From the ACOUSMA - EMF CD-034 CD Notes:

Sounds may become enchanted, imbued with enriched nuance, essentially changed and transformed, through the agency of computer synthesis and processing. I am profoundly interested in this alchemical process of sound creation; however, each of the works in this collection is also reflective of my desire to transform the listening experience and extend the lexicon of musical discourse through the application of contemporary synthesis and processing techniques. The invention of unique virtual instruments, and using the sounds that they are capable of intoning, is of greater interest than, for example, the juxtaposing of everyday sounds (already heavily laden with intention and meaning) into an aural tableau as in the style of musique concrète.

Listening to sounds as music has been a crucial evolutionary step in the art of contemporary composition and yet sound, as it exists in our environment, is constrained by its own limitations and physical character. Transformational techniques, some only possible as computer processes, turn elemental sounds into malleable materials. The composer becomes sculptor, shaping sonic detail and mortising simultaneities and interactions on every level of detail.

A common thread which connects these works is the notion of illusion; whether borne of dreams, hallucinations, memories or the creative imagination. My goal in creating music of this type is to open a view into sound-worlds which are compelling, unique and perhaps even alien. Audition becomes a journey of discovery and adventure and a potentially rewarding experience for the listener.

- RST

Robert Scott Thompson is a fashioner of surreal dreamscapes. Acoustic and electroacoustic sound sources interpenetrate and fuse, leaving one to question whether the timbres one hears are remembered and recognized accurately, or if they mimic sounds one thinks one may have heard in the past. The blending of familiar and unfamiliar elements is particularly rich in the opening track, Oneiromancy. This work, whose title - as the composer informs us - means divination by dreams, presents a bleak inner landscape reminiscent of the fascinating and yet unsettling fusion of organic and geometric forms in the paintings of Yves Tanguy. Clusters of discontinuous sounds give the impression of a flickering disembodied presence circling around more stable, continuous sounds. Many of the characteristic sounds found throughout the album are introduced here: string instruments (articulated in various ways), flute, a koto-like instrument, chorused voices, and granular synthesis (giving the effect of a wind tunnel). A palette of metallic timbres is introduced in Elemental Folklore, which opens with gamelan-like sounds, temple-bell-like sounds and a timbre resembling wind chimes. A ritual atmosphere is evoked here through the combination of these timbres with flute, chorused voices and chanting. Bell-like timbres are also featured prominently in The Widening Gyre, which is a more intimate work than its predecessors on the album. Appropriate to its "chamber music" dimensions, a solo voice appears here instead of the chorused voices used in the previous two works.

In contrast to the varied timbral palettes of the opening pieces, the remaining tracks on disc one focus on more specific groups of timbres. Light Is a Liquid gives a prominent role to clusters of rapidly discontinuous sounds, calling to mind the quick and persistent actions of a large group of insects. The swarms of string sounds, together with granular-synthesis "wind" and a few hints of bells, cymbal tremolo and the koto-like instrument, lend a sense of continuous transformation to the shimmering surface created by sound quanta in motion. The Gramophone is an intimate portrait of Eliot's "lovely woman" whose story gradually emerges from the layered sounds of her solitary listening session. Aetherial calls to mind the image of an Aeolian harp. It sustains a beautifully serene mood, subtly embellished by sounds like wind chimes gently brushed by a steady wind.

Fog Index, the first track on disc two, is a beautiful exploration of the sounds of piano, voice, wind, and the koto-like instrument, the distinctions between them blurred and obscured. Although Thompson chose the title with reference to the readability of text, the work also conjures up the experience of moving through physical fog, in which the identities and locations of sounds as well as visual phenomena become difficult to distinguish. The Ninth Wave, signals a return to the orchestral sensibility of Oneiromancy. A new element here is a sense of harmonic warmth complemented by the impression of a resonant space that seems to surround the listener. In this work and in Acouasm, the last track on the disc, an infusion of Thompson's ambient style may be felt. The warmth of the washes of diatonic choral sounds in both of these works nicely complements the more fragmented and mysterious sounds found in all of the works on this album. On this disc, it is the middle tracks that feature specific timbres. Cathedral Sky features the prolonged decay of isolated sounds together with glistening metallic timbres. It thus forms a subdued counterpart to Light Is a Liquid. Tagmeme features a slow exploration of the overtones of cello sounds along with solo voice, "wind," and fragments of ambient choral sounds. Contrasting with the unpredictable shifts of texture and timbre in Tagmeme is the steady drone underlying Rebar, which is both derived from and punctuated by the sounds of actual pieces of rebar falling through the air.

This album is a summation of Thompson's acousmatic explorations of the last five years. It represents a culminating point of a resonant inner soundscape whose territories he has been charting with determination and elegance for well over a decade. The works presented here clearly proceed from the foundation established in his earlier electroacoustic releases The Strong Eye (1992) and Shadow Gazing (1994), while at the same time pointing toward a deepening synthesis between his avant-garde and ambient personae, the latter richly represented by The Silent Shore (1996), Frontier (1998) and Blue Day (2000).

- Ron Squibbs, Ph.D.