Title:
Bower Bird

Dates:
01-Mar-2026 (inception), 03-Mar-2026 (finalised), 03-Mar-2026 (released)

Artists:
Music composed, performed, produced by Norman Freund
Artwork by Norman Freund

BandCamp Purchase:
https://normanfreund.bandcamp.com/album/bower-bird

1: Bower Bird - Variation 1, 07:34 (*1)
2: Bower Bird - Variation 2, 07:52 (*1)
3: Bower Bird - Variation 3, 05:10 (*1)
4: Bower Bird - Variation 4, 04:04 (*1)
5: Bower Bird - Variation 5, 04:00 (*2)
6: Bower Bird - Variation 6, 06:23 (*2)
Total 35:03

(*1) Instrument signal chain: Human voice -> Soma Pipe -> Soma Lyra 8 -> Soma COSMOS -> Digital interface -> Cell Synthesiser (Norman Freund)

(*2) Instrument signal chain: Soma Enner (*3) -> Soma COSMOS -> Digital interface -> Cell Synthesiser (Norman Freund)

(*3) The Soma Enner was played with a combination of finger tapping, wire drum brush and human hands making the electric circuits.


SUMMARISED EDITION
for the full edition see my social media page at:
https://www.facebook.com/norman.freund.545/

Description:
Shall we embrace the singularities? In mathematics a very simple example is the relation Y = 1/X, where a singularity exists as X (the input) approaches zero, Y (the output) approaches infinity. So can we create a sound wave based on such a 1/X singularity coupled with some form of clipping so we do not blow our speakers or ears? Will the sound produced be interesting?

This is the main focus of this composition, exploring a recent addition to my Cell synthesiser, the SingularWave. Having completed the module, it was time to have some fun with it. One sound I got out of it reminded me of the song of the Australian Bower Bird, so I went with this theme, reminding my self of the Australian forests and the song of the Bower Bird, but now with an electronic synthesiser interpretation.

On the analogue synthesiser side, the Soma Enner was tuned initially by ear to this scale:

i, Frequency [Hz], Octave+cent
1, 82, 0 Oct + 0c
2, 113, 0 Oct + 555c
3, 342, 2 Oct + 72c
4, 515, 2 Oct + 781c
5, 605, 2 Oct + 1060c
6, 643, 2 Oct + 1165c
7, 711, 3 Oct + 139c
8, 775, 3 Oct + 287c

The Soma COSMOS was either used in a purely reverb role or an instrument in it's own right, recording fragments of sound, bringing them in and out, adjusting the control parameters to suite.

The rhythmic timing net work consisted here of five timing blocks with three timing feed back loops. In Soma Ornament style, an input trigger sets off a timer and when finished sends out a primary trigger (to trigger what ever you like), if an input trigger arrives again before the timer has completed this gets passed out immediately to a secondary trigger. The periods for each cell were chosen carefully to give an organic feel to the rhythm and to purposely through the timing feed back loops to create input trigger collisions, resulting secondary triggers.

Timer 1: 1000ms, triggers timer 2, primary output trigger used
Timer 2: 700ms, triggers timer 3, primary output trigger used
Timer 3: 500ms, triggers timer 4, primary and secondary output triggers used
Timer 4: 900ms, triggers timers 5 and 1, primary output trigger used
Timer 5: 3500ms, triggers timer 3 from primary output trigger, triggers timer 2 from secondary output trigger

This timing network is best understood from a diagram, see my social media page for this diagram. Refer to Bower Bird variation 6 to hear what this rhythm sounds like. For the first 3100ms timers play their simple rhythm, after this the rhythm collisions happen, activating the secondary trigger outputs and this is where an initial state of chaos appears, an almost random rhythm but eventually some elements of timing stabilise, enough for you to get some sense of repetition, but yet destabilised occasionally -- the organic effect. The diagram mentioned, also shows a time line of the rhythmic pulses.


Bower Bird - Variation 4

Bower Bird - Variation 2

Bower Bird - Variation 3

Bower Bird - Variation 5

Title:
Indivisible

Dates:
14-Mar-2026 (inception), 15-Mar-2026 (finalised), 17-Mar-2026 (released)

Artists:
Music composed, performed, produced by Norman Freund
Artwork by Norman Freund

1: Indivisible - Part 1, 09:39
2: Indivisible - Part 2, 06:06
3: Indivisible - Part 3, 07:19
4: Indivisible - Part 4, 05:08
5: Indivisible - Part 5, 04:39
6: Indivisible - Part 6, 04:30
Total 37:21

BandCamp Purchase:
https://normanfreund.bandcamp.com/album/indivisible

SUMMARISED VERSION, see my BandCamp or Social Media page https://www.facebook.com/norman.freund.545/ for
full details.

Description:
An exposition of relative tuning schemes based upon prime numbers. All performances using the Soma Lrya 8 and Soma COSMOS with the help of multi-tracking digital recorder, FindTheBeat.

Prime number ratio schemes used:
Scheme 1:
3:5:7:11:13:17:19:23

Scheme 2:
43:47:51:53:59:61:67:71

Scheme 3:
3:4:5:6:7:8:9:10

where tuning ratios, r(i)
r(1):r(2) ... r(i-1):r(i) ...
are the relative ratios between adjacent notes
r(i)/r(i-1)=f(i)/f(i-1) for note index i
f(i)=frequency [Hz] of note index i
f(i)=fref*r(i)/r(1) for i=1,2 ... 8
fref=fixed reference frequency in Hz

Before each live performance. The Soma Lyra 8 was tuned to specific frequencies selected from the above three choices. In some cases, during the performance, the tuning was altered artistically.

Part 1:
***
Relative Tuning ratios of
3:5:7:11:13:17:19:23
with a reference frequency 30 Hz

The first oscillator with a frequency 30 Hz would normally be barely heard, but with higher harmonic content and combined with 50 Hz of the second oscillator gave an interesting beating effect.

Part 2:
***
Part 2 took a 1 second portion of Part 1 recording and played it back in three tracks simultaneously but at different speeds of x-1.6 (backwards), x1.6 (forwards), x3.22 to provide a background drone. The Lyra 8 was then played melodically over this freely improvising the tuning.

Part 3:
***
Relative Tuning ratios of
43:47:51:53:59:61:67:71
with a reference frequency of 215 Hz

The Lyra 8 has certain "sweet" spots for frequencies, the root of 215 Hz was one of these but was also conveniently 43*5. "Sweet" can have many meanings, here it just meant a frequency that gave a spectrum the suited the evolving mood this piece put me in.

This tuning was weird and pleasant all at once. The "sweet" spot soon turned into a gritty spot, ah the luck of the draw. This did put me on a different trip for this part. The COSMOS was purely for reverb for Part 3.

During the performance, once the feel of the tuning was established, I slowly began to erode it through small changes in tuning, then by the end the relation to the original tuning became irrelevant.

Part 4:
***
A three second portion of Part 3 recording was played back simultaneously at three different play back speeds of x-0.3 (backwards), x0.6 (forwards), x 0.7 (forwards), acting as a drone. Then improvised on the Lyra 8, freely adjusting tuning. Extensive use of artistic live adjustments of feedback gain and delay times native to the Lyra 8 were used here.

Part 5:
***
Part 5 provided a contrasting harmony, aiming for  a more consonant tuning with relative tuning ratios of
3:4:5:6:7:8:9:10
with a reference frequency of 102 Hz

Just one track recorded on the Lyra 8, plus some creative looping on the Soma COSMOS using the Rhythmic firmware, algorithm #5 favouring 1/6 rhythmic ratios.

Part 5 is the calm before the storm.

Part 6:
***
Going off with a bang!

I used the same tuning of Part 5 but gradually increased the distortion amount. When using such low Just Intonation ratios like 3:4:5 ... , distortion can work really well. This time the COSMOS was used only as a reverb unit, no tuning adjustments on the Lyra 8.

As the distortion was increased, different harmonics came to the fore.

There was also a sense of entropy going on here, starting with a pure tuning with little distortion, adding more distortion, a gradual erosion.

Indivisible - Part 3

Indivisible - Part 6

Indivisible - Part 1

Indivisible - Part 2

Indivisible - Part 4

Indivisible - Part 5

Welcome to my place of musical experiments and my endless journey of exploring new sound textures, rhythms and melodic ideas. I am a multi-instrumentalist coming from a background of having actively played, harmonica, recorder, piano, organ, clarinet, tin whistle, pan pipes, guitar, violin, Shakuhachi, jaw harp, didgeridoo and accordion. My genre is mostly a fusion of Jazz and Soundscape, however I often seek inspiration from a wide variety of music, Celtic, Rock, Heavy Metal, Classical, Folk, Micro-tonal, just to name a few. I also build my own instruments, various Shakuhachi using them either directly in recordings or sample the sounds to incorporate in pitch shifting tools in Ableton Live. I often set myself a music challenge, taking every day sounds not considered musical, sampling, transforming and moulding them into a virtual musical instrument. Experimenting with evolving polymeters is a favourite feature of my works. I have been classically trained but soon ventured into free improvisation, which is my happy place.

I am based on the South Island of New Zealand, enjoying the great outdoors there. I often take inspiration from this for my music and associated cover art.

I have a no cover’s policy, all my works being original compositions, the only exception would be the odd jazz interpretation of a Bach piece from the Baroque era. My percussion sections do not use any artificial intelligence drum machines, nor do I use auto tuners for my violin playing. Paid likes and plays — none of that either. 

I also participate in musical collaborations, from accepting sound samples to see what I can do with them, to instrumental collaborations. Send me a message if interested.

Please join me on this wonderful journey of music exploration.

New tracks tagged #soma cosmos