Artist description Composer of both traditional and "virtual" modern classical music, as well as electronic ambient and ethnic music. Studies at The Evergreen State College (B.A.) and the University of Idaho (M.Mus.), working with and learning from Greg Steinke, William Billingsley, Barney Childs, Pauline Oliveros, Morton Subotnick, Gordon Mumma, Walter Aschaffenberg. Since the mid 1980's has been working and composing in Seattle, creating concert and recorded music, as well as music for video and dance.

Music Style Electronic, Modern Classical, abstract and descriptive soundscapes.

Musical Influences Almost everything from the last 1000 years, and almost any culture.

Artist History ....I'm a composer. The most common general response I get to this statement is: "Oh. What do you play?"... I do "play"; all art, even the most serious, is play. but I don't perform; I create. Do you need to see a painter work on stage? "Commercial/non-commercial", "traditional/avant-garde" aren't issues for me; my concern is to make come alive a dream of music, as fully as possible and on its own terms; wherever that takes me...and you. The past is now, and the future is here; just listen. There are over fifty other pieces here that don't show on this page right now. From time to time I "change out" some currently on the page with ones currently unavailable; so keep looking, and listening. If you find things here that resonate in some way with your own taste, then don't forget to follow some of the links I've provided to many of the other composers and performers here. They are some of the best and most exciting artists I've come across in this place; I guarantee you will find work that will both challenge and delight you.

Group Members Steve Layton (ASCAP). All pieces composed, performed, and recorded by the composer.

Instruments All recordings on this page: // Sounds: Alesis QSR // Sequencer: Voyetra Digital Orchestrator Pro // Recording & Processing: CoolEdit 2000, Alesis MidiVerb II

Press Reviews Concerning his electronic and ambient work: "Layton is a composer of undeniable depth, subtlety and imagination, and is a consummate evoker of mood. At times it sounds as if he is composing music for yet-to-be-written horror films, at other moments his Minimalist soundscapes take the helpless listener on a journey through lands not yet discovered and times yet to be experienced. He sounds at times like an electronic John Cage, tinkering like a scientist with his digital instruments in the same manner Cage would "prepare" his pianos. Then, without warning, you're thrust into an after-hours dance party, relaxing your sweaty body as his beat-driven but Ambient music washes over your spent mind. Rewarding and challenging, Steve Layton's music is a feast for Avant Garde aficionados, New Age lovers, and those who appreciate heady electronic music in all its forms."-Will Lerner, listen.com

Location Seattle, WA - USA

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