Tony O'Connor

Tony Michael O'Connor (15 March 196123 May 2010) was an Australian composer, producer and performer of instrumental, new-age music. His music has sold over three and a half million copies worldwide, releasing his debut album in 1987 and his last in 2007.

O'Connor also composed music scores for film and television and is one of Australia's biggest selling instrumental musicians. His music sometimes utilises sounds from nature, and is very much focused on relaxation and what he called music therapy. His album, Mariner (1990), reached No. 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart in March 1993. Tony O'Connor died on 23 May 2010, due to a glioblastoma multiforme. He is survived by his life partner, Jacqui O'Connor and their child, Samantha Jane.

Biography Tony O'Connor was born in 1961. BT Fasmer of New Age Music Guide observed, "Nature was very important to Tony. He used nature sounds quite heavily in his music, which added both life and context. He even stopped songs in the middle to feature nature sounds. For him birds singing or sounds of waves had a special musical quality... His music will be of special interest for fans of Medwyn Goodall and Clifford White, which both debuted in the late 1980s."

O'Connor's first album, Journey was released in 1987, O'Connor also recorded as he wrote, with most of his pieces beginning on the guitar or the piano and advancing from there. O'Connor wrote, or began writing, most of his pieces in the early morning, saying "...in the wee hours of the morning... I begin to hear/feel a melody and I simply cannot stop myself from sitting at the piano or picking up a guitar and trying to capture it... before it leaves." with songs co-written by both artists featured on the CD. Clement also played the guitar on Mariner, Tales of the Wind, Bushland Dreaming, Lovesong, Live in Concert, Dreams and Discoveries and Whispering Sea.

Tony and Paul met in Brisbane 1981 and performed as a duo prior to Tonys' move to keyboards etc.

To record his music, O'Connor used AKG Acoustics and RODE Microphones mics on a Sony digital console. The microphones were first fed through two Amek Channel-In-A-Box units for equalizing and compression. All Taylor guitars were recorded directly using Fishman pickups. As O'Connor was passionate about achieving the best quality recording possible, the equipment he used changed as technology improved and, as a result, the exact equipment used to record each album is not known. Wind Seeker, however, was tracked, mixed and mastered within Emagic's Logic Audio software, using Digidesign digital interfaces on a Macintosh G4 466Mhz computer. The album was recorded in 24bit 44.1 kHz digital audio, however the final master was dithered to 16bit using Waves software plug ins.

Discography Studio albums Title Details Peak chart positions AUS Journey Released: 1987 Label: Studio Horizon Format: Cassette — Because We Fly Released: 1988 Label: Studio Horizon Format: Cassette — Childlight Released: 1988 Label: Studio Horizon Format: Cassette — Mariner Released: 1989 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD 01) Format: CD, cassette 40 In Touch Released: 1990 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD 02) Format: CD, cassette — Mirror Moon Released: 1990 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD 03) Format: CD, cassette — Bushland Dreaming Released: 1990 Label: Steve Parish (307202) Format: CD, cassette — Hidden Forest: Australian Nature Series 4 Released: 1990 Label: Steve Parish (307209) Format: CD, cassette — Tales of the Wind Released: 1991 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD 04) Format: CD, cassette — Uluru Released: 1991 Label: Studio Horizon (307205) Format: CD, cassette — Seashore Sunrise Released: 1991 Label: Studio Horizon (SPP1) Format: CD, cassette — Rainforest Magic Released: 1991 Label: Studio Horizon (SPP2) Format: CD, cassette — Kakadu Released: 1992 Label: Studio Horizon (307206) Format: CD, cassette — Australian Lullaby Released: 1992 Label: Studio Horizon (307207) Format: CD, cassette — Australian Bush Garden Released: 1992 Label: Studio Horizon (307208) Format: CD, cassette — Nature's Playtime Released: 1992 Label: Studio Horizon (CAS 08) Format: Cassette — Australian Bush Christmas Released: 1992 Label: Studio Horizon (CAS 04/COM 04) Format: CD, cassette — Wilderness Released: 1993 Label: Steve Parish (307210) / Studio Horizon (HOR CD 13) Format: CD, cassette — Of Dreams and Discoveries Released: 1994 Label: Steve Parish (307211) / Studio Horizon (HOR CD 16) Format: CD, cassette — Daytime Playtime Released: 1994 Label: Steve Parish Format: Cassette — Nightime Lullaby Released: 1994 Label: Steve Parish Format: Cassette — Lovesong Released: 1995 Label: Studio Horizon (307216) / Studio Horizon (HOR CD 17) Format: CD, cassette — Enchanted Christmas Released: 1995 Label: Studio Horizon Format: CD, cassette Recorded in 1989 — Windjana: Spirit of the Kimberley Released: 1996 Label: Studio Horizon (307217) / Studio Horizon (HOR CD 18) Format: CD, cassette — Summer Rain (with Paul Clément) Released: 1997 Label: Studios Studio Horizon (HOR CD 21) Format: CD, cassette — Music for Mother and Child Released: 1998 Label: Studio Horizon Format: CD — Whispering Sea Released: 1999 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD24) Format: CD — Awakenings Released: June 1999 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD25) Format: CD — Dreamtime Released: 1999 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD32) Format: CD — Under Southern Skies Released: 2000 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD36) Format: CD — Hall of Beginnings Released: 2001 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD37) Format: CD — Wind Seeker Released: 2002 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD40) Format: CD — Aqua Zone Released: 2003 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD41/HORDVD02) Format: CD, DVD — Memento Released: 2005 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD43) Format: CD — Complete Calm: Music for Relaxation Released: 2007 Label: Studio Horizon (HOR CD47) Format: CD — Looking Through My Window Released: April 2022 Label: Studio Horizon (HO RCD49) Format: CD, streaming —

Live albums Title Details Live in Concert at the Sydney Opera House Released: 1998 Label: Steve Parish (HORCD22) Format: CD

Compilation albums Title Details Sea Australia Released: 1996 Label: Steve Parish Format: The Zodiac Collection Released: 2000 Label: Studio Horizon Format: Private Collection Released: 2004 Label: Studio Horizon Format: