Stearns, Michael

Artist: Erik Wollo &Michael Stearns
P: 2020
CONVERGENCE ranges from slowly-evolving contemplative and reflective tracks like “Somewhere in the distance” and “Subterranean Canyon” to hypnotically pulsing rhythmic movements in “The Nomad’s Journey” or the “The Herald.” The album is a subtle interplay between these two pioneering artists’ mystical and emotional sonic styles, developing an inner resonance of expressive reveries that venture into dark mystical terrain as the album progresses.

Artist: Michael Stearns & Larkin
P: 1985
Flute music with hupback whale sounds with low synthesizer tunes played by Michael Stearns.

Here the last copy!

Artist: Michael Stearns + Lisa Gerrard
P: 2012
Original soundtrack to the 2012 motion picture featuring music by Michael Stearns, Lisa Gerrard and Marchello De Francisci.

Artist: Michael Stearns + Ron Sunsinger
P: 1994
After years of simulating their sounds in synthesizers, Michael Stearns set out to find the recently discovered decorated rocks found in secret Native American locations. Sunsinger and Stearns recorded the sounds of these rocks, as well as "vibrations of the Earth near volcanoes." Combined with electronic and natural ambience, Lakota flutes, ocarinas, rainsticks, a druid bell, sampled voices, a smorgasbord of other fascinating instruments, and with the ubiquitous final reverbed synthesizer touches, Stearns and Sunsinger have created twelve very interesting tracks that are, surprisingly, completely independent of one another.
Stearns outshines his partner in every way. While both offer collaborative tracks, Stearns's solo compositions are more complex in their aural stone latticework. Most of Sunsinger's work seems more "filler" in idea and are both simple and unimpressive in nature.
The album kicks off with Sunsinger's finest effort: The Ringing Desert. He plays a haunting tune on a Lakota courtship flute (which will only be out-haunted by Stearns's Hopi flute theme on the last track). Invocation continues the dark Native themes with stormy winds and hawk cries. Stearns's Shadows & Light starts off lethargically with stone samples; these will eventually morph into synthesized chord progressions accompanying Native vocals that will send shivers down the listener's spine. The fourth track, Petroglyphs, is described in the booklet as such: "Just stones played on-site[...]." It is of interest only to those who enjoy samples. There is no cohesion, and a good set of headphones reveals loop splices.

