Ocean | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1986 | |||
Recorded | January 1986 | |||
Studio | Tonstudio Bauer Ludwigsburg, W. Germany | |||
Genre | World, new age | |||
Length | 50:17 | |||
Label | ECM ECM 1318 | |||
Stephan Micus chronology | ||||
|
Ocean is a solo album by German composer and multi-instrumentalist Stephan Micus recorded in January 1986 and released on ECM later that year. [1]
The AllMusic review by Jim Brenholts awarded the album 4 stars stating "Ocean is a set of acoustic ambient performances from Stephan Micus. He uses exotic instruments and techniques that give this disc electronic timbre.... The natural sonorities of these devices create vast atmospheres with organic timbres. The soundscapes penetrate and enhance brainwave activity. This great CD will appeal to fans of Robert Rich, Klaus Wiese, and Riley Lee." [2]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
All compositions by Stephan Micus
Zithers are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, it could be any instrument of the psaltery family. In modern terminology, it is more specifically an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body, the topic of this article.
Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records. In 1991, Monk composed Atlas, an opera, commissioned and produced by the Houston Opera and the American Music Theater Festival. Her music has been used in films by the Coen Brothers and Jean-Luc Godard. Trip hop musician DJ Shadow sampled Monk's "Dolmen Music" on the song "Midnight in a Perfect World". In 2015, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama.
Stephan Micus is a German musician and composer, whose musical style is heavily influenced by his study of traditional instruments and musical techniques from Japan, India, South America, and other countries. With the exception of his album The Music of Stones (1989), he plays all the instruments on his recordings, combining styles from different countries and using the instruments in unprecedented ways in each of his pieces. He often uses layers of a single instrument to create unusual combinations of sounds. He is one of the few ECM Records artists whose records are not produced by Manfred Eicher. He has mixed instruments from around the world, or used whatever was at hand: stones, ordinary flowerpots tuned with water, and his voice—singing improvised syllables over ten years before others made this approach fashionable.
Athos is an album by Stephan Micus recorded between November 1993 – February 1994 and released on ECM in 1994.
The trapezoidal yangqin is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋琴, but over time the first character changed to 揚, which means "acclaimed". It is also spelled yang ch'in. Hammered dulcimers of various types are now very popular not only in China, but also Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India, Iran, and Pakistan. The instruments are also sometimes known by the names "santoor" and "cymbalom". This instrument had an influence on the Thai classical instrument, known as Khim (ขิม).
The Garden of Mirrors is an album by Stephan Micus recorded between 1995–1996 and released on ECM the following year.
Toshi Ichiyanagi was a Japanese avant-garde composer and pianist. One of the leading composers in Japan during the postwar era, Ichiyanagi worked in a range of genres, composing Western-style operas and orchestral and chamber works, as well as compositions using traditional Japanese instruments. Ichiyanagi is known for incorporating avant-garde techniques into his works, such as chance music, extended technique, and nontraditional scoring. Ichiyanagi was married to artist Yoko Ono from 1956 to 1962.
The shō (笙) is a Japanese free reed musical instrument that was introduced from China during the Nara period. It is descended from the Chinese sheng, of the Tang Dynasty era, although the shō tends to be smaller in size than its contemporary sheng relatives. It consists of 17 slender bamboo pipes, each of which is fitted in its base with a metal free reed. Two of the pipes are silent, although research suggests that they were used in some music during the Heian period. It is speculated that even though the pipes are silent, they were kept as part of the instrument to keep the symmetrical shape.
Kevin Roth is a singer-songwriter, pianist, artist, and Mountain Dulcimer player. He is widely known as one of the leading innovators of the dulcimer around the world and has released over 60 albums. He sang the theme song for the PBS television children's hit show Shining Time Station. His latest recording is "The Deviant Dulcimerist," released on the Star Gazer Productions label. A full biography and more information can be found online at www.kevinrothmusic.com.
Ambient 3: Music Of Changes is a 1994 compilation album released by Virgin Records as part of its Ambient series. The compilation was issued as a double CD.
Archery is an album by John Zorn featuring his early "game piece" composition of the same name. The album was released by Parachute Records in 1982.
Vienna Concert is a live solo album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded on July 13, 1991 at the Vienna State Opera in Vienna, Austria, and released by ECM September the following year.
La Scala is a live solo album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at La Scala in Milan on February 13, 1995 and released on ECM in May 1997.
Invocations/The Moth and the Flame is a solo double album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in October 1980 and November 1979 respectively and released on ECM in May 1981.
Codona is an album by American sitarist and tabla player Collin Walcott, American jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and Brazilian jazz percussionist Naná Vasconcelos recorded in September 1978 and released on ECM the following year—the first of three self-titled albums by the trio.
Codona 3 is the third and final album by jazz trio Codona—featuring sitarist and tabla player Collin Walcott, trumpeter Don Cherry and percussionist Naná Vasconcelos—recorded in September 1982 and released on ECM the following year.
Implosions is the second album by composer Stephan Micus, released in 1977 through JAPO Records.
Twilight Fields is an album by German multi-instrumentalist and composer Stephan Micus recorded in November 1987 and released on ECM the following year.
Nomad Songs is the twenty-third studio album by German world musician Stephan Micus, recorded over three years and released on ECM in June 2015. Always seeking new traditional instruments, Nomad Songs sees the addition of two new instruments to Micus's repertoire: the genbri and the ndingo.
Charles Dennis Cawood is an English multi-instrumental musician, composer and music journalist, known for his cross-disciplinary musical skills as well as his work with a wide variety of projects and artists.