https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq09hdAiy34
Composer Amin Bhatia is best known for his scores for television and film (Flashpoint, X Company, John Woo’s Once A Thief).
Bhatia got his start, though, by creating a ‘synthphonic’ orchestral work, The Interstellar Suite, using a relatively limited set of electronic music gear. While the Suite was not a success commercially, it was a success musically, and led to connections in the music business and to his first soundtrack work.
In this short video, Bhatia – along with Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz, Frank Morrone, Mark Vail, the late Ikutaro Kakehashi and others – tells the story of the making of The Intersteller Suite. For more of the story, see our 2012 Amin Bhatia interview.
The Interstellar Suite Anniversary Limited Edition is available via Bhatia’s site.
I picked this up in the original vinyl when it was first released. It’s always been one of my favorite all-electronic albums. The dynamic range he achieved is really quite amazing, the instruments really feel alive without being buried in reverb or muddied by too many layers. Since I already have it in vinyl and CD probably won’t bite on the anniversary edition, but I’m glad to see that this is back in circulation. Anyone who wants to hear a stellar example of orchestral synth use should pick this up.
I just don’t hear it, it sounds super mediocre to me. If he had an orchestra at the time it would have went completely unnoticed IMHO. The synthesis and the era is what makes it unique not the composition.