheinz Stockhausen meeting the Grateful Dead, their later albums essayed the sound that would be the template of space music." [http://www.echoes.org/TimeWarped.html "Time Warped in Space" by Echoes Radio producer and host, John Diliberto] .] - "Alpha Centauri"
* Robert Scott Thompson - "Sidereal"
* Isao Tomita - "The Planets, Kosmos, Space Walk, Mind of the Universe"
* Vir Unis - "Aeonian Glow"
* Tim Story - "Shadowplay"
* Vangelis - "Albedo 0.39, Spiral, Mythodea"
* George Winston [ [http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/winston-george-biography eNotes biography of George Winston] "prime acoustic example of what is popularly called new age space music"]
* Erik Wollo - "Wind Journey, Emotional Landscapes"

See also

* Ambient music
* Drone music
* Electronic art music
* New Age music
* Synthesizer
* Chillout music
* Downtempo
* Program music
* Soundscape
* Space rock

Further reading

*Prendergast, Mark. Eno, Brian (Foreword) (2001). "The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age". Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 1582341346.

Footnotes