hearts of space | news

PGM 1002 'AMBIcon 2013' : jan.25 - feb.1

In the early days of 2013 we celebrated some big milestones for Hearts of Space — the 40th anniversary of the program, our 30th year of national broadcasting, and our 1,000th show. This spring we're going to have another kind of milestone celebration: our first-ever live concert event.

The inspiration was simple: many of our awesomely loyal followers have been listening to the program for 20 years or more, and for whatever reason, have never been to a real Ambient, Space or Contemplative music concert. Not only that, you've been hearing my voice all this time and...we've never met.

So we decided to do something about it, and produce a weekend conference and concert event called AMBIcon 2013. It will be held on May 3rd, 4th and 5th 2013, near our home base here in San Rafael, California. For complete information, see our web site at www.HOS.com.

We've invited 8 core Hearts of Space artists to perform at AMBIcon: musicians who've been associated with the program for many years. Not only that: the man who literally wrote the book on Ambient, English music writer MARK PRENDERGAST, author of THE AMBIENT CENTURY, will be flying in from London to do a special presentation.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a preview of the music you'll hear, on a program called...AMBICON 2013.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 898R 'ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS' : jan 18-25

The winter skies are a broad, constantly changing panorama: flat, gray shadowless light....chilled fogs with subtle, desaturated colors.... dramatic dark storm clouds... and brilliant clear days, with infinite horizons of the deepest  transparent blue.

The ambient music inspired by these environments displays a correspondingly wide range of tones, textures, and techniques: from foggy soundscapes and dark drones, to crystalline percussion and ethereal harmonics.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, a program inspired by the winter skies called ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. Music is by RUSSEL WALDER, JEFF GREINKE, the KEVIN KELLER ENSEMBLE, PETER GARLAND, DEMPSTER-HEASLEY-RIEMAN, JOHN LUTHER ADAMS, and TIM STORY.

[ view playlist ]     [ view Flickr image gallery ]     [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1001 'MILESTONES Part 2' : jan.11-18

Last week on our 30th anniversary of national syndication, we reached a series milestone with Program 1,000, appropriately titled MILESTONES, Part 1 — "the evolution of Ambient music from caves to cathedrals." This week we conclude our anniversary programming with MILESTONES, Part 2: "electronic Ambient in the 20th and 21st centuries."

Once electrical sound transmission, aka the telephone, was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, and sound recording, aka the phonograph, was invented by Thomas Edison, it was only a matter of time until electricity was used to create music. The story is rich in drama and detail. English music writer MARK PRENDERGAST's "The Ambient Century" is the best treatment of the subject for interested listeners.

It's hard to convey just how much optimism and artistic promise was invested in the idea of using electronics to create new sounds and new music, especially during the Avante Garde movements of the early 20th century. LEON THEREMIN, MAURICE MARTENOT, JORG MAGER, OTTO LEUNING, VLADIMIR USSACHEVSKY, EDGAR VARESE, LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI, KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN, PIERRE BOULEZ, JOHN CAGE and many others played important roles in advancing the cause. As Mark Prendergast puts it: "The importance to twentieth-century music of atmospheric sound — its timbre and personality — is a measure of how much innovative musical ideas intertwined with technological change."

So the evolution of Ambient music during the last 100 years is a story of artistic progressives moving beyond the old conventions of classical music, adopting new music-making technologies and relentlessly pushing them toward the ideal of unlimited sonic and musical invention.

In the early decades of the 20th century, when equipment was rare and expensive, the movement was confined to academic and state-sponsored arts institutions. The arrival of inexpensive electronic instruments really hit its stride in 1964 with the Moog Modular Synthesizer, and the home recording revolution in the 1970s which followed opened up electronic music to everyone. Today the revolution has moved to the computer and music software, while the distribution of electronic music has moved online and to massive festivals, making it a truly international phenomenon.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]

PGM 1000! 'MILESTONES Part 1' : jan.4-11

Well, dear spacefans, we've reached a milestone in this series: our 1,000th program. It's such a milestone, in fact, that it's going to be two programs, this week and next.

The count goes back 30 years to January 1983, when we launched our syndicated public radio program. And as many of you know, we had a ten year running start as a local late night show on KPFA-FM in Berkeley California; so 2013 is also the 40th anniversary of the Hearts of Space program. My original co-producer and co-host ANNA TURNER was instrumental in creating the national version of the show. Sadly, Anna passed on in 1996, another too-early victim of pancreatic cancer. I know she would have been delighted to celebrate the longevity of the music she loved.

I'm Stephen Hill, producer and host of Hearts of Space, and over the last 30 years, we've marked our centennial programs with various specials, usually in a "radio documentary" style. That's unusual, because as regular listeners know, our practice is to create a musical experience on the radio — rather than a radio program about music. That's also part of Anna Turner's legacy: she absolutely insisted on an uninterrupted format, even though it broke every rule about music radio.

To be sure, music journalism and commentary is an important and valuable format, but the nature of ambient music and contemplative sound really requires an uninterrupted experience, so that's what we've tried to create, within the limitations of a one-hour radio show. And this approach has lasted far beyond our original expectations.

There are several good reasons why ambient and contemplative music programming has worked for listeners over the years: first, the pace of our lives is often driven by external forces we can't control — ambient music provides a slow and steady touchstone; second, it magically supports concentration on all kinds of creative and focused work; and third, people continue to crave contact with authentic deep listening experiences and the kind of inclusive spirituality that music uniquely can deliver.

[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]