Sonic Seasonings is the third album by 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...

 pioneer Wendy Carlos

Wendy Carlos

Wendy Carlos is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film A...

. It was released in 1972. Each side of the double

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 LP

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 was a single piece which was a musing on each of the seasons. The compositions combined music with field recordings, such as rushing wind ("Fall"), birdsong

Birdsong

Birdsong may refer to:* Bird vocalization, the sounds of birds* Birdsong , a 1993 novel by Sebastian Faulks* Birdsong, Arkansas, USA* Birdsong , a channel on the UK Digital One digital radio multiplex...

 ("Spring"), and insect noises ("Summer"). In her liner notes for the 1998 Compact Disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 reissue, Carlos explained that the music "was intended to work on a timbral and experiential level", as part of "a third, viable alternative to acoustic and musical environmental presentations".http://www.wendycarlos.com/+sslms.html

1998 reissue

East Side Digital reissued Sonic Seasonings in 1998 as a double-CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

, with the original four compositions, plus outtakes and some other "natural" recordings which were originally released in 1986's Land of the Midnight Sun.

Disc two

1. "Winter" – 20:41
2. "Winter (Outtake)" – 5:21
3. "Aurora Borealis" – 19:55
4. "Midnight Sun" – 19:57