Michael Stearns (born October 16, 1948) is an American musician and composer of

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...

. He is also known as a film

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, sound designer and

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

producer for large format films, theatrical films,

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

, commercials, and themed attractions.

Biography

Growing up in Tucson,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, Stearns started practicing guitar at 13. At 16, he played in a surf music band, sometimes backing artists such as The Lovin' Spoonful and Paul Revere & the Raiders. Evolving to acid rock, he began composing music on multiple instruments in 1968 and, while in university and in the Air Force, spent a few years studying

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors ** Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organ ...

, the physics of musical instruments, and accumulating equipment (musical instruments, tape recorders...) for his first

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

. The studio opened in Tucson, Arizona in 1972 where he produced jingles and commercials for local radio and television, and nationally released jingles for

Schlitz Beer Schlitz may refer to: * Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company * Schlitz, Hesse, a town in Germany * Schlitz (river), a river in Germany People with the surname * Don Schlitz (born 1952), award-winning country music songwriter * Joseph Schlitz (1831–18 ...

and

Greyhound Bus Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pa ...

. Stearns's interest in experimental "space" music though left him unsatisfied, as he found no audience to play his musical ideas, which could be at this time only related to the drug experience. After three years, Stearns underwent a spiritual crisis and thought about abandoning his career as a musician. In 1975, Stearns met Emilie Conrad and Gary "Da'oud" David. Emily Conrad ran meditation classes in a workshop named Continuum, with Gary David performing on a

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

and looped tapes during the classes. Stearns and his girlfriend Susan Harper moved in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, to join Emily Conrad, and Michael Stearns became a resident musician and composer until 1981. He developed then on

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s musical ideas that would feed his first solo albums. By 1977, Stearns had formed a small independent record label (Continuum Montage) with Susan Harper and a close friend and investor, David Breuer. The same year came the first releases on tape, ''Desert Moon Walk'' and ''Sustaining Cylinders'', followed by ''Ancient Leaves'', his first album released on LP, in 1978. In the same years, Stearns started out playing with Fred Stofflet a percussionist, then with

Don Preston Donald Ward Preston (born September 21, 1932) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist. He is known for working with Frank Zappa from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s. Biography Preston was born into a family of musicians in Detroit and began st ...

, the former keyboardist for

The Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band ...

. Both of them were playing for Emily David's classes. After that, Stearns, Stofflet and

Craig Hundley Craig Huxley (also known as Craig Hundley; born 1954) is an actor, inventor, and musician. He led three albums that were released by Pacific Jazz Records in the late 1960s. In 1967, as a child, he played Captain Kirk's nephew in a ''Star Trek'' e ...

, a friend of Gary David's, started a free jazz group called "Alivity".

Kevin Braheny Kevin Braheny Fortune (born Kevin Braheny, 1952) is an American musician. He composes and performs quiet ambient music, often more melodic than other music of this kind. Biography Kevin Braheny was on the early design team of Serge Modular, a ...

came to one of their concerts and became friends with Stearns. He later joined Stearns to play live for Continuum, bringing his

Serge synthesizer The Serge synthesizer ( Serge Modular or Serge Modular Music System) is an analogue modular synthesizer system originally developed by Serge Tcherepnin, Rich Gold and Randy Cohen at CalArts in late 1972. The first 20 Serge systems (then called "T ...

with him, on which Stearns would record his album ''Morning Jewel'' in 1979 before building his own Serge synthesizer. In the same period, Stearns started working with Craig Huxley scoring movies and developed a friendship with Stephen Hill. In 1981, Continuum moved to a new location and Stearns began a solo career. He put together some ideas he performed live during the workshops on his Serge and came to his classic '' Planetary Unfolding''. Ideas of the same kind were put together to form the album ''Light Play'' in 1983 and the track "Return" on the album ''Lyra''. Stearns signed on the label Sonic Atmospheres in 1984, on which some of his earlier works would be re-released (''Light Play'' became '' M'Ocean'' in 1984, ''Morning Jewel'' became ''Jewel'' in 1985, and ''Planetary Unfolding'' was given a new release in 1985). In 1984, ''

Chronos Chronos (; grc-gre, Χρόνος, , "time"), also spelled Khronos or Chronus, is a personification of time in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature. Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified with, the Tit ...

'' was the first film music done entirely by Stearns after years of collaboration with Huxley or Maurice Jarre. In 1986, he provided "electronic images and textures" for

Constance Demby Constance Mary Demby (née Eggers; May 9, 1939 – March 20, 2021) was an American musician, composer, painter, sculptor, and multimedia producer. Her music fell into several categories, most notably new age, ambient and space music.Wright, Car ...

's album ''

Novus Magnificat ''Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate'' is a 1986 album by American musician Constance Demby, with additional contributions by composer Michael Stearns. The album sold over 200,000 copies worldwide.Phoenix, Robert (2007)"Constance Demby: Heavy ...

