Let me begin with a brief history: For the past fifteen years I have worked with Brendan Perry under the title of 'Dead Can Dance' - a title chosen to describe the process of creativity. Brendan and I have released eight albums, during the making of which there is usually a surplus of work that overlaps the continuous nature of a Dead Can Dance record. Some of these pieces, which were not realized for reasons of continuity, have been collected together in the form of largely orchestral based works and pieces written primarily for 'voice' music. There are also acoustic pieces made up of Greek bouzouki, yang ch'in (Chinese dulcimer) and live percussion including derabukkas, hand claps, camel drum, bass tablas, Indian elephant bells, tambours, tambourines and finger cymbals. Alongside these works exist pieces created out of instrumental samples. The orchestral music was composed by myself using a computer with orchestral samples in my home studio. These parts were then translated into score form by John Bonnar, who also conducted the recorded performance by the 'Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra' at Eaton Studios in Melbourne, Australia. I performed the vocal pieces live during the making of these recordings with the orchestra. The acoustic pieces, which I also composed, were recorded live in my home studio, as were the sampled works and all the voice music. Usually when work is reviewed there are references made to cultural influences. In my case I have explored cultural expression as a means of freeing the spirit. I have chosen the title 'The Mirror Pool' because it is suggestive of the abstract properties that exist within the entity of music - the properties being those that permit reflection.