Ray Buttigieg
Encyclopedia
Ray Buttigieg is a poet
and musician
.
He attended Qala
primary school, then the Lyceum in Victoria, Gozo. He then moved to the United States and continued his studies in New York
, where he settled permanently. By the age of 20 he had several poems published in anthologies in London
and New York City
.
style; he received criticism when he later introduced a more modern style in his experiments and improvisational poetry. In the last few years he returned to his earlier style in works like The Wisdom of Stones (2002), Remnants from the Book of Time (2002), and The Procession (1999). Although for the last 25 years Buttigieg has been writing only in English
and very little in his native Maltese
, his subject matter still includes a great deal of influence from his native Malta.
when he started to sing Latin
hymns on the gallery of the grand pipe organ at St Joseph's church. He was also attracted to pieces of metal of various sizes , weights and alloys as well as short wave radios where he thought the combination of these found instruments are uniquely musical that could be used as effects. He later learned the guitar and started to write songs for his first Rock
improvisational band.
where his catchy tunes mixed with his lyrical poetry produced two top ten pop hits in the mid-seventies. At the same time synthesizers and computers and several electronic music experiments on tape were becoming more interesting to Ray Buttigieg than bandmates who could never agree on anything. Soon the band was defunct and a new project band started. Ray Buttigieg/Cykx, Cykx being the computer that replaced the members of the band. The pop
or rock
compositions now became explorations and experiments in sound. Compucircuit 0.008 m/s (1981), Mechanism of Thought (1984) were both very ground breaking albums.
Buttigieg believed that electronic synthesisers was a third 'high' in music, the first and second being acoustic and electric instruments.
, a Mellotron
. He was involved in multiple projects at the same time while being involved in solo major works and other series concepts like Earth noise and Sound Science Series in the 70's and The Symphonic Poems, Music for and Diary of an Earthling series in the 80's. Film and Video work were also becoming a very interesting avenue to combine visuals, poetry and as the music soundtrack that would define the visuals all done under the same roof. He continued his career by producing some influential and lush albums like Sound of Transformation - Symphonic Poem No.1 (1982) , Quantum Mechanics (1985), Music for Movies (1986), Codes (1987) and Musical Instincts of Nature.
format and has gone aggressively into everything electronic whether it is electronica
, ambient
, new age
or electronic
producing and collaborating with bands like FTSG, Dyr3, System 6
, Desire becomes Being and Circa 2000 AD for Cykxincorp and Standing Stone Recording Company record labels part of Cykxincorp Group of Companies.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
He attended Qala
Qala
Qala is a village on Gozo Island, Malta, with a population of 1,609 people . Nearby is Ħondoq ir-Rummien, a coastline with salt pans and caves popular with snorkellers....
primary school, then the Lyceum in Victoria, Gozo. He then moved to the United States and continued his studies in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he settled permanently. By the age of 20 he had several poems published in anthologies in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Writing
Best known for Pastorale (1978), Poeticus I & II (1986) and (1992), and the very first book he ever wrote in his late teens Wizard's Spider Mystic Glider (1989) which are written in a classicalClassicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
style; he received criticism when he later introduced a more modern style in his experiments and improvisational poetry. In the last few years he returned to his earlier style in works like The Wisdom of Stones (2002), Remnants from the Book of Time (2002), and The Procession (1999). Although for the last 25 years Buttigieg has been writing only in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and very little in his native Maltese
Maltese language
Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English,while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic...
, his subject matter still includes a great deal of influence from his native Malta.
Music
Ray Buttigieg since the age of ten became extremely interested in musicwhen he started to sing Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
hymns on the gallery of the grand pipe organ at St Joseph's church. He was also attracted to pieces of metal of various sizes , weights and alloys as well as short wave radios where he thought the combination of these found instruments are uniquely musical that could be used as effects. He later learned the guitar and started to write songs for his first Rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
improvisational band.
With Cykx
Buttigieg started his professional musical career in New York and Philadelphia where he fronted a six piece glam/rock band Cykxwhere his catchy tunes mixed with his lyrical poetry produced two top ten pop hits in the mid-seventies. At the same time synthesizers and computers and several electronic music experiments on tape were becoming more interesting to Ray Buttigieg than bandmates who could never agree on anything. Soon the band was defunct and a new project band started. Ray Buttigieg/Cykx, Cykx being the computer that replaced the members of the band. The pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
or rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
compositions now became explorations and experiments in sound. Compucircuit 0.008 m/s (1981), Mechanism of Thought (1984) were both very ground breaking albums.
Buttigieg believed that electronic synthesisers was a third 'high' in music, the first and second being acoustic and electric instruments.
Solo Work
Buttigieg embarked on a solo career ever since he set eyes on his first keyboardsKeyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, a Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
. He was involved in multiple projects at the same time while being involved in solo major works and other series concepts like Earth noise and Sound Science Series in the 70's and The Symphonic Poems, Music for and Diary of an Earthling series in the 80's. Film and Video work were also becoming a very interesting avenue to combine visuals, poetry and as the music soundtrack that would define the visuals all done under the same roof. He continued his career by producing some influential and lush albums like Sound of Transformation - Symphonic Poem No.1 (1982) , Quantum Mechanics (1985), Music for Movies (1986), Codes (1987) and Musical Instincts of Nature.
