An expressive cue that rises from the ground and soars above the clouds.

Emerging

Inspired by the morning desert light peering from the horizon, many sounds and textures helped create the soundscape of this cue. Plucking cellos and strings, bellows, bowed pianos, organs, bells, and more...

Light

Drawing from my time spent at the Salton Sea. Situated in the Colorado Desert in California's Imperial Valley, the lake is extremely isolated yet remarkably beautiful. Notably silent, the lake shores of the once bustling resort destination of the 1950's, are now abandoned due to rising salinity levels and pollution from agricultural runoff. With only a few species of fish able to survive the high salinity levels, the Salton Sea is surrounded by death. Yet the lake remains mesmerizing.  I tried capturing this juxtaposition by creating live textural strings beds which we recorded and then re-amped and manipulated many times over. Scraping bows on broken strings also accompany worn organs, a glockenspiel and piano.

Salton Sea

Deep in the Mojave Desert, Valley of Fire, Nevada is 45,000 acres of brilliant red Aztec sandstone. With the scorching desert sun reflecting its rays off of the various rock formations, the entire landscape appears to be on fire.  In prehistoric times, dated between 300 BC - 1150 AD, Ancient Pueblo Peoples, known as the Anasazi, inhabited the land, leaving behind amazing petroglyphs on the face of the formations throughout the valley. 

If you're lucky enough to visit Valley of Fire during sunset, you'll experience an explosion of vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows radiating across the landscape, all while feeling a sense of complete isolation.

I tried to capture this sensation by slowly building a crescendo of arpeggiated synthetic textures and clock effects, exploding into ambient guitars and pulsing drum beats, ending with only a trace of ambient chaos noise representing the dark of night enveloping the valley.

Valley Of Fire

A meditative evolution of guitar and organ swells that segue into using an old upright piano soundboard to create the pulsing rhythmic beat. Making good use of the upright, the arpeggiated piano line was captured using the overtones of the notes only. Finally, a gentle rhodes piano accompanies the guitar pads and organ in the end.

John Knipp

Popular tracks