Constance Demby
Encyclopedia
Constance Mary Demby is an American multi-instrument
musician and composer. Demby is identified with the New Age
movement (as both her personal belief and the New Age music
style), while some of her output is also classified as ambient
or space music
. She is also a singer, instrument designer, painter, sculptor, and multi-media producer. She is best known for her 1986 album Novus Magnificat
.
. She learned to play classical piano in her childhood and went on to become a multi-instrumentalist (including hammered dulcimer
, vocals, synthesizer
s, and originally-designed custom acoustic instruments).
She studied sculpture
and painting
at the University of Michigan
. It was both as musician and sculptor that her Sonic Steel Instruments, the space bass and the whale sail were created. An original design, her Sonic Steel Instruments have been recorded by Lucas Skywalker Studios for use in their filmscores, and also filmed by Discovery Channel at Gaudi's Park Güell
. The Space Bass is featured on Michael Stearns
' soundtrack for Chronos
.
In 1986, her album Novus Magnificat
was released, self-defined as "Spacemusic" from its liner notes to its subtitle "Through the Stargate", with a space-themed cover (pictured at right) reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey (whose novel version
featured a "Star Gate"). Inspired by Western classical
and sacred music, it was recorded with samples
from real instruments played on the Emulator II digital sampler, and features sound textures by Michael Stearns. Though it wasn't nominated at the Grammy Award
s, the album sold over 200,000 copies worldwide, making her one of the most successful New Age
artists of the time and helped Stephen Hill to build his Hearts of Space Records
' reputation.
Demby was the co-founder of The Central Maine Power Sound and Light Company, an experimental multi-media group that toured the east coast from 1971 to 1976 with programs such as Space Mass, a multimedia production launched in NYC combining painting, film, massive environmental sculptures, music, dance, and ritual. In 1978, Demby also founded her own record company, Sound Currents (also known as Gandarva, her recording studio) that released or re-issued half of her albums.
In 2000, Demby moved from Southern California to Spain in Sitges
(outside Barcelona
), and returned to the U.S. in July 2003.
Live albums
Compilations
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
musician and composer. Demby is identified with the New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
movement (as both her personal belief and the New Age music
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
style), while some of her output is also classified as ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
or space music
Space music
Space music, also called spacemusic, is an umbrella term, synonymous with a segment of New Age Music and Ambient Music, used to describe music that evokes a feeling of contemplative spaciousness. Space music can be found within a wide range of genres. It is particularly associated with ambient, New...
. She is also a singer, instrument designer, painter, sculptor, and multi-media producer. She is best known for her 1986 album Novus Magnificat
Novus Magnificat
Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate is a New Age album by Constance Demby, with additional sonic textures by composer Michael Stearns. The album sold over 200,000 copies worldwide and made Demby one of the most successful New Age artists of the time...
.
Biography
Constance Mary Demby was born in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. She learned to play classical piano in her childhood and went on to become a multi-instrumentalist (including hammered dulcimer
Hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
, vocals, synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, and originally-designed custom acoustic instruments).
She studied sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. It was both as musician and sculptor that her Sonic Steel Instruments, the space bass and the whale sail were created. An original design, her Sonic Steel Instruments have been recorded by Lucas Skywalker Studios for use in their filmscores, and also filmed by Discovery Channel at Gaudi's Park Güell
Park Güell
Park Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914...
. The Space Bass is featured on Michael Stearns
Michael Stearns
Michael Stearns is a United States musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercials, and themed attractions....
' soundtrack for Chronos
Chronos (film)
Chronos is a 1985 abstract film directed by Ron Fricke, created with custom-built time-lapse cameras. Originally released in IMAX theaters, it is now available on DVD, Blu-ray, HD DVD, and for free on Hulu and YouTube.-Synopsis:...
.
In 1986, her album Novus Magnificat
Novus Magnificat
Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate is a New Age album by Constance Demby, with additional sonic textures by composer Michael Stearns. The album sold over 200,000 copies worldwide and made Demby one of the most successful New Age artists of the time...
was released, self-defined as "Spacemusic" from its liner notes to its subtitle "Through the Stargate", with a space-themed cover (pictured at right) reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey (whose novel version
2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film...
featured a "Star Gate"). Inspired by Western classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and sacred music, it was recorded with samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
from real instruments played on the Emulator II digital sampler, and features sound textures by Michael Stearns. Though it wasn't nominated at the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, the album sold over 200,000 copies worldwide, making her one of the most successful New Age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
artists of the time and helped Stephen Hill to build his Hearts of Space Records
Hearts of Space Records
Hearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
' reputation.
Demby was the co-founder of The Central Maine Power Sound and Light Company, an experimental multi-media group that toured the east coast from 1971 to 1976 with programs such as Space Mass, a multimedia production launched in NYC combining painting, film, massive environmental sculptures, music, dance, and ritual. In 1978, Demby also founded her own record company, Sound Currents (also known as Gandarva, her recording studio) that released or re-issued half of her albums.
In 2000, Demby moved from Southern California to Spain in Sitges
Sitges
*Church of Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla . It houses two Gothic sepulchres , belonging to the an older church located on the same site...
(outside Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
), and returned to the U.S. in July 2003.
Discography
Studio albums- 1978: Skies Above Skies (CS, Sound Currents/Gandarva)
- 1980: Sunborne (CS, Sound Currents/Gandarva)
- 1982: Sacred Space Music (CS, Sound Currents/Gandarva; 1988 CD, Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - 1986: Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate (Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - 1989: Set Free (Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - 1995: Aeterna (Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - 1998: The Beloved (Living Essence Foundation)
- 1998: The Heart Meditation (Living Essence Foundation)
- 2000: Faces of the Christ (Sound Currents)
- 2001: Sanctum Sanctuorum (Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - 2004: Spirit Trance (Hearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space RecordsHearts of Space Records is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment.From the label’s website, “Launched in 1984, this record label was created as an extension of the weekly syndicated radio show Hearts of Space...
) - 2004: Sonic Immersion (Sound Currents)
Live albums
- 1984: Constance Demby at Alaron (live, 1983)(CS, Sound Currents/Gandarva)
- 2000: Attunement: Live in Concert (live, 1999)(First Light Music; Sound Currents)
- 2008: Live in Tokyo (live, 2002, CD-DVD)(Sound Currents)
Compilations
- 1987: Light of This World (compilation, 1978–1986 best-of, plus 2 original tracks)(CS/CD, Sound Currents)
- 1991: Polar ShiftPolar Shift (album)-References:* via Archive.org...
(various-artists compilation, 1 original Demby track)(Private MusicPrivate MusicPrivate Music is a United States record company founded in 1984 by experimental musician Peter Baumann, as a home for instrumental music. Initially signing such artists as Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Patrick O'Hearn, and Baumann's former bandmates Tangerine Dream, the record label specialized in New Age...
)
Further reading
- Winters, Kelly (2005). "Demby, Constance", Contemporary Musicians, Gale Research Inc, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com
- Wright, Carol (2004). "Constance Demby in Spain: A New Authentico". Archive.org from ConstanceDemby.com
External links
- ConstanceDemby.com – official website
- Constance Demby at Piero ScaruffiPiero ScaruffiPiero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...