The Bermuda Triangle - Isao Tomita

 

The Harp Of The Ancient People With Songs Of Venus And Space Children

The Visionary Flight To The 1448 Nebular Group Of The Bootes

The Bermuda Triangle

A Musical Fantasy Of Science Fiction

Art Direction: J. J. Stelmach

Cover Illustration: Don Punchatz

RCA Records Red Seal ARL1-2885 STEREO

1979

From the inside (gatefold) cover: All of Tomita's albums are sonic encounters – composers' musical inventions transcribed into sound colors incapable of being generated by conventional instruments. Yes, Tomita imitates with his electronic devices, but with the infinity of resources at his command he can blend into the musical fabric glittering threads of such sounds of nature as humans whistling, the wind rustling, insects humming, waterfalls, rain-from the whisper of a dragonfly's wing to the violent sounds of worlds torn asunder. Projecting such sounds into the musical world of great composers brings our perception into closer touch with their imagery.

And now Tomita has created THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE. have no doubt that this is one of his greatest works.

Tomita weaves his own sonic inventions into excerpts of music by Prokofiev, Sibelius and John Williams to depict a science-fiction fantasy – a story at once plausible and imaginative, the details of which are largely elucidated in the mind when subjected to Tomita's sound. A storm rages in the ocean near Bermuda – the area of mysterious disappearances of many ships and aircraft, the dreaded Devil's Triangle. In the mist of the storm something approaches from the sky guided by an eerie signal from below the water. It is a craft from outer space – a UFO. The fantasy conjures up a giant pyramid built on the bottom of the sea by a super-civilized ancient people. They have contact with outer space and guide the UFO to the pyramid. The story unfolds through the moods of the music: Friendly encounter, exploration of the earth and sky, exchange of information, enjoyment of spatial cultures and finally revelation of the way to achieve a super dimension world. And we are left with sweet melody once more as the UFO departs into space-all of which we are drawn into and experience in our own fantasy, through the stimulus of sound.

Perhaps a new concept: Science Fiction in Sound. Through this can we overcome realistic daily life, our time and physical limitations and contact our fantasy-imagination? We can, and through that we can reach into limitless space, touch the super intellect, be any object or being and cast ourselves, all powerful, into the universe. – SAKYO KOMATSU Science-fiction author

For the past year I have struggled with a computer – a micro computer. I say "struggled" because a computer is beautifully precise, but I wanted to use it to produce musical results – in other words, as a musical instrument. How could this keyboard of only ten keys compare with that of a grand piano? But I came to realize that those ten keys could produce an almost limitless number of combinations, each of which is a signal that could determine a characteristic of sound: pitch, texture, attack time, duration, loudness. And the computer can be programmed to change any or all of these features with incredible speed.

The computer thus produces a sequence of signals that control the sound production of a synthesizer. It is something like millions of little hands rapidly changing all the synthesizer connections to produce a vast variety of sounds. My musical images must be coded by numbers to direct those hands to manipulate the synthesizer.

I build layers of sound by programming the computer. These are recorded one by one on separate tracks of a tape machine and finally all mixed together for the end result. I consider myself a sound animator, much the same as an animator of film cartoons.

I have used my computer in creating practically all the pieces contained in this album. It is made in Japan by Roland-Model MC-8 – and is perhaps the best in the world with regard to memory capacity and accuracy.

Although I cannot walk onto a stage and have the joy of struggling to perform my music before an audience. I struggle to select the right numbers on my computer to build a creative entity that displays my musical personality.

PYRAMID SOUND

This album is different from my others in that the master was recorded onto five tracks. Ideally, it should be heard through five speakers, four in the conventional rectangle and the fifth suspended above the center-thus a sonic pyramid. Although it is impossible to encode this onto a phonograph record, as much as possible of the five-channel effect has been incorporated into standard discs through the help of the engineering staff of Japan Victor.

A CODED MESSAGE

Each side of this record contains coded data in the form of certain sound effects. The message can be recovered if the electrical signal from the record is interfaced with the input of a micro computer programmed to the TARBEL System. – ISAO TOMITA

SIDE A

A SPACE SHIP LANDS EMITTING SILVERY LIGHT (2:22) Tomita: The Arrival of a UFO

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES DESCEND (1:29) Prokofiev: "Romeo and Juliet" Suite No. 2- Montagues and Capulets"

A WORLD OF DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS (2:04) Sibelius: Valse triste

THE GIANT PYRAMID AND ITS ANCIENT PEOPLE (6:36) Prokofiev: Scythian Suite-The Adoration of Veles and Ala*

VENUS IN A SPACE UNIFORM SHINING IN FLUORESCENT LIGHT (5:15)
Williams: Close Encounters of the Third Kind+

SPACE CHILDREN IN THE UNDERGROUND KINGDOM CALLED AGHARTA (5:46)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5: Second Movement- Allegro marcato*

THE EARTH-A HOLLOW VESSEL (4:38) Tomita: Dororo

SIDE B

THE SONG OF VENUS (3:52)
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1: First Movement- Andantino

DAWN OVER THE TRIANGLE AND MYSTERIOUS ELECTRIC WAVES (2:22)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6: First Movement-
Allegro moderato
Tomita: Computer Data Signals

THE DAZZLING CYLINDER THAT CRASHED IN TUNGUSKA, SIBERIA (7:28)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6: First Movement – Allegro moderato

THE HARP OF THE ANCIENT PEOPLE WITH SONGS OF VENUS AND SPACE CHILDREN (7:51)
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1: Third Movement- Moderato; Allegro moderato

THE VISIONARY FLIGHT TO THE 1448 NEBULAR GROUP OF THE BOOTES (3:53)
Tomita: Departure of the UFO
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite: The Adoration of Veles and Ala* 

Yamamoto: Vocoder

Voice Of Venus - Otto Cesana

 

Dreams

Voices Of Venus

Otto Cesana - His Chorus and Sextet

Columbia Records CL 971

1957

From the back cover: The voices of Venus are the voices of love, voices ever present in the dramatic and fascinating music of Otto Cesana. In his first collection, Ecstasy, Mr. Cesana presented a series of instrumental compositions using all the resources of a full concert orchestra to obtain the variety of emotional colorings and tonal sonorities required by his program. Here, however, he uses much smaller forces, obtaining much the same results in a very different way.

