Recorded in Sarajevo (piano) and Istanbul (ambient sounds), mixed in Istanbul. Our Sarajevo Airbnb apartment had a piano :)

Released in 2025 on the album "You Drew Stars".

Arabeske od vode

Short drone-type things recorded while learning FM synthesis on a Korg Opsix. Parts of this track are used on "Two Scenes from Beşiktaş" (2025).

alg1 test6 two short drones

Short unprocessed jam from a Korg Opsix session.

alg1 test5 three layers (aka study for inside pt. 3)

second mix

Airline Music and Two False Starts (outtake from "You Drew Stars", 2025)

Outtake from "You Drew Stars" (2025). I wanted to include this one but ultimately decided "Not a Different World" was more meaningful, even if the sound quality was worse.

Perishable and Wandering Rocks (outtake from "You Drew Stars")

Second piece recorded on the first day of State of Play sessions; it didn't make the cut but I thought it could go on Soundcloud. Like the tracks on the album, I named this one after a lost painting by Kay Sage (1898–1963).

The Roads Are Long (outtake from "State of Play", 2025)

This was the result of my participation in an experiment by Nikos Dervisis. "17 IV 25 11:37 PM" is a graphic composition which has 5 variations to be chosen and realized by the performer(s). Track image is derived from the original score.

Variation 1 (based on a graphic notation experiment by Nikos Dervisis)

Huw Morgan's 2025 organ piece "the sound of the river was in my head" involves selecting a group of pitches and playing them for an unspecified duration, potentially very short or very long, according to a simple rule outlined in the score. I set out to make a short electronic version of it as a test, on a Kawai K5000S, using six pitches (Db2, G2, Bb2, C4, Eb4, Ab4). My Kawai is almost 30 years old, however, and the way the keyboard reacts is a bit unstable. I struggled to keep the dynamics the same for all of the attacks (as would be the case on the organ), but when I listened to the results, I liked them, and I wanted to share this version.

Best results when listening on loud volume and/or on good headphones.

Remnant fragment

Samuel Clay Birmaher