Releases

Have you ever seen ghosts in a Modern Dance class? Just our imagination or sometimes strange things do really happen inside and outside our bodies, and we are trying to explain them but we cannot? For example: when you think you know which movement you have to do and you still listen to those voices that make you turn in the wrong direction or go left instead of right? ... where are these voices coming from? SZ

PREVIOUSLY RELEASED:

'Assuming All Is Well' is a 5-track EP based purely on analogue sound. Mostly filtered noise, impulses, additive and subtractive synthesis of sine waves. The title of the EP comes from a funny computer software I have seen during a demonstration at the AES Spring Convention in The Hague. The computer software displayed the sentence 'assuming all is well' preparing for the instructions of the programmer. Nice assumption to be a piece of technology! I brought this assumption further thinking about situations when it is nice assuming all is well... About the artwork: brown grasshoppers are often a sign of prosperity and good luck. This one does not seem to have a lot of luck, but let's assume all is well.   SZ

'Ode a Cripto' is the result of a poetic challenge launched by a professor of Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) during the celebrations after the Doctorate defence of her researcher. Imagine a bunch of scientists sitting in a bar talking about this 'cripto'. I was the only composer in the conversation so I asked such erudite people to explain, and I got this quote: "If you don't have it, you cannot live; if you have it too much, you die". What is it then? Has it anything to do with kryptonite or cryptocurrency? Of course not. Cripto is a small protein, normally expressed during the development of the embryo, that helps the cells finding their right place. It's a powerful tool that is used by the embryo in a specific moment of the development/growth to provide the necessary order, in the chaotic process of life. It's a vital component, and failing to use it will cause an abrupt stop of development - so if you don't have it, you die. But, it's also used as a toolkit to repair some tissues in case of emergency, in the adult. Sometimes, as typical in these types of diseases, it is used by cancer cells, to support their growth at the expenses of the rest of the body. And this is the case where too much, can kill you. SZ

"There is so much to say about this Suite. It is really a journey. A journey through the macrocosm, transitioning to the microcosm. Gigantic creatures communicate to the infinite small ones and we can also access their world through the experience of sound. It is different for everyone and I tried to give a lot of space to imagination. This is also what Noemi and I tried to do while working on the cover artwork. Maybe you see some references to Escher? some Alice in Wonderland? of even the creepy mushrooms from Dark Souls (yep. someone just told this to me). Well... it is all good as long as we keep active using our fantasy". Sara Zamboni

"Uncle Terry Who is a double homage. It combines poetic references to Terry Riley and The Who. It was created on the first synth I bought (Mother32 by Moog) and I am particularly attached to it. It is incredible how much we can do just with one oscillator, a sequencer and a little patch field. I wanted to use these possibilities to shape sounds and manipulate them as they were produced on little percussion instruments of different materials such as plastic, wood, rubber... I tried to leave the composition as abstract as possible to let you make your own story out of it: if you see a fight between ants, it's fine with me".

"The Cyprinus Rubrofuscus - also called Koi - is a very popular ornamental fish which can be found in the garden ponds of East Asia. It can live also for 50-100 years! Sounds amazing but let’s reflect on the function that this kind of animal has: it is kept as a piece of ornament to please its owner and his guests. Some people have also become specialised in breeding them to select and obtain the most interesting color combinations... In my composition I wanted to create a slow development in sound that does not lead anywhere except from starting again and again, like in a time loop".

"A jinx is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. It is also a children’s game when two people say the same word(s) at the same time. I was also thinking it might also be something very charming that stays there in our mind and every time we recall it, it appears slightly different from what we experienced before. I associated this interpretation of the curse with the color blue that make me feel calm and in peace with myself, especially in this period of my life. Not really an effective curse then, right? Well... It depends how long this blue jinx decides to stay with me...". 

"This track has certainly many layers of interpretation. Technically, from the musical point of view, as a pianist, I know that accompanying singers is not an easy job: there might be "slight discrepancies" about intonation, tempo, synchronisation of events etc. On the other side, many different stories can be seen and fantasised. There are four droids in the cover artwork. Each of them has its own personality. Are they singers? or are they doctors? or both? are you (the listener) their patient? and why are you there? are they singing to you or you are there cos you hear voices in your head?".

"This track has a long composition journey started in 2018. It was basically a spontaneous and poetic synthesizer track with myself playing ukulele, Moog mother32 singing her solo and some recorded jingling sounds. Then, after repeated modifications and the sensation that this track would never reach its definitive form, I could finally find what was needed to call it "done". While practicing figure skating on ice as an amateur, I decided to put my portable recorder on the ice surface and I started skating around it to see what it might have happened. The stereo recording captured the sounds of the movements and also their natural panning as it occurred. Then the Zamboni (famous American brand of ice resurfacing machines) came to interrupt this. The skating hour was finished and the machine started its magical first round on the ice. All traces & dreams of skaters of all ages were swiped off, leaving space for someone else's in the coming skating hour". 

"The title of the track is 'Techno Giselle Don’t Die' and it is a techno track inspired by the libretto of the Romantic Ballet “Giselle” (1841). As you might know, the original Giselle is a young and shy peasant girl who falls in love and suffers for love and then of course she dies of broken heart. In this case, Giselle loves dancing and does not care so much about what other people think she should do and she does not die. Actually, she continues to dance, as she loves". 

“Initially I wanted to name this track ‘The Cat And The Rainstick’ because I was imagining a cat playing with a rainstick making music out of it, instead of playing with the usual ball of wool. But it was not really convincing. I needed some input to finish my track and also have a nice title. Then this idea came to me: "what if..." all the drops contained in the laboratory glasswares had a dream to come out of them, dancing in the air or rhythmically dropping on the floor? I had such a lab glassware. I filled it in with water, I made a mess on the floor, I took a picture, I could finish my track, I had a nice title, a possible cover image for the release. Then I cleaned the mess. Since I am a pianist, I also put two piano solos, just to be happy”.

“As a classically-trained pianist I studied several piano sonatas of Beethoven. So far, my favourite has been the so-called ‘Waldstein’ op. 53. As a composer, I was reflecting on the sonata-form and I tried to recreate it in modern times as a sort of dj-battle. Instead of having First Theme, Bridge, Second Theme and all the other components that have made the sonata-form the best known, used (and abused) in music history, I decided to use two chord progressions. These chord progressions are one by me and one by Beethoven himself. Then I decided to put it in a rhythm that could be danced on and include several of the small details and also common mistakes that all pianists might do during their practice. It is how I would play it to the audience now (of course on a synthesizer)”.

“Who makes electronic music knows that any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) has many different ways to display the passing of time: bars/beats, time code, min:sec, feet+frames, etc... At the end of the day, it is more important checking music using our ears. However, if you want to use a visual cue, you’ve got a counter right in your hand....”.