Richard Burmer
An electronic music pioneer who wove global folk instruments and ambient textures into deeply immersive sonic landscapes.
1955–2006 (age 51)·Musical artist·Birthday: September 19·Baby Boomers
Biography
Richard Burmer was a sonic architect whose work in the 1980s and 1990s helped define the New Age and electronic ambient genres. Trained as an engineer and driven by the curiosity of an ethnomusicologist, he built his compositions from the ground up, designing sounds and then layering them with instruments he collected from around the world. The result was music that felt both futuristic and ancient. Albums like 'Mosaic' and 'Western Spaces' (with Steve Roach) are considered touchstones, creating vast, emotive atmospheres. Burmer's approach was hands-on and holistic; he was as much a craftsman in the studio as he was a composer, and his passing in 2006 left a distinct space in the world of contemplative electronic music.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Richard was born in 1955, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1955
#1 Movie
Lady and the Tramp
Best Picture
Marty
#1 TV Show
The $64,000 Question
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1955Born
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1960Started school
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1968Became a teenager
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1971Could drive
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1973Could vote
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1976Turned 21
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1985Turned 30
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1995Turned 40
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2005Turned 50
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
2006Died at 51
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
Key Achievements
- Co-created the seminal ambient album 'Western Spaces' with Steve Roach in 1987.
- Released influential solo electronic works such as 'Mosaic' and 'On the Third Extreme'.
- Applied formal training in engineering and ethnomusicology to his sound design and composition process.
- His music was frequently used in early relaxation and meditation audio programs.
Did You Know?
He provided sound design for the Star Tours attraction at Disneyland.
He held a degree in music from Michigan State University.
Burmer's work is often associated with the 'Hearts of Space' radio program, which frequently featured his atmospheric pieces.
“I build my own sounds from the ground up, then weave them into a landscape.”
