Celeste (Seismic Hallucination)

[seismic1]

The opening is a slowly surging pad with a complex, changing sound.
This distant sound develops—but slowly and relaxedly. Quiet percussive
elements join in, and suddenly, deep piano tones begin. The texture
becomes more complex, even grooving a bit. It's as if a large, slightly
diffuse space is being painted.

A truly meditative, heavenly track that lifts everyone to super-esoteric
heights and, with a joyful duration of 8 minutes, overcomes all hurdles
of unconscious dissonance.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and for the great comments, Andy. Glad you liked it

What was i to the power of i again?

I'm not sure. I recently emerged from the far side of a mini black hole, and my burnt-out brain cells were unable to cope with spatial distortion. Now the long nights are here again, I hope to adapt to a once familiar reality

[seismic1]

Opening: Huge openness and suspense with those wonderful timbres combining with the chromatic melody lines and strong dissonance...waiting for something to happen!

The split between samples and synths was probably 60/40 in favour of samples on here. I'm quite impressed with the Crow Hill Vaults instruments which seem to lend themselves to this hybrid style.
Dissonance is something that crept into my compositions very slowly, but over the last 9 or 10 years has become more prevalent.

The slow development is well -judged...love the deep piano notes - they cut through the soundscape incredibly well.

The reverb and EQ on the piano was probably the most challenging aspect of this piece.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Mark. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

I love the haunting but not so haunting style. The bells are sometimes even serene. around 3:42 I really get my vibe on.
Sounds reflective, deep, emotive.

Re: 3:42 - that's the Celeste doing its thing.

"Between July 2023 and March 2024, I didn't make any new music, nor did I have any inclination to do so. I'm not sure why this happened, but it wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last."

Me in 2003: "Shit my last banger was only 2 weeks old...do I still.....have it? :O"
Me nowadays: "Oh yeah I'm totally on form, remember that killer piano piece I did 2 years ago?"

I haven't made any new music since May this year, although I just resurrected an unfinished project from early 2023. Hopefully, I should be able to finish it in the next couple of months.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Jesse. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

Really nice pads here. The fully wet mechanical plucky/mallet sounds in the background add great texture. The more structured melodic content weaves it's way in very nicely. Like ChameleonMusic said, those deep piano tones are most excellent.

6:50 ﾍ(=￣∇￣)ﾉ

None of the samples used were particularly clean, and I dirtied some of them up with the reverb/delay. The vocal samples via Iris2 were probably the cleanest samples used. The piano here was the Crow Hill Vaults Attic Grand, with some not-so-subtle granular processing towards the end of the piece. 6:50 is a choir preset from Pigments.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, eassae. Glad you liked it

Thanks for the repost on SoundCloud, too

[seismic1]

A slow and steady descent into a very dark place. The bass notes are very effective. Surprisingly at 5:20 some light begins filtering into the depths of this cavern. Perhaps even a way out?

I didn't set out to make a dark piece here. I think I started on it in March 2024, just before the clocks went forward, and I probably had a little winter vibe still hanging around. The non-piano bass is Dune 2.

The transitions are seamless. The mix is perfect. Sonically a bit hazy but it very much suits the material. No issues with frequencies. The generous dynamic range invites the listener to turn it up.

Great job on this Gloombient Black Celebration.

This was essentially two different pieces, but there were 4 instrument parts which were common to both, so I welded them together.

Earlier versions of this were muddy. "Hazy" only came about after many revisions of the reverb/delay setup. I did manage to come up with a "cleaner" version, but it sounded too sterile, or maybe more contrived than I was comfortable with, so this became the final version.

The DR on here is 10, and the LUFS is -15.2. I have no trouble achieving DR values of 9-10 and LUFS values between -15 and -16. My usual problem is in achieving them together!

Was Black Celebration a reference to the piano samples

Thanks very much for listening,, and for the generous comments, Frantz. Glad you liked it

[Frantz]

Was Black Celebration a reference to the piano samples

Sorry, I was being a bit snarky. You often compare my tracks to DM which are not really a big influence on me so I threw in a random DM reference here which isn't really suitable other than possibly the mood.

[seismic1]

Following recent events/drama, I couldn't resist.