Artist: Michael Stearns + Ron Sunsinger
P: 2000
After six years without any new recordings, pioneering ambient artist Michael Stearns has unleashed a torrent of music with three releases and this CD with Ron Sunsinger. In a way, Sorcerer is an extension of their 1994 album, Singing Stones, but Sorcerer is an even more abstract and experimental work. Inspired by the spiritual writings of Carlos Castaneda, Stearns and Sunsinger create a dark and perilous world.
On an album that's more sound design than music, they mix electric and acoustic sounds from prepared guitar to bowed metal with environmental recordings. Electronically processed, reversed, and otherwise distorted, they emerge with a surrealism that makes Dali seem like a hardcore realist painter. There are no rhythms to grab onto and no melodies to speak of until the very last track, when Peruvian shaman Don Augustine Rivas sings an Ayahuasca Icarro song. Until that respite, it's a tableau of demonic groans, shuddering metal on metal, and turbulent free falls, all orchestrated into a shifting, enveloping, and precarious soundscape.
CD mixed and mastered at Earth Turtle, Sante Fe.
Music composed and produced by Michael Stearns and Ron Sunsinger.
John Bartlit - prepared electric guitar on Cicharisca and percussion and bowed metal instruments on Journey to the Underworld
Don Augustine Rivas sings the Ayahuasca song Cicharisca
Norm Toy backup synthesizer on Cicharisca
Butch Hall - Native American flutes
Ross Barrable - wind harps.
Incredibly Visual, Completely Visceral, Overwhelmingly Powerful.
Dedicated to, and inspired by the books of Carlos Castaneda.
Stearns and Sunsinger plunge to undiscovered depths, unlike anything ever experienced before, in this profound and surreal tribute to the late author Carlos Castaneda. Masterfully crafted soundfields, realized from the deepest recesses of Human awareness, shift the listener into a state of dreaming, and breathe life into an incredible world of power and knowledge. Not for the casual listener, this is the world of Don Juan with all of its magic and intensity.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1992/ 2005
In an age where music is more manufactured than envisoned, "Baraka" is a refreshing and magnificent collection of organic tones, and ethnic beats.
Baraka is an incredible nonverbal film containing images of 24 countries from 6 continents, created by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, with music from Michael Stearns and others. The film has no plot, contains no actors and has no script.  Instead, high quality 70mm images show some of the best, and worse, parts of nature and human life.  Timelapse is used heavily to show everyday life from a different perspective.  Baraka is often considered a spiritual film.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1992/ 2005
In an age where music is more manufactured than envisoned, "Baraka" is a refreshing and magnificent collection of organic tones, and ethnic beats.
Baraka is an incredible nonverbal film containing images of 24 countries from 6 continents, created by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, with music from Michael Stearns and others. The film has no plot, contains no actors and has no script.  Instead, high quality 70mm images show some of the best, and worse, parts of nature and human life.  Timelapse is used heavily to show everyday life from a different perspective.  Baraka is often considered a spiritual film.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1984 / 2022
The remaster of Michael’s X-86 Stereo Ambisonic mix; this mix was originally used on the CD and LP at the time of the film’s release and is Michael’s favorite.
A soundtrack tuned to the timescales and rhythms of human life on earth
In Greek mythology “Chronos” is the personification of time. On composer and electronic musical visionary Michael Stearns’ 1985 album, Chronos serves as the tempo of a cascade of celestial movements, terrestrial sonic luminance, and morphic electronic harmonies.
Composed as the soundtrack for the IMAX film by cinematographer Ron Fricke (previously of Koyaanisqatsi), these 8 tracks combine to form a continuous 43-minute pandimensional experience, a sensual sound voyage with stops throughout the ancient and modern worlds.
Scored as the film was shot, Stearns’ Chronos leads us through earthbound and aerial spaces, the long plains, the cosmos, the big cities and the tracing of the spiritual and corporeal lights which inform each movement. The symphonic and majestic main theme in “Corridors of Time” hints at vast spaces and soulful longing flowing with cosmic poetry. The track reaches a powerful crescendo resolving in ghostly atmospheres, driving escalator steps and whispered voices. It returns half an hour later weaving into the themes of the swelling incandescent tapestry of the final two movements.
One of the best soundtracks ever made by Stearns and his Serge Modular System, with a very unique sound.
Taking the familiar conventions of time-lapse cinematography to a transcendent level of artistic achievement, filmmaker Ron Fricke circled the globe to make Chronos, a stunning 70-millimeter time-lapse tour of natural and man-made wonders. The entire film has the enhanced, hyper-realistic quality of a laser-etched photograph, and by using special cameras and motion-control photographic techniques, Fricke and his technically expert crew were able to create mesmerizing images guaranteed to spark any viewer's sense of awe and wonder. Accompanied by the hypnotic music of Michael Stearns, this visual journey takes the viewer on a tour of over 50 locations on nearly every continent of the world, including explorations of Paris, the Vatican, the Egyptian pyramids, the African veldt, and many more stunning vistas. The cumulative effect is the feeling that the world--from the busiest metropolis to the most serenely remote wilderness landscape--is dictated by "chronos," the rhythm of time to which all living things must submit. Like Koyaanisquatsi and Baraka, this is one of those eye-candy films that was conceived according to its specific theme, so it's not only a soothing visual experience but a thought-provoking study of our fascinating planet.
 

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1985 / 2004
Taking the familiar conventions of time-lapse cinematography to a transcendent level of artistic achievement, filmmaker Ron Fricke circled the globe to make Chronos, a stunning 70-millimeter time-lapse tour of natural and man-made wonders. The entire film has the enhanced, hyper-realistic quality of a laser-etched photograph, and by using special cameras and motion-control photographic techniques, Fricke and his technically expert crew were able to create mesmerizing images guaranteed to spark any viewer's sense of awe and wonder. Accompanied by the hypnotic music of Michael Stearns, this visual journey takes the viewer on a tour of over 50 locations on nearly every continent of the world, including explorations of Paris, the Vatican, the Egyptian pyramids, the African veldt, and many more stunning vistas. The cumulative effect is the feeling that the world--from the busiest metropolis to the most serenely remote wilderness landscape--is dictated by "chronos," the rhythm of time to which all living things must submit. Like Koyaanisquatsi and Baraka, this is one of those eye-candy films that was conceived according to its specific theme, so it's not only a soothing visual experience but a thought-provoking study of our fascinating planet.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1996
This CD features a select compilation of music from the early albums "Desert Moon Walk" (1977), "Ancient Leaves" (1978), "Jewel" (1979/1985), "Lyra" (1983), "M'ocean" (1984), and "Floating Whispers" (1987). During the recording of the earliest of these works, "Vicki's Dance" and "Desert Moon Walk", I was playing live at the Continuum Studio. The source material for these pieces was taken from those early live performances. "Ancient Leaves" and "Elysian E" were two of my first composed pieces released on LP. With "Morning" in ‘79, I began weaving ambient recordings made during my world travels into the fabric of the music. And, there are three pieces from "Lyra", recorded with sculptor George Landry's gigantic electronic harp. Some material has been edited. All have been meticulously digitally re-mastered. A full 74 minutes of music.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1996
This CD features a select compilation of music from the early albums "Ancient Leaves" (1978), "M'ocean" (1984), "Plunge" (1986), "Floating Whispers" (1987), and several previously unpublished tracks. "Ancient Leaves" was recorded in the spring of 1977 and was performed live in August of that year at the "7-7-77" festival in Ocean Park. "Marriage Chords" was performed live entirely on the Serge Synthesizer for my wedding in 1980. "Three Faces of the Goddess" was created for a performance series with dancers, and the pieces from Plunge and Floating Whispers were created in between film projects. Some material has been edited. All have been meticulously digitally re-mastered. A full 74 minutes of music.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1988
Encounter is state of the art spacemusic by a master of the genre. It extends the style of Michael Stearns early classic, Planetary Unfolding, and deepens the direction of his other early works, Chronos, and Floating Whispers. An awesome experience of a UFO encounter - audio theater for the sonically adventurous. This powerful drama begins in the desert on a peaceful summer night, ascends through a speaker-shaking dimensional transition, and explores sonic spaces on the edges of experience, where we can meet "the Other."
 

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1987 / 1999
The CD offers 42 minutes of great floating cosmic music ("mood-music" as Michael likes to call it) with occasionally some e-guitar, with beauties such as "Almost Daybreak" next to the smooth laid-back ambiences of "At the Bath" and "Night Currents".
Things reach an even more emotional level on "The Reflective Heart". It’s just a pity the beautiful, Vangelis-kindred string textures of the short closing (title)track doesn't last longer, as I had loved to hear this introspective ambient music linger on a bit longer.
This digitally remastered album is a must-have for everyone who loves intriguing and nicely shaped atmospheric ambient.
"Floating Whispers" contains music that appeared to be the predecessor of space music that could later end up on "Planetary Unfolding" and "Chronos".

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1983/ 2000
“M’Ocean” was originally released in 1983 on cassette by the Continuum Montage label under the title “Light Play” and re-released for the first time on CD by the Sonic Atmospheres label a year later. Hearing the first notes of “M’Ocean”, you can immediately hear Michael’s massive and distinguished sound with which he received world fame a couple of years later with classics like “Planetary Unfolding”, “Chronos” and “Encounter”. This piece, “Sirens”, was written and performed entirely on an Oberheim OB8-synth immediately Michael took it out of its box. Dear musician, do you recognize this feeling? “M’Ocean” can also be regarded a Michael Stearns classic: from the little symphonies “Sirens” and “Lightplay”, the intense ambiences of “Marriage Chords”, the sequencer-driven title track and “Fireflies Delight” and the pastoral voices in “Vickey’s Dance" to Igor Stravinsky’s “Walking Song”. A real warming-up for all the great things to come.
Michael Stearns is one of the biggest names in contemporary electronic music. This early music already shows why.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1985 / 2022
This is probably the ultimate spacemusic recording- the sound of Oneness- the sound of Transcendence- pure and magnificent- gigantic flows of thick serge modular synthesizer chords- a must-own for any ambient music lover.
Featuring the sound of the epic Serge Modular Synthesizer the slowly evolving atmospheric spacemusic swirls of this early classic is a journey within inner and outer space.
His essential masterpiece tells the story of the cosmos not with words but with mighty, emotional sonics. The pieces have aged gracefully, as powerful today as 41 years ago. From our subatomic origins to our intergalactic destiny, the universe is made of sound held together through reson- ance where atoms, cells, oceans, plants, animals and humans are all part of a complex orchestration. Planetary Unfolding exhibits both a compositional immediacy and a studied grasp of synthesizer mechanics. Stearns is one of the first Americans to tune his synthesizers to the “key of space,” adding a Californian earth-sensitivity to the mix. “In the Beginning” births the album within primordial ambience that brightens with a blossoming mix of electronic space rock and cinematic swells. The serene and graceful “As the Earth kissed the Moon” opens with the song of a mockingbird, the first song of spring, and in musical waves leads us to a point in the celestial firmament. It builds rhythmically as if representing the orbits of planets with choreographed movements in a star-flung ballet. “Michael Stearns’ Planetary Unfolding defines the word breathtaking. He doesn’t just take you somewhere, he makes you hear music differently, taking you deep into the vibration of sound. Planetary Unfolding transforms the space of your listening and your mind. It’s a monumental work of ambient music.” — John Diliberto (((Echoes)))

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1986 / 1999
Michael composes in a more traditional musical style. With guitars, saxophones, flutes, and fiddles, there is a playful musical energy at work here. But you can still hear the Serge Modular inbetween the other instruments. Mostly nice tunes.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1993
Sacred Site marks the return of Michael Stearns as a solo artist after five busy years creating spectacular soundtrack music. Stearns saw the dawn of the 90's while traveling to Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt, Costa Rica, Brazil and the Galapagos Islands to record indigenous music and sound effects for film assignments. Arriving with an open mind and a finely tuned ear for ambience, he left stimulated -- not only by the exotic soundscapes and unfamiliar instruments he heard, but also by the powerful, elemental music of these ancient worlds. As a result, Sacred Site shows a deeper integration of brilliant soundscape recordings and multi-cultural elements into Stearns's epic cinematic spacemusic style.The monumental synthesized chord clusters in his theme for Sacred Site - first heard in his music for Lyra (Return) and Chronos - have evolved to advance the art of the fanfare to the borders of the cosmic. The grand emotions evoked by these large, spatial sound structures resonate in the mind with a power that seems conscious of the immensity of time itself. I'm sure if Bach is still listening he's pleased and possibly a little jealous.More subtly dramatic are his majestic theme for Baraka, with its dignified Indonesian gamelan cadences, the immensely mournful American Indian chanting of Lessert Moore on Paha Sapa, the musical voices of the forest dwellers mingling with his superb location recordings on pieces like Tropical Rain Forest and Twin Flame. These musical soundscapes create an ineffable experience with the quality of dream, documentary, and poetic reverie all at once.

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1977/ 2001
This music by ambient maestro Stearns dates back to 1977. Here, its 61 minutes are remastered and reissued on CD in 2001.
This experimental ambient music is delivered in a pair of tracks, each just over 30 minutes in length. The title track was generated on a 20-tone set of vibes (the Eikonsany), resulting in a languid flow of calming tonalities of ultimately relaxing quality.
The track "Sleeping Conches" was performed mainly on kitchen pots and pans, then processed electronically until the sounds deceptively mesh with the lazy crash of a Pacific surf. Expect no banging din here, for these kitchen instruments have been decelerated and transformed into extremely liquid bell tones. Both pieces are designed to function as a sonic context for personal explorations. There is minimal melody, and the music is texturally atonal. Intended as soundscapes for meditation, both pieces are low and generally uneventful, maintaining just the proper level of sound required to stimulate subconscious hypnotic but not engage active thought or emotions.
 

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 1995
When sound technology meets tribal poetry immerged in the lush green world of the rainforest, haunting but majestuous atmospheres unravel themselves from "The Lost World". Undoubtedly, this is the richiest CD from Michael Stearns for its acoustic form and musical fabric. Stearns is an expert at interweaving complex synthetizer layers and natural soundscapes. "The Lost World Theme" is probably the most profound experience of this sonic journey into the heart of the rainforest. The laments of Keri Rusthoï's voice amidst the rainforest symphony conveys a sharp sadness, a longing for Eden. In a few words, this superb synergy between Pemon chants, on-site acoustics and synthetizer harmonics communicate a deeper yearning: a Unity with a World of an elusive beauty. If you like mystery, melancholy, poetry, textural soundscapes and ominous atmospheres, you are ready for "The Lost World". Your heart may stay there...

Whenever I have gone out hiking or backpacking, I always enter into that childhood space of searching for a "Lost World". It lives as a place within all of us, and with the expansion of the modern world, it gets harder and harder to find. In 1994 I traveled to The Lost World (El Mundo Perdido) in the south of Venezuela. This is the area that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about in his book "The Lost World". The music on this album was inspired by the sights and sounds, the stories that I heard, and the experiences I had while exploring this area. Some of them stretched me into the unknown and revealed what is very hard to describe in words... easier to evoke with music. Many of the sounds I collected there are woven into the musical fabric of this CD.   Michael Stearns

Artist: Michael Stearns
P: 2001
The Storm is a moment woven of the fabric of life, death and rebirth, struggle and fulfillment. Between the shadows and tempests are moments of illumination and hope. Expanding on a shorter work, The Light in the Trees, previously presented as an amplexus limited edition, The Storm incorporates other elements representing a body of work and thought several years in the making. Like the path it portrays, it finally culminates in this complete form. It compels the listener into a world of heightened reality and awareness, revealing an inner purpose to life, its struggles, and its fulfillment. Stearns sculpts soundfields and textures with a palette that seems neither electronic nor acoustic, inviting a musical experience that is profoundly organic and unique; a magnificently crafted musical tapestry. The Storm is an excursion into deep, often un rooted ambience. Stearns can completely transform a space with his swirling layers of sounds. Environments cascade atop each other as the Balinese "Ketjak" chante merges from a white noise of rain and barber-pole glissando, but he also leavens The Storm with welcome respites of minimally drawn melody. The Last Feeling is a techno-tribal trance work of plaintive flute melody and hypnotic hand percussion, while The Light in the Trees illustrates the deep melancholy Stearns can evoke with just a few well-placed chords.