Ahhh, the sweetness of early summer, the balm of warm breezes, the pollen, the allergies. It's a good time for electro-acoustic music with gentle rhythms, soft harmonies and seductive melodies. In a word, something "mellotronic."

Now, historians of electronic instruments will tell you that the Mellotron was a tape-based, polyphonic, sample-playback keyboard, developed in England in the early 1960s. The instrument achieved classic status for its key role in popular albums by the Moody Blues and the Beatles, and brought violin, cello, brass, flute and choir sounds to innumerable albums from the Progressive Rock era.

These days, every laptop can be a sampler, the original Mellotron sound is a menu choice, and the orchestration of electronic music is open to all. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we revisit the romantic/contemplative side of ambient electronica, on a program called MELLOTRONIC. Music is by PATRICK O'HEARN, LUDOVICO EINAUDI, THIERRY DAVID, CRAIG PADILLA, MICHELE IPPOLITO, and FRANK STEINER, JR.

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What looks like an elegant flying saucer, sounds like a more melodious cousin of the steel pan drum, and is the first new musical instrument of the 21st century?

Give up? It’s the latest member of the idiophone family, the hang — spelled h-a-n-g and pronounced "hong."

Invented in Bern, Switzerland in 2000 by veteran steel pan makers FELIX ROHNER and SABINA SCHÄRER, hang means "hand" in the Bernese Swiss German dialect. After several generations of intense development, it's become a highly refined instrument tuned to a pentatonic minor scale and played…with the hands.

The hang has become something of a phenomenon among the worldwide community of resonant percussionists, and you're about to hear why. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we ride the warm, harmonic tones of the hang on a delightfully hypnotic journey called HANG GLIDING. (Sorry, couldn't resist).

Music is by ALAN TOWER from 
MUSIC FOR ANIMALS; the centerpiece of the program is three extended contemplative improvisations for hang, electric guitar and loops by Sicilian-born musician LAURA INSERRA and ambient guitarist DARREN GIBBS, from MUSICAL INCENSE, VOLUMES ONE and TWO; and at the end of our journey, music for multiple steel pans and steel pan and dilruba (an Indian stringed instrument) by Germany's gift to contemplative world music, STEPHAN MICUS — from TO THE EVENING CHILD.

A rhythmelodic journey for resonant steel: HANG GLIDING…on this edition…of Hearts of Space.

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The phenomenon of time is an enduring mystery. Our greatest philosophers and physicists speculate about it. Some say time is as linear as the atomic clock; others say time is a subjective illusion, an artifact of the spinning of our bio-systems.

Like fish in water, we live immersed in time. Along with death, taxes, and change — time is one of life's inevitables. Time rules us. As mortal creatures, we can't avoid it, so we seek ways to outwit it.

From cosmetic surgery and life extension by cryogenics, to ecstatic experiences fueled by extreme states and recreational drugs, we seek the timeless: the place where time stands still — or at least slows down enough for us to enjoy it.

One of the best (and certainly the least dangerous) ways of getting closer to the timeless is ambient music. With its long cycles,  repetition, and slow-breathing modulations, it invites us into timeless space, destination free.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space....another hour of timeless, deep-drifting ambient atmospheres, on a program  called TIMESCAPES.

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As we navigate the challenges of the 21st century, there's a group of musicians that are directing one ear to the past and the other toward the future. The origins of East Indian devotional music are lost in time, but a new generation of Westerners are dedicating themselves to updating it for the present.

Combining Indian instruments and the meditative traditions of raga and devotional song with electronics and studio magic, they're producing new hybrids that take us to exotic soundworlds, while soothing the nerves and enriching the soul.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an hour of Indian devotional music created by western musicians, on a program called PLANET INDIA 2. Music is by TIM WHITE & JOE PAULINO, RASA, DAN BLANCHARD, BENJY WERTHEIMER & DAVID MICHAEL, and AL GROMER KHAN.

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Of all the psycho-physical sensations produced by ambient music, perhaps the most widely enjoyed is the feeling of weightless floating.

Of course, there are other ways to achieve this sought-after state: scuba diving, for example, is an exercise in "neutral buoyancy," where the diver floats suspended in the water column, weightless and serene. And scientist JOHN LILLY and others famously promoted "floatation tanks" filled with body-temperature water for floating psychonauts.

At the extreme sports end of the weightlessness experience, we have roller coasters, tethered drops like bungee jumping, high pressure air columns, and diving planes with padded interiors.

But let's face it spacefans — music is safer and more accessible than all the others. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we take an anti-gravity journey in the ambient soundscape called FLOATING WAVES. Music is by THOUGHT GUILD, CARL SAGAN's GHOST, JONN SERRIE, COYOTE OLDMAN, STU JENKS, and CONSTANCE DEMBY.

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Let's hope you're as lucky as those of us here in Calfornia, and your grass is now green, your skies are now blue, your air is now warm, and your daylight has once again, been saved.

If so, I'll bet you're in the mood for some spring spacemusic, and we have just the thing for you. On this encore transmission of Hearts of Space, an hour of music that traverses a day and night with sonic images of the natural world. Artists include ATHARWAN, MYCHAEL DANNA & TIM CLEMENT, TOM WEDVIK, FUMIO, ROBERT RICH, KEVIN KELLER & JEFF PEARCE.

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At the top of the list of the giants of western classical music is JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH. During his long and extraordinarily productive career, Bach was famous as a virtuoso organist, teacher, music director and composer. In 50 years of intensive musical activity in 18th century Germany, Bach elevated, refined and extended the Baroque contrapuntal style. His catalog is extensive, his works ingenious and profound.

​Today his music for organ, harpsichord, cello, chamber ensembles, orchestra and chorus/ are key monuments of the classical repertoire. In retrospect he created some of the great masterworks of western music, including major liturgical works performed on Christian holidays like the Mass in B Minor and the St. Matthew Passion.

Beyond its breadth, depth and intellectual brilliance, the appeal of Bach's music can be traced to something much simpler: Bach was a master of melody. For example, take one of his most popular pieces, the charming little hymn called Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE from longtime guest producer ELLEN HOLMES, we commemorate the benign lyricism of Bach with a program called IMMORTAL MELODIES.

​As with Bach himself, many of the pieces are transcriptions of music originally written for other instruments. Performers include pianists JONATHAN PLOWRIGHT, MARTA & GYORGY KURTAG, HAMISH MILNE, PHILIP THOMSON, JOHANNA HARRIS, and GLEN GOULD; strings by FRETWORK, SARBAND, and MATHEW BARLEY; organ by WOLFGANG RUBSAM; and choral music by the BACH COLLEGIUM, THE ALBAN SINGERS, the HILLIARD ENSEMBLE, and the STUTTGART CHAMBER ORCHESTRA and CHORUS.

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For releasing sheer joy and creativity in the human family, it's hard to beat the arrival of spring. It's a beloved season for poets and painters, lovers and photographers, and ambient musicians.

Free at last from the challenges and restrictions of winter, it's famously a time to clean out the old and initiate the new; a time for outward expansion, movement and change; while in the natural world, we see the flowering of new growth and renewed activity, as the cycle of life accelerates.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we glide into the season with an hour of ethereal kinetics called FLOWING INTO SPRING 2, featuring music by ROBERT RICH, plus FORREST FANG, A PRODUCE & LOREN NERELL, AZAM ALI, and MICHEL BANABILA.

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Call it neo-paganism if you like, but when you work with ambient music, you can't help but be more aware of the natural environment — the time of year, the weather, the turning of the seasons, the solstices, the equinoxes. In fact, the seasons are always turning, but there are special moments, and this week we pass through one of them: the Vernal Equinox.

Around the 20th of March, the center of the sun aligns directly with the earth's equator and day and night are approximately equal everywhere on earth. It's the point of balance in the solar energy cycle, halfway between the extremes of winter and summer. Here in the northern hemisphere, most of us are enjoying more daylight, warmer temperatures, flowing water, and more time outdoors.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we bring you the sound of the seasonal transition with an hour of ambient electronics for early spring, on a program called VERNAL CROSSING.  Music is by AMONGST MYSELVES, ISHQ, HEAVENLY MUSIC CORPORATION, DAN POUND, SINEPEARL, JOHN LYELL, TAKASHI SUZUKI, and STEVE ROACH.

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This week, dear listeners, we come once again to our yearly celebration of all things Celtic. Though the time has passed when Celtic music was trending, it's a tradition that continues to evolve. Ireland has boomed and bust, and through it all the beauty and spirit of Celtic music has continued to charm audiences around the world, with its brilliant dances and heartfelt airs and ballads.

In the poetic imagination of the Celtic bards and troubadours, travel metaphors are as common as thoughts of home. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we take another journey across those green and rocky lands, on a program called THE CELTIC ROAD.

Music is by DAVY SPILLANE, MOYA BRENNAN, LISA LYNN & ARYEH FRANKFURTER, LOREENA McKENNITT, AINE MINOGUE, DAVID ARKENSTONE, BRAGH ADAIR, and JAMES GALWAY & PHIL COULTER.

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