Emerald Web ‎– Valley Of The Birds (1981, Cassette, Usa)

Tracklist:
A1 Valley Of The Birds 2:19
A2 The Dragon's Gate 10:14
A3 Openings 6:11
B1 Interlude 1:32
B2 Rainforest 3:32
B3 Photonos 7:02
B4 Through The Garden Of Mirrors 11:59

Musicians:
Synthesizer, Lyricon, Electronic Wind Instruments, MiniMoog, Roland RS-202 String Ensemble, EML ElectroComp 500, Oberheim DS-2A Sequencer, flute, bass recorder, "Flute Electronique,” percussion, and shakuhachi flute – Bob Stohl
Synthesizer, Arp 2600, EML Synkey 2001, Roland RS-202 String Ensemble, Lyricon 2 Electronic Wind Instrument, Oberheim DS-2A Sequencer, Vocoder, piano, flute, bass recorder, loops, percussion, voice, electronic flute, and world flutes – Kat Epple

Originally released in 1981, this classic space music album is a rarefied blend of analog synthesizers, flutes and Lyricon by Bob Stohl and Kat Epple, who were pioneers in electronic music, New Age music, and audio technology. The original reel-to-reel master tapes were baked for “sticky shed syndrome,” transferred to digital, and remastered for this official remastered album release.

Recorded and composed in their 4-track reel-to-reel home studio, and released as a cassette on “Stargate,” Emerald Web’s own record label, “Valley of the Birds” became one of the band’s best-known albums. In order to create their signature thickly-layered timbres, the husband and wife duo served as their own recording engineers, while simultaneously playing an array of monophonic synthesizers, sequencers, and acoustic instruments.

The melodic brew of Fantasy, Space and New Age music features now-vintage analog synths including the Lyricon, a ground-breaking synthesizer/woodwind instrument developed in the early 70’s. The mouthpiece of this unique hybrid wind instrument reacts to lip and wind pressure to control additive synthesis which can be programmed to create a myriad of unique dynamic sounds.

Emerald Web ‎– Dragon Wings And Wizard Tales (1979, LP, Usa)

Legendary 1979 debut LP by Miami based husband and wife synth enthusiasts on the choice format that came to represent the DIY new age electronic movement in the following decade. Emerald Web was, in fact, the wind playing electronic duo of Kat Epple and Bob Stohl. Although they’d become better known for their work scoring nature documentaries (including many collaborations with Carl Sagan), Emerald Web’s 1979 debut album was a milestone in electronic psychedelia- rooted in the prog of the mid 70s and foreshadowing much of what would come in the early 80s.
An early seminal precursor to 1980s electronic new age/minimal synth/relaxation music boom and a welcome feminine take on the genre (critically epitomised shortly after by the likes of Suzanne Ciani) Dragon Wings and Wizard Tales hear the multi-instrumentalist duo combine a broad range of modular synths (as found in similar formation to ambient krautrock records by Klaus Schulze) and the use of the Lyricon wind synth (as favoured by Swiss electronic pioneer Bruno Spoerri).
The Lyricon wind controller makes a very early recorded appearance on this album and is one of the reasons the many sounds heard here are hard to place. The line is constantly blurred between live flutes and the electronic approximations, even occasionally mimicking bird calls. It’s these sound combinations that give the songs an otherworldly quality- like hearing indigenous music from another planet.
Although some pastoral vocal songs show up here and there, eerily dreamy instrumentals make up a little more than half the record. These are certainly among the highlights and show Emerald Web’s talent for crafting soundtrack music that would come to the fore later on. “The Flight of the Raven” is a brief but gorgeous piece, summing up all that is good about this record in under three minutes. Fleeting melodies give way to dramatic clashing synths, fading away at just the right moment. “The Powerstone” recalls early King Crimson, especially the vibe of “Moonchild”. It’s on this track that Emerald Web’s knack for creating natural sounding tones and soundscapes from very electronic instruments is most evident.