What are passages of a cappella choir and acoustic instruments doing on a synth album? In his latest release Virtuality, renowned synthesist Amin Bhatia - who also created the astounding '87 synth extravaganza The Interstellar Suite - makes a strong case for the inclusion. "Whereas Interstellar Suite was both orchestral science fiction and analog synthesizers," Bhatia explains, "Virtuality is split into two halves. The 'Virtuality' half is about our experiences - good and bad - inside the virtual world of computers. Since we've had so many albums that attempt to portray orchestral music with synths, it felt fitting that we use some real people in the making of the music about computers."
Bhatia compares Virtuality with Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." "Each piece tells a story about our virtual world. With 'A Pocketful of a Data', which mixes violin and synthesized guitars, I wanted the combination of organic and synthetic to represent the joys computers can bring us. In contrast, 'Virus Attack' is a Wagnerian day of Wrath, wreaking havoc on all in its wake, and anyone who has wrestled with a system upgrade knows exactly what I'm talking about." The second half of the album is pure vintage synths, based on Ravel's "Bolero". "Just as the original progresses through 18 stanzas of its repeating melody, getting larger and more dynamic along the way, I've orchestrated 'Bolero Electronica' using synthesizers spanning the last 75 years of development," says Amin, "beginning with the Ondes Martenot, moving forward through Moog, Arp, Buchla, Roland, etc., and ending in modern day Spectrasonics and Arturia hugeness."Speaking of huge, the phenomenal Patrick Moraz and Steve Porcaro contributed synth solos, and producers David Greene and Jeff Wolpert shared mixing duties. Bob Moog had agreed to do voiceovers for a DVD, but he passed away in August 2005 while Bhatia was still working on this, a seven-year project. Bhatia dedicated the album to Bob and contributes a portion of every sale to the Bob Moog Foundation.
Financing Bhatia's synth-album addiction - if one every two decades qualifies as that - is his day job of scoring TV shows and films. Does composing for himself relieve the stress of composing for others? "Each becomes a source of relief for the other. When you have to compose your own music, after a time, you wish someone else would tell you what to do. Then after you've composed, revised, and tweaked so many chase cues and love scenes in record time, it's nice to decide what you want to do."
Let's hope we don't have to wait until 2029 for Bhatia's sequal to Virtuality.
Mark Vail
|
