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[Dawn Chorus]

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This supposedly used sound waves recorded from the explosion of stars, as its sound sources. Due to release deadline restrictions, Tomita had to rush it, and sampled the waves into his Cosmo computer, playing them via his Moog modular. Sounds to me like quite a lot of Prophet 5 in there, too. But I could be wrong...

'Bachianas Brasileiras' uses Villa-Lobos' idea of combining native Brazilian elements with the contrapuntal technique of J.S. Bach.

This album was released as the LP 'Canon of the Three Stars' in the USA. Casio developed the Cosmo Synthesizer with the help of Tomita for use on the album.

An album called 'Pachelbel's Greatest Hit' was released by RCA Victor (Catalogue Number 60712-2-RG) which contains many different interpretations of Pachelbel's 'Canon', including Tomita's from 'Dawn Chorus'.

Albinoni's 'Adagio' was featured on Sigue Sigue Sputnik's album 'Dress for Excess' and Tomita got some vague credit for the sample.



Album Details

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Catalogue Number
PL 85184 / ARL1-5184 (LP)
PK 85184 (Cassette)
PD 85184 / BVCC-2511 / RCD1-5184 / R32C-1047 / BMG-887782 (CD)

Label
RCA

Date Released
November, 1984

Total Playing Time
42:16 (LP)
42:50 (CD)

Tracks
    LP
  1. Canon of the Three Stars [The Pachelbel Canon] (5:48)
  2. Whistle Train [Bachianas Brasileiras No.2: Toccata - Little Train of the Caipira] <Villa-Lobos> (4:05)
  3. Vocalise <Rachmaninoff> (5:50)
  4. Dawn Chorus [Bachianas Brasileiras No.4: Preludio] <Villa-Lobos> (5:37)
  5. Adagio of the Sky [The Albinoni Adagio] (6:09)
  6. Pegasus [Bachianas Brasileiras No.7: Toccata] <Villa-Lobos> (7:08)
  7. Cosmic Chorale [Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring] <J.S. Bach> (3:31)
  8. Vela-X Pulsar [Bachianas Brasileiras No.4: Coral Danza] <Villa-Lobos> (4:08)

    CD
  1. Dawn Chorus [Bachianas Brasileiras No.4: Preludio] <Villa-Lobos> (5:39)
  2. Whistle Train [Bachianas Brasileiras No.2: Toccata - Little Train of the Caipira] <Villa-Lobos> (4:07)
  3. Pegasus [Bachianas Brasileiras No.7: Toccata] <Villa-Lobos> (7:01)
  4. Vela-X Pulsar [Bachianas Brasileiras No.4: Coral Danza] <Villa-Lobos> (4:05)
  5. Adagio of the Sky <Albinoni> (6:11)
  6. Cosmic Chorale [Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring] <J.S. Bach> (3:34)
  7. Vocalise <Rachmaninoff> (5:52)
  8. Canon of the Three Stars <Pachelbel> (5:53)




Images

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[Dawn Chorus]
[Front View]
[Dawn Chorus]
[Back View]
[Canon of the Three Stars]
[Front View]
[Canon of the Three Stars]
[Back View]




Sleeve Notes

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Isao Tomita and the Plasma Symphony Orchestra
Arrangements by Isao Tomita
Recorded in Japan, 1984
A & R Coordinator: John F. Pfeiffer
Photo: Toshimasa Miura
Art Director: J.J. Stelmach
Cover Effect: The Color Wheel, Inc.

At dawn when everyone is fast asleep and everything is still innumerable corpuscles come from faraway stars in the cosmos or from the sun. When they enter the magnetosphere of the earth, the strange music like birds' twittering begins. Astronomers call it "DAWN CHORUS". But it lasts only for a brief moment, and fades out, as the sun rises. As the sound recorded at the Radio Observatory in Hiraiso, Ibaragi Pref., was excellent and audible in the original form, it was used at the beginning of this album without any modifications. This is Tomita's ninth album after two and a half years of silence. Based on popular pieces of Baroque and masterpieces of Villa-Lobos, a great Brazilian composer, this album was made from materials including waves from various stars in the cosmos like light curves supplied with kind cooperation of NASA, Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, Institute of Space & Astronautical Science and Nobeyama Radio Observatory. Listen and enjoy the feeling of spacewalk.

For the sound sources used in orchestrating this record, Mr. Tomita has converted the wave forms of electromagnetic emanations from various stars and constellations into equivalent audio waves. These were then used as indicated below to form the various sounds of the sections in his orchestra. These celestial waveforms were entered into the memory of his computer by which they were manipulated in pitch and intensity and were combined to form the various sonic textures found on this recording.

For their cooperation in preparing the sonic materials he used in creating this recording, Mr. Tomita is indebted to Dr. Masaki Morimoto, an astronomer at the Radio Observatory of Nobeyama; Dr. Tatsuzo Obayashi of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the Radio Observatory in Hiraiso, Ibaragi Pref.; Prof. Jun Jugaku of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, and astronomers Dr. Carl Sagan and Dr. Frederic Scarf of the United States.

Isao Tomita and the Plasma Symphony Orchestra
Conductor and ArrangerIsao Tomita
ConcertmasterAD Leo
1st String SectionAD Leo String Sections Include Violins, Violas, Cellos and Double Basses
2nd String SectionV371 Orionis
3rd String SectionEV Lacertae
OboeUV Ceti
HarpsichordSS Cygni and V Hydrae
OrganRV Tauri and MM Cassiopeiae
Soprano HummingW Virginis and Delta Cepheus
Dawn ChorusThe Magnetosphere Above the Star Named "Earth"
Steam Locomotive [White Noise]A Proto Star in Orion
11 Pulses per SecondVela-X Pulsar
Other Various Waves Produced by Intellectual Creatures Living on the Earth of the Solar System of the Galaxy
Sound EngineerIsao Tomita




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