Hi! I'm Gary Rea and this is my debut album, "Things Remembered." If you're a fan of New Age electronic artists like Vangelis, Tim Story or John Serrie, you'll probably like this CD. The instrumental compositions on this album were all inspired by personal memories from my childhood and from the recent past. They're sort of like the "soundtrack" of my life, in a way. Hopefully, they'll become part of your personal "soundtrack," also. For the tech-minded and other musicians, "Things Remembered" was composed and recorded over a period of about six months in 2004, using an Ensoniq ASR-10 sampler, a Roland XP-10 synthesizer, a Dell Dimension XPS-T700 computer and an assortment of VST instruments, coupled with a software sequencer. My process was very much like that of a film composer, in that, I visualize a "scene" in my mind, whether from memory or fantasy, and then I attempt to find the sounds, melodies and harmonies that illustrate that scene. The music was then spontaneously improvised, by ear. Sometimes it requires a few takes to get what I want and other times I record each part in a single take, the first time it's played. I do this with each part, in turn, until I feel the composition is complete. You will notice a distinct lack of percussion instruments on these tracks. It's not that I have anything against drums, it's just that the moods I wanted to create were ones that drums didn't seem appropriate to. There will be inevitable comparisons with "relaxation" music and that's fine, as I happen to like that sort of music, myself. However, it wasn't necessarily my intent to create this music soley as a relaxing aural backdrop, though it certainly can be and, if that's what it is for you, that's great. Afterall, you don't know and can't see or otherwise experience the images in my mind that inspired this music, so you can't possibly know what my full intent was. Like all art, what it "means" to you will be purely subjective. Anyway, I hope you like it. Thanks for reading and listening! :) Gary Rea November, 2004