Traveling Underwater in the Dark

Suggestions on creating the most effective listening situation: 

This is an evolving piece.  Listening to the piece in its entirety, will reveal its true  evolutionary nature. This drone waxes and wanes in amplitude, as it  progresses over time. It begins in virtual silence. To maximize the  intended experience, the listener should set the listening level at a  standard music monitoring volume and try not to adjust it throughout the  duration of the piece.
 

This piece was intended to be listened to in a full sonic spectrum  environment, with a balanced stereo-field. If a “good” open monitor  situation isn’t available, a decent set of headphones or earbuds will  also work great. In any case, try to make sure the ambient noise of the  listening environment is low. External noise can dampen the effect of  the piece, especially things that create tones or white noise (e.g.  fans, refrigerators, AC units, etc…).
 

Producer/Composer Notes:
 

This is a 432Hz based drone. In the spirit of fractal self-similarity,  it is actually one large pulse, which contains many other pulses of the  same type of shape. If looped, the entire piece can be viewed as 1, 11  minute and 11 second, cycle.  
 

In regards to parameter settings and time-stamps,  using prime numbers usually yielded the best results. Prime numbers  seemed to aid in maintaining a sense of balance between symmetry and  chaos, within the drone. For continuity sake, all time effects and  organic pulses on guitar were set/played to a specific tempo (or a  subdivision of that tempo). The tempo is a multiple of 25,920 BPM, which  is the relative BPM for 432Hz.  
 

This drone’s seed starts with a 432Hz pure tone. All other pitches  layered are octaves above and below 432Hz. Any other harmonies heard,  not in the 432Hz octave set, were created organically, by the drone  itself. Each pitch (layer) has its own unique “character,” as a result;  the amplitude's pulses, phasing, panning and time modulation create  natural overtones. To add to this effect, all layers were printed in  real-time so every new time-constant in the piece is different from the  last one. This also allowed the drone to evolve upon its own accord,  always changing.
 

The signal generator to create the pure-tone set was the only  “synthesis” used in making this drone. Instrumentation consisted of  rudimentary time/space modulation (in parallel with the pure-tone set),  and multiple unique layers of a single 432Hz A note from a guitar (ran  through an analog effects pedalboard). Using more analog (∞) methods and  not using sample based waveforms and pre-processed loops, helped to let  the piece evolve on its “own” - free from the manipulation and  artifacts of pre-prescribed patterns.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Released October 7, 2020                                                                                 
Image provided by: Benjamin Harper  
 

Special Thanks to: Celestial Dawn, for creative inspiration  www.facebook.com/astronotions