Producing records and collaborating
Since the very beginning of his career in the mid-70's, Buttigieg has been sought after for creative guidance, collaborating, producing and as the idea man. His string of credits include In Rebellion, Process and After Thought in the 80's, and in the 90's co-wrote songs and produced bands like Novi Mystici, Prosper Falls, Selfish like Magnets and Noise Button. In the last few years of the new millennium Buttigieg has written songs for other artists in the genres of popular music/pop song, gothicGothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
format and has gone aggressively into everything electronic whether it is electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
or electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
producing and collaborating with bands like FTSG, Dyr3, System 6
System 6
System 6 is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers. It was released in 1988 by Apple Computer and was part of the Mac OS line of operating systems. System 6 was shipped with various Macintosh computers until it was succeeded by System 7 in 1991. The boxed...
, Desire becomes Being and Circa 2000 AD for Cykxincorp and Standing Stone Recording Company record labels part of Cykxincorp Group of Companies.
Studio albums
- (1982) Sound of Transformation – Symphonic Poem No.1
- (1982) Muvumenti Globali
- (1982) The Essential Transition – Symphonic Poem No.2
- (1983) Etere (Ether)
- (1984) Architecture, Agriculture & Astronomy
- (1984) Nearing the Millennium – Symphonic Poem No.3
- (1985) Quantum Mechanics
- (1985) Music for Computers
- (1986) Music for Movies
- (1986) Music for Videos
- (1987) Codes (Diary of an Earthling
- (1987) Perpetual Energies
- (1987) Sequence – Symphonic Poem No.4
- (1988) Messages
- (1989) Spirit of the Soul – Symphonic Poem No.5
- (1989) Etenoha (Mother Earth) Earthnoise No.1
- (1990) In Dream Passages
- (1991) Almost Pure Vision – Symphonic Poem No.6
- (1992) Elements
- (1993) Musical Instincts of Nature
- (1993) Deus Meus, What are they doing? – Symphonic Poem No.7
- (1995) Ir-Rahal (The Village) Earthnoise No.2
- (1995) Procyon [aCMi] – Symphonic Poem No.8
- (1996) Methuselah Chamber
- (1998) Spheric
- (1999) Roswell 1947, Alien Debris – Symphonic Poem No.9
Collection Albums
- (1988) Excerpts & Movements 1978–1988 Selected Works Vol.1
- (1990) Musics III Sound Science Series
- (1991) Time Temples
- (1998) Themes & Suites 1988–1998 Selected Works Vol.2
- (2000) Ars Electronica
- (2000) Memory Bouquet [Complete Collection One]
- (2001) Opera'tion Trilogy
- (2003) Magical Worlds
- (2005) Mysteries of Life
Collaboration Albums
- (1979) Thru Energy (we Connect) – (with the Cykx computer)
- (1981) Compucircuit 0.008 m/s – (with the Cykx computer)
- (1984) Mechanism of Thought – (with the Cykx computer)
- (1988) Symbols – (with In Rebellion)
- (1988) Origins – (with In Rebellion)
- (1989) Numbers – (with In Rebellion)
- (1989) Rituals – (with In Rebellion)
- (1995) Apocryphon – (with Novi Mystici)
- (2003) From the Secret Garden – (with FTSG)
- (2004) The Melancholy of Mozart – (with Noise Button)
Soundtrack Albums
- (1981) Signals
- (1985) Down on Earth
- (1985) Moving Images
- (2005) Electropolis
Poetry in English
- Pastorale (1978)
- Windrhythm (1983)
- Apocraphasis (1984)
- Poeticus I (1986)
- Wizard's Spider Mystic Glider (1989)
- Stellae Incognita (1990)
- Poeticus II (1992)
- A Cage full of Words (1994)
- Songs of the Earth (1997)
- Objects & Orbitals (1999)
- The Procession and Other Works (1999)
- Remnants form the Book of Time (2000)
- The Wisdom of Stones and Other Selected Poems (2002)
- Calypso & Odysseus and Other Songs of the Sea (2003)
Symphonic Poems
- Sound of Transformation – Symphonic Poem No.1 (1982)
- The Essential Transition – Symphonic Poem No.2 (1982)
- Nearing the Millennium – Symphonic Poem No.3 (1984)
- Sequence – Symphonic Poem No.4 (1987)
- Spirit of the Soul – Symphonic Poem No.5 (1989)
- Almost Pure Vision – Symphonic Poem No.6 (1991)
- Deus Meus, What are they doing? – Symphonic Poem No.7 (1993)
- Procyon [aCMi] – Symphonic Poem No.8 (1995)
- Roswell 1947, Alien Debris – Symphonic Poem No.9 (1999)