ROBERT RICH - biography
With over 20 albums to his name, Robert Rich has helped define the genres of ambient music, dark-ambient, tribal and trance, yet his music remains hard to categorize.
Part of his unique sound comes from using home-made acoustic and
electronic instruments, microtonal tunings, computer-based signal
processing, chaotic systems and feedback networks.
Rich began building his own analog synthesizers in 1976, when he was 13 years old, and later studied for a year at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). Rich
has performed in caves, cathedrals, planetaria, art galleries and
concert halls throughout Europe and North America. His all-night Sleep Concerts, first performed in 1982, became legendary in the San Francisco
area. In 1996 he revived his all-night concert format, playing Sleep
Concerts for live and radio audiences across the U.S. during a three
month tour.
In 2001 Rich released the 7 hour DVD Somnium, a studio distillation of the Sleep Concert experience, possibly the longest continuous piece of music ever released.
