Kevin Braheny Fortune (born Kevin Braheny, 1952) is an American musician. He composes and performs quiet

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...

, often more melodic than other music of this kind.

Biography

Kevin Braheny was on the early design team of

Serge Modular The Serge synthesizer ( Serge Modular or Serge Modular Music System) is an analogue modular synthesizer system originally developed by Serge Tcherepnin, Rich Gold and Randy Cohen at CalArts in late 1972. The first 20 Serge systems (then called "T ...

, a company building

modular synthesizer Modular synthesizers are synthesizers composed of separate modules for different functions. The modules can be connected together by the user to create a patch. The outputs from the modules may include audio signals, analog control voltages, o ...

s. 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 Craig Huxley (also known as Craig Hundley; born 1954) is an actor, inventor, and musician. He led three albums that were released by Pacific Jazz Records in the late 1960s. In 1967, as a child, he played Captain Kirk's nephew in a '' Star Trek'' ...

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 IMAX, large format films, theatrical films, Documentary film, document ...

. 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 ''Planetary Unfolding'' (1981) is an album of electronic ambient music by composer and keyboardist Michael Stearns. It is considered a classic of ambient music. Overview Michael Stearns became a resident composer/musician at Emily Conrad's medit ...

'' (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 Tit ...

'' (1984). Kevin Braheny also built prototype electronic wind instruments ( EWI) for

Nyle Steiner Nyle may refer to: *Nyle (given name) *New York and Lake Erie Railroad, (reporting mark NYLE) See also *Nyl River *Nyl (disambiguation) *Nile (disambiguation) The Nile, in northeast Africa, is one of the world's longest rivers. Nile may also re ...

. 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 ''Hearts of Space'' is an American weekly syndicated public radio show featuring music of a contemplative nature"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are an ...

, 1991, CD -

, 2017) * ''

'' with Steve Roach &

Richard Burmer Richard Steven Burmer (September 19, 1955 – September 9, 2006) was an American composer, engineer, sound designer, musician and ethnomusicologist. His work with electronic music combined with musical styles and instruments from around the world ...

(1987) * ''Galaxies'' (Hearts of Space, 1988) * '' Desert Solitaire'' with Steve Roach &

(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 {{US-electronic-musician-stub