Tracklist World History Trilogy A1 Into The Arena A2 The Temple Crumbles A3 Orphans Of The Empire A4 Narcissus At The Pool A5 Where Muses Dwell B1 Sequencer’s Song B2 Ad Infinatum B3 Semi-Divergence B4 Theoretical Plane B5 Predetermination B6 Combustion ” This album came together quickly in 1985. It began as experiments in learning how to use some of the new technology that I had gotten: the Sampler (Ensoniq Mirage). I was deeply engrossed in its functions and capabilities. It seemed to be endless in what it could do and sound like. It could create rhythmic structures within the sound design. It could warp and mutate sounds as they were played. These were still relatively new concepts in music production at that time. I wanted to try them all. I used this approach to all my music-making equipment. It was my way of exploring the possibilities they had. Generally, I was thinking cinematically. The music was a form of cinema. It was telling a story that I saw visually. For example: For the piece “Narcissus at the Pool” I saw a figure on the bank of a pond, looking at his reflection in the water. In order to affirm that image, I recorded some water dripping in my bath tub. The sound of dripping water became the foundation of the song. Then there were more theoretical approaches to some pieces, as in “Ad Infinitum,” for which I recorded four tracks only, and with only one instrument: the Oberheim TVS-1. I recorded each track with the internal sequencer playing at its lowest possible tempo setting, with the highest amount of randomness set to the “sample/hold” function. After a track was recorded, I rewound the tape (yes, reel-to-reel tape) and recorded another track without listening to the first track, again with the synthesizer’s sequencer set to the same tempo and s/h setting, but with different waveform and attack/decay settings. This I did four times to build the finished piece (because I only had a four-track recorder, the Teac 3240). Much of the album was built through similar techniques. And although such scientific approaches may sound cold and calculated, I actually found the results to be organic and emotional. ”