''. After two more releases for Sonic Atmospheres, ''Plunge'' (1986) and ''Floating Whispers'' (1987), Stearns signed to Stephen Hill's new label

Hearts of Space Records Hearts of Space Records is a record label owned by Valley Entertainment. The label represents several sublabels, including Hearts of Space, Hearts O'Space, Fathom, RGB, and World Class. History Hearts of Space Records was founded in 1984 as an ...

and released '' Encounter''. In the next years, Stearns worked again with

Ron Fricke Ron Fricke (born February 24, 1953) is an American film director and cinematographer, specializing in time-lapse photography and large format cinematography. He was the director of photography for ''Koyaanisqatsi'' (1982) and directed the purely ...

, scoring ''

Baraka Baraka or Barakah may refer to: * Berakhah or Baraka, in Judaism, a blessing usually recited during a ceremony * Barakah or Baraka, in Islam, the beneficent force from God that flows through the physical and spiritual spheres * Baraka, full ''ḥ ...

'', his best-known composition, and released several albums, working with Steve Roach,

and/or Ron Sunsinger (1989 : '' Desert Solitaire'', 1994 : ''Singing Stones'' and ''Kiva'') or alone (1993 : ''Sacred Sites'', 1995 : ''The Lost World''). In 2000 and 2001, Stearns, now established in Santa Fe,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, released several albums on his own label Earth Turtle : ''Within'', ''The Middle of Time'', ''Spirits of the Voyage'', ''The Storm'', and ''Sorcerer''. He is still scoring movies and documentaries. Stearns was involved in the music for the film Samsara which premiered in 2011.

Instruments

In his earlier albums, he often used the

Serge Modular synthesizer The Serge synthesizer ( Serge Modular or Serge Modular Music System) is an analogue modular synthesizer system originally developed by Serge Tcherepnin, Rich Gold and Randy Cohen at CalArts in late 1972. The first 20 Serge systems (then called "Tc ...

, giving his music a twinkling and "cosmic" sound. In 1982, he built " The Beam", a acoustic instrument strung with 24 piano strings,Stearns, "Michael Stearns: Technical Bio" designed by Jonathan W. Lazell and built with the help of Paul Abell.Folkvord, "Artist profile: Michael Stearns" He has since used it in many albums (solo or collaboration) as well as in concert and film scores. At the end of the eighties, his sound became deeper and closer to Steve Roach's style. Michael Stearns' music is always very ambient and woven with sounds of nature or human voices. But it can also be more melodic with great themes evoking wide spaces or great landscapes.

Discography

Solo works

* 1977 – ''Desert Moon Walk'', Continuum Montage * 1978 – ''Ancient Leaves'', Continuum Montage * 1978 – ''Sustaining Cylinders'', Continuum Montage * 1979 – ''Morning Jewel'', Continuum Montage * 1981 – '' Planetary Unfolding'', Continuum Montage * 1983 – ''Light Play'', Continuum Montage * 1983 – ''Lyra Sound Constellation'', Continuum Montage * 1984 – '' M'Ocean'' (''Light Play'' reissue), Sonic Atmospheres * 1984 – ''Chronos'', Sonic Atmospheres * 1986 – ''Plunge'', Sonic Atmospheres * 1987 – ''Floating Whispers'', Sonic Atmospheres * 1988 – '' Encounter'',

* 1993 – ''Sacred Site'',

* 1995 – ''

The Lost World The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The g ...

'', Fathom/

* 1996 – ''The Light in the Trees'', Amplexus * 1996 – ''Collected Ambient and Textural Works 1977–1987'', Fathom/

* 1996 – ''Collected Thematic Works 1977–1987'', Fathom/

* 1998 – ''Within – The Nine Dimensions'', Earth Turtle * 2000 – ''Spirits of the Voyage'', Earth Turtle * 2000 – ''The Middle of Time'', Earth Turtle * 2001 – ''The Storm'', Spotted Peccary Music *2015 – ''The Soft Touch Of Morning Light'' (Three Pieces for Serge Synth 1979) *2016 – ''Music For The Dome'' (Three Planetarium Scores)

Collaborations

* 1989 – '' Desert Solitaire'', Fortuna/Celestial Harmonies) – with Steve Roach and

* 1994 – ''Singing Stones'', Fathom/

– with Ron Sunsinger * 2000 – '' Kiva'', Fathom/

– with Steve Roach and Ron Sunsinger * 2000 – ''Sorcerer'', Spotted Peccary Music – with Ron Sunsinger * 2020 – ''Convergence'', Projekt Records – with Erik Wøllo * 2021 – ''Beyond Earth & Sky'' – with Steve Roach

Compilations, soundtracks & others

* 1990 – ''Dali, The Endless Enigma'', Coriolis * 1992 – ''

'', Milan * 1994 – ''Deep Space'', Omni * 1995 – ''Musique Mechanique'', Celestial Harmonies * 1996 – ''Storm of Drones'', Sombient * 1996 – ''Celestial Journey'', Rising Star * 1997 – ''Songs of the Spirit'', Triloka * 1998 – ''Trance Planet 4'', Triloka * 1998 – ''Soundscape Gallery 2'', Lektronic Soundscapes * 2011 – '' Samsara'' * 2018 – ''

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

'' with Joseph S. DeBeasi, Madison Gate Records

References

;Sources * Stearns, Michael
"Michael Stearns: Technical Bio"
at www.michaelstearns.com ;Notes

External links

*

(Hearts of Space Records) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, Michael 1948 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians American male composers Ambient musicians Living people