Between July 2023 and March 2024, I didn't make any new music, nor did I have any inclination to do so. I'm not sure why this happened, but it wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last.

That is heavy and really good imo. Having (my first in 40yrs ) dry spell myself. Coming here to the cafe and hearing these sorts of things is inspiration.

I've just returned from a 5 day break in Tenerife, so I'm planning a dry spell for the next couple of weeks, but not of the musical kind

I'm currently in another dormant period (5 months this time). I'm hoping to "activate" when the clocks go back and the days become shorter.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, CrystalWizard. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope the inspiration ignites some ideas

Ha, yes, my creative dry spell has included those types of dry spells, too. I'm looking forward to winter for the same reason.
Keep on keepin' on.

I'm still waiting for a creative spark. I am currently replacing door-handles, and struggling with differing length/width spindle bars and spindle sleeves.

I'm hoping to resurrect a 2-3 year old project for medicinal purposes.

[CrystalWizard]

Following recent events/drama, I couldn't resist.

Between July 2023 and March 2024, I didn't make any new music, nor did I have any inclination to do so. I'm not sure why this happened, but it wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last.

That is heavy and really good imo. Having (my first in 40yrs ) dry spell myself. Coming here to the cafe and hearing these sorts of things is inspiration.

I've just returned from a 5 day break in Tenerife, so I'm planning a dry spell for the next couple of weeks, but not of the musical kind

I'm currently in another dormant period (5 months this time). I'm hoping to "activate" when the clocks go back and the days become shorter.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, CrystalWizard. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope the inspiration ignites some ideas

Ha, yes, my creative dry spell has included those types of dry spells, too. I'm looking forward to winter for the same reason.
Keep on keepin' on.

I'm still waiting for a creative spark. I am currently replacing door-handles, and struggling with differing length/width spindle bars and spindle sleeves.

I'm hoping to resurrect a 2-3 year old project for medicinal purposes.

Um, i wish i was doing even that. Preparing for a 2000mile (3.2km) travel back to my newest duo (2024-25) and my oldest (1981-92). Will have much to show for it, especially if i can get us into a trio.
Perhaps you can get into a duo where you are? or on line?

[seismic1]

Was Black Celebration a reference to the piano samples

Sorry, I was being a bit snarky. You often compare my tracks to DM which are not really a big influence on me so I threw in a random DM reference here which isn't really suitable other than possibly the mood.

Ha. No problem. I think I was probably comparing some of your synth basslines (and their sound) to those used by the Mode, particularly in the '80s and '90s. It was meant as a compliment - DM in that era were my favourite electronic band after TD had lost the plot (imho) in the mid '80s

[seismic1]

Following recent events/drama, I couldn't resist.

Between July 2023 and March 2024, I didn't make any new music, nor did I have any inclination to do so. I'm not sure why this happened, but it wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last.

That is heavy and really good imo. Having (my first in 40yrs ) dry spell myself. Coming here to the cafe and hearing these sorts of things is inspiration.

I've just returned from a 5 day break in Tenerife, so I'm planning a dry spell for the next couple of weeks, but not of the musical kind

I'm currently in another dormant period (5 months this time). I'm hoping to "activate" when the clocks go back and the days become shorter.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, CrystalWizard. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope the inspiration ignites some ideas

Ha, yes, my creative dry spell has included those types of dry spells, too. I'm looking forward to winter for the same reason.
Keep on keepin' on.

I'm still waiting for a creative spark. I am currently replacing door-handles, and struggling with differing length/width spindle bars and spindle sleeves.

I'm hoping to resurrect a 2-3 year old project for medicinal purposes.

Um, i wish i was doing even that. Preparing for a 2000mile (3.2km) travel back to my newest duo (2024-25) and my oldest (1981-92). Will have much to show for it, especially if i can get us into a trio.
Perhaps you can get into a duo where you are? or on line?

I fear that my creative habit is far too erratic to burden others with. I find it almost impossible to keep to a timetable in my musical endeavours, in stark contrast to when I was working. I was juggling schedules/projects constantly and usually managed to meet deadlines.

I hope your trip was/will be fruitful/productive