West of the Galaxy Liner Notes

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All selections written, performed and recorded by Mark C. Petersen. Copyright 1987, Loch Ness Productions. All rights reserved worldwide.

All selections BMI. Some selections previously published as part of the MUSIC BACK-PACK series, a library of planetarium production music. Copyright 1984, 1985, 1986, Loch Ness Productions.

Lightwaves composed and produced for the St. Louis Science Center's McDonnell Star Theater production "Lightwaves".

Much of the music on this album was created using an E-Mu Systems Emulator II+HD digital sampling keyboard; additional instruments include Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Oberheim TVS-1, Rhodes electric piano, E-Mu Systems Drumulator, Roland Drumatix, and ARP Odyssey. Album digitally mastered using Sony PCM-F1 equipment.

Cover art by James Hervat
Liner notes: Carolyn Collins Petersen
Manufactured in U.S.A.

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For many years, space music was heard in the rarefied domain of the planetarium, experienced only by the few who appreciated the unique offerings of the domed theater. The planetarium environment... the thrill of all-surrounding visual and all-encompassing audio experiences... complemented by a music all its own.

Unquestionably the most prolific composer for the medium, Mark C. Petersen's name has become synonymous with planetarium music. In the last decade, more than 600 planetaria in the U. S. and twenty-eight other countries have purchased Mark's original planetarium music for their shows — an unsurpassed and ongoing record.

He has received commissions to compose and produce soundtracks for shows narrated by such notables as James Earl Jones, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Robin Curtis, Mark Lenard and Jonathan Harris. As a performer, Mark has presented live planetarium concerts at major planetarium facilities in the U.S. and Great Britain, including two sets of encore performances at New York City's Hayden Planetarium.

On West of the Galaxy, the third album of the Geodesium (pronounced Gee-oh-DEE-zee-um) series, Mark uses Emulator and synthesizer voices, blended in a rich, varied collection of original works. Relaxing, yet provocative, the styles include "traditional" space music — that ethereal, beautifully floating music that characterizes the genre, as well as rock-influenced "new age" style works that transcend their roots, all with the rich textures that are the signature of the Geodesium sound.