The term “Pale Blue Dot” in the title refers to a photograph of the Earth taken by the Voyager spacecraft in 1990 at the request of Carl Sagan to illustrate the living planet from a considerable distance against the vastness of outer space. The music attempts to serve as a “window” into some of the human implications of such a visual, to transport the listener to a place where their life and its concerns are put into a universal perspective. As a composer, one of my goals in this project is to offer a place of refuge and calm reflection that is not tiring to the ear over the course of a significant slice of time. You could watch a sitcom, and throw together a quick snack in the time it takes to listen, but the effect will certainly be much different.

A 30 minute ambient/meditation sound sculpture by Michael Spivack (2012)