The Astronaut scours the universe for answers regarding The Nebula's mysterious origins, its path, and whether its destructive tempest can be stopped.

Part six of a narrative in sound project I'm working on called 'The Astronaut'

Searching

Dead Land

Further explorations into the worlds of imagination

Time of the Purple Starfish

Feasting on Sand

More by Jim Lynch

Feasting On Sand

Drying Red Paint

The Meeting Place

the birds are chirpin'
the wind blowin'
the light in your eyes reminds you that you're alive
it's nearly summer

the world is turning
emerald jewel
flowers reach up for the sky seeking light
It's almost summer

https://youtu.be/Hhnk2pcGyLs

Michael Weber's Album

it's nearly summer

mp999

Right Before Twilight (Variation1)

Between fading skies and fragile whispers, time slackens and fades into silence. Lanterns breathe against the twilight, carrying echoes across maps that no longer guide. Ash and crystal glimmer in forgotten waltzes, while invisible veins pulse with a rhythm that transcends hours and years. In this stillness, a breath remains: timeless, weightless, infinite.

The Glow Beneath Ashes

A short track of dedication to stand up to the world. 

Stand up

1 More Thing proudly presents a brand new member of their misfit menagerie: Bairn. 

A freshly hatched alias from London-based underground provocateur and multidisciplinary artist Katamine, Bairn is a concept inspired by that exciting sensory innocence every single one of us experienced as children when first experiencing life's beauty and tragedy. 

Driven by that overwhelming sense of wonder, surprise and contrast that has been incubating deep in their subconcious for so long, Bain is a reflective exploration of worlds, sounds, pictures and emotions informed by years of theory and practice in both the electronic and classical realms. 

This is their first adventure, the beguiling debut It's You; an enigmatic weave of ambient, techno, progressive and score music, chased back with a subtle sip of Gaelic. 

It's never too late to be the vision your childhood dreamed of... 

Support It's You

Giveth

This is an experimet i made with my son Gregor to show him how diverse music can be.
We two are music lovers.
Music comes from the heart and is received with heart by those who appreciate it.

The Chase

I am a composer and producer of instrumental music in several genres, including ambient soundscapes, electronica, orchestral and chamber music.  

Musical influences include John Coltrane, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Tangerine Dream, Robert Prince, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Heinrich Ignaz, Franz von Biber.

My Method of Composing and Producing
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I'm sharing my method of composing and producing music recordings in case other composer-producers like me might find ideas worth exploring in their own work. I use this method for Classical, Avant-Pop or Neo-Folk Instrumental genres, not for Ambient and Soundscape pieces. Non-composers might find this explanation interesting, but having a bit of music theory background will definitely help. I consider myself a humble learner when it comes to music theory. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to British musician and educator Gareth Green, whose Music Matters online courses and free YouTube lessons have taught me so much over the past few years. Thanks to his instruction, I’ve moved from struggling to compose music by trial and error to something more enjoyable and productive. The knowledge I've gained has taken my work in new and expanding directions. As the saying goes, “Theory is not a cage — it’s a map. It doesn’t make the journey for you, but it keeps you from getting lost.” 

When I start a new piece, I begin by choosing a key, and picking a scale drawn from one of these sources:
 
1) Western Tonal / Functional Harmony - major or minor chords I II III IV V VI VII
2) Modal Harmony - Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc.
3) Slonimsky's "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" 
4) Messiaen’s "Seven Modes of Limited Transposition" 

For many pieces, I also decide on a progression, one as a simple as I IV V, or something more elaborate.  

Next I create a "scales and progressions" piano track in my DAW (digital audio workstation software) and enter the chords I to VII in my chosen key. These harmonized scales serve as a basis for writing multipart harmonies and finding pivot chords for key modulations. 

At the start, I know what instruments I want to use, making adjustments along the way. I tend to write chord parts first, then melodies created through a mix of improvisation and direct input in the DAW. Sometimes I start with a melody.

I develop melodies and variations of a phrase by some combination of: a) passing it from one instrument to another, transposing it by an interval that sounds pleasing, b) reversing it, c) inverting it around the tonic (first) note of the scale. These are well-known methods. 

After completing a section, I choose another scale and maybe a new key and repeat the process until I have a draft of the entire piece. Then I export a recording and listen to it “offline”, take notes of errors and new ideas, and incorporate them back into the piece. Often this “compose / listen / compose” cycle is repeated many times. These iterative cycles include adding new ideas, polishing transitions between sections, changing the arrangement, and incorporating expressive details like accents, and articulations (staccato, sustain, portato etc.). I’m often working several different pieces at once. 

Last is mixing and mastering: balancing the loudness between instruments and adjusting elements like reverb, compression, and equalization. I tend to mix as I compose, even though many producers frown on that approach. I find mixing as I go helps me envision the completed piece and make adjustments to the choice of instruments; it self-inspires me when the piece is starting to sound good.  At the end I do a final mix, but as the saying goes, “A mix is never finished — it’s surrendered.”

In the end, this method gives me a basis for exploration and creativity and helps me stay focused. The goal is always to make a piece of music that feels expressive, cohesive, and emotionally resonant.