Michael Robinson

"Ragas are timeless, individual melodic jewels possessing spiritual resonance, lending themselves to new manifestations in terms of both content and instrumentation. That is why I can create my music, where composition and improvisation are one, using computers and sound modules. Each raga becomes a different reflection of oneself, revealing whatever you have inside."

Michael Robinson creates new realizations of ancient ragas with computer technology and sound samples. His compositions use instrumental timbres and scale tunings from diverse world music cultures including India, Africa, the Near East, the Far East, Indonesia and Latin America. Since 1995, he has based his compositions on the raga form of India.

Unlike most composers, Robinson does not collaborate with live musicians, or interact with his computer music system during performances and recordings. Instead, he prefers the expressive and technical capabilities of pure computer-performed music. He has been a student of Harihar Rao, senior disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar, and his nearly 40 recordings have been released by Azure Miles Records.

Michael Robinson currently lives and works in Los Angeles.