Uncharted Waters
This album is not an album; it is a collection of drafts and experiments, works in progress, some of which may be worth examining before they are completed.
Doors (1:38) (binaural) — This piece is derived from early experiments in binaural reconstruction, which is the process of reprocessing a set of monaural tracks into a set of overlaid binaural sound fields. I use this technique to render my eight-channel installation pieces in two channels for headphone listening. (Please see further discussion on this site of binaural concepts.) For maximum spatial reconstruction, download the lossless version of this track, and decode (or play through WinAmp, etc.) using the free Monkeys Audio decoder.
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Tiny Alice (7:19) — This is a draft of the final form which "Doors" is moving toward. Most elements in this piece will be re-recorded, but this mix is close to the end result, and worth listening to. It has been mixed for stereo, and works fine with external speakers (no headphones required). The title is tentative; other candidates are "Mansions" and "Rooms."
Molinatibus (2:40) — Absynth3 the wonder-synth is responsible for all sounds in this piece, so Timbre accepts no blame for it. When a great piece of sound-sculpture software evolves to the Next Level, one feels a certain responsibility to put the pedal to the metal and open all the stops (NB: this is not a mixed metaphor). Listen or don't listen at your peril (there's no safe choice). You say you'd like to know what "molinatibus" means in Latin? Indeed, that's what they all say.
SETI Sideband (15:45) — Most interstellar signals are lost in the background noise. But at the galactic center, things are reversed. It’s almost impossible to find the noise in a sea of signal. There the folds of space are as convoluted as the cerebellum; here we are learning all the new alphabets, and they are learning us. The emergence of structure is the discrimination of pattern, which exists only within the prescribed time-window. Hidden among the stranded sequences of the protein synthesis engine, recurring familiarities evoke the star-told tales of ancient asterisms, whence cometh all these self-same sequences. Life recapitulates the solar winds and the nucleo-tides.
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Post-Election 2004 (4:34) — The great experimental Republic again fought with itself and opted for the status quo (there's no safe choice). Everyone seems to have forgotten that "mere popular democracy" was one of the most dire concerns of the founding fathers, and the present sound-bite revolution has vindicated their deepest fears. Sonically there were no bites left for the Gipper.
Void Chant (1:14) — While wandering in the hidden caves of central Iowa, I encountered an uncharted network of unsung wonder. Creeping through this limestone labyrinth, distant voices murmured, drawing me deeper into the earth. The men of stone sang there for me, chanting their invocation of the void.
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