The Light

12oz

"Always. Obviously." - she says. 

The dialogue is from the show Normal People, which I watched during an unexpected Covid quarantine in June 2022. I thought the show was absolutely beautiful. If you were a fan of the Before trilogy, you should watch this.

I felt inspired to write something, and certainly had enough time on my hands to do so... The idea of clipping one of the more emotional dialogues came to mind, and this scene, in particular, hit like a ton of bricks. I accompanied the dialogue with a gradual, and then rushing swell of sound, which pops like a bubble, yielding to a tender collage of piano, texture, and bass.

This "popping" moment happens a couple times in the song. To me, it feels like an unguarded moment in which past memories pour into the empty space of a daydream, but evaporate like ghosts in an instant as one is reoriented to the present - a sobering instant in which you remember that your love has somehow gotten away from you. The good in those memories, now, just a feeling that seems impossible to reconcile.

Put this one on your best speakers or headphones if you get a chance.

Always

I love Shake's voice on this track. It's huge, in that pop ballad kind of way, and speaks volumes on emotional trauma in relationships. Heard it once and knew I was going to do something with it. 

I heard so much in the original, but its production feels too safe for me. I wanted it to be more chaotic. To push more buttons. To have grittier moments and bigger swells and to grab at my heart more. 

Hope this hits hard.

Guilty Conscience - (Brian Gawlik Edit)

A mashup/sound-collage/mix thing that came out of some recent sessions.

Samples:
Pink Pantheress - Passion
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Seneca (possible my favorite song of all time)
Dialogue from Lost In Translation

Passion, Seneca, Lost in Translation (scene/mix)

Samples:
"So Flat" by Tex Patrello

What a cool song. I felt inspired to do somethin' w it.

Tex Patrello - So Flat - (edit)

Made this track earlier this month and was too much of a perfectionist at the time to post it, thinking I would come back at some point and put those "finishing touches" on it, ya know. Haha. 

I actually have a more recent track that I want to post as well sitting at a similar spot - just needing some "finishing touches". Gonna post this one bc it came first, and then hopefully get the other one out shortly after. 

Here it is - Wilt. No finishing touches.

wilt.

This is a flip of the track "e-motions" from Mura Masa & Erika de Casier. One of those songs that got suuuper stuck in my head, and I probably listened to it 100 times on repeat. 

I used a lot of noise and degradation techniques on the samples. The result is this time'y sounding series of low-fidelity loops. Lofi, although definitely not in the hip hop way. There's an element to the sound that sounds tinkery and cute - although borderline creepy - like a toy.

https://youtu.be/o81kix0a9ZI

Toy Memory - (flip of Mura Masa, Erika de Casier - e-motions)

Experimental electronic music. Aesthetics: Cinematic - Industrial - IDM - Music.

https://youtu.be/Ho3CC48DLiM

Freight.

A futuristic, space'y/ambient take on classical music - featuring sounds reminiscent of trumpet fanfares, swelling woodwind runs, and sections of bombastic bass brass.

This is generative-based music made with Max MSP + Ableton Live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0GjoKKEz0

Seagull Bits

... The writer sits alone in his chair writing. His room is dimly lit, and there, only the sound of his typewriter can be heard. The man himself is unassuming. In the writer's head, though, exist stories of the most grandiose variety. I swear, I could hear an orchestra amidst the dead silence of the room...

Sounds like a modern take on classical music - featuring sounds reminiscent of solo clarinet, off-stage trumpet, string and woodwind section sound, and bombastic bass brass.

classical, neo-classical, "film score", “soundtrack”, experimental, electronic, ambient.

This is generative-based music made with Max MSP + Ableton Live.

https://youtu.be/bvLK0k4qmJ0

The Writer

A beautifully dark, cinematic mood - evoking some scene of heart wrenching aftermath - evolves caringly, and culminates with a heart-on-the-sleeve moment.

This piece emerges from my ongoing effort towards generative ambient soundscapes, but also features a very prominent, and fairly un-cut sample from Samia's "Is There Something in the Movies?" The way she is absolutely yelling this part gets me big time. I did not plan to use this sample when I started writing the piece, but it fit so well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIDRKh759v8

there IS something in the movies.

Enough

Triplets Goodnight

A while back I tried to cover "Love Scene" from La Boheme, and somehow this came out of that. Sat on this for a few months, considering it unfinished, but finally just decided to post it.

Break It

Hotel Room

I took a pretty long break from music and was making generative art for a bit, but recently I have found my way back to music in the form of generative composition. 

This composition (melody, chords, and bass) was generated by a code I wrote in Java. I put the parts to various instruments in Live, produced it, mixed it, all that stuff.

I think it sounds somewhat like a live stage recording of an orchestral Christmas song.

If you want to follow my generative programming creations(art and music) you can find me on instagram @ brian_gawlik

SnowOnChristmas

This is my second generative-based song.

I rewrote my generative music scripts in python and in the process of getting that to work, it spit out a couple of 4-bar segments which caught my attention. The code wasn't actually working as it was supposed to, but you know, you gotta follow the inspiration.

I did a lot more on the production side on this one than my previous generative-based song "Snow on Christmas". This time around, it felt like the Python Script was a young artist with a couple cool lines, and I was the producer - who took their idea and made it into a real song.

I cannot fit this into a common genre, but I think you can hear the influence of classical ensemble, a soft-spot for progressive rock, and some exposure to jazz-fusion.

StopThisApocalypse

Generative music producer. My older stuff is just made with Ableton, but since the beginning of 2023, I have been getting deep into algorithmic composition with Max.

Brian Gawlik

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