:: navigation
» main artist page
» music
» widgets and banners
» reviews
» fans and user stations » purchase music @ store
» contact this artist
» add to 'favorite artists'
» music
» widgets and banners
» reviews
» fans and user stations » purchase music @ store
» contact this artist
» add to 'favorite artists'
:: artist infos
Arrocata
Arrocata
Advertisement
» go to the music page for more
Arrocata is the moniker for electronic composer Robert Straub. Both formally trained and self-taught, Robert's musical interests and influences span a wide spectrum from Jazz, Progressive Rock, Experimental Ambient, Musique Concrete, Electronica to the Classics.
After formally studying music in college and Electronic Composition in the mid 1970's with Canadian Composer Alexina Louie, Robert has spent over three decades exploring the compositional possibilities of electronic music, computer based music, synthesizer programming and audio recording. With creativity and experience, Robert utilizes a unique combination of electronic and natural sounds to intuitively weave a distinctive and sublime sonic experience. Robert's work often takes shape in many distinctly different forms from serene atmospheric soundscapes with surreal textures, to distinct rhythmic meditations while other works encompass more traditional forms.
Arrocata's works can regularly be heard on Ambient internet radio stations such as San Francisco based Soma FM's "Drone Zone" and "Space Station Soma" amongst others.
Ambient and Experimental Soundscapes.
After formally studying music in college and Electronic Composition in the mid 1970's with Canadian Composer Alexina Louie, Robert has spent over three decades exploring the compositional possibilities of electronic music, computer based music, synthesizer programming and audio recording. With creativity and experience, Robert utilizes a unique combination of electronic and natural sounds to intuitively weave a distinctive and sublime sonic experience. Robert's work often takes shape in many distinctly different forms from serene atmospheric soundscapes with surreal textures, to distinct rhythmic meditations while other works encompass more traditional forms.
Arrocata's works can regularly be heard on Ambient internet radio stations such as San Francisco based Soma FM's "Drone Zone" and "Space Station Soma" amongst others.
Ambient and Experimental Soundscapes.
Why this name?
Actually it was given to me by chance and it just kind of stuck. I learned a long time ago to never question fate.
Do you play live?
I have no immediate plans for live engagements.
How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
I feel the internet has been a huge gain for artists of all kinds. I also think it has been a great opportunity for listeners that are interested in experiencing different types of music that they would not normally encounter otherwise.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
Probably not. I don't think they are equipped to represent or promote music that falls outside of projected P&L structures for ROI.
Band History:
CD Release - "Moments of Grace"
-Ambient Textures, Experimental
CD Release - "Desert Electric"
-Ambient, Atmospheric Soundscapes
CD Release - "The Painter"
-Ambient Textures, Atmospheric Soundscapes
CD Release - "In the Distance"
-Ambient, Atmospheric Soundscapes
CD Release - "Not Far From Here"
-Ambient Chill
-Ambient Textures, Experimental
CD Release - "Desert Electric"
-Ambient, Atmospheric Soundscapes
CD Release - "The Painter"
-Ambient Textures, Atmospheric Soundscapes
CD Release - "In the Distance"
-Ambient, Atmospheric Soundscapes
CD Release - "Not Far From Here"
-Ambient Chill
Your influences?
Morton Subotnick, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Walter/Wendy Carlos, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk on the electronic side.
Gentle Giant, Yes, ELP, Kansas, PFM and early Genesis on the progressive/art rock side.
As far as pop, it was Sam Cook, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, James Brown, Beatles, Zombies, Four Tops....etc (too many to mention).
Others - John Cage, Bela Bartok, Stravinsky, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel.....
Gentle Giant, Yes, ELP, Kansas, PFM and early Genesis on the progressive/art rock side.
As far as pop, it was Sam Cook, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, James Brown, Beatles, Zombies, Four Tops....etc (too many to mention).
Others - John Cage, Bela Bartok, Stravinsky, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel.....
Favorite spot?
Standing on the summit of Mt Rainier in Washington State and looking at the tops of other Volcanos in the Cascade range that stand above the clouds. It provides a unique perspective.
Equipment used:
Anything and Everything, Sometimes just smacking something or other with a hammer! ..Whatever works
Anything else...?
