May We Find Our Way – Robert Rich – Floating World Music Magazine

A 95-Minute Journey Through Kaleidoscopic Microtonal Landscapes

Robert Rich’s latest offering, May We Find Our Way, represents a profound meditation on direction and uncertainty, delivered through one continuous 95-minute composition that stands as perhaps the most immersive and challenging work in his extensive catalog. Released in 2025 and recorded at his Soundscape studio in Carmel, California, this ambitious album serves as what Rich describes as “chapter two” of his 2024 release Long Tail of the Quiet Gong, though it ventures into distinctly different sonic territories through the use of new acoustic sources and refined processing techniques

The Master’s Context

To understand the significance of May We Find Our Way, one must appreciate Robert Rich’s position as one of ambient music’s most influential pioneers. Across four decades and over 50 albums, Rich has helped define the genres of ambient music, dark-ambient, tribal and trance, yet his music remains refreshingly difficult to categorize. His unique sound emerges from a combination of home-made acoustic and electronic instruments, microtonal harmonies, computer-based signal processing, chaotic systems and feedback networks. Beginning his journey by building analog synthesizers at age 13 in 1976, Rich later studied at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) while researching lucid dreaming.

Rich’s legendary all-night Sleep Concerts, first performed in 1982, became transformative experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area, designed to influence REM cycle sleep with auditory stimulus. These concerts, where audiences would sleep in sleeping bags while Rich created abstract drones and atmospheres throughout the night, established his reputation as an artist capable of creating music that exists at the intersection of consciousness and subconsciousness.

Conceptual Framework and Functional Music

May We Find Our Way positions itself firmly within Rich’s philosophy of “functional music” compositions intended to act as environmental enhancement while rewarding focused attention. Rich describes these pieces as designed “to hover at the periphery of the senses yet rewarding attention, perhaps to offer interesting textures for creative work or reverie”. This approach aligns with the broader concept of functional music, which is purpose-driven sound designed to influence mood, behavior, or cognitive state rather than serving purely as entertainment.

The album’s title suggests both literal and metaphorical navigation, reflecting themes of finding direction in uncertain times. Rich’s description of the work as potentially offering “interesting textures for creative work or reverie” places it within the tradition of ambient music that Brian Eno defined as music “designed to induce calm and space to think” compositions that can accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular.

Sonic Architecture and Production Techniques

The 95-minute duration represents a bold artistic choice that demands sustained engagement from listeners willing to surrender to its glacial pace. Recorded entirely at Rich’s Soundscape studio in Carmel, California, the album was performed, mixed and mastered entirely by the artist himself, continuing his hands-on approach to immersive sound design. This self-contained production process ensures the kind of cohesive vision that has characterized Rich’s most successful works throughout his career.

Rich’s approach to this album involves what he calls “shimmering kaleidoscopic microtonal patterns, pulsating, vibrating and evolving”. His mastery of microtonal harmonies, developed through decades of work with just intonation tuning systems, allows him to create harmonic relationships that exist outside conventional Western temperament. These microtonal explorations enable what Rich describes as harmony and timbre merging, where “melody lines play hide-and-seek around the harmonics of another note”.

The album incorporates different acoustic sources and new processing methods compared to its conceptual predecessor Long Tail of the Quiet Gong. While the earlier work was created specifically for sleep listening as part of the Hypno-Campus experiment, May We Find Our Way expands beyond purely somnolent intentions to embrace what Rich calls “functional music” compositions that serve multiple purposes depending on the listener’s attention level.

The Presence of Dissonance

One of the most intriguing aspects of May We Find Our Way is Rich’s intentional incorporation of dissonant elements that occasionally approach stridency. Rather than employing traditional tension and release structures, Rich describes these dissonances as “important contrasts, perhaps not typical tension and release, more like shadows from passing clouds”. This approach reflects his sophisticated understanding of how ambient music can maintain interest without relying on conventional dramatic arcs.

These dissonant moments serve as atmospheric counterpoints rather than dramatic tension, creating what Progressive Rock Central describes as “not as dramatic tension, but as atmospheric counterpoints”. This technique demonstrates Rich’s evolution as a composer who understands that effective ambient music must balance comfort with subtle challenge, preventing the listener from becoming too settled while maintaining the overall meditative character.

Technical Innovation and Instrumentation

The album showcases Rich’s continued innovation in electronic music production, drawing from his extensive background in both acoustic and electronic instrument design. His approach involves using Sequential Prophet X and TriGon 6 synthesizers alongside what he terms “metal sculpture” – likely referring to his use of prepared acoustic instruments and found objects that have characterized his work since the early 1980s.

Rich’s production techniques demonstrate his mastery of what ambient music requires: the ability to create “textured, layered guitar melodies that explore a vibrant range of subconscious thought and emotion” while maintaining the spacious, open quality that defines effective ambient composition. His use of computer-based signal processing and chaotic systems allows for the kind of evolving, organic development that prevents static repetition while maintaining overall coherence.

Visual Collaboration and Artistic Integration

The album features cover artwork by Polish painter Maksymilian Novak-Zemplinski, whose magic realist landscapes complement Rich’s sonic explorations. Novak-Zemplinski, born in 1974 and a graduate of the European Academy of Arts, specializes in “unreal, intriguing panoramas” that capture “experiences and emotional states, creating its own special, rich world of imagination”. This visual partnership continues Rich’s long-standing practice of integrating visual and sonic elements to create comprehensive artistic experiences.

The choice of Novak-Zemplinski’s untitled work from 2005 suggests a deliberate aesthetic alignment between the painter’s magic realist approach and Rich’s own creation of “otherworldly” sonic landscapes. This integration of visual and auditory elements reflects Rich’s understanding that ambient music functions not just as sound but as environmental art that can transform physical and psychological spaces.

Cultural Impact and Contemporary Relevance

May We Find Our Way arrives at a moment when ambient music is experiencing renewed cultural relevance, yet Rich’s approach maintains the uncompromising artistic vision that has defined his work for over four decades. Unlike many contemporary ambient releases that prioritize accessibility, Rich continues to create what one critic calls “meticulously crafted, creatively conceived work that reveal the fingerprints of an obsessive mind and deep soul”.

The album’s emphasis on providing “functional music” for creative work and contemplation addresses contemporary needs for spaces of calm and focus in an increasingly fragmented attention economy. Rich’s approach to creating music that can serve as both “background enhancement and foreground listening experience” demonstrates his understanding of how ambient music functions in modern life while maintaining artistic integrity.

Legacy and Innovation

Within Rich’s extensive discography, May We Find Our Way represents both culmination and continued exploration. His ability to create what critics describe as “verdant, artfully contoured landscapes for the mind to immerse itself in” while continuing to push technical and conceptual boundaries demonstrates why he remains “one of contemporary electronic music’s wunderkinds”.

The album’s single-track, 95-minute format challenges conventional album structures while embracing the extended duration that has characterized Rich’s most ambitious works, from his legendary Sleep Concerts to releases like the seven-hour Somnium. This commitment to extended time scales reflects Rich’s understanding that ambient music’s transformative potential often requires sustained engagement that commercial formats rarely accommodate.

Reception and Critical Response

Early critical response has positioned May We Find Our Way as a significant addition to Rich’s catalog, with Progressive Rock Central noting how it “shares conceptual terrain with Long Tail of the Quiet Gong (2024)” while diverging “in musical character, drawing on different acoustic sources and newly refined processing techniques”. The album’s availability as a “name your price” download on Bandcamp continues Rich’s practice of making his music accessible while maintaining artistic independence.

The work has been recognized for Rich’s ability to create compositions that remain “on the sensory periphery while offering depth for attentive listening”. This dual functionality – serving both as ambient enhancement and detailed listening experience demonstrates Rich’s mastery of the delicate balance that defines effective functional music.

Conclusion: Navigation Through Sound

May We Find Our Way succeeds brilliantly as both artistic statement and functional composition, offering listeners a 95-minute journey through Rich’s most refined exploration of microtonal ambient music. The album demonstrates why Rich remains “one of the most influential figures in the genre” after four decades of continuous innovation.

For newcomers to Rich’s work, the album provides an accessible entry point into his sophisticated approach to ambient composition, while longtime followers will appreciate the subtle evolution in his use of dissonance and microtonal harmony. The single-track format creates an immersive experience that rewards both casual listening and deep attention, fulfilling Rich’s intention to create music that can enhance various states of consciousness and creative activity.

May We Find Our Way stands as proof that ambient music continues to evolve as an art form capable of addressing contemporary needs while maintaining the transcendent qualities that have defined the genre’s greatest achievements. In Rich’s hands, the question posed by the album’s title becomes less about finding specific directions and more about embracing the transformative journey that sustained listening can provide. This latest work confirms Robert Rich’s position as one of ambient music’s most essential and enduring voices, continuing to chart new territories in the ever-expanding landscape of consciousness-altering sound.