Kevin Braheny Fortune (born Kevin Braheny, 1952) is an American musician. He composes and performs quiet
ambient music, often more melodic than other music of this kind.
Biography
Kevin Braheny was on the early design team of
Serge Modular, a company building
modular synthesizers. He was also the chief engineer at Sound Transform Systems headed by Rex Probe.
In 1977, he built his highly customized
Mighty Serge, a 15-panel system that he would use on his own albums. He also built a system for
Craig Huxley that he then sold to
Michael Stearns
Michael Stearns (born October 16, 1948) is an American musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercials, and ...
. He taught Stearns how to play and customize it. Michael Stearns would later become famous for albums performed on this Serge, such as ''
Planetary Unfolding'' (1981) and the soundtrack of ''
Chronos
Chronos (; grc-gre, Χρόνος, , "time"), also spelled Khronos or Chronus, is a personification of time in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature.
Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified with, the Tita ...
'' (1984).
Kevin Braheny also built prototype electronic wind instruments (
EWI) for
Nyle Steiner. He also performed with his Steiner EWI on such albums as ''
Western Spaces
''Western Spaces'' is a collaborative album by the American ambient musicians Steve Roach and Kevin Braheny. This album is the first of Steve Roach’s many musical tributes to the Southwestern Desert.
On several tracks Kevin Braheny uses his ...
''.
The EWI wind controllers are extremely versatile and expressive instruments. All of the EWIs use breath, sax- or trumpet-like fingerings, bite, and thumbs to control the instrument. They must be used with a companion synthesizer module. The Steiner EWI has an easily recognizable sound that can resemble a cross between a soprano saxophone and a deep cello.
Discography
* ''The Way Home'' (1978)
* ''
Lullaby for the Hearts of Space
''Lullaby for the Hearts of Space'' (1980) is an album by the American ambient musician Kevin Braheny.
Both pieces on the album were performed live using the Mighty Serge modular analog synthesizer and were spontaneous, improvised compositions. ...
'' (1980, reissued
Hearts of Space, 1991, CD -
Hearts of Space, 2017)
* ''
Western Spaces
''Western Spaces'' is a collaborative album by the American ambient musicians Steve Roach and Kevin Braheny. This album is the first of Steve Roach’s many musical tributes to the Southwestern Desert.
On several tracks Kevin Braheny uses his ...
'' with
Steve Roach &
Richard Burmer (1987)
* ''Galaxies'' (Hearts of Space, 1988)
* ''
Desert Solitaire
''Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness'' is an autobiographical work by American writer Edward Abbey, originally published in 1968. His fourth book and his first book-length non-fiction work, it follows three fictional books: '' Jonath ...
'' with Steve Roach &
Michael Stearns
Michael Stearns (born October 16, 1948) is an American musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercials, and ...
(1989)
* ''Secret Rooms'' (Hearts of Space, 1990)
* ''Rain'' (Hearts of Space, 1995) with Tim Clark
* ''The Spell''
(Hearts of Space, 1996) with Tim Clark
References
External links
KevinBrahenyFortune.com– official website
1952 births
Living people
American male composers
21st-century American composers
New-age musicians
Ambient musicians
21st-century American male musicians
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