In this program, for example, he employs human voices singing actual lyrics, as contrast to his instrumental group, and within the lyrics themselves (written, like the music, by Otto Cesana) rhythm, repetition and internal rhymes are used to express the kind of emotional power expressed by repetition in orchestral writing. The result is unusually interesting, and offers a program of compelling fascination. The selections, moreover, have been designed to present a sort of impressionistic story of unrequited love; there is no story line as such, except insofar as shifts in moods supply a narrative thread, but the basic feeling throughout moves progressively forward to its logical climax.

For his earlier program, Mr. Cesana offered an explanation of his music that is worth repeating here, to place these compositions in their proper setting. "From jazz," he wrote, "and by that I mean jazz as it is played by small groups, I derived sincere sentiment; in fact, it is this naive but deep and honest feeling that is the life-blood of all real jazz. To the great harmonists such as Debussy and Wagner I owe a great deal of my harmonic dexterity; from Beethoven comes my knowledge of thematic development and some sound principles of musical form; and to Rimsky-Korsakov, that meticulous master of orchestration, I owe my knowledge of the orchestra. Of course for over-all sincerity and emotional intensity, I offer a very low bow to that monument of integrity, Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky." From that statement can be seen the sources of Mr. Cesana's inspiration, and for his rare combination of deep respect and admiration for the classics, combined with his equally deep respect and admiration for jazz. A student of the piano, organ, music theory and composition, he also possesses a basic knowledge of all major musical instruments, and uses them in his writing in fresh and unfamiliar ways. He has worked as composer and arranger for Hollywood, and has also done considerable work for radio. In 1941, he conducted a jazz concert in Town Hall in New York, playing his own music; among his large-scale works are six symphonies, four overtures, numerous suites and concertos for various instru- ments, as well as a wide variety of shorter works. His interest in the technical side of music-its orchestration, its composition, its theory – may be traced in four books he has written, "Modern Harmony," "Dance Arranging," "Modern Counterpoint," and "Voicing the Modern Dance Orchestra."

In this program, Mr. Cesana, his chorus and sextet present twelve of his most recent works, all characteristic in their expressive, romantic qualities. Our Romance Is Over is a charming ballad exploiting the contrasting colors of voices and orchestra, as does the somewhat faster I Can't Run Away from You. The next selection, Where Are You Now? is slow and reflective, contrasting with Twenty Days, a de- lightful waltz with a touch of humor. These are followed by the wistful all My Todays Are Tomorrows, and the sweet sentiment of Dreams.

The second half of the program begins dramatically with the opening of As Long as Love Remembers, a lovely new ballad. You Haunt Me comes next, and proves equally affecting, as it leads into I Fear the Night, a lush, flowing melody with the atmosphere of a nocturne. You're So Wonderful appears in an easier, lighter guise, reflecting hope, and Roses at Springtime, too, brings its promise of romance. The program concludes with You've Got Me, a colorful melody set in beguine tempo as a bright finale to Mr. Cesana's group of inventive and original new songs. 

Our Romance Is Over

I Can't Run Away From You

Where Are You Now?

Twenty Days

All My Todays Are Tomorrows

Dreams

As Long As Love Remembers

You Haunt Me

I Fear The Night

You're So Wonderful

Roses At Springtime

You've Got Me

One Upon A Dinosaur - Jane Murphy

 

The Plant Eaters

Once Upon A Dinosaur

Created by Jane Lawliss Murphy

Musical Arrangements: Dennis Buck

Drum Arrangements: Chris Bankey

Vocals: Bing Bingham, Bobby Cavanaugh, Sherry Leidt

Cover Design: Denise Shatter

Recored at Master Sound Astoria, NY

Engineer: Ben Rizzi

Assistant Engineer: Jill Warren

Printed at Michael Graphics, Inc.

Production Coordinator: Amy Laufer, Elaine Rauff

Produced by James Kimble

Kimbo Educational KIM 9083

1987

From the back cover: ABOUT THE AUTHOR – JANE LAWLISS MURPHY has been writing and perform- ing music for children ever since she was a child. Jane earned a B.S. in Education at SUNY Plattsburgh and has many years of experience teaching the early elementary grades.

Jane's songs and music have captured the hearts of parents, educators and librarians nationwide. Adults and children who have seen her perform, invariably leave her programs humming her tunes and singing the lyrics they've quickly learned. This is Janes' second album containing a collection of songs designed specifically for children. The first release, Songs For You And Me (KIM 8085), has received exceptional praise from both parents and teachers alike.

Fossil Rock

We Want To Learn About Dinosaurs

The Stegosaurus

My Pet Tyrannosaurus 

The Plant Eaters

Big Bad Al

Dinosaur Dance

The Brachiosaurus' Song

The Reptile Rap

Once Upon A Dinosaur

Ankylosaurus and Paleocincus

The Meat Eaters

Where Have They Gone?