A vintage soundscape evoking love in a steampunk world.

Read Painterly: clio-em.com/2015/10/04/painterly/

clio-em.com/airships/

I am currently writing a series of short stories entitled Airships. Set in a fictional steampunk world, the tales speak of love in a world of industry. For FAWM 2016, I am setting some of these to music.

Story and music © 2015 Clio Em

Painterly

"They take turns sipping, watching the giant honeybees that are the airships. To and fro in the strengthening winds. The cold drafts are kept at bay by the lake of mint tea on their little island."

Read Mint Tea: https://clio-em.com/2015/10/04/mint-tea/

For Mint Tea, I sampled boiling water in the kettle, water poured over leaves, the tea as it was poured into my glass and the clink of spoon against glass when the tea was stirred. I then transformed it into this soundscape with the addition of minimal synth melodies and harmonies.

clio-em.com/airships/

I am currently writing a series of short stories entitled Airships. Set in a fictional steampunk world, the tales speak of love in a world of industry. For FAWM 2016, I am setting some of these to music.

Story and music © 2015 Clio Em


Mint Tea

"My music has been packed away for two years. I don’t want it boxed anymore. I want it to fill the air. 

She turned the tiny handle and the music box sang in time with her rising heart."

Read Music Box: https://clio-em.com/2015/10/05/music-box/

For Music Box, I recorded the small metal music box (pictured) being played in various ways: strummed, used percussively, played note by note. To this I added plucked viola and minimal vocals.

clio-em.com/airships/

I am currently writing a series of short stories entitled Airships. Set in a fictional steampunk world, the tales speak of love in a world of industry. For FAWM 2016, I am setting some of these to music.

Story, music and photo © 2015-2016 Clio Em

Music Box

"They will go for a walk in the freezing winter garden, trying to stay warm. His arm around her. She would will want to take his hand, as they have many times before, but she will be too nervous. Not wanting to shatter the fragility of their happiness."

Read "Book:" clio-em.com/2015/12/18/book/

clio-em.com/airships/

I am currently writing a series of short stories entitled Airships. Set in a fictional steampunk world, the tales speak of love in a world of industry. For FAWM 2016, I am setting some of these to music.

Story, music and photo © 2015-2016 Clio Em


Book

New Canada Engines is a spinoff album from Gravity Wing (https://igg.me/at/gravity-wing/x/7434525), my novel and soundtrack set on the planet of New Canada. In the story, NCE a company that builds spaceship engines. Founded by a pioneering couple on this new world, they company makes huge strides in innovation, eventually dominating the spaceship engine market.

For FAWM 2017 I am testing and building spaceship engines through ambient glitch soundscapes. Each track represents an engine built by NCE. The next track is a new layer or rework, building on and extrapolating from the previous piece, just as if each piece were a spaceship engine: built, test-flown, reworked, improved.

NCE 1 is the prototype. It is simple and has not been tested on a spaceship yet. But soon, the next build will be ready and flight tests will be carried out.

I composed this track by manipulating samples taken from an iPad recording I made in the cabin on a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Vienna in June 2016. These sounds were sampled when still on the runway. The airplane had a particularly melodious engine, with its harmonics audible and harmonizing in a beautiful way as the airplane taxied and readied itself for liftoff.

This beautiful sound stayed in my memory for days, weeks, and months later. The airplane harmonics align perfectly with the key of E Major.

NCE 1 - Prototype

"Some people referred to the DRGNs as the dragons . . . that generation was designed to be terrifically strong."
Serge, to Isabel, in Gravity Wing (https://igg.me/at/gravity-wing/x)

New Canada Engines is a spinoff album from Gravity Wing, my novel and soundtrack set on the planet of New Canada. In the story, NCE a company that builds spaceship engines. Founded by a pioneering couple on this new world, they company makes huge strides in innovation, eventually dominating the spaceship engine market.

For FAWM 2017 I am testing and building spaceship engines through ambient glitch soundscapes. Each track represents an engine built by NCE. The next track is a new layer or rework, building on and extrapolating from the previous piece, just as if each piece were a spaceship engine: built, test-flown, reworked, improved.

NCE 2 is the first proper build. Flight tests are being carried out.

I composed this track based on NCE 1 - prototype, which was entirely comprised of samples of a singing airplane engine. To this I added touches of synths, acoustic viola harmonics, more bitcrusher, and digital strings subtly quoting fragments of Serge’s Song (http://vimeo.com/clioem/serge), a classical piece that is an essential part of the Gravity Wing soundtrack.

NCE 2 - DRGN

Music composition/production/electronics/assembly: Clio Em
Cello: Liina Leijala

New Canada Engines is a spinoff album from Gravity Wing, my novel and soundtrack set on the planet of New Canada. In the story, NCE a company that builds spaceship engines. Founded by a pioneering couple on this new world, they company makes huge strides in innovation, eventually dominating the spaceship engine market.

For FAWM 2017 I am testing and building spaceship engines through ambient glitch soundscapes. Each track represents an engine built by NCE. The next track is a new layer or rework, building on and extrapolating from the previous piece, just as if each piece were a spaceship engine: built, test-flown, reworked, improved.

NCE 3 is the second proper build. Flight tests are being carried out and developments are moving along, though not always in desired directions. Personal problems from the team begin to intrude but this does not stop the creators from engineering art.

I composed this track based on NCE 2 - DRGN. First I took NCE 1 - Prototype, made up of singing airplane engine samples. To this I added touches of synths, acoustic viola harmonics, more bitcrusher, and digital strings subtly quoting fragments of Serge’s Song (http://vimeo.com/clioem/serge), a classical piece that is an essential part of the Gravity Wing soundtrack, at which point NCE 2 was born. For the third iteration, I added a movement from my 2011/2012 composition "Monodrama of the Mechanical Doll" for cello and actress. Here I just used the solo cello, in a live-recorded concert excerpt from VIII. Reality may be harsh or sweet, depending on the context. The cellist was Liina Leijala.

Thus, NCE 3 is the most "life-infused" of the engines so far. Much has happened, both good and bad. Experience informs the reality of the founders of New Canada Engines.

At the premiere performance of Monodrama of the Mechanical Doll (https://soundcloud.com/musiclio/sets/monodrama) in Nikki Bogart Gallery Vienna, Shakespearian actress Brigitte Pekarek created the role of the Doll.

Image by Clio Em.

NCE 3 - Reality

:thebigempty - CODA

Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Piano, Pump Organ, Synthesizer, Ukulele, Percussion:
Philipp Pankraz

additional musicians:

Choir:
Oscar Schöller
Florian C. Reithner
Stefanie Egger
Tirza-Sophie Gloger
Marie-Luise Schottleitner
Clio Montrey

Brass:
Daniel Ott		(trumpet)
Martin Grünzweig	(trombone)
Robert Puhr		(tuba)
Oliver Marec		(saxophone)

Organ, Vibraphone:
Florian C. Reithner

Lapsteel:
Michael Bleiweis

Drums & Percussion:
Benjamin Huck

Backing Vocals:
Raffael Pankraz

written, produced, recorded and mixed by
Philipp Pankraz

co-produced by:
Benjamin Huck & Michael Bleiweis

additional arrangements by:
Florian C. Reithner


all rights reserved

CODA

Coda

We Climb

Oblivion, Obviously

I build atmospheric worlds 
out of pictures, sounds, and words | Sci-fi composer, singer, multi-instrumentalist and writer
Some of my other work can be found at soundcloud.com/musiclio