This song was created as part of the School of Song's songwriting workshop with Brian Eno.

The challenge for me for this piece was how to translate the idea of revolution or the emotion behind it into sound without lyrics. I went down several different pathways, first trying to record vocal samples to use as textures to build something very hopeful and uplifting, but that did not pan out the way I had hoped. After that, I tried going down a darker route, trying to channel the dire and consequential feeling of our current time into sound. I think I will revisit the idea of making a more hopeful and uplifting piece next time, but this is what I ended up with for now.

This patch uses some sampled percussion sounds, leads from Forge Time Vhikk X and Make Noise Mysteron, as well as a heavily processed vocal sample drone. Effects are Intellijel Sealegs, Make Noise Mimeophon, and Noise Engineering Desmodus Versio. 

Aquari

Magnetosphere is an improvised ambient piece performed in one take on my modular synth.

I would include some patch notes here to accompany it, but unfortunately I didn't take good notes for this one.

Magnetosphere

The Whole World in a Droplet is an improvised ambient piece performed in one take on my modular synth.

For this piece I was testing out a 6u 104hp system designed to be able to create a wide range of ambient soundscapes in a small dawless setup.

The Whole World in a Droplet

Slowly is an improvised ambient piece performed in one take on my modular synth.

I would include some patch notes here to accompany it, but unfortunately I didn't take good notes for this one.

Slowly

Cascades is an improvised ambient piece performed in one take on my modular synth.

I would include some patch notes here to accompany it, but unfortunately I didn't take good notes for this one.

Cascades

The Orange Halo You Hold is an improvised ambient piece performed in one take on my modular synth.

The main voices in this patch are Moog Subharmonicon and XAOC Odessa. Panharmonium provides the high notes, and Endless Processor provides the sustained drones.

The Orange Halo You Hold

Proton Garden is an improvised ambient piece performed in one take on my modular synth.

I would include some patch notes here to accompany it, but unfortunately I didn't take good notes for this one.

Proton Garden

Foggy Transmission is an improvised ambient piece performed in one take on my modular synth.

It includes samples from Assimil8or processed through Panharmonium, and looped with Dual Looping Delay.

Foggy Transmission

A melancholy ambient track composed and recorded live on my modular synth.

Only Shadows Are Left There

An ambient composition composed and recorded live on my modular synth.

Small Victories

Lonesome Highland

Tim Zarki is a multidisciplinary designer and 3D artist based in San Francisco, dabbling in the world of electronic music production and modular synthesis.

Tim Zarki

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