****Excerpts of a review for In The Distance by Bert Strolenberg 4/2008
"The well composed and executed textural sonic content with occasional percussion is highly cinematic and of an overall dreamy, heartfelt and slowly meandering nature. The atmospheric sonic pallet features natural and electronic sounds of which both form and structure slowly shape shift as the ambient journey magically unfolds before the listener's ears. Mystic and desolate feelings are never far away, as they tend to linger on underneath the captivating, nicely sculptured soundscapes in a subtle manner. All in all, "In the Distance contains 58 minutes of exquisite, high quality desert ambience."
****Excerpts of a Review for In The Distance by Dene Bebbington 4/2007
"Whereas some ambient albums feel like they're taking you on a journey, listening to In the Distance is more like staying in one place while soaking up the atmosphere and surroundings in detail. I've not encountered many albums that mix found sounds and subtle music in such an integral way; the nearest work with any similarity I can think of is OTI's Recollection. "
"A sense of mystery pervades the album, as though the Earth's secrets are providing brief glimpses to the edges of human perception."
"In the Distance is an absorbing ambient work where the music melds seamlessly with the environmental effects. Recommended. "
****Excerpts of a Review of In The Distance by John Shanahan 7/6/2007
"In the Distance" This is an engaging, beautifully constructed work that eases along, unhurried, on textured drones that ripple like heat shimmer.
"In the Distance" is a superb work that makes its journey fully and well. Straub uses a restrained hand and allows the pieces to move and grow organically with not so much as a bump in the path to impede the flow. Arrocata's "In the Distance" is a Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD.
****Excerpts from a Review of Desert Electric by John Shanahan 10/2009
I had this disc running for four hours straight, in headphones, and was content to stay inside of it. It never wore out its welcome, never forced its way into my head, and the transition from end to starting again is marked only by the slightly more dramatic touches of the opening track, "Mirage" Straub does a very good job of bookending the disc with strong sounds or feelings, like the often-dissonant drama of "Mirage" and the electric ripple that slides through the beginning of "Petrified Forest."
Straub's "shifting-sand flows, night-sky glimmer and horizon's-edge chords make for a calming, deeply interesting voyage. It's a soother, for sure, but Straub's also enough of a craftsman to make sure there's a lot to hear if you listen closely. And you should. This is an incredibly graceful work, an exercise in effective understatement. Once again, Arrocata has created a Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD.
"The well composed and executed textural sonic content with occasional percussion is highly cinematic and of an overall dreamy, heartfelt and slowly meandering nature. The atmospheric sonic pallet features natural and electronic sounds of which both form and structure slowly shape shift as the ambient journey magically unfolds before the listener's ears. Mystic and desolate feelings are never far away, as they tend to linger on underneath the captivating, nicely sculptured soundscapes in a subtle manner. All in all, "In the Distance contains 58 minutes of exquisite, high quality desert ambience."
****Excerpts of a Review for In The Distance by Dene Bebbington 4/2007
"Whereas some ambient albums feel like they're taking you on a journey, listening to In the Distance is more like staying in one place while soaking up the atmosphere and surroundings in detail. I've not encountered many albums that mix found sounds and subtle music in such an integral way; the nearest work with any similarity I can think of is OTI's Recollection. "
"A sense of mystery pervades the album, as though the Earth's secrets are providing brief glimpses to the edges of human perception."
"In the Distance is an absorbing ambient work where the music melds seamlessly with the environmental effects. Recommended. "
****Excerpts of a Review of In The Distance by John Shanahan 7/6/2007
"In the Distance" This is an engaging, beautifully constructed work that eases along, unhurried, on textured drones that ripple like heat shimmer.
"In the Distance" is a superb work that makes its journey fully and well. Straub uses a restrained hand and allows the pieces to move and grow organically with not so much as a bump in the path to impede the flow. Arrocata's "In the Distance" is a Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD.
****Excerpts from a Review of Desert Electric by John Shanahan 10/2009
I had this disc running for four hours straight, in headphones, and was content to stay inside of it. It never wore out its welcome, never forced its way into my head, and the transition from end to starting again is marked only by the slightly more dramatic touches of the opening track, "Mirage" Straub does a very good job of bookending the disc with strong sounds or feelings, like the often-dissonant drama of "Mirage" and the electric ripple that slides through the beginning of "Petrified Forest."
Straub's "shifting-sand flows, night-sky glimmer and horizon's-edge chords make for a calming, deeply interesting voyage. It's a soother, for sure, but Straub's also enough of a craftsman to make sure there's a lot to hear if you listen closely. And you should. This is an incredibly graceful work, an exercise in effective understatement. Once again, Arrocata has created a Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD.