Welcome ...

... still life

Xybor & the Cosmonauts is the musical muse of Terry Atkinson, a multi-instrumental musician, songwriter and multimedia artist. The music is envisioned, written, played and engineered by me.

The music is infused with diverse musical influences — rock, jazz, fusion, blues, bluegrass and pop. The overall sound draws heavily on progressive and psychedelic rock, ala Beatles, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis, Bowie.

... a child of a different time.

Give it a listen. It is time well wasted.


*** music news ***

I have finished several new songs, but have been somewhat remiss in getting them posted here.Ghost, Euterpe, Is It Like Today, Lost in Phantasmagoria, and Infinity.

I'm also leaving up the last few songs that I released and are available on streaming sites, or here -- Judas Goat, No More Heroes,  Sixth Sense,  Guinevere and Shipwrecked

Not news, but I'll leave this up here. Deep and committed to an immersive sound experience, having retooled my recording environment to fully support Dolby Atmos 7.1.2. Very happy with the sound and audio experience. Definitely the way I prefer to listen to music. I track and mix everything in Atmos 7.1.2, but render into stereo for distribution. At some point, perhaps listening environments will support Atmos mixes properly, though I kind of doubt it. I'm not so enthused about the binaural renders from Atmos, so I remix the stereo myself.

I have also substantially retooled Xybornaut Studio, primarily moving away from virtual instruments to real instruments. And as much as possible actually playing parts rather than programming. However, I will always use a hybrid approach, given the richness available of VSTs. Its not like I can play a string quartet or sing a choral part in a cathedral in Europe. But, I can play guitar and tambourine.


*** a moment of your time ***

On an unrelated note, you likely know the dynamics of the music industry have changed. But the impact on artists is profound. While distribution is cheap, compensation is abysmal. As an example, for each Spotify play, I get about $0.0013. The number of plays to earn even minimum wage is daunting. I love making music, and even now, regardless of the compensation, I do so because it is who I am.

I write, record, and produce a song every few weeks. I am fully self-contained, with all the gear I need to develop both audio and video recordings, so my costs to record are not high. But still ...

All of my music is available for listening here, for free. Which is not much cheaper than $0.0013.  I have set up a "jukebox" for easy access. When you listen to something you like, consider buying a download from a streaming service. If you are on Spotify or another streaming service, give my music a couple plays. Enjoy it any way you can and share it with your friends. ANY support is welcome.


*** contact ***