This was the first song I made in this style and it eventually became the start of my Ämpers@nd project (although I didn't know it at the time). It almost was like it wrote itself and wanted to come out (of me). I like the sound of the cello's and the (for lack of a better word) 'hypnotic' quality and hunting atmosphere.

Slowly Getting Heavier (Faltering Eyelids)

A bit lame but this one is exactly the same as the "Faltering Eyelids" version with the exception of the ending. This one will only be on Soundcloud (for now).

Slowly Getting Heavier (Stay Awake Version)

Not the second song I made for my Ämpers@nd project but I found it fitting as a second song on the EP because of the build up and tension. It has a kind of hunting feeling to it and some finallity (or something). It's hard to put into words. Just like "Slowly Getting Heavier" this one seemed to compose itself and just poured out of me. I think the title says it all and captures the feeling it tries to convey.

Frozen Dissolution (Trapped Under Ice)

The second production I made as Ämpers@nd. Using an excerpt of Ramin Djawadi's song "Winterfell" from the Game of Thrones Season 2 Soundtrack I made this droning downtempo ambient intermezzo. I just love the soundtrack (and books and particularly the first seasons of the series) and especially this song (House Stark's Winterfell!). So I took my favourite part of the song and made an intermezzo I thought fit in the beginning of this project that gradually came to be. The title speaks more or less for itself. This one will only be on Soundcloud (for now).

Nuclear Winter Is Coming (Drones Over Winterfell)

The last track of the EP. Just chill. The most relaxing one I made (pretty fast and naturally by the way) in between the process of making the other tracks. I think this is a nice finale after such a heavy trip through my mind, thoughts and emotions (if you listened to everything in the order of the EP).

Floating Mind

This is perhaps my favourite track. This one makes me feel like I am not yet awake and still lingering in a dream about a life (my life?) I never lived. It has some nostalgic quality to it and sounds dreamy. I would like to make a video for this one. So maybe someday this one can be heard ánd seen. To me it has a beautiful sadness and it resonates with my inner self. It also makes me feel restless and I want to wake up. At the very end you can hear my wife (actual recording of my wife's voice) saying "Wake up".

Hypnopompia (Wake Up)

The last song I made and I thought it fits this Ämpers@nd project. It's pretty 'heavy' and gloomy and bears a lot of tension (just like "Frozen Dissolution"). Because it has a feeling of melancholy and the gloomy atmosphere I didn't want this to be the last track on the EP. I made this one farely quickly. To be honest I think it's just a bit to long and repetitive. On the other hand it draws you in and takes its time to develop a nice atmosphere. When I listen to it now it almost sounds like a background soundscape for a doommetal track (except for the high tingling sounds).

Dreamy Meditations

This one is made right after I tried a new method to break my ‘creative blockage’. I used numerology to find instruments in my DAW. The creative flow that came from the sounds of these instruments resulted in this piece.

Spontaneity

This is a different version of a song I did not release (yet). It’s a rendition of a song which contained me playing guitar. In the initial version I tried to play the singing of the now extinct Moho Bracatus better known as Kauai O'o on an acoustic guitar. I thought that version was okay but I wanted to do something more with it. So I added classical instruments and sounds. I still wasn’t content about it and decided to remove the guitar part and made it into a more tragic sounding slow ambient piece.

Moho Braccatus Contemplating

This is a rendition of a song I have not released (yet). I first wanted to name this piece “Search For Inner Light (Angels Singing Humanity's Dirge)” but that sounded too heavy and fatalistic. The piece consists mainly of a droning bass and voices so I made an anagram that fitted the piece; Void Encore (made of the words ‘voice’ and ‘drone’).

Search For Inner Light (Void Encore)

Just a pretty straightforward piano driven song. I wanted to make a simple piano melody and just see what would come out of this idea. Well, this is how it turned out. The ‘ticking clock’ sound isn’t a clock but a string section playing in a pizzicato style. The sound made me think of a clock, hence the title.

Absolutely Relative Time

This is the original version of “Search For Inner Light (Void Encore)” that I first uploaded on Soundcloud. I still like this one so I also wanted to put this ‘lighter’ version on Soundcloud. It was my first attempt to use (a lot of) vocals. I’ve put some ‘darker sounding’ basslines underneath the vocals to give the song a bit more atmosphere.

Search For Inner Light (Resonance Of Life)

This one is made after I had some EMDR sessions and after attending a performance of Massive Attack in Tilburg last June. Both ‘inspired’ me to make this one. I’m still practicing with making beats. One of the reasons I started making ambient is because I’m not very good in making beats and a lot of ambient is without a beat. It takes a lot of effort to make a song that doesn’t sound muddy when I’m trying to use a beat. It doesn’t exactly sound the way I wanted and it still sounds a bit muddy but I’m still sharing this one on Soundcloud. So there you have it; a confession why I’m making ambient right now :p

Cope (Get Over It)

This song is a kind of mix of my previous songs (especially “Slowly Getting Heavier”, “Dreamy Meditations” and “Floating Mind”) and seems to come from the same dreamy subconscious place as where my favorite song “Hypnopompia (Wake Up)” comes from. It has the same dreamy quality to it but has a less melancholic sound although it still does not sound all to happy. It starts with a (distorted and reverbed) cello that almost sounds like a siren. This sound keeps on playing almost throughout the whole song. It sounds alarming but at the same time it has some kind of reassuring quality to it. Like a beacon; something to hold on to. After 2 minutes another (in my opinion cool) sound comes in and blends nicely with the rest of the surrounding sounds. This sound makes it sound more ‘spacy’. You can also hear a distant choir singing. After a while some ‘tingling’ and soothing sounds can be heard and towards the end you are eventually drifting into a relaxing dream state leaving your worries behind. All in all it’s a little dark but relaxing song with a tinge of hope. A light at the end of the tunnel.

Will I Still Be Here When I Open My Eyes

I was trying to make something that would fit with the rest of the style of my songs. This didn’t go as planned. So I decided to experiment a bit with making sound samples. I created sounds with some of my VST plugins and made them into samples. With the sounds I really liked I wanted to make something I haven’t done before. As I’ve said before I’m not particularly good with kicks and making beats but I wanted to give it another try. The last couple of years I am listening to artists that (apparently) make dubtechno. So I wanted to try and make something in that style without losing to much of my own ‘style’. It ended up not so much as a dubtechno song perse but I’m still very happy with this song. So here it is. The title is an anagram (I love playing with language) and is derived from the word “acetylcholine” (ACh). Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter which is involved in the regulation of REM sleep. Sleeping and dreaming are subjects that fascinate me and I refer to these subjects frequently in my song titles. I hope you enjoy this one!

Hectically Eon

A simple and chill sounding soundscape with bird sounds from both Greece and the Netherlands. The sounds of the birds from Greece are recorded in Meteora while walking up a path in the forest to one of the monasteries in Meteora. We stayed in a nearby village called Kastraki. The place where we slept is called Archontiko Mesohori and is surrounded by huge boulders and rock formations. We had a stunning view from our room, the balcony and the garden downside. The bird sounds from the Netherlands were recorded in a park by Castle Rosendael nearby our house in Arnhem. I find both recordings very peaceful and calming so I used them as the ‘centerpiece’ of this (to my taste) relaxing soundscape.

Monasteries In The Sky

I really love and enjoy using vocals and strings accompanied by a (light) droning bass in my songs. Just like my other songs “Will I Still Be Here When I Open My Eyes” and both versions of “Search For Inner Light” I used vocals and strings as the basis for this one. It starts with voices that make me think of an (almost) empty church while a choir is singing (or rather humming) a nice melody. During this humming other choir members slowly start joining in with the other voices. Eventually a droning bass comes in and supports the voices. It’s a fairly long one with a slow build-up and some slight variations to keep it from being to monotonous. I found the title fitting for this one because it feels like a kind of score for a dream (that’s just starting up) but it also gives a feeling of slowly waking up. Just have a listen and hopefully you enjoy it.

False Awakening Part I

This is the accompanying (and more electronic) successor of the first “False Awakening”. I see it as the ‘start’ of a new dream after the feeling of being awake after a false awakening. For this one I’ve used sounds from the Hainbach Spitfire Audio package “Landfill Totems”. This song makes me feel like something big, exciting and unexpecting is about to happen. I find this a fitting ending of where we left “False Awakening Part I”. While in part 1 you are not really sure if you’re waking up or still dreaming, in this second part it becomes clear that you are not awake but instead are beginning with a journey where you can be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do. To me this song has a very optimistic feel and makes me wonder about all the things and possibilities still to come in the (near) future. I hope this also comes to mind when you are listening.

False Awakening Part II (Entering A Lucid Dream)

Ämpers@nd almost feels like music therapy to me. As Ämpers@nd I am producing (largely but not intentionally) melancholic and dark-sounding soundscapes and ambient.

All astrophotography pictures I have used are made (and owned) by Bob Reijnders. For more awesome pictures check his website: https://astro.bobreijnders.nl/

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