Maybe the name of this album should be "Unexpected" or "Detour!"
After over 2 decades of writing, producing and performing guitar-driven, contemporary Jewish music, I have returned to my roots as an instrumental composer.
When I attended college as a theory and composition major, my aspiration was to compose for film. I wrote mostly orchestral and chamber pieces then. After college I wrote and recorded some music for television and the burgeoning multimedia industry.
As my Jewish music career unfolded, all of that got put on hold. Until that "liminal" time of Covid. That pause on life and on performative music as we knew it left me in my studio with time and space to create. I decided to free myself of lyrics and typical song structures and compose for electronic instruments-something I always wanted to try but never had the time. And, over 30 years after those digital and analog synthesis classes, I actually got to apply some of the things I learned!
This 29-minute EP is entirely self-produced and is my inaugural effort in this electronica genre. While it is planets away from what you might expect, it is another dimension of my expression as a musician, and now, engineer. I learned so much in the process-a second collection is already in the works!
Liminal is meant to be an immersive sound experience, best listened to over earbuds or headphones. You won't be able to hum along or remember any melodies, but you will most certainly go for a ride. Thank you for listening, especially if you expected something else! More Jewish music to come. Promise.
The inaugural Electronic Music album of Beth Schafer. A completely immersive sound experience, best listened to over headphones or earbuds.