| VIRTUALITY & BOLERO ELECTRONICA BY AMIN BHATIA Completed between his film and television scores and a recent Emmy nomination, Amin Bhatia's "Virtuality" is the long awaited sequel to "The Interstellar Suite". It is dedicated to synth pioneer Bob Moog, and was released on the anniversary of his birthday, May 23, 2008. Purchase Album Reviews MP3 Clips Video Podcasts |
DEDICATED TO BOB MOOG Bob Moog, was involved in the production of VIRTUALITY until his passing in 2005. This album is dedicated to him for his vision and support. A portion of every album sale goes to the Bob Moog Foundation.
|  | | | “My father's genius and passion was taking the synthesizer out of the laboratory and making synthesis accessible to musicians, and through them, to the world. Amin Bhatia’s “Virtuality” is another fine example of that accessibility.” Michelle Moog-Koussa, daughter of the late Bob Moog and Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation. | It’s taken a long time,but “Virtuality” is aworthy successor to the legacy of “Interstellar Suite.” – Craig Anderton, EQ Magazine |
A DOUBLE CONCEPT ALBUM As in the days of progressive rock LP's "Virtuality" is a double concept album featuring two "sides". "Side A" is true to Bhatia’s eccentric obsession with orchestral music and science fiction. Tracks like “World Wide Web”, “Virus Attack” and “Second Life” explore the wonder, complexity and chaos that exist inside your computer. Instruments used are both virtual and real using state of the art software synthesizers, as well as soloists from the Toronto Symphony and Opera Orchestras. The acoustic sessions were orchestrated and conducted by Jamie Hopkings. 'Side B' features "Bolero Electronica" an innovative realization of Maurice Ravel’s well-known work performed using vintage synthesizers dating back as far as 75 years. Everything from the Theremin and the Ondes Martenot, through generations of Moog, Roland and Yamaha equipment to modern day software from Arturia and Spectrasonics are featured verse by verse, culminating in a musical and historical journey through time. Many of the rare instruments came from the Cantos Music Foundation Museum, as well as from personal collections of friends and colleagues worldwide.
The entire album was recorded and mixed by award winning producers David Greene and Jeff Wolpert.
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 | Among the incredible array of synths and humans showcased throughout both 'sides' of the album Amin was thrilled to collaborate with legendary keyboardists Steve Porcaro and Patrick Moraz. | 
| | | SPECIAL GUESTS
| |  | Other synth virtuoso's include Thomas Bloch performing the Ondes Martenot and Kevin Kissinger on the Theremin. Session players and other A-list musicians include Byron Wong, Dave Gross, Tom Szczesniak, Rick Gratton and Lindsay Hilliard. | 
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AWARD WINNING ARTWORKAfter experimenting with several concepts and renderings Amin's design team The Twelve Steves came across " The Return To Abalakin" by digital artist Alexander Preuss. "The search was over", said Amin. "This is exactly what I envisioned when composing Virtuality. To me it looks like a city inside a giant fibre optic cable. It is completely computer generated making it a virtual world of its own." Explore more amazing artwork from Alexander Preuss at www.abalakin.de
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COMPREHENSIVE LINER NOTES Bob Moog had been scheduled to provide a special feature narration track for “Bolero Electronica” but sadly that recording never happened. True to Bob’s mission to document, celebrate and teach innovative thinking, Amin instead employed noted synthesizer historian Mark Vail to create additional liner notes. The result is an illustrated guide which allows the listener to follow along stanza by stanza through Bhatia’s elaborate rendition, complete with a timeline chart of every synthesizer used. “The Timeline of synthesizers in Bolero Electronica looks like the Moog Legacy to me and I only wish Dad were around to hear this project come to fruition." Michelle Moog-Koussa, daughter of the late Bob Moog and Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation
"Anyone that has ever heard Bolero understands how the piece evolves over time. To have captured that with the historical evolution of synthesizers, from just a few individual manufactures to the opulence we have today, is just absolutely too brilliant for words!" -MATRIXSYNTH
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