That is the only god I could imagine believing in, a god whose passion is not redemption, who saves nothing, fulfils no purpose--a god who simply is.” 
― Stanisław Lem, Solaris

Back in the early seventies, Edward Artemiev created a wonderful and prophetic soundtrack for Andrei Tarkovsky’s cinema adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s book Solaris, a study of the clash between faith and science presented as a sci-fi story of astronauts who encounter a mystical and superior intelligence which exists as an ocean on a distant planet. The soundtrack, as well as Artemiev’s own extended adaptations of it, and his music for Stalker and The Mirror have recently been re-released on vinyl by Russian collectors’ label MiruMir. These synthesised ambient works, far ahead of their time, should be heard anyone who loves or has any interest in ambient music.

For me, the outstanding feature of the Solaris soundtrack was the repeated and varied use of J.S. Bach’s sublime chorale prelude BWV 639, “Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ” from the Little Organ Book. I became obsessed with it, collecting and compiling different versions, especially Isao Tomita’s wonderful adaptations, also inspired by the film.

As a tribute to all of the above creative masters, this is my offering to one of the great directors, one of the great authors and two of the great composers. If it is too long, that is because I am still obsessed with it.

Candles on his altar

Seeker

Instability 05

Porous hinterland

Recollectrix

Made for Naviar Records 432nd haiku Challenge.

See https://www.naviarrecords.com/2022/04/13/naviarhaiku432-spring-blossoms-fading/ for details and more inspirations.

Fading world [naviarhaiku432]

By a strange bit of synchronicity (always sounds better than ‘coincidence’), I was already working on something inspired by this same concept. 

Very simple, just a short burst of sound culled from a work in progress, subjected to many passes through Audacity’s “Sliding Stretch” and further enhanced by modified sections of drone sourced from the stretched results. Some unexpected rhythmic pulses appear as well, adding to the fun.


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The Assignment: Get someone from tense to chill.

Step 1: Your goal with this piece is to guide someone from a place of intense stress to something more sedate. Keep that in mind.

Step 2: A lot of meditation-oriented music takes the end point as the start. Consider that it can be jarring to listen to calm music when you are anything but calm.

Step 3: Compose a piece of music that starts in a state of accelerated tension, allows the listener to align their own tension with that of the music, and then slowly proceeds to calm down, until the music is sustainably peaceful.

More on this 538th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Guided Decompression (The Assignment: Get someone from tense to chill) — at: https://disquiet.com/0538/

More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto /

Chill by degrees [disquiet0538]

Gone to the echo

Lost in the echo

Borne on the echo

“And of course, the musician - if he's serious - always answers: My last album is my best, otherwise I wouldn't have done it.” ~ Klaus Schulze       RIP (1947-2022)

Track list:
Dead Lincoln – Monday
Klaus Schulze - Trance 4 Motion (Excerpt)
Rafael Anton Irisarri – Gloaming
Tokyo Cuban Boys –Yosakoi bushi
Robert Rich – The Simorgh Sleeps on Velvet Tongues
Gondwanaland - Ephemeral Lakes
Vittorio Marino – Tarantella Elettronica
White Noise – The Visitation
Cousin Silas & OneAmbient4 – Andromeda Cries
Ivan Black – Velvet Phase 
Øystein Jørgensen – Regrets
Biosphere – Det Var Kulmørkt Hjem
The Bizarre Dwarfs – Burning Piano 
Klaus Schulze - Satz: Ebene (Excerpt)

Eclectic current – Shiver me timbres

Made for Naviar Records' 434th Haiku Challenge. See https://www.naviarrecords.com/2022/04/27/naviarhaiku434-is-that-a-cloud/

the moon is hiding her face [naviarhaiku434]

Science and Peace will triumph over Ignorance and War  ~ Louis Pasteur  

The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it.  ~ Voltaire


My mangling and reinterpretation of Marco's magnificent track https://soundcloud.com/musichevirtuali/marco-lucchi-triumph-you-to-play-with-if-you-like-it?in=musichevirtuali/sets/triumph

The triumph of light and reason [with Marco Lucchi]

10 years ago, https://soundcloud.com/maxx-black/i-had-a-flying-dream was a very popular track. And now I come along and do this to it...

Hey, Roy, I hope all is well :)

Return of the flying dream [with Maxx Black]

Goodbye horizon

Headphones recommended.

Made for Naviar Records' 436th Haiku Challenge, See https://www.naviarrecords.com/2022/05/11/naviarhaiku436-lightning-thunder/ for details.

Voices of the storm [naviarhaiku436]

Processional for the awkward and bewildered

Another re-imagining of https://soundcloud.com/musichevirtuali/marco-lucchi-triumph-you-to-play-with-if-you-like-it?in=musichevirtuali/sets/triumph

The price of triumph [with Marco Lucchi]

Ailing and so haggard/ Placing a thin moon/ By the window

~ Kenshin Sumitaku

A thin moon by the window

Nullarbor

These are a few of my favourite things…  Using old online e synths to create sounds (rather than music), in this case the Ancient Solfeggio Synthesizer I found in 2012. Then, putting the result into ambient v.3 software and improvising on it. Lots of reverb, always lots of reverb. Then, manipulating the original synth sounds in Audacity, using its simplified version of Paulstretch, copying and cutting bits and modifying them to create drones (especially ones to cover abrupt endings and accidents). Then, overlaying the Ambient version, multitracking it and balancing the whole thing until it sounds like this…

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The Assignment: Share a tip from your method toolbox.

Step 1: Think of some technique — small or larger, simple or complex — that you employ when making music.

Step 2: Make a piece of music employing that technique.

Step 3: When sharing the piece of music, describe the technique so that others might employ it.

More on this 543rd weekly Disquiet Junto project — Technique Check (The Assignment: Share a tip from your method toolbox) — at: https://disquiet.com/0543/ 

More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto /

Scrambled Solfeggios [disquiet0543]

Sought in forsaken places

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. 
~ Henry David Thoreau

Track list:
Midori Takada & Masahiko Satoh – Ancient Palace
Arash Akbari – Vanishing Point
Christina Vantzou – And Instantly Take Effect
Kate Carr – fake creek (excerpt)
Andrew Sweeney – Miasma
rabbitsquirrel – French tips on the dentist's manicure
IbogAbel – Tue Sep
No Mates Ensemble (et al) – When All This Is Over I Am Off To Madrid To Seek Mentorship In The     Traditional Art Of Pet Flamenco
Ian Hawgood & Giulio Aldinucci – Embarking Shadows
The Next Commuter – Mid Morning Air (Live test)
Spheruleus – Upper Wharfdale
Wodwo – The Ground
irunak – Demeter And Persephone (Naviarhaiku 438)  (excerpt)
chicago_word_brigade – Commensalism (excerpt)
ILUITEQ – The Dark Outside
Effortless Archives – Overlapping Elements (NaviarHaiku 436)
The Inventors Of Aircraft – Century Machines
US AS EFFIGIES – Tomorrow (excerpt)

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Eclectic current – Lost in forsaken places

Paranormal procedure

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”   ~ Albert Einstein

Track list:
Daniel Lanois – Asylum (from Sling Blade)
Night Note – Urban Chorus
The Simonsound – Call Of The Siren
Tuonela – The scent of bitter almond… (excerpt)
BBC Radiophonic Workshop – The Body In Question (Greenwich Chorus)
Ed Mundio – 4am In The Morning City Chorus
Bing & Ruth – Tomorrow Was The Golden Age
Keith Jarrett – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Angostura Elwar – Urban Chorus
Russell Wilson & Mark Howard – Phone Call (from Sling Blade)
Óscar Vargas y David Espejo – Cometa 1973 excerpt (from Cromometrofonia)
Antonella Eye Porcelluzzi & Tuonela – Parachutes
Tokyo Happy Coats – Harlem Nocturne
OMIT – The Turning Point
dramavinile - 1
Lévon Minassian & Armand Amar – Nusrat’s Allap
Alex Linegar – Motes
Rowdy Sects – Serpent Pillars Tung
itwasthewires & Marco Lucchi – Charlotte [third encounter]
Plone – 140
Dr M – The future sucks on the past (remix)

Eclectic current – Hunting our own ghosts

Mystika

“Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic”  ― Salvador Dali

Track list:
Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow – The Turing Test
Yellow Salamand'r – Medicate/Meditate
Pier WILL – The Nature Of Expression
Gypsy & Federico Balducci & Piotr Bal – Morning Prayer (A Call Of The Wild)
Helen Gillet – Helkiase
Red Stars Over Tokyo – Mute Body
Capitán Pijama And The fluorescent Detectives – Sometimes you should just quit
Ingvar Tautra – Steps
Western Skies Motel – Passage
Jo Johnson – Haunted by the Legend of Better Days
John Cameron – Tropic II
Sa Pa – Ripsketch
Markus Guentner – Ejecta
Night Note – night conversations
Zenon Marko – Ascent 3
Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh – Kyklopes
Satoshi & Makoto – Pourquoi
Raymond Cobley – Storming Synth (naviarhaiku436) (excerpt)

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Eclectic current – Distorted reality disorder

Apparition

Made from a six second DTMF tone generated in Audacity.

All mistakes, glitches, accidents, indecisions, twists of fate, acts of karma and signs from the Universe have been retained.

Tone construction 01

Made for Naviar Records' 442nd Haiku Challenge. See https://www.naviarrecords.com/2022/06/22/naviarhaiku442-eruption-of-light/

High on the ashes of light [naviarhaiku442]

The scent of bitter almond forces memory from the darkness

Samples used include these artists and tracks: Firesign Theatre, Pharaoh Sanders , Alice Coltrane & Pharaoh Sanders,  The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake (Free Audio Books for Intellectual Exercise), Captain Goodvibes, Cluster, Going Home – Fallen Soldier Tribute by Unidentified Piper, The Lithgow Highland Pipe Band, Tangerine Dream, Mike Oldfield, Pere Ubu, Stomu Yamash’ta and a few (culled from ancient mixtape cassettes) that I can’t identify… yet.

The rest is original tracks, re-imaginings of some earlier tracks and field recordings made by me.

This is a 320kbps mp3 – a lossless copy (flac) may be obtained by contacting me by personal message.

The scent of bitter almond forces memory from the darkness

Sumitaku Kenshin (1961-1987), who died of acute myeloid leukemia just before turning 26, devoted the last 20 months of his life to haiku.

Made for http://www.naviarrecords.com/2017/09/27/5469/ 

The title is from another haiku by Sumitaku Kenshin:

furikaereba tsuki no aru waga kage (Turning around, I see my shadow in the moonlight)(Tr. Nakaoka Naomi & Kurose Hiroko)


This track uses the following sounds:

http://freesound.org/people/bassboybg/sounds/201637/
http://freesound.org/people/ERH/sounds/69192/
http://freesound.org/people/mariiao2/sounds/240676/
http://freesound.org/people/jmfenlon/sounds/351248/
http://freesound.org/people/bajko/sounds/385279/
http://freesound.org/people/Benboncan/sounds/63832/ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUDJPWqFhgQ   audio
Excerpts from “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane

I see my shadow in the moonlight [Naviarhaiku195]

Piano - https://soundcloud.com/mirandashvangiradze

Ambiences & Production - Tuonela

This tune is now stuck in my head forever: https://soundcloud.com/mirandashvangiradze/in-paris  Not a bad thing at all! This is an ambient remix. The piano is from Mira's own track, all the ambient sounds are derived from that track, nothing else has been added.

I've done a couple of old tricks and a new one, outsmarted myself and had to adjust track lengths to two decimal places and... it sort of works... Oh, and I slowed it a little to emphasise the wonderful swing of the tune. It would be a lot easier if I could play accordion! :)

Image: A 60s model stands in a bubble on the Seine in Paris;  photo taken by fashion photographer Melvin Sokolsky

Mira in Paris (featuring Miranda Shvangiradze)

The Dream Garden

Augustus awoke with a glassy tinkling in his ears. It was so cold that there was a sparkle of fine frost over the dormitory. On his bed lay a long, elegant crystal, shimmering from within. It was his last dream, frozen solid.

Wrapping his ragged blanket around him, Augustus cradled the frigid fantasy and sneaked out. He felt sick with fear as he descended the steep, narrow staircase. His bare feet were numb and he clenched his jaw to stop his teeth chattering

He knelt by the grey stone wall at the end of the garden, rocking the glistening gem in his arms until the first beam of the rising sun fell upon it. The crystal gradually lost its luster, fading and shriveling until Augustus was left holding the body of a large lizard with glowing skin. Its diamond eyes faded in the dawn light.

Fighting back tears, he scraped a hole in the vegetable patch with his bare hands, burying the body with the others. As he crept back to bed, he prayed he would dream no more dreams, at least until it was warmer and they could find their own way to the garden.

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The Dream Garden

Milky Way

Eclectic current podcasts are all here:  https://www.mixcloud.com/Tuonela/uploads/
*******
You must hear this: https://vimeo.com/52766051

*****

Ed Brunsden was kind and patient enough to interview me for  his blog Desert... Mountain... Dust... recently - you can read it at https://desertmountaindust.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/tuonela-primitive-progressive.html

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Hand-crafted soundscapes and nocturnal noise...

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After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. ~ Aldous Huxley

All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it. ~ Jean Cocteau

All music is beautiful. ~ Billy Strayhorn
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I've become addicted to drone. Again. I was the kid with his head on the piano, listening to the overtones die away, or pressing his ear to the steel hull of the ferry, enthralled by the sounds it created. I was the kid who formed wordless songs to accompany the sound of train wheels on a long journey, or hummed along with the fan on a hot day.

In the 60s I used to play my 45s on 16, or backwards, or by hand using razor blades as stylii.

I made cut-up tapes on a cheap cassette recorder in the 70s and experimented with reel-to-reel in the 80s. 

Thank you Subotnick, Lygeti, Coltrane, Jimi, Mimaroglu, Eno, Cluster, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle...

I am not a musician. I am a scavenger of sounds. I use the most basic software to process those sounds, stretching and filtering until something emerges that makes a joyful noise. Or not...

Sometimes I have a story in mind, see the structure in advance. Sometimes the sounds take over and suggest their own story.

Tuonela

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