Seven Veils
Encyclopedia
Seven Veils is an album by the U.S.
ambient
musician Robert Rich
. It is inspired by Arab culture and music. This album has a heightened emphasis on rhythms, from guitar and percussion. All pieces except track 3 were composed in just intonation
. Guests include David Torn
on guitar and Hans Christian
on cello. Ranked by Allmusic as one of Rich's best albums, it was praised as, "This Muslim psychedelia is a must for every shrinking world audiophile."
All compositions by Robert Rich. Titles: 2 refers to the Alhambra
, 5 to Ibn Sina, and 6 to Lapis.
Technical
Graphical
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 :...
musician Robert Rich
Robert Rich (musician)
Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
. It is inspired by Arab culture and music. This album has a heightened emphasis on rhythms, from guitar and percussion. All pieces except track 3 were composed in just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
. Guests include David Torn
David Torn
David Torn is an American composer and guitarist.He is known for the organic blending/manipulation of electronic and acoustic instruments and performance techniques that have an atmospheric or textural quality and effect, along with a particular harmonic richness...
on guitar and Hans Christian
Hans Christian
Hans Christian is a German-born musician and producer now based in the U.S. in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Christian is a multi-instrumentalist usually associated with Indian world music, ethnic fusion, chamber jazz, and sometimes New Age music, but who also plays classical music...
on cello. Ranked by Allmusic as one of Rich's best albums, it was praised as, "This Muslim psychedelia is a must for every shrinking world audiophile."
Track listing
- "Coils" – 6:03
- "Alhambra" – 10:09
- "Talisman of Touch" – 4:52
- "Book of Ecstasy" – 15:03
- "A Silken Thread" – 5:07
- "A Hungry Moon" – 4:00
- "A Veiled Oasis" – 5:56
- "Ibn Sina" – 8:33
- "Dissolve" – 5:34
- "Lapis" – 10:19
All compositions by Robert Rich. Titles: 2 refers to the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
, 5 to Ibn Sina, and 6 to Lapis.
Personnel
Musical- Robert RichRobert Rich (musician)Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
– synthesizerSynthesizerA 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, samplersSampler (musical instrument)A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
, drums & percussion, bamboo and PVCPolyvinyl chloridePolyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
flutes, lap steel guitarLap steel guitarThe lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
, rubberband marimba, dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, waterphoneWaterphoneA waterphone is a type of atonal acoustic musical instrument constructed largely of a stainless steel resonator "bowl" with a cylindrical "neck", which may or may not contain a small amount of water, and with brass rods around the rim of the bowl. The waterphone produces a vibrant ethereal type of...
, "glurp"
- with
- David TornDavid TornDavid Torn is an American composer and guitarist.He is known for the organic blending/manipulation of electronic and acoustic instruments and performance techniques that have an atmospheric or textural quality and effect, along with a particular harmonic richness...
– guitar (tracks 2 and 4) - Andrew McGowan – bass (track 2)
- Forrest Fang – violin (track 3)
- Hans ChristianHans ChristianHans Christian is a German-born musician and producer now based in the U.S. in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Christian is a multi-instrumentalist usually associated with Indian world music, ethnic fusion, chamber jazz, and sometimes New Age music, but who also plays classical music...
– cello (track 4 and 7) - Mark Forry – Balkan kavalKavalThe kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout Azerbaijan, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, southern Serbia , northern Greece , Romania , and Armenia...
(track 6)
- David Torn
Technical
- Recording, mixing: Robert RichRobert Rich (musician)Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
- Mastering: Bob Olhsson, Robert RichRobert Rich (musician)Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
Graphical
- Cover photo: Robert Holmes (Sausalito)
- Artist photo: Brad Cole
- Art direction: Stephen Hill
- Design: Stephen Hill, Jeremy Hulette
Sources
- Allmusic. [ "Seven Veils"]
- Rich, RobertRobert Rich (musician)Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
(1998). "CD liner notes" in Seven Veils, San Francisco: 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...
, August 18, 1998, SKU HS11086, EAN 0025041108621 (UPC 